New to Cape Town? Here’s How to Make Some Friends

Cape Town is beautiful. Friendly? Absolutely. Easy to make friends in? That’s… debatable.

If you’re new to the city — or you’ve lived here for years and somehow still spend Friday nights wondering where all these supposedly friendly Capetonians are hiding — the trick may be to stop trying to “meet people” and start doing things with people.

Here are a few places to start.

Take a hike with strangers

Meridian Hiking Club

Nothing accelerates a friendship quite like collectively wondering whether you’ve taken the wrong path up a mountain.

Meridian Hiking Club organises group hikes around Cape Town and the Western Cape, ranging from relatively gentle walks to more demanding mountain adventures. You don’t need to be a member to join many of their hikes, which makes this a particularly easy way to turn up alone and spend a few hours with people who already have at least one thing in common with you: they’d rather be outside.

Good for: Outdoorsy people, solo joiners, people who hate forced networking.

Read together without having to talk too much

Silent Book Club Cape Town

Possibly the perfect social club for introverts. Everyone arrives with their own book, there’s some time to chat, and then everyone… stops talking and reads.

There’s no assigned novel, no homework and no awkward moment when somebody asks what you thought the symbolism in chapter twelve meant. Meet-ups happen at changing venues around Cape Town, and there’s usually time to socialise before and afterwards.

Good for: Introverts, book lovers and anyone whose idea of hell is a networking event.

Go for a run with people who won't leave you behind

Running Late Club

Running clubs have quietly become one of the easiest ways to meet people in Cape Town, and Running Late Club puts the emphasis firmly on the social side.

Their free group runs around the Atlantic Seaboard attract people who want to move, meet others and have a good time rather than spend the evening obsessing over personal bests.

Good for: Active people, newcomers, solo joiners and anyone who finds conversation easier while moving.

Spend a Saturday morning at parkrun

Green Point parkrun

You don't actually have to run.

Every Saturday morning, walkers, joggers, serious runners, parents, pensioners and the occasional dog gather for the free 5 km Green Point parkrun. Go regularly and you start recognising faces — which is often how actual friendships begin.

Even better, volunteer occasionally rather than immediately heading home after your 5 km. It's much easier to get to know people when you're helping run the event together.

Good for: Almost anyone, including people who insist they are “not runners.”

Learn something where talking happens naturally

Cape Guild of Weavers

If running with strangers sounds horrifying, try making something with them instead.

The Cape Guild of Weavers brings together people interested in weaving, spinning, dyeing and other fibre crafts through meetings, demonstrations and workshops. Slow crafts have a useful social advantage: your hands are occupied, so conversation doesn't have to carry the entire encounter.

Good for: Creative people, quieter personalities and anyone looking for community rather than a once-off event.

Volunteer with people who care about the same things you do

Local Friends conservation groups

Cape Town has community-led Friends groups looking after wetlands, parks, fynbos and other natural spaces across the city.

Volunteer for a planting day, clean-up or conservation project and you've immediately skipped the most difficult part of meeting strangers: finding something to talk about. You're already doing something together.

Good for: Nature lovers, newcomers who want to feel part of their neighbourhood and people who'd rather meet others while doing something useful.

Get your hands dirty at Oranjezicht City Farm

Oranjezicht City Farm

You can also swap drinks with strangers for vegetables with strangers.

Volunteers at Oranjezicht City Farm help with the work that keeps this little urban farm going. It's a particularly nice option if you're looking for something slower and more communal than the usual Cape Town social scene.

And no, we're not talking about the famous market at the Waterfront — the actual farm is tucked away in Oranjezicht.

Good for: Gardeners, food lovers, sustainability-minded people and anyone craving a bit of community.

The Cape Town friendship trick

Perhaps the trick isn't to go somewhere specifically to make friends.

Join the hike. Read the book. Plant the fynbos. Run the 5 km. Learn to weave.

Then go back the following week.

Because the slightly annoying truth about making friends in a new city is that friendships rarely happen because you attended one brilliant event. They happen because you keep turning up.

And Cape Town, fortunately, gives you plenty of reasons to do exactly that.