The V&A Waterfront is rich with history and played a key role in Cape Town’s development since the city’s founding. In 1654, two years after arriving at the sheltered bay below Table Mountain, Jan van Riebeeck built a small jetty at the Cape. Used to provide fresh water and produce to ships of the Dutch East India company, the jetty became the waterfront’s cornerstone.

In 1858, after storms destroyed the Waterfront, Prince Alfred, second-born son of Queen Victoria, constructed Cape Town’s first harbour, the Alfred Basin. The discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa after the turn of the century necessitated a harbour expansion project that resulted in the Victoria Basin. Known by the combined initials of the two royal basins, the V & A Waterfront boasts an array of heritage buildings.