By night gourmet butchers Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants morphs into this relaxed, unpretentious bar, where the owners do a brilliant job at digging out hidden gems of the Cape's wine scene. Taste drops from sustainably farmed vineyards, interesting and unusual varietals and rare vintages. The tasting flight of five wines is a great deal at R100.

Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, Honest Chocolate, who make their artisan sweet treats at the Woodstock Exchange, have launched this homage to fine dark chocolate in liquid, solid, ice-cream and cake form. It's a chocoholic's dream come true, with even vegan and gluten-free options.

Even better, Wednesday to Saturday evenings they also run an intimate bar, specialising in gin, at the back of the building's secluded courtyard.

To the rear of St Stephen’s Church, this cool hang-out specialises in imported craft beers by Brewers & Union and, in summer, has ping pong and fairly frequent live gigs in the courtyard outside; check their Facebook page for details. Ethically sourced meats are used in tasty sandwiches, hot dogs and braais (barbecues).

Named after the nearby lane, the mixologists here prepare some tempting artisan libations with curious names including Knicker-Dropper Glory, Dollymop and Daylight Daisy, using ingredients as varied as peanut butter, kumquat compote and 'goldfish'! It's dark, sophisticated and stylish, with outdoor seating beneath the trees on Bree.

With 99 brands of ale, both local and international, and several more local craft beers on tap, beer lovers will think they've died and gone to heaven at this brightly designed and spacious joint in the heart of Long St. The balcony is a great spot from which to watch the world go by.

Combining a motorbike workshop with barbers, a boutique and a live music/DJ space, this is a homage to Americana, with tasty, inventive bourbon cocktails, US craft beers and Evil Twin Coffee from NYC.

Eye-popping displays of fresh fruits and vegetables lure in the Long St passing parade for the super-healthy and tasty juice mixes and smoothies here. Try Dr Ozzy's Lemonade, which has a peppery kick, or Fine Lady, which promises an improved complexion. The wraps, sandwiches and salads are all vegetarian, too.

Climb the narrow stairway beside the Royale Eatery to find this hip bar decorated in retro furniture with DJs spinning funky tunes. Climb even further and you’ll eventually reach the roof deck, the perfect spot from which to admire the city’s glittering night lights.

Playwright Nicholas Spagnoletti and software engineer Edward van Kuik are the driving duo behind this fun, eccentric space in a gorgeous heritage building. Use antique telephones on the tables to chat with fellow patrons, place an order at the bar or send a telegram to someone you might have your eye on.

See the website for details of shows in the studio theatre upstairs.

There are over 70 types of gin served at this relaxed, friendly place including their own concoctions infused with things like mango chutney and ginger beer. Sip your G&T or cocktail in the cosy lounge rooms or back courtyard hung with fairy lights.

This slick rooftop bar, perched above Dear Me, is a stylish hang-out for cocktails and wine. The barnlike interior has exposed beams, a photo mural of Tokyo and a scarlet lacquered bar. Check the website for details of special events including free wine tastings (5pm to 7pm Wednesdays).

Whether you just want to graze on a few tapas-style dishes (each R45 to R60) or cobble together a full meal, this super-relaxed venue is the business, serving inventive if not strictly Spanish nibbles alongside excellent wines, many by the glass.

Cerveza-quaffing and tapas-munching crowds spill out from this spacious and authentically Spanish looking bar all days of the week. Its basement DJ space the Catacombs is open 7pm to late Wednesday to Saturday.

Not much other than fair-trade coffees from across Africa and a few sweet snacks are served in this chic cafe, which has space to spread out and a relaxed vibe despite all the caffeine.

At the base of the Portside, Cape Town's newest and tallest building, this groovy cafe gives others a run for their money with their expertly made coffees and delicious coconut and date cake. They also sell (and play) old LPs.

A pioneer of the artisan coffee scene, Deluxe is a tiny cafe with what looks like a giant kit model for a Vespa hanging on the wall. Ask the baristas if you can have one of the burlap coffee bags as a souvenir.

For those not familiar with the conventions of British theatre, this elegant bar is named after pantomime dame Widow Twankey – which also happens to be the nickname for the shepherdess statue on the building's corner facade. The cocktails are good and there's super-fresh oysters and other tasty bar snacks.

Occupying the ground floor of a former brothel, this favourite with local hipsters, serving cocktails and tapas, will set you apart from the riff-raff on nearby Long St.

At this relaxed bar and casual restaurant, styled after British gastropubs, the colour divide of Cape Town melts away. The long balcony is a good place to cool off or keep tabs on Long St, enjoying two-for-one cocktails 4pm to 7pm Monday to Thursday.

Seek out alternative dance events, such as vintage soul and R&B nights curated by Vinyl Digz (www.facebook.com/VinylDIGZ), at this free-flowing experimental events space in the industrial area of Paarden Eiland.

One of Cape Town's newest craft breweries has set up shop next to the Yacht Club. They only make a Belgian-style amber ale which includes seven ingredients – hence the brewery's name which is also a reference to a brewer who worked in the same spot 150 years ago.

The old Purple Turtle dive bar has morphed into this stripped-back, on-trend coffee roasters and cafe. It's connected to the Imperial Bar, which is also a cool, colourful space for a drink when you need a break from the Long St hustle.

Taking its name from the lofty storey it occupies, this glitzy club provides stunning views of the city should you need a breather from the dance floor.

The latest glam incarnation for this perpetually name-changing venue. It promises a crowd of beautiful people, so check your looks in the mirror before chancing your luck with the bouncers.

Primarily, this is a laundry, which is hidden behind a shopfront festooned with colourful, arty whatnots and wine, as the place triples up as a cafe-bar, gift shop and wine cellar. Come for a glass of wine or a coffee along with a plate of steamed Korean dumplings, the main food offering.

There are branches on Bree and Buitenkant Sts, too.

The best place for gays and the gay friendly to dance the night away – it helps that there are hunky bar dancers dressed only in skimpy shorts and glitter. Downstairs it’s hands in the air to the latest pop and dance anthems, while upstairs (usually only open weekends) the beats are harder and more eclectic.

This fun gay-friendly bar and dance venue, up a floor from the street, has a devoted crowd of young boys and girls who are always ready to bop to the DJ’s poppy tunes.

The action is mainly on the upper level where dark rooms and cubicles provide a venue for punters to dabble in whatever or whomever they fancy. At ground level, the streetside balcony is a popular spot to smoke and watch the comings and goings.

There’s a pool table in the nonsmoking area, a small boutique for a fashion makeover (or sex toy), and in the connected Backstage bar, a live midnight shower show by the twinky barman.

Leather and latex daddies and their acolytes gather at this small bar with a cosy dark room upstairs. Check the website to make sure you’re dressed (or undressed) appropriately for whatever theme is on that night, otherwise you might not be let in.

The pioneer and stalwart of De Waterkant's gay scene remains a highly popular bar and restaurant, not least for its wraparound deck, which provides a dress circle on the passing scene. It's recently been taken over by the Madame Zingara group and given a zhush of industrial-meets-cowboy chic.

Here since 1906, the Fireman’s is a Capetonian institution. Inside, the Rhodesian and old South African flags remain pinned up alongside a collection of firemen’s helmets and old ties. Come to watch rugby on the big-screen TV, grab some seriously tasty pizza or down a lazy pint or two. Thursday is quiz night.

Apart from great coffee, the traditional bagels here are pretty awesome too. Book ahead for the coffee and tea appreciation courses (R500).

Part of the Capetonian trend of combining motorbike/bicycle works with a coffee shop, Los Muertos is a curious, hipster neighbour for the southern hemisphere's oldest mosque across the road. It stocks its own biker fashions and surfboards, too.

A spacious loft space above La Parada is a showcase for local design talent across fashion, jewellery, homewares, stationery and artworks. There's a great selection of men's, women's and kids' wear here including the cute graphic T-shirts of Mingo Lamberti.

This smashing gallery, next to Prins & Prins but something of a hidden gem, mashes up collectable antiques and works by key South African and African artists such as Walter Battiss with more contemporary stuff from emerging talents. It doubles as a cafe and cigar lounge, a smart move to encourage visitors to linger and browse the eclectic art and design.

The range of local music here, including jazz, kwaito (a form of township music), dance and trance recordings, can’t be surpassed; and the staff are knowledgeable about the music scene. You’ll also find DVDs and other souvenirs.

Michael Chandler showcases his quirky ceramic homewares and decorative pieces in this well-edited collection of imaginative local arts and crafts, which includes cushions, prints and playful design pieces.

This ‘African salon store’, in one of Long St’s more beautiful buildings and boasting a terracotta art nouveau facade, is a gallery of top contemporary design – from fashion to stationery – sourced from across the continent. There’s also a cafe.

African Image has a fab range of new and old crafts and artefacts at reasonable prices, including the funky, colourful pillow covers and aprons of Shine Shine. You’ll find a lot of township crafts here, as well as wildly patterned shirts.

This attractive gallery is on two levels; downstairs you'll find regularly changing exhibitions of local crafts such as pottery, while upstairs has permanent displays of colourful stitched panels depicting rural scenes and other Pedi crafts from the Limpopo province. They make charming gifts.

Swedish immigrant Alexander Höjer has her workshop here, fronted by a boutique stocking her chic men's and women's fashions in tailored linen, denim, cotton and leather. The distressed T-shirts are neatly packaged in boxes decorated with snaps of her rock-and-roll dad.

Höjer also has a small boutique outlet in the Lifestyle on Kloof mall.

Two fashion businesses share premises here: Missibaba, the brand of Woodstock-based designer Chloe Townsend, who hand-makes colourful bags, belts and other accessories, some with craft input from the townships; and jeweller Kirsten Goss (www.kirstengoss.com), who takes inspiration from South Africa for her gold-plated sterling silver pieces.

From a small shopfront beneath the Commune.1 gallery, Africandy sell their well-edited range of creative products, including hanging mobiles, limited-edition prints, and asymmetric bowls cast in concrete.

Meaning 'Mother's Children' but also slang for 'How's it going?', this attractive new place stocks high-quality, locally made kids clothing and soft toys as well as ceramics, art and other things for grown-ups. There are plans to open a cafe here, too.

Olive oil and other locally sourced organic ingredients are used for the high-quality bath, body and perfumery products, including scented candles, displayed in this chic artisan apothecary.

A microcosm of the continent, with a bewildering range of arts and crafts (which you should certainly bargain over). There’s also the cheap cafe Timbuktu, with seating on the balcony overlooking Long St, a tailor and music shop, and the publishers of the pan-African newspaper Chronic Chimurenga (www.chimurenga.co.za), packed into three floors.

Colour-coordinated items pack this emporium of all things African, tribal and crafty. It supports local artists, who sell some of their beadwork and jewellery here.

Take your time leafing through the best range of books on South Africa and the continent, with a great secondhand section upstairs. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, it’s unlikely to be in any of the other many bookshops along Long St (although there’s no harm in browsing).

Set over three levels, this treasure-trove of modern African design offers an eclectic range, including ceramics, beachwear, jewellery and printed fabrics. There are stylish gift cards, boxes and wrapping, too.

Appropriately, Heritage Sq, which has the oldest vine in South Africa still producing grapes, is the location for the tasting room of Signal Hill Wines, the country's only city-based winery. They offer small, rare batches of their wines which are made from grapes harvested from a small vineyard at the foot of Table Mountain.

Packed with a wide range of local artworks at a range of price points. Look for the humorous colourful pieces by David Kuijers, puppets and ceramics.

A very groovy little shop stocking a great range of locally produced souvenirs, from Electric Zulu print T-shirts and cute Bokkie shoes to African music CDs.

Greg Dale’s gallery, in a historic building that was once a mortuary, is primarily focused on sculpture and installations, exhibiting established and emerging South African artists.

A forerunner of the funky boutiques blooming along Long St, Mememe was started by award-winning sculptor and fashion designer Doreen Southwood in 2001. It’s a showcase for young Capetonian designers and labels such as Adam & Eve, Morphe Odonata and the shoe designer Buqisi Ruux from Nairobi.

It may sound like a kid’s puppet show, but this cute boutique showcases pretty clothes for adults by local labels such as Coppelia and Good. You'll also find accessories such as Ballo glass frames (www.ballo.co.za), made from recycled paper and off-cut timber in Woodstock.

At the studio of Philippa Green and Ida-Elsje you’ll find the work of two talented jewellery designers, both of whom have caught international attention. Green’s signature pieces are her chunky Perspex cuffs, hand-stitched with patterns and graphic text, while Elsje specialises in delicate earrings and necklaces. They also collaborate on the striking Situ range of diamond jewellery.

An old Huguenot House makes a suitably salubrious venue for investing in some of South Africa’s mineral wealth, in wearable form.

If you want a little something made from exotic leather or animal skins – think zebra, springbok, crocodile and ostrich – then this is your place. It does regular cowhide leather too, but doesn’t that sound boring compared to purple-dyed crocodile?

The designs of Heather Moore, printed on cotton and cotton-linen mix, can be found in several other shops, but here you can view the full range made up into cushions, table runners, lampshades and the like, plus you can purchase cloth by the metre.

Stocks the beautiful ostrich-eggshell-decorated accessories made by Avoova – each one is a unique piece. You’ll also find Masai beadwork from Kenya here, and a few other carefully selected crafts.

After years of collecting comics, records, cameras, graphic prints and other pop culture and retro collectables, the team behind this quirky and certainly eye-catching gallery-shop-cafe have turned sellers. They also stock vinyl platters and CDs by local artists such as the Kalahari Surfers.

Browse the booths in this compact arcade, offering a range of antiques and bric-a-brac, and you’re likely to find something of interest, from dusty old books and pieces of silverware to art and furniture. There are several more antique and curio stores on Long St if you can’t find what you’re looking for here.

The showroom and atelier of Malcolm Klûk (once an apprentice to John Galliano) and Christiaan Gabriel du Toit are combined here. Expect haute couture, with similarly haute prices, and some more affordable prêt-à-porter pieces.

Exhibition space for the nonprofit Association for Visual Arts (AVA), which shows some very interesting work by local artists. Pick up signed prints of works by the famous local cartoonist Zapiro.

One of the most stylish and desirable collections of contemporary African textiles, arts and crafts. You’ll find potato-print fabrics made by women in Hout Bay, Karin Dando’s mosaic trophy heads, Ronel Jordaan’s handmade felt rock cushions (which look like giant pebbles) and a wonderful range of ceramics and jewellery.

There's a smaller branch at the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront.

The motto is ‘anything you can dream up in wire we will build’. And if you visit this social project, designed to create sustainable employment, and see the wire sculptors at work, you’ll see what that means! It stocks an amazing range, including working radios and chandeliers, life-sized animals and artier products such as the Nguni Cow range.

Colourful beadwork crafts, made by local township women, are Monkeybiz’ super-successful stock in trade – you'll find their products around the world but the largest selection is here. Profits are reinvested back into community services such as soup kitchens and a burial fund for artists and their families.

Baraka means ‘blessing’ in Arabic. Co-owner Gavin Terblanche has an eclectic eye for what works as a gift or quirky piece of home decor. Products include handmade leather journals and photo albums by Terblanche's own company Worlds of Wonder (www.worldsofwonder.co.za).

Tammy Violet Frazer, granddaughter of the inventor of Oil of Olay, is the creative perfumer behind this bespoke collection of luxury scents. Beguiling names such as After the Rains incorporate exotic local ingredients and come packaged in beautiful bottles and containers.

Cape Quarter is split over two adjacent locations. The newer, larger block is anchored by a snazzy branch of the supermarket Spar ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h7am-9pm Mon-Sat, 8am-9pm Sun), handy if you’re self-catering in the area – or indeed staying in one of the complex's luxury penthouse apartments. A food and goods market is held on the upper floors every Friday from 4pm.

The pungent smell of over 100 different herbs, spices and incenses perfumes the air at this cornerstone of the Bo-Kaap’s Cape Muslim community.

If you're after something art nouveau, art decor or of 20th-century design, then this expertly curated dealer is the place to head. The displays are like a mini-museum.