Cape Town
South Africa.
South Africa · 1 districts · 15 vibes
19 handpicked hostels in Cape Town, sorted by traveler rating.
Cape Town's hostel scene splits along its neighbourhoods: Long Street and the City Centre for bars, board games and walking tours within staggering distance of each other; Green Point for rooftop terraces and a five-minute walk to the V&A Waterfront; Sea Point and Bloubergstrand for beach-facing dorms with a promenade or braai included; and Observatory for a slower, student-town pace near the university. Backpackers picking a base first decide how much nightlife they want at the front door, then how far they're willing to travel for Table Mountain, the beaches or Kirstenbosch.
What to do in Cape Town.
Pick a vibe. Get a focused guide with ranked picks.
Best Hostels in Cape Town
19 handpicked hostels in Cape Town, sorted by traveler rating.
THE BIG - Luxury Backpackers
A newly renovated hostel in Green Point, five minutes' walk from the V&A Waterfront and Sea Point Promenade, combining hotel-level styling and daily housekeeping with hostel-style social spaces, a pool, braai area and free breakfast.
Surfhostel Cape Town
A beachfront hostel four minutes from Blouberg Beach with direct beach access, a year-round outdoor pool, sun terrace and garden, offering bicycle parking and free private parking, 23 kilometres from Cape Town International Airport.
Never at Home Green Point
A Green Point hostel a short walk from the V&A Waterfront and FIFA Cape Town Stadium, with air-conditioned rooms including a female-only option, key-card access, in-room lockers and beaches under a ten-minute drive.
SweetStay - Kloof Street
An adults-only hostel on Kloof Street with soundproofed rooms and hypoallergenic bedding, a modern restaurant serving Japanese, Korean, Middle Eastern and international cuisine, plus a hot tub, sun terrace and karaoke.
A Sunflower Stop Backpackers
A Green Point hostel next to Green Point Common between Table Mountain and Three Anchor Bay, with an outdoor pool, a traditional South African braai and a communal kitchen, 20 minutes' walk from the V&A Waterfront.
Never at Home Kloof Street
A Kloof Street hostel with rooms facing Table Mountain or Lion's Head, offering guided hostel hikes to summit both, a rooftop bar, key-card access and a female-only dorm, restaurants and bars within walking distance.
Villa Viva Cape Town
A guesthouse spread across four Victorian houses in the City Bowl with high ceilings, a colourful garden, a pool and a Table Mountain view, built around a bar, courtyards and a community-events focus rather than standard dorm life.
House on the Hill
An eco-conscious, owner-managed guesthouse in Green Point one kilometre from the V&A Waterfront, self-catering with a fully fitted basement kitchen, a flowered terrace and free parking, arranging skydiving and shark cage diving.
Zebra Crossing Backpacker
A City Centre hostel with a garden, bar and on-site coffee shop, serving a full English or Irish breakfast daily, 3.1 kilometres from Robben Island Ferry and 4.4 from the V&A Waterfront, with private check-in.
91 Loop Boutique Hostel
A design-forward hostel on Loop Street in the City Centre, a short stroll from Long Street and Green Market Square, with a 24-hour front desk, an in-house bar and restaurant, and a mix of en-suite dorms and private pods.
Long Street Backpackers
A party-focused hostel directly on Long Street in the City Centre, 300 metres from Company's Garden, with a bar stocked with board games, billiards and a ping pong table, plus dorm, single, double and twin rooms.
CURIOCITY Green Point
A large social hostel in Green Point, under a kilometre from Three Anchor Bay Beach and under two from the V&A Waterfront, with a rooftop bar, shared kitchen, yoga classes and a packed events calendar including stand-up comedy nights.
Green Elephant Backpackers
A budget hostel in the student neighbourhood of Observatory with an outdoor pool, barbecue facilities and a women-only dorm, close to Groote Schuur Hospital, offering on-request breakfast and themed home-cooked dinners.
Foools Inn - Trendy Rooms available in the Heart of Sea Point!
A Sea Point property eight minutes' walk from Sunset Beach with private-bathroom rooms, city views, a sun terrace, restaurant and bar, plus a minimarket and hairdresser on-site, 4.9 kilometres from the V&A Waterfront.
Serenity Shores Backpackers
A Bloublergstrand hostel six minutes' walk from Blouberg Beach with an outdoor swimming pool, garden and outdoor fireplace, sharing bathrooms with baths and showers, staffed by Afrikaans and English-speaking reception.
claremont AN guesthouse
A small, low-key guesthouse in Claremont with a ground-floor shared-bathroom unit, a shared kitchen and free on-site parking, 5 kilometres from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and away from the City Centre crowds.
CURIOCITY Kloof Street
A City Centre hostel on Kloof Street with a sun terrace, shared kitchen and full-day security, offering private and shared bathrooms and family rooms, roughly five kilometres from Table Mountain and the V&A Waterfront.
Urban Hive Backpackers
A Victorian heritage building on Long Street with two street-facing balconies looking toward Table Mountain, offering single, twin, double and dorm rooms, a communal kitchen, a billiard room and a TV lounge.
MoTown by Mojo
A brightly decorated Sea Point hostel five minutes from Mojo Market and 500 metres from Sea Point Promenade and beach, with a shared kitchen, bicycle rental and live music, all rooms sharing a bathroom.
Hand-picked guides.
Nearly every hostel on this Cape Town list has some form of outdoor garden space, from Villa Viva's colourful City Bowl courtyards to Sereni…
Cooking your own meals cuts a real chunk off a Cape Town backpacker budget, and the hostels that do it best go beyond a hot plate in the cor…
Stand-up comedy nights are a narrow slice of Cape Town's hostel scene, run consistently by only a handful of properties: CURIOCITY Green Poi…
Long Street runs the bar scene that most Cape Town hostels build their nights around, and a handful of properties put a bar inside the build…
THE BIG - Luxury Backpackers is the clearest option in Cape Town for a genuinely free breakfast included in the room rate, served alongside …
Live music turns a Cape Town hostel bar into a scheduled event rather than background noise, and three properties run it consistently: CURIO…
A rack of board games sitting by the bar is what turns a quiet hostel lounge into the easiest place in Cape Town to meet the person at the n…
A packed events calendar is what separates a Cape Town party hostel from a place that just happens to have a bar, and three properties run i…
Never at Home Kloof Street runs the clearest rooftop bar option among Cape Town's hostels on this list, paired with rooms facing Table Mount…
A scheduled movie night gives a hostel evening a fixed start time, which matters when half the dorm is deciding between staying in and headi…
A scheduled happy hour gives a Cape Town hostel evening a fixed meeting point, and a small group of properties run it well: CURIOCITY Green …
A free walking tour leaving straight from reception solves the first-morning problem that every solo traveller in Cape Town faces: where to …
Cape Town's beach hostels split between two coastlines: Sea Point's promenade, where MoTown by Mojo sits 500 metres from the water, and Blou…
Renting a bike straight from the hostel cuts out a separate errand on a Cape Town trip, and a handful of properties make it genuinely easy: …
Female-only dorms are a limited but real option in Cape Town, run by two properties under the same brand: Never at Home Green Point and Neve…