One of the oldest suburbs on the Cape Flats, this large suburb consists of a number of residential areas - Crawford, Garlandale, Bridgetown, Silvertown and Kewtown, to name but a few. Athlone is home to the Athlone Stadium - Cape Town´s foremost soccer venue and the most prominent landmark is the Athlone Towers (the old Athlone Power Station). The suburb has restaurants and cafes that serve traditional Malay and Indian food and delicacies.
The Wembley, a classic roadhouse (you can actually wait in your car to be served) and something of an institution in Cape Town. Ask anyone where Athlone is and they will refer to one of two major landmarks in the suburb - the Athlone Power Station - two large stacks that make up the coal fired electrical generating plant that is a feature of the city's landscape and out of operation.
Athlone's second major landmark is the Athlone Stadium, the home stamping ground of Ajax Cape Town and Santos Cape Town. At the moment, it is undergoing extensive upgrades leading up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when it will act as one of the main training venues in Cape Town.
The last five years has seen a growing number of bed and breakfast establishments and guest houses in Athlone. Athlone is also home to Club Galaxy, the oldest and most well known club in Cape Town. Since its opening in December 1978, Club Galaxy is the place where Cape Town parties. Tour Operators cover the Cultural, Historical and Political aspects of the area, whose residents were active in SA's political struggle.
Attractions in / near Athlone
It is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Ajax Cape Town and Santos Cape Town. The stadium holds 30,000 people and was built in 1972. The stadium is currently undergoing extensive upgrades in the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and will act as a main training venue in Cape Town.
Vangate Mall offers a world of shopping pleasure. There's over 150 world class stores as well as a traditional Moroccan Souk market, a host of culturally diverse eateries, and a number of outdoor flea market kiosks. There are speciality foods and spices, exotic fabrics and furnishings, vibrant fashions and accessories, crafts, leatherwear, jewellery, and a whole lot more.
For those looking for a laid-back approach to post-dinner drinks, the West End club offers sultry jazz on Thursday through to Saturday and is situated at the Cine 400 Building, College Road, Rylands. If jazz is not your thing, or if you are in the mood to party hard, the Galaxy Disco Restaurant is the place for you. Situated just below the West End, the Galaxy is one of Cape Town’s oldest and best clubs and features some of the hottest DJs Cape Town has to offer.
The Wembley Roadhouse is the center of the culinary universe of take-aways in Cape Town. The beauty of a roadhouse, of course, is that you don’t really take the food away, but merely over to your car, parked nearby, and gobble the delicious, piping hot food, which steams up your windscreen, as you watch the ebb and flow of the crowd around the take-away counter.
- Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is South Africa's second largest airport. Its service ranks among the highest in the world and has earned the World Travel Award for Africa’s leading airport for the last seven years running. As a tourist’s first encounter with South Africa, often en route to the numerous attractions of the Western Cape, the airport plays an important representative role.
Brackenfell is situated within the eastern region of the Cape Metropole. It is a peaceful residential suburb, close to the beautiful mountain scenery of Oostenberg and the start of the rural 