Guide · Markets

The Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town, and where else to graze

The Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town is the city's best-known weekend food market, but not its only one. Here are the markets worth planning a day around, with days, hours and getting there.

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Editorial team, foodtourcapetown.comUpdated October 26, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes36 sources

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Quick answer, by day

01Friday evening: Hout Bay's harbor market stays open until 9pm.¹
02Saturday morning: The farm market at the Waterfront opens at 08:00.²
03Weekend, from 9am: Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, Saturday and Sunday.³
04Any day: Time Out Market at the Waterfront, 13 kitchens, daily from 11am.⁴ ⁵
05Rule of thumb: Go early, bring a card and some cash, and arrive hungry.

Why markets are the easy way into Cape Town food

A market lets you eat the way the city eats on its days off: a little of this, a little of that, standing up or at a shared table. You can try several things for the price of one restaurant main, talk to the people who made them, and move on when you are full.³

Cape Town's markets also tell you where the food scene has been heading. The Old Biscuit Mill says the Neighbourgoods Market catalysed the city's market scene over a decade ago, and today the weekend also brings a farm market, a harbor market and a food hall.³ ⁶ ⁷

Each market has its own character, and its own day. Plan them around the week rather than squeezing several into one morning: they sit in different parts of the city, from Woodstock to the Waterfront to Hout Bay, and the best stalls sell out. If you have only one weekend in the city, pick two markets at most and give each a full morning, with time to sit down and watch the crowd.

A market weekend

Friday night to Sunday brunch

Friday evening

Hout Bay harbor

The Bay Harbour Market stays open until 9pm.¹
Saturday 08:00

Farm market

The Oranjezicht City Farm Market opens at the Waterfront.²
Saturday from 9am

Woodstock

Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill.³
Saturday evening

Food hall

Time Out Market, open until 11pm on Saturdays.⁵
Sunday

Your favorite again

Both weekend markets open on Sundays too.² ³

Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill

The Old Biscuit Mill, at 373-375 Albert Road in Woodstock, is a converted mill that, in its own words, holds restaurants, food stalls and a line-up of day and night markets.⁸ ⁹ Its weekend draw is the Neighbourgoods Market, which runs every Saturday and Sunday from 9am, rain or shine.³

The Mill's food and drink tenants include The Potluck Club and TTK Fledgelings, so the market sits next to two restaurants on South Africa's 2026 award list.¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹² That makes a market breakfast and a booked lunch an easy pairing on the same visit. Arrive soon after opening if you want a quiet look at the stalls; by late morning the courtyard is full and the queues at the popular counters grow long.

Plan the trip. On Saturdays the market takes over the Mill's parking, so there is none inside, but the MyCiti route 261 bus stops just outside and there is secure parking for R10 all day at the College of Cape Town opposite.¹³ ¹⁴ A taxi from the center is the simplest choice. The streets around the Mill are worth a short walk too, with murals and small design shops between the old factory buildings.

Days and hours

Cape Town's food markets at a glance

Market	Where	When	Note
Neighbourgoods Market	Woodstock	Sat & Sun from 9am	Rain or shine
City farm market	V&A Waterfront	Sat 08:00-14:30, Sun 08:30-14:30	Wednesday nights too
Time Out Market	V&A Waterfront	Daily from 11am	Cashless
Bay Harbour Market	Hout Bay	Fri 9:30am-9pm, weekends 9:30am-5pm	No pets

Days and hours as each market publishes them on its own site.³ ² ⁵ ¹⁵ ¹ ¹⁶

Three markets

Pick your morning

Weekends

Neighbourgoods

At the Old Biscuit Mill

Opens: 9am
Days: Sat and Sun
Getting there: MyCiti route 261

Plan the weekend

Earliest

City farm market

Granger Bay and Dock Road

Opens: 08:00 Saturday
Days: Sat and Sun
Extra: Wednesday nights

Plan the weekend

Friday night

Bay Harbour

31 Harbour Road, Hout Bay

Opens: 9:30am
Friday: Until 9pm
Weekends: Until 5pm

Plan the weekend

Decision helper

Which market fits your plans?

Let your free days decide.

I want the city's best-known market I am an early riser My free day is a weekday I want a Friday night out I want a guide to explain the food

Neighbourgoods

Every Saturday and Sunday from 9am at the Old Biscuit Mill.³

The farm market

Open from 08:00 on Saturdays.²

Time Out Market

Open daily, with 13 kitchens.⁴ ⁵

Bay Harbour Market

Open until 9pm on Fridays.¹

A food walk

10+ tastings, starting in the Bo-Kaap.

Every Saturday and Sunday from 9AM (come rain or shine) the popular Neighbourgoods Market brings even more local artisans, designers and foodies to the Old Biscuit Mill.

The Old Biscuit MillSource 3

The farm market at the Waterfront

The Oranjezicht City Farm began as a small community food garden in 2012, and today it runs a weekend market as well.⁶ On 6 December 2025 it moved across the road to a new market space at the V&A Waterfront.¹⁷

It stands at the corner of Granger Bay Boulevard and Dock Road and opens on Saturday from 08:00 to 14:30 and on Sunday from 08:30 to 14:30.² A Wednesday night market runs from 16:00 to 21:30, except in June and July.²

Come early for breakfast and the best produce, then walk along the harbor. The farm market is a good Cape Town food market for picnic supplies, too: buy bread, cheese and fruit in the morning and take them to the beach or up the mountain later. On a hot day, bring water and a hat: much of the market is outdoors, and the morning sun off the harbor is strong in summer.

Map

Where to eat: the Bo-Kaap, the city, the coast and the vines

First the streets around the Bo-Kaap where the food walks begin, then the markets and neighbourhoods around the city, then the wine towns inland.

Map of the Bo-Kaap and Cape Town city centre with the Bo-Kaap Museum, the Auwal Mosque, Greenmarket Square, Church Square and De Waterkant — Bo-Kaap and city centre

Map of Cape Town with the V&A Waterfront, the Old Biscuit Mill, Camps Bay, Hout Bay, Gugulethu and Groot Constantia — Around the city

Map of Cape Town and the wine towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl — The Winelands

1
Bo-Kaap Museum
A 1768 house at 71 Wale Street, open 09:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Saturday.¹⁸ ¹⁹ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
2
Auwal Mosque
South African Tourism calls it the oldest mosque in the country; dress modestly to go in.²¹ ²²
In Google Maps ↗
3
Greenmarket Square
Several of the city food walks compared on this site pass through this square.
In Google Maps ↗
4
Church Square
The African food and storytelling walk meets at the statue on this square.
In Google Maps ↗
5
De Waterkant
The booked food tour spends its third hour here, and the 12 pm and 1 pm tours from Tuesday to Saturday end at a pub in the area.
In Google Maps ↗
6
V&A Waterfront
Time Out Market, 13 kitchens, and the Oranjezicht City Farm Market at weekends.⁴ ²
In Google Maps ↗
7
Old Biscuit Mill
Neighbourgoods Market every Saturday and Sunday from 9am, at 373-375 Albert Road in Woodstock.³ ⁸
In Google Maps ↗
8
Camps Bay
Sidewalk restaurants and cafes line Victoria Road across from the beach.²³ ²⁴
In Google Maps ↗
9
Bay Harbour Market
Hout Bay's weekend market at 31 Harbour Road, open on Friday evenings too.¹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Gugulethu
Mzoli's, where you choose your meat at the butcher before it is grilled.²⁵
In Google Maps ↗
11
Groot Constantia
Called the first wine farm in South Africa by South African Tourism.²⁶
In Google Maps ↗
12
Cape Town
Both full food and wine days compared here collect you in the city.
In Google Maps ↗
13
Stellenbosch
A 45-minute drive from Cape Town, with more than 170 wine farms.²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
14
Franschhoek
French Huguenots settled mainly in this valley from 1688; its name means French quarter.²⁸ ²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
15
Paarl
Fairview here is recommended for cheese and wine pairings.³⁰
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Before a market morning

Bring

A card and some small notes
A shopping bag
A hat in summer

Remember

Go early: the best stalls sell out
No parking inside the Mill on Saturdays
No Wednesday night farm market in June and July
No pets at the Hout Bay market

Price check

Prefer a guide? What it costs your group

Choose a guided tasting and the number of guests.

Bo-Kaap food walk4 hoursfrom $141 Long city walk4.5 hoursfrom $161 Cooking class2.5 hoursfrom $49

People 2

Total from$282

from, per person $141

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Every line takes the cheapest fare per guest that Viator or GetYourGuide shows for that trip, times your number of guests, converted with the European Central Bank's reference rate. The seller's own checkout shows the exact total.

Video

A visit to the Woodstock food market

Until you tap play, the video stays unloaded.

Time Out Market: the market open every day

If your free day falls midweek, Time Out Market Cape Town is the answer. It opened at the Waterfront as the first Time Out Market in Africa, with 13 kitchens, four bars and 750 seats, some of them on the quay facing Table Mountain.⁷ ⁴ ³¹

It opens daily, from 11am to 10pm Sunday to Wednesday and to 11pm Thursday to Saturday, and it is cashless.⁵ ¹⁵ That makes it a market in spirit but a food hall in practice: no stalls closing at noon, no hunting for an ATM. Its long hours also make it a good fallback when the weather turns.

It is the easiest place to feed a group with different tastes, since each vendor has a child-friendly option on its menu.³² Our Waterfront page covers it alongside the starred restaurants nearby. Go mid-afternoon if you want a seat by the water without a wait, and save the evening for a restaurant somewhere else in the city.

Hout Bay's harbor market

Over the mountain on the Atlantic side, The Bay Harbour Market sits at 31 Harbour Road in Hout Bay.¹⁶ It opens on Friday from 9:30am to 9pm, and on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 9:30am to 5pm.¹

The Friday evening opening is the one to remember. A Friday night at the harbor, with dinner from the stalls, fits neatly after a day on the coast road.¹

The market allows no pets except certified guide or support dogs.¹⁶ Hout Bay is a drive or a long bus ride from the center, so make it part of a day on the Atlantic side rather than a special trip. Combine it with a drive along the coast and a stop at a beach on the way, and the market becomes the relaxed end of a long day.

What to eat at a market

Markets are the best place to try small portions of things you might not order as a full meal. Look for a koeksister, which South African Tourism says comes in two kinds: a plaited Afrikaans twist, and a Cape Malay one with lighter syrup, coconut and spice.³³

Boerewors in a roll is a classic snack to look for; South African Tourism describes it as a coiled sausage usually of beef and pork, spiced with coriander, nutmeg or cloves.³⁴ Biltong, dried beef, makes a good snack to carry and to take home.³⁵ Taste before buying a whole bag, and compare a few stalls: every maker has their own spice blend and their own idea of how dry it should be.

Wash it all down with rooibos, which South African Tourism describes as sweet and earthy, often with lemon and honey.³⁶ Then ask the stallholders what they recommend: at a market, the people behind the counter are often the cooks.

Planning a market weekend

A good order: Hout Bay on Friday evening, the farm market early on Saturday, then the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill later that morning.¹ ² ³ Keep Sunday for whichever you liked best, since both the farm market and Neighbourgoods open again.² ³

Bring a card for the food hall, which is cashless, and some small notes for stalls elsewhere.¹⁵ Wear comfortable shoes, bring a bag, and do not eat a big breakfast before you go. Keep receipts small and portions smaller, so you have room to try something from every row rather than filling up at the first stall you see.

If you would rather taste the city's cooking with a guide, the walking food tour this site books starts in the Bo-Kaap at 12:00 pm and covers 10+ tastings with every drink at its drink stops, from $141. It fits neatly after a morning at the farm market.

Book your afternoon