India Venster is an exciting, short and sweet hike up Table Mountain. It is not an easy route but if you are reasonably fit and have a head for heights, this is definitely the route to go for.

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From the start of the hike which is to the right of the Lower Cable Car station, steps lead up to the Contour Path from where the real India Venster route starts, then basically following the path directly below the cable car. When you hear the singing and laughing of visitors above your head while you don’t even have enough air to breathe, you might end up asking yourself why you didn’t take the easy way by cable car instead. The simple answer: Hiking India Venster is awesome!

Hiking Table Mountain via this route requires you to pull yourself up and over some rocks and boulders with the help of handles and chains. This is a lot of fun but also the reason why India Venster is considered to be a dangerous hike.

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The total ascend is 670m from the start to the Upper Cable Car station and the total distance is a mere 2.5km. As I said, it’s short and sweet. After completing two thirds of the route, there is a beautiful picnic spot with views of the city bowl, Lion’s Head, Signal Hill and the ocean in the background. Some fascinating rock formations and fynbos are to be discovered on this route as well. There is one particular rock formation which gave this route its name. It appears there is a window (“Venster” in Afrikaans) in the shape of the Indian subcontinent.

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Please contact your AWOL hiking guides to book your private hiking tour of India Venster as this is the perfect Table Mountain hike for a sunny winter’s day. We will still be hiking whilst the cableway is closed for annual maintenance from the 27 July and 9 August 2015.