I’m in the process of planning an Africa trip with the family and looking for ideas of things to see/do while in Cape Town. I’ll be hunting just north of Jburg in the Limpopo area for week and then we are looking at flying down to Cape Town for a week. I’m also open to other places if you have any ideas let’s here what you guys have.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia, on the Zambezi. I'd stay on the Zambia side.

The V&A Waterfront near the harbor is a great place for the best restaurants and has enough shops to keep your wife very busy if she enjoys shopping.
Heading up Table Mountain is a must but check the weather first as it often gets cloud cover.
Stellenbosch and Franshoek are towns near by with the most gorgeous wine farms. There is many small reputable tour guides that will take you to the various farms, allowing you to enjoy the tasters without worrying about driving.
I would avoid Robben Island as sadly the government as spent zero money on maintaining it and it has now become a dump.
If you can I would also suggest going out on a boat cruise to seal island with a good chance of getting some Great White encounters.
In terms of wildlife and nature parks there is nothing that would compare to those found north of Joburg and near the Kruger. So I would suggest getting your "wildlife fix" there before heading to Cape Town.
Camps Bay is also extremely nice and beautiful, but can be expensive with a number of tourist traps so preplanning is vital.
Oh and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is incredible, with some of the rarest plants in the world found there. Its a relaxed place and may make for a good way to end of the trip.

Capetown is an awesome place and especially all of the harbor area - you will enjoy

You’re planning what we did about 5 years ago. Capetown is a neat place but not very safe for a white boy to wander around at night. Agree about Seal Island but have heard that the whale sharks have moved in and the great whites have moved on.

We hired, in advance, a guide who met us at the airport and hauled us around to the places we were interested in. Or, at least the places that my wife and daughter said we were interested in. The old sections of the town are more interesting than the new modern ones. Hotels will have English speaking tv channels. Be sure and get reservations in advance.

Emphasize being careful of your surroundings. Especially at night.

Listen to Dave Davidson!!

As Kingsview mentioned, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront has some marvelous restaurants (I could founder eating tiger giant prawns alone!) and wonderful shopping. Still, it's just another city (albeit a beautiful one) so the surrounding area is much more attractive to me.

We done it both ways: with a local driver and by hire (rental) car. Unless you're comfortable driving a "right hand drive" car on the left side of the road, do your blood pressure a favor and get a driver! I managed it, but it took a lot of the enjoyment for me as I had to stay so focused on what I was doing behind the wheel!

Driving south out of Cape Town towards Hout Bay, you get both a great view of the Atlantic coast and of the 12 Apostles (a series of craggy bluffs along the coast). Further south, Cape Point and its lighthouse and nature preserve are beautiful (mind the cheeky baboons!). On the East coast of the Cape Peninsula below Simon's Town is the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony...with more Jack-[censored] Penguins than you can shake a stick at! Fun for a giggle...

We really enjoyed the wine country around Paarl / Stellenbosch / Franschhoek. A truly beautiful area with some marvelous wines!

Have a great trip!

Mark

Criminals target people with valuables - phones, jewellery, cash, watches, laptops, etc. The colour of your skin makes no difference to the people who want to steal from you. Tourists often carry valuables so they get targeted - especially the soft targets. As is the case in many large cities around the world there are dodgy areas that you want to avoid completely - day or night but, as Dave suggests, especially at night.

Hiring at guide to take you around is a good idea.

I would highly recommend self-driving and self-guiding...figuring out a foreign place is all part of the adventure!!! I had the exact opposite experience from 218 Bee...I enjoyed driving and it only added to the enjoyment. My 23 year old daughter and I self-drove the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town...taking a full 7 days...including 3 days at a hostel in Cape Town. At no point did we ever feel unsafe. You are no less safe than you would be in an unfamiliar large city in the US. Don't go wandering around by yourself at 2 am...but feel confidant to go to the Waterfront. We spent about 7 hours alternating shopping and sharing an appetizer at a restaurant until we had visited at least 4 of the really nice restaurants until almost midnight. We were always in well lite places with other people. Be smart and enjoy yourself!

PS Pay attention to water restrictions as Cape Town is in a severe drought right now!!!!!

Hell, that drought was going when I was there 4 or 5 years ago. Sign in the hotel bath room to please not flush when you just pee.