Internship Budgeting & Cost Calculator

Costs and considerations for your trip abroad
OPTION 01

Use the calculator

You can get straight into it just below - OR you can jump to detailed cost information for Cape Town, South Africa.

SEE DETAILED COST INFORMATION

*Please note that the costs included on this page are not exact and do fluctuate depending on exchange rates and the time of the year (in the peak summer season in Cape Town prices increase). This tool should only be used as a guide to help you roughly estimate costs.

OPTION 02

Learn about the various costs in Cape Town, SA.

Read detailed costs for different things in Cape Town.

Food Costs

How much does it cost to eat in Cape Town?

Cape Town has lots of budget friendly food options.  Here are some typical meals and their costs for eating in or out.

Eating In

  • Steak, fries and salad: £4.70
  • Nice Pizza, cooked from frozen: £4.00

Eating Out

  • Burger, fries and a salad: £4.00
  • Pizza with side salad: £5.30
  • Fillet Steak and Fries: £7.00
  • Fish Meal £8.25

Drink Costs

Beer, wine and cocktail costs in Cape Town

As well as being friendly for your food budget, Cape Town is easy on your drinks budget too!

We are surrounded by several world-class vineyards and we also have a thriving micro-brewery scene, offering hundreds of premium beers for you to sample too!

Here are some typical drinks costs:

Cost of Beer

  • Bottle of Beer: £1.50
  • Bottle of Beer (Local Brewery): £2.00
  • Pint of Draught Lager: £1.50

Cost of Wine

  • Glass of Local Red Wine: £2.00
  • Bottle of Local Red Wine: £6.50
  • Glass of Local White Wine: £2.00
  • Bottle of Local White Wine: £6.50

Cost of Other Drinks

  • Mojito Cocktail: £2.60
  • Pina Colada Cocktail: £2.60

Other Drinks

  • Catemba (Red Wine & Coke mixture): £2.50
  • Bottle of Coke: £1.00
  • Bottle of Water: £0.90

Accommodation Costs

Costs of hostels, AirBNB, apartments etc in Cape Town

Apartments (per week)

  • Room in student accommodation: 320
  • Basic Shared Apartment: £100
  • Luxury Shared Apartment: £100
  • Basic Studio Apartment: £100
  • Luxury Studio Apartment: £100

AirBNB Rooms (per week)

A sample of rooms from AirBNB:

Summary:

Simple room ≈ £20-25 per night

Luxury room ≈ £40-50 per night

Discounts are normally available for stays in excess of one week.


Other Costs

Home Expenses
  • One person weekly shop: £40
  • Internet access (broadband connection): £5
Travel Expenses
  • Five days bus travel to/from place of work: £20 (per week)
Uber Rates for Cape Town

uberX

Base fare: £0.29
Cost per min: £0.04
Cost per km: £0.29
Service fee: £0.00
Cancellation fee: £1.47

uberXL

Base fare: £1.17
Cost per min: £0.04
Cost per km: £0.29
Service fee: £0.00
Cancellation fee: £1.47

uberBLACK

Base fare: £0.88
Cost per min:: £0.07
Cost per km: £0.70
Service fee: £0.00
Cancellation fee: £2.65


Activity Costs

Cost of cultural events and activities in Cape Town
  • Live music gigs and similar entertainment events: £5
  • Cultural events
  • Exhibitions: £3
  • Museums: £3
  • Theatre productions: £3
  • Film at the cinema: £4
Costs of simple excursions and tourist activities in Cape Town

Here is a selection of different activities which we have classed as ‘Simple Excursions’ in the calculator above.

  • Cable car up table mountain: £15
  • Robben Island Tour: £17
  • Hout Bay Boat ride: £5
  • Wine Tasting tour: £25
  • Hop on Hop off bus: £10
  • Rugby game at Newlands: £8
  • Whale watching cruise: £30
  • Dolphin kayaking: £20
  • Townships tour: £18
  • Stand up paddle boarding: £10
  • Visits to markets: free
  • Hiking trails: free
Costs of big excursions and slightly wilder activities in Cape Town
  • Shark cage diving: £80
  • Abseiling Table Mountain: £60
  • Paragliding: £60
  • Skydiving: £120
  • Bungee jump: £65

Bridging Gaps can help organise all of the excursions above


Programme Costs

Bridging Gaps is one of a handful of providers of internships and volunteering opportunities in Cape Town. We have created three packages of internship programmes to suit all budgets and needs.
Our most basic internship programme (Bootstrap) costs £995 and our advanced internship programme (Concierge) costs £1495.

Bootstrap has a lower fee than the other internship programme providers, it is for budget-conscious travellers who wish to build their experience base on a shoestring.  Concierge offers a higher level of service and multiple extra benefits for an additional cost – which still makes it cheaper than other providers’ programmes.

Why do I have to pay for an internship in Cape Town?

Unfortunately due to South African law, paid internships are not available to foreigners without a work permit and sponsorship from a local company.  These are EXTREMELY difficult to obtain, therefore the norm in Cape Town is that all internships are offered on a voluntary basis. We will soon be publishing a comparison of different providers’ internship programme prices.