Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town

Go on a quiet weekday morning, before the Waterfront crowds arrive, when you can actually talk to the gallery team about what's on the walls. This is for contemporary South African art at a serious level — Nelson Makamo, William Kentridge and other names that show up in auction houses, not tourist prints. It works for anyone curious about art, solo or in a couple, and the staff will walk you through the current show without pushing a sale. Unusual for a commercial gallery: entry is free and nobody hovers. Worth knowing the space runs across two buildings on Portswood Ridge, so ask at the front which one has the show you want.