Cape Town has named as the number one tourist destination in 2014 according to THE New York Times, United States of America’s foremost newspaper.
The South Africa’s second-largest city secured the top spot ahead of Los Angeles, the Vatican and the Seychelles in the American newspaper’s list of 52 places to visit this year.
Its natural beauty, diversity of its people and the role it played in the victory of democracy were attributed to making the city a preferred destination for people from around the world.
According to the New York Times, Cape Town was described as a place to meditate on freedom and the creative life that followed.
The city, ranks among the most beautiful in the world. With its larger-than-life mountain overlooking the City Bowl, harbour, white beaches and Robben Island beyond, this is a tourists’ playground.
Two World Heritage Sites, the sprawling Winelands, nature reserves, botanic gardens and a buzzing waterfront are just the start of the adventure.
With a population of 3.7-million, Cape Town is South Africa’s second most populous city, a quintessential melting pot of creativity, cuisine and colour – including pink.
Its strategic geographic position at the tip of Africa has seen foreign visitors stopping off at the Cape since the 1400s, each contributing unique cultural influences that make up the fabric of modern-day Cape Town.
A mix of Malay, Dutch, French, Portuguese and African flavour is reflected in Cape Town’s stylish restaurant menus, where locally produced wines complement popular seafood and curry dishes.
Discover wines at source in the famous Cape Winelands by taking a day tour on one of six wine routes, and explore the historically rich adjacent towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl.
If you’d prefer to tap into hops rather than grapes, a number of locally brewed craft beers are sold at pubs in and around the city.
An abundance of flora may be appreciated within the city environs, from the magnificence of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden to a World Heritage Site featuring more than 9 000 fynbos (‘fine bush’) species in the Table Mountain National Park.
As the meeting point of many cultures, Cape Town is dotted with mosques, kramats, churches, synagogues and temples, while its architecture reveals examples of art deco, Cape Dutch and Malay engineering.
Cape Town’s beaches are a huge drawcard during the hot summer (November to February) months, while winter surf conditions are more favourable for all surf-related disciplines – including extreme wave riding at Dungeons, off Hout Bay.
