Cape Town Voted “Best World City” in Telegraph Travel Awards
Mark Benson on December 17, 2008

Located on the shores of Table Bay, Cape Town is one of the world’s top tourist destinations and has now been voted the ‘Best World City’ in the 2008 Telegraph Travel Awards…

Stunning Cape Town in South Africa fended off competition from major tourist cities like San Francisco and Sydney to claim the top spot in the recent awards.

The awards, which polled 40,000 people, also saw South Africa claim a place in the top three of the ‘Best non-European Country’ category.

A whopping 92 per cent of respondents said that the credit crunch will have no effect on holiday destination choices. The top destinations on earth were voted as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada, whilst top cities were Cape Town, San Francisco, Sydney and Vancouver.

Situated on the southwestern tip of Africa, Cape Town is recognised as one of the most beautiful places on earth. Offering a range of attractions, breathtaking sights and endless activities, it is a year-round holiday destination with friendly people, a mild climate and rich cultural heritage.

Known as the ‘Mother City,’ Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa and has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years.

It also has the top five national tourist attractions in South Africa, including Table Mountain; the V&A Waterfront, a unique shopping and holiday experience on a scenic working harbour; Robben Island, the former home of Nelson Mandela; the Cape Town Wine Routes, where some of the world´s best wines are produced and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world.

Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariëtte du-Toit Helmbold said, “We are thrilled with the news.

“Cape Town is well-placed to receive visitors looking for value for money and an authentic experience.

“Cape Town has so much more to offer that visitors generally end up coming back to see and do more,” she added.

South African Tourism UK Country Manager Lebohang Mokhesi said, “Value for money and the strength of the pound compared with other world currencies appear to have been a deciding factor for readers when voting for Cape Town.

“Cape Town is one of the world’s most beautiful cities and to receive such an accolade from consumers themselves is great recognition of the wonderful tourism offering it has developed.

“Word-of-mouth advertising was a key component to spreading the good word about South Africa in the UK.

“It is near impossible for anyone to visit and not share their experiences with friends and family on their return. During this period of economic downturn, value for money is at the forefront of traveller’s minds.

“South Africa has always offered value for money and, with the current exchange rate as it stands, visitors’ money goes even further,” she added.

Cape Town was also recently voted one of ten cities in the world that are most likely to become a global sustainability centre by 2020.

But, remember it’s not all about the destination; it’s about the journey too. The awards found people’s favourite airlines to be the long-haul specialists Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

http://www.nubricks.com/archives/1493/cape-town-voted-best-world-city-in-telegraph-travel-awards/

yoruba:

Cape Town Voted “Best World City” in Telegraph Travel Awards
Mark Benson on December 17, 2008

Located on the shores of Table Bay, Cape Town is one of the world’s top tourist destinations and has now been voted the ‘Best World City’ in the 2008 Telegraph Travel Awards…

Stunning Cape Town in South Africa fended off competition from major tourist cities like San Francisco and Sydney to claim the top spot in the recent awards.

The awards, which polled 40,000 people, also saw South Africa claim a place in the top three of the ‘Best non-European Country’ category.

A whopping 92 per cent of respondents said that the credit crunch will have no effect on holiday destination choices. The top destinations on earth were voted as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada, whilst top cities were Cape Town, San Francisco, Sydney and Vancouver.

Situated on the southwestern tip of Africa, Cape Town is recognised as one of the most beautiful places on earth. Offering a range of attractions, breathtaking sights and endless activities, it is a year-round holiday destination with friendly people, a mild climate and rich cultural heritage.

Known as the ‘Mother City,’ Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa and has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years.

It also has the top five national tourist attractions in South Africa, including Table Mountain; the V&A Waterfront, a unique shopping and holiday experience on a scenic working harbour; Robben Island, the former home of Nelson Mandela; the Cape Town Wine Routes, where some of the world´s best wines are produced and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world.

Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariëtte du-Toit Helmbold said, “We are thrilled with the news.

“Cape Town is well-placed to receive visitors looking for value for money and an authentic experience.

“Cape Town has so much more to offer that visitors generally end up coming back to see and do more,” she added.

South African Tourism UK Country Manager Lebohang Mokhesi said, “Value for money and the strength of the pound compared with other world currencies appear to have been a deciding factor for readers when voting for Cape Town.

“Cape Town is one of the world’s most beautiful cities and to receive such an accolade from consumers themselves is great recognition of the wonderful tourism offering it has developed.

“Word-of-mouth advertising was a key component to spreading the good word about South Africa in the UK.

“It is near impossible for anyone to visit and not share their experiences with friends and family on their return. During this period of economic downturn, value for money is at the forefront of traveller’s minds.

“South Africa has always offered value for money and, with the current exchange rate as it stands, visitors’ money goes even further,” she added.

Cape Town was also recently voted one of ten cities in the world that are most likely to become a global sustainability centre by 2020.

But, remember it’s not all about the destination; it’s about the journey too. The awards found people’s favourite airlines to be the long-haul specialists Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

http://www.nubricks.com/archives/1493/cape-town-voted-best-world-city-in-telegraph-travel-awards/

And so. You be travel agent!!

you should tell them about the cape flats too.!!

morpheus24:

And so. You be travel agent!!

you should tell them about the cape flats too.!!

Tell them what about cape flats? so for every positive he must justfied it by mention the negatives as well ,and what good do you think that will do?.Yoruba is showcasing all the nicest place one can visit while on holiday(I know you're looking for a place to stay but we're talking about holidays here) in Cape Town and I don't think Cape Flats are tourist attraction,so what are you trying to say? and what are you trying to prove?

RSA:

Tell them what about cape flats? so for every positive he must justfied it by mention the negatives as well ,and what good do you think that will do?.Yoruba is showcasing all the nicest place one can visit while on holiday(I know you're looking for a place to stay but we're talking about holidays here) in Cape Town and I don't think Cape Flats are tourist attraction,so what are you trying to say? and what are you trying to prove?

Yoruba and RSA. The problem here is that, when you start saying some thing good more especially about South Africa, People start comparing when there is no need to compare. You can't compare Cape Town by Beauty with any city in Africa. Even Joburg does not come close. I particularly dont like Cape Town, but damn the city is beautiful. I can't imagine my self living there, but that does not take away the beauty of the city.

And this thing of comparing South Africa and Nigeria in every thing is not wright. The countries first of all are incomparable. Nigeria has amlmost 300 tribes with 140million people whereas SA has 4 Tribes with only 48million people. I dont know why people do this. But i guess people are trying to agure about who is the super power of Africa.

Comparing Cape Town and Abuja, come on, just do justice to the city of abuja. You can't even Compare Abuja and Pretoria. Abuja is like a Mini Sandton. Come on lets be realistic.

Cant even compare abuja with Pretoria

paddy_lo:

Have u been to ABUJA Or Nairobi, its the same shit,matter of fact i prefer ABUJA since its in my country,nairobi is cool too
cape town was voted best but abuja was voted second best, they are both the same,places for the rich to live and enjoy and if u are middle class or poor nothing for u

ABUJA NITE PICS BELOW

I have been to abuja before, it's a very nice place thou, still developing

No comparisance

Africa's Best Cities
1. Cape Town, South Africa. Regarded by many people as Africa's best city, when all is said and done, a first-world city in substance and image. The streets of Cape Town, posh, with well-manicured grass; trees,and flower gardens, look more like a park than busy boulevards.

In 2001, it was voted by viewers of the CNN programme Inside Africa as the Best City in Africa, and with generally good reason.

Cape Town conveys a feeling of wide space, of having fewer people per square kilometre than any major city in Africa, of being a location further from the madding crowd than any other in Africa, a city where entry is by invitation only, so to speak.

It almost bears an air of exclusivity, of being the preserve of the upper middle class, of conservative chic, and of being a city that seems almost entirely a residential suburb, a mall, a health club, and a library. It is hard to find any litter and garbage anywhere.

The architecture is outstanding and like much of what there is in South Africa, is based around late 19th century English forms. For example, the parliamentary buildings in Cape Town, seat of the country's national assembly, are white, with columns crowned with beautiful Corinthian capitals.

Other places of note in Cape Town include the Company's Garden. The city is host to the beautiful, fortress-like Castle of Good Hope, which commemorates the birth of western civilization on the African subcontinent in 1652. The Waterfront is a medley of piers, anchored boats and entertainment and shopping places such as the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront shops.

Cape Town has the full range of the amenities for the lifestyle of any of the major western cities --- Opera, symphony orchestra, exquisite international cuisine, from African, to Greek, Indian, Chinese, and Italian.

It is, to put it simply, an exceptional African city, where everything works seamlessly and where standards of living are among the highest in the world.

Apart from its outstanding beauty and modernity, Cape Town has also become, increasingly, the centre of the country's film production industry. Several films and commercial videos have been filmed in Cape Town.

Set at the foot of Table Mountain, this city is much cheaper in costs for the film and advertizing industries than Europe and the United States, and yet offers about the same quality of production, better scenery, hence its rising status as the place of choice in which to shoot advert video clips or film sets.

Cape Town feels like a cousin to California's Beverly Hills area, the city of Sydney in Australia, and Christchurch, New Zealand.

However, because Cape Town is largely the domain of the White South Africans --- with their characteristically European reserve and individuality (and for whom even a trip to the beach on a holiday entails the reading of that week's issue of the Economist magazine) --- it can sometimes feel like a lonely city to live in.

Like most western societies, the impression can dawn on the outsider (especially the Black African, accustomed to the social network of extended family and friends) that plants and animals are more attentively and affectionately attended to in Cape Town, than are people.

Nonetheless, Cape Town is a great place that most people generally agree is Africa's number one city.

2. Victoria, Seychelles. For two years, 1997 and 1998, the capital of the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles was the host city of the Miss World beauty pageant finals, which would be an understatement in describing its other-worldly charm.

Since the year 2000, Victoria --- capital of the smallest country in Africa --- has also become a major getaway for dozens of the world's biggest entertainment stars.

Victoria brings forth images of small, cute, clean, neat, quiet, a place away from the cynicism of the cut-throat commercial world.

Yet, ironically, it could be, per capita, the most expensive city in Africa, the high cost being brought on by the stream of jet-setter celebrities who abode there every once in a while, which really is to say, all year round.

Like Cape Town in South Africa, Victoria presents the impression of the pleasant place to go and be away from the mundane, over-crowded world elsewhere.

Victoria recalls to mind the Tanzanian paradise island of Zanzibar, all coconut trees, blue sky, acres of white sand, shimmering heat, and an inducement of the feeling that 21st century fast-paced digital time and fuss has all been left behind.

Except that Victoria is not fully Zanzibar.

Perhaps because of the combination of tiny population and an economy based on tourism, Victoria is the one city in Africa where the sight of beggers, the unruly youths, and the dispossesed, is the least likely to to be found.

But in addition to that sense of being away from it all, is added the sparkle of tropical life, with plam trees above one's head, grey-white sand at one's feet, and the beauty of beauties, the turquoise green-blue sparkle of the Indian Ocean.

Victoria, although catering to an international clientele of the western well-to-do, remains distinctly African, in its informality, simplicity, and sense of cheer.

3. Pretoria, South Africa. The Union Buildings in the country's capital city have the same neo-Greek architecture as the Capitol buildings in Washington DC; the foreground of the Union Buildings are beautiful, terraced gardens.

The buildings of the University of South Africa in Pretoria are reminiscent of those of the Pepperdine University in Malibu, California; brown, craggy walls, modern with no attempt at protraying classicism, Loa Angeles-like, and near the main entrance of the main building are handsome fountains that rise from and splash into a mini lake.

Church Square, which was the source of Pretoria, features rugged stone walls and sturdy, unpainted buildings. Dozens of statues depicting South Africa's long history adorn the city centre.

With architecture similar to that of the Union Buildings, the Transvaal Museum of Natural History is another of Pretoria's outstanding attractions. Melrose House is a period museum and specializes in period furniture.

Pretoria, like Cape Town, comes across as a city in which the madding crowd features less prominently than in most other African cities.

But Pretoria can feel even more intimidating than Cape Town in the sense of formality and structure. Nothing seems to jut in Pretoria.

As such, it does feel a little like European cities such as Vienna in Austria or Stockholm, Sweden --- highbrow, set in the midst of high art, more mental than emotional, with a certain Germanic orderliness.

Pretoria is one of Africa's star cities.

4. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. This South African town prides itself as being the "Oxford of Africa", with a higher concentration of good schools that any other city in Africa.

It is particularly British in heritage, being at the heart of Zululand, yet also referred to as "the last outpost of the British empire."

Because of its Victorian heritage, much of the architecture in the city has a central European flavour, a certain Vienna-esque feel. The most striking example of this central European air is the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg, a pretty pink-brown building with multiple domes and a spire on which stands a clock.

The city is especially notable for its many parks, including the Botanic Gardens.

5. Port Louis, Mauritius.

6. Johannesburg, South Africa. In terms of basic industrialization and infrastructural complexity, Johannesburg is Africa's most advanced city, about five times the size of the Kenyan capital Nairobi (which itself is the largest city in East and Central Africa).

The skyline at the heart of Johannesburg city can sometimes, depending on from where it is glimpsed, seem to be a section of downtown New York City; Johannesburg has the largest concentration of skyscrapers of any city in Africa, with glass, steel, and concrete skyscrapers protruding into and marking out the skyline.

Viewed by night, a city filled with brilliant lights and the sparkle of medernity. Some people who have driven through the streets of Johannesburg say a number of the roads are better than many in western Europe.

Johannesburg, built upon the gold mines of the late 19th century as as close to being big, industrialized Europe as any city in Africa, for those for whom Europe is the yardstick of advancement.

This large city is the headquarters of many, if not most, of South Africa's huge industry. It is the location of the Johannesburg International Airport, the busiest international airport in Africa.

The Emmarentia Dam is a popular place for boating enthusiasts.

Other water-centred attractions are the Bruma Lake and the Randburg Waterfront, which are a similar concept to Cape Town's Waterfront. The Gold Reef City re-enacts the early city of Johannesburg.

The city bustles with life and all walks of it, from the globe-trotting business executive to the downtrodden homeless.

Not that Cape Town and Pretoria are without their less fortunate lot; but Johannesburg seems to have a wider range of social classes than either Pretoria or Cape Town.

Because of this, it feels a bustling place to be, much like New York City. It is full of life, night and day, fast-paced, gregarious, and crowded in an exciting sort of way, with the upper middle class and the seedy low life equally represented.

For this same reason, unfortunately, Johannesburg like New York has been the home of an unusually high crime rate, at one point in 1999, the highest of any city in the world. Midday, mainstreet car jacks and armed robbersies are not unsual in Johannesburg.

An unfortunate blot on an otherwise beautiful and sophisticated city which to many people epitomizes the South Africa that is the largest and most advanced economy by far in Africa.

7. Nairobi, Kenya. The city of Nairobi has itself alone to blame for not being a better African city than it is today. It had all the opportunities in the past, the infrastructure, and (rare for Africa) decades of uninterrupted stability.

But despite its self-inflicted decline, it is still one of Africa's largest and most interesting cities.

More public facilities, more shopping centres with a wider variety of goods, more entertainment points with greater degrees of fun, csn be found in Nairobi than in any other city in East Africa, as well as the Horn of Africa and Central Africa.

Or as one Ugandan marketing manager visiting the city in 2001 remarked on its position as a major regional city despite the dscline: "Kenya is still Kenya."

Nairobi is the host city of several United Nations agencies as well as other international organizations. It serves as the location of a number of international news agencies' regional bureaus, and has more high-rise buildings than any city of any country in East and Central Africa.

Of the three East African countriee --- Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania --- Kenya's economy accounts for 60 percent, Tanzania's is at 25 percent, while Uganda's is 15 percent in size.

Nairobi shows this difference in size. It is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone markets on the African continent, has several dozen hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops, large supermarkets, has one of the largest fleets of public buses and taxi vans, yet they never seem enough.

Nairobi also has one of the most internationally-minded populations of any city in Africa. It is not a surprise to encounter a South African who has no clue that Nigeria is in West Africa and not a neighbour of Botswana in the southwest of Africa.

A typical West African urban dweller might find it hard to differentiate Malawi from Lesotho.

The Nairobi crowd tends to be well-informed on average, because of the fact that the country is heavily dependent on foreign tourism for national revenue, and also that Kenya has been host to numerous refugee populations from neighbouring countries.

What stands out most about Nairobi is the people.

All Kenya's neighbours tend to be traditional in outlook --- Tanzania to the south with Roman Catholic and Muslim-dominated populations, Ethiopia to the north and Eritrea to the north-east, mainly Muslim and Orthodox Christian, Somalia to the northeast, Muslim, Uganda to the west, just silghtly Roman Catholic-dominated, but also Anglican Protestant, and Sudan to the northwest, Muslim.

The societies are male-dominated, with well-defined, subsidiary roles for women, and a certain demure public behaviour expected of them.

Kenya and Nairobi in particular, has a different culture, where it appears that both men and women behave in a masculine manner.

All across the streets on a weekday are hundreds of thousands of these good-looking Kenyans walking briskly, the conversations revolving around the corporate and the pursuit of money. Pregnant women will casually disembark from a slow moving bus even before its reaches the stop, while holding another baby in their arms.

Open, cooperative and warm in manner, yet unsentimental, very direct and aggresive at the same time, is the Nairobi character. Kenyans freely and laughingly describe themselves as "rough" and "fast".

The taxis play unbearably loud club re-mixes of hit disco music, as pasengers sit unperturbed in silence.

Despite Kenya's relative high economic standards, public buses remain congested, with as many people seated as stand in the bus corridor, with few showing discomfort on their faces.

Life for them, it seems, is not life if it is not one of hustle and rough-edged. They seem to expect and be comfortable with that.

The Nairobi people are easy to approach and interact with, but this drive and their "rough" collective personalities can leave people from more traditional and polite societies feeling emotianally exhausted after some time.

Many visitors from the countries that neighbour Kenya often find this trait disorienting and even unmannerly.

However, it is this upfront and direct demeanor, the Tom Boyish yet sophisticatedly feminine trait among the women and girls, that makes for the exciting and rigorous city that Nairobi is --- loud street corner evangelists, charming female radio Disc Jockeys, the sizzle of the nightclubs and recreational centres, and sense of something happening all the time.
http://www.africaalmanac.com/top20townscitys.html

Comparing Cape Town and Abuja, come on, just do justice to the city of abuja. You can't even Compare Abuja and Pretoria. Abuja is like a Mini Sandton. Come on lets be realistic.

and where exactly have u been in this world,i live in the us and i compare abuja to most american cities i visit and guess what only las vegas and miami come out tops,

u been to capetown or u just looking at pictures?, mini sandton my foot,dont worry one day u will visit these places too for yourself and see theres no big deal

its like the first time i went to london and was just dissapointed by the place,if u give all of lagos street lights trust me it looks just as good as london,perhaps better

so stop ogling pictures online,u should compare places u visited,not places u saw online

Ive been giving you International ratings, give us one foreign rating that places Abuja in the top 10 Africa's best city.

Africa's Best Cities
1. Cape Town, South Africa. Regarded by many people as Africa's best city, when all is said and done, a first-world city in substance and image. The streets of Cape Town, posh, with well-manicured grass; trees,and flower gardens, look more like a park than busy boulevards.

In 2001, it was voted by viewers of the CNN programme Inside Africa as the Best City in Africa, and with generally good reason.

Cape Town conveys a feeling of wide space, of having fewer people per square kilometre than any major city in Africa, of being a location further from the madding crowd than any other in Africa, a city where entry is by invitation only, so to speak.

It almost bears an air of exclusivity, of being the preserve of the upper middle class, of conservative chic, and of being a city that seems almost entirely a residential suburb, a mall, a health club, and a library. It is hard to find any litter and garbage anywhere.

The architecture is outstanding and like much of what there is in South Africa, is based around late 19th century English forms. For example, the parliamentary buildings in Cape Town, seat of the country's national assembly, are white, with columns crowned with beautiful Corinthian capitals.

Other places of note in Cape Town include the Company's Garden. The city is host to the beautiful, fortress-like Castle of Good Hope, which commemorates the birth of western civilization on the African subcontinent in 1652. The Waterfront is a medley of piers, anchored boats and entertainment and shopping places such as the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront shops.

Cape Town has the full range of the amenities for the lifestyle of any of the major western cities --- Opera, symphony orchestra, exquisite international cuisine, from African, to Greek, Indian, Chinese, and Italian.

It is, to put it simply, an exceptional African city, where everything works seamlessly and where standards of living are among the highest in the world.

Apart from its outstanding beauty and modernity, Cape Town has also become, increasingly, the centre of the country's film production industry. Several films and commercial videos have been filmed in Cape Town.

Set at the foot of Table Mountain, this city is much cheaper in costs for the film and advertizing industries than Europe and the United States, and yet offers about the same quality of production, better scenery, hence its rising status as the place of choice in which to shoot advert video clips or film sets.

Cape Town feels like a cousin to California's Beverly Hills area, the city of Sydney in Australia, and Christchurch, New Zealand.

However, because Cape Town is largely the domain of the White South Africans --- with their characteristically European reserve and individuality (and for whom even a trip to the beach on a holiday entails the reading of that week's issue of the Economist magazine) --- it can sometimes feel like a lonely city to live in.

Like most western societies, the impression can dawn on the outsider (especially the Black African, accustomed to the social network of extended family and friends) that plants and animals are more attentively and affectionately attended to in Cape Town, than are people.

Nonetheless, Cape Town is a great place that most people generally agree is Africa's number one city.

2. Victoria, Seychelles. For two years, 1997 and 1998, the capital of the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles was the host city of the Miss World beauty pageant finals, which would be an understatement in describing its other-worldly charm.

Since the year 2000, Victoria --- capital of the smallest country in Africa --- has also become a major getaway for dozens of the world's biggest entertainment stars.

Victoria brings forth images of small, cute, clean, neat, quiet, a place away from the cynicism of the cut-throat commercial world.

Yet, ironically, it could be, per capita, the most expensive city in Africa, the high cost being brought on by the stream of jet-setter celebrities who abode there every once in a while, which really is to say, all year round.

Like Cape Town in South Africa, Victoria presents the impression of the pleasant place to go and be away from the mundane, over-crowded world elsewhere.

Victoria recalls to mind the Tanzanian paradise island of Zanzibar, all coconut trees, blue sky, acres of white sand, shimmering heat, and an inducement of the feeling that 21st century fast-paced digital time and fuss has all been left behind.

Except that Victoria is not fully Zanzibar.

Perhaps because of the combination of tiny population and an economy based on tourism, Victoria is the one city in Africa where the sight of beggers, the unruly youths, and the dispossesed, is the least likely to to be found.

But in addition to that sense of being away from it all, is added the sparkle of tropical life, with plam trees above one's head, grey-white sand at one's feet, and the beauty of beauties, the turquoise green-blue sparkle of the Indian Ocean.

Victoria, although catering to an international clientele of the western well-to-do, remains distinctly African, in its informality, simplicity, and sense of cheer.

3. Pretoria, South Africa. The Union Buildings in the country's capital city have the same neo-Greek architecture as the Capitol buildings in Washington DC; the foreground of the Union Buildings are beautiful, terraced gardens.

The buildings of the University of South Africa in Pretoria are reminiscent of those of the Pepperdine University in Malibu, California; brown, craggy walls, modern with no attempt at protraying classicism, Loa Angeles-like, and near the main entrance of the main building are handsome fountains that rise from and splash into a mini lake.

Church Square, which was the source of Pretoria, features rugged stone walls and sturdy, unpainted buildings. Dozens of statues depicting South Africa's long history adorn the city centre.

With architecture similar to that of the Union Buildings, the Transvaal Museum of Natural History is another of Pretoria's outstanding attractions. Melrose House is a period museum and specializes in period furniture.

Pretoria, like Cape Town, comes across as a city in which the madding crowd features less prominently than in most other African cities.

But Pretoria can feel even more intimidating than Cape Town in the sense of formality and structure. Nothing seems to jut in Pretoria.

As such, it does feel a little like European cities such as Vienna in Austria or Stockholm, Sweden --- highbrow, set in the midst of high art, more mental than emotional, with a certain Germanic orderliness.

Pretoria is one of Africa's star cities.

4. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. This South African town prides itself as being the "Oxford of Africa", with a higher concentration of good schools that any other city in Africa.

It is particularly British in heritage, being at the heart of Zululand, yet also referred to as "the last outpost of the British empire."

Because of its Victorian heritage, much of the architecture in the city has a central European flavour, a certain Vienna-esque feel. The most striking example of this central European air is the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg, a pretty pink-brown building with multiple domes and a spire on which stands a clock.

The city is especially notable for its many parks, including the Botanic Gardens.

5. Port Louis, Mauritius.

6. Johannesburg, South Africa. In terms of basic industrialization and infrastructural complexity, Johannesburg is Africa's most advanced city, about five times the size of the Kenyan capital Nairobi (which itself is the largest city in East and Central Africa).

The skyline at the heart of Johannesburg city can sometimes, depending on from where it is glimpsed, seem to be a section of downtown New York City; Johannesburg has the largest concentration of skyscrapers of any city in Africa, with glass, steel, and concrete skyscrapers protruding into and marking out the skyline.

Viewed by night, a city filled with brilliant lights and the sparkle of medernity. Some people who have driven through the streets of Johannesburg say a number of the roads are better than many in western Europe.

Johannesburg, built upon the gold mines of the late 19th century as as close to being big, industrialized Europe as any city in Africa, for those for whom Europe is the yardstick of advancement.

This large city is the headquarters of many, if not most, of South Africa's huge industry. It is the location of the Johannesburg International Airport, the busiest international airport in Africa.

The Emmarentia Dam is a popular place for boating enthusiasts.

Other water-centred attractions are the Bruma Lake and the Randburg Waterfront, which are a similar concept to Cape Town's Waterfront. The Gold Reef City re-enacts the early city of Johannesburg.

The city bustles with life and all walks of it, from the globe-trotting business executive to the downtrodden homeless.

Not that Cape Town and Pretoria are without their less fortunate lot; but Johannesburg seems to have a wider range of social classes than either Pretoria or Cape Town.

Because of this, it feels a bustling place to be, much like New York City. It is full of life, night and day, fast-paced, gregarious, and crowded in an exciting sort of way, with the upper middle class and the seedy low life equally represented.

For this same reason, unfortunately, Johannesburg like New York has been the home of an unusually high crime rate, at one point in 1999, the highest of any city in the world. Midday, mainstreet car jacks and armed robbersies are not unsual in Johannesburg.

An unfortunate blot on an otherwise beautiful and sophisticated city which to many people epitomizes the South Africa that is the largest and most advanced economy by far in Africa.

7. Nairobi, Kenya. The city of Nairobi has itself alone to blame for not being a better African city than it is today. It had all the opportunities in the past, the infrastructure, and (rare for Africa) decades of uninterrupted stability.

But despite its self-inflicted decline, it is still one of Africa's largest and most interesting cities.

More public facilities, more shopping centres with a wider variety of goods, more entertainment points with greater degrees of fun, csn be found in Nairobi than in any other city in East Africa, as well as the Horn of Africa and Central Africa.

Or as one Ugandan marketing manager visiting the city in 2001 remarked on its position as a major regional city despite the dscline: "Kenya is still Kenya."

Nairobi is the host city of several United Nations agencies as well as other international organizations. It serves as the location of a number of international news agencies' regional bureaus, and has more high-rise buildings than any city of any country in East and Central Africa.

Of the three East African countriee --- Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania --- Kenya's economy accounts for 60 percent, Tanzania's is at 25 percent, while Uganda's is 15 percent in size.

Nairobi shows this difference in size. It is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone markets on the African continent, has several dozen hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops, large supermarkets, has one of the largest fleets of public buses and taxi vans, yet they never seem enough.

Nairobi also has one of the most internationally-minded populations of any city in Africa. It is not a surprise to encounter a South African who has no clue that Nigeria is in West Africa and not a neighbour of Botswana in the southwest of Africa.

A typical West African urban dweller might find it hard to differentiate Malawi from Lesotho.

The Nairobi crowd tends to be well-informed on average, because of the fact that the country is heavily dependent on foreign tourism for national revenue, and also that Kenya has been host to numerous refugee populations from neighbouring countries.

What stands out most about Nairobi is the people.

All Kenya's neighbours tend to be traditional in outlook --- Tanzania to the south with Roman Catholic and Muslim-dominated populations, Ethiopia to the north and Eritrea to the north-east, mainly Muslim and Orthodox Christian, Somalia to the northeast, Muslim, Uganda to the west, just silghtly Roman Catholic-dominated, but also Anglican Protestant, and Sudan to the northwest, Muslim.

The societies are male-dominated, with well-defined, subsidiary roles for women, and a certain demure public behaviour expected of them.

Kenya and Nairobi in particular, has a different culture, where it appears that both men and women behave in a masculine manner.

All across the streets on a weekday are hundreds of thousands of these good-looking Kenyans walking briskly, the conversations revolving around the corporate and the pursuit of money. Pregnant women will casually disembark from a slow moving bus even before its reaches the stop, while holding another baby in their arms.

Open, cooperative and warm in manner, yet unsentimental, very direct and aggresive at the same time, is the Nairobi character. Kenyans freely and laughingly describe themselves as "rough" and "fast".

The taxis play unbearably loud club re-mixes of hit disco music, as pasengers sit unperturbed in silence.

Despite Kenya's relative high economic standards, public buses remain congested, with as many people seated as stand in the bus corridor, with few showing discomfort on their faces.

Life for them, it seems, is not life if it is not one of hustle and rough-edged. They seem to expect and be comfortable with that.

The Nairobi people are easy to approach and interact with, but this drive and their "rough" collective personalities can leave people from more traditional and polite societies feeling emotianally exhausted after some time.

Many visitors from the countries that neighbour Kenya often find this trait disorienting and even unmannerly.

However, it is this upfront and direct demeanor, the Tom Boyish yet sophisticatedly feminine trait among the women and girls, that makes for the exciting and rigorous city that Nairobi is --- loud street corner evangelists, charming female radio Disc Jockeys, the sizzle of the nightclubs and recreational centres, and sense of something happening all the time.
http://www.africaalmanac.com/top20townscitys.html

Best African Cities:
http://www.africaalmanac.com/top20townscitys.html
@paddy-lo
Ive tried to search for Abuja, but it is nowhere near the in best cities in Africa. All what you saying is just opinions not facts. Pretoria and Nairobi is by far beautiful than Abuja. I say that because Ive been to those cities.

The sad part is your pictures doesn't even sell your argument, from now on this "Abuja" thing should stop(I find it irritating) and we should now stick to the topic at hand which is about Cape Town. If you wanna talk about a different city(that includes Pretoria) open a new thread. PLEASE

how many of those homes you have shown are occupied by black people?

walakolobo:

how many of those homes you have shown are occupied by black people?

How am I supposed to know? Should I knock at every single household and check if there is a black person living there. South African suburbs are now becoming racially diverse, there are Indians, Coloureds, Japanese/Chinese, Whites and Blacks. Although the poorer communities are dominated by Coloureds and Blacks.

I say that because Ive been to those cities.

yea right,u sound like someone that has not been anywhere,my friend nobody posts pictures and rants like u about places they have been to without posting pictures of themselves in those places

someone asked u about black people in those places and u are like i dont know,well that just shows how dumb u sound,and if u mad about me bringing up abuja,mehn theres nothing i can do for u cause i dont share your love affair with cape town

and i know kenyans who have been to abuja who prefer it to nairobi,so stop tryna sell your colo mentality here

RSA:

Tell them what about cape flats? so for every positive he must justfied it by mention the negatives as well ,and what good do you think that will do?.Yoruba is showcasing all the nicest place one can visit while on holiday(I know you're looking for a place to stay but we're talking about holidays here) in Cape Town and I don't think Cape Flats are tourist attraction,so what are you trying to say? and what are you trying to prove?

Don't be touchy now Mr. RSA. I like your Capetown city very much but Yoruba looks like he is about to climb on top of the city and start humping her.

I am simply putting warning sticker that despite her beauty she does have some "Kro-kro" here and there so let noone be deceived so they get teh overall picture.

Its like showing off South beach in Miami without telling people there are areas like Little Haiti you can end up getting shot in.

morpheus24:

Don't be touchy now Mr. RSA. I like your Capetown city very much but Yoruba looks like he is about to climb on top of the city and start humping her.

I am simply putting warning sticker that despite her beauty she does have some "Kro-kro" here and there so let noone be deceived so they get teh overall picture.

Its like showing off South beach in Miami without telling people there are areas like Little Haiti you can end up getting shot in.

Ok! I know,Yoruba is a first Naijaman(if he is) I've seen declaring love for everything South African,I'm sure he's married to one of those small waist big asss girl that we have .I mean the one that makes big man cry like babies .But without taking a piss at anyone will have been proud to be Capetonian.

Now Mr. Mo I expect you to be here during the world cup,it's your duty to be here.Your love for SA is unquestionable,and like I've said before we are willing to host you if you have no other plans.WOZA 2010!

RSA:

Ok! I know,Yoruba is a first Naijaman(if he is) I've seen declaring love for everything South African,I'm sure he's married to one of those small waist big asss girl that we have .I mean the one that makes big man cry like babies .But without taking a piss at anyone will have been proud to be Capetonian.

Now Mr. Mo I expect you to be here during the world cup,it's your duty to be here.Your love for SA is unquestionable,and like I've said before we are willing to host you if you have no other plans.WOZA 2010!

I am already ordering my Naija jersey, mini vuvuzela and checking out plane tickets as we speak.

This is a once in a life time opportunity and I ain't missing it for nothing

RSA:

Ok! I know,Yoruba is a first Naijaman(if he is) I've seen declaring love for everything South African,I'm sure he's married to one of those small waist big asss girl that we have .I mean the one that makes big man cry like babies .But without taking a piss at anyone will have been proud to be Capetonian.

Now Mr. Mo I expect you to be here during the world cup,it's your duty to be here.Your love for SA is unquestionable,and like I've said before we are willing to host you if you have no other plans.WOZA 2010!

They are crazy about the chicks that you're talking about here in Pretoria, RSA. Go to Sunnyside, Pretoria, there is too many of them, with small waist and round asss. Guys from Naija are loosing their minds when they see these girls. But you cant blame them, they are not used to such ladies. There is this lady that i know who has that body and she has been milking this Nigerian guy money like there is no tomorrow, the guy is even married but cant afford to leave this young lady.

Go to Sunnyside Pretoria, you will see naija brothers spending money on these chicks, and  these chicks are just there to chow money.

morpheus24:

I am already ordering my Naija jersey, mini vuvuzela and checking out plane tickets as we speak.

This is a once in a life time opportunity and I ain't missing it for nothing

I see dissaster with the ticket sales. The day after the draw all the ticket would be sold out, i am telling you. There is only 800 000 tickets left.

I really like all the pictures. Thanks for sharing the vital information.

Hotel in Shropshire

Cape Town na nice city sha.
Was there in '06, stayed at the Protea in Sea Point. Very seedy neighbourhood, was almost mugged twice.
Had a nice evening at a waterfront restaurant (Fisherman's wharf I think it was called). The Canal Walk mall is huge also.

Good, at least the city is in Africa even though it was built by the whites but it's worth it after all they did to my fellow Africans. now can these whites be chased out of this beautify city (joke)

1,2:

I see dissaster with the ticket sales. The day after the draw all the ticket would be sold out, i am telling you. There is only 800 000 tickets left.

As a naija man . don't worry I go hustle am as usual

morpheus24:

As a naija man . don't worry I go hustle am as usual

Dont put yourself in a bad situation. You will be arrested.

1,2:

Dont put yourself in a bad situation. You will be arrested.

be arrested for buying the ticket from a third party?

::

malaika:

@AjanleKoko - were you mugged or were you almost mugged? which is it?

We welcome you all for 2010 world cup, at least the Super Eagles, Black Stars and the Cote d'Ivoire Elephants will give us lots to cheer about! Bafana Bafana

Malaika thanks for exposing this liar,I think she dreamt of being in Capetown Dont worry we are used to people like this,they talk but no action.
AjanleKoko you are officially banned from ever coming even thinking about visiting/staying we don't want liars/scammers here.If you do you'll get tyre aroud your neck

malaika:

@AjanleKoko - were you mugged or were you almost mugged? which is it?

We welcome you all for 2010 world cup, at least the Super Eagles, Black Stars and the Cote d'Ivoire Elephants will give us lots to cheer about! Bafana Bafana 

@malaika,
This happened October 2006. I was in Cape Town for AfricaCom.
Almost mugged. Nothing was taken. I was standing in front of the Protea Hotel, Sea Point, trying to get into a taxi, and all of a sudden a boy comes at me with a knife or something. We were separated by the open taxi rear door. I just stood there kind of confused.
Taxi driver comes out of the car ( you know you guys drive on the right) and starts shouting something, and the guy takes off.
Was quite rattling.
If I remember right, the hotel is in some sort of side road, off the main road that runs parallel to the waterfront. There is another Protea right on the waterfront. The area (Sea Point) I found was a bit on the seedy side.

RSA:

Malaika thanks for exposing this liar,I think she dreamt of being in Capetown Dont worry we are used to people like this,they talk but no action.
AjanleKoko you are officially banned from ever coming even thinking about visiting/staying we don't want liars/scammers here.If you do you'll get tyre aroud your neck

More of these forensic post-researchers.
I thought we Nigerians had the exclusive on the insults. You are not definitely the first to insult me or call me a liar here on Nairaland. Welcome to the club.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am no transgendered. I'm a guy. And what do you mean by talk but no action? Was I supposed to stand on my head or something?
You couldn't possibly ban me from visiting Cape Town if you tried.

As an afterthought, RSA, why don't you get a mod to send me your email address via PM? Unfortunately, there is no way I can make my identity public here. But I can share that with you offline. But you would have to come back here and make a public apology. Same also goes for all the other nairalanders who have hurled insults at me at one time or the other.

AjanleKoko:

@malaika,
This happened October 2006. I was in Cape Town for AfricaCom.
Almost mugged. Nothing was taken. I was standing in front of the Protea Hotel, Sea Point, trying to get into a taxi, and all of a sudden a boy comes at me with a knife or something. We were separated by the open taxi rear door. I just stood there kind of confused.
Taxi driver comes out of the car ( you know you guys drive on the right) and starts shouting something, and the guy takes off.
Was quite rattling.
If I remember right, the hotel is in some sort of side road, off the main road that runs parallel to the waterfront. There is another Protea right on the waterfront. The area (Sea Point) I found was a bit on the seedy side.

More of these forensic post-researchers.
I thought we Nigerians had the exclusive on the insults. You are not definitely the first to insult me or call me a liar here on Nairaland. Welcome to the club.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am no transgendered. I'm a guy. And what do you mean by talk but no action? Was I supposed to stand on my head or something?
You couldn't possibly ban me from visiting Cape Town if you tried.

As an afterthought, RSA, why don't you get a mod to send me your email address via PM? Unfortunately, there is no way I can make my identity public here. But I can share that with you offline. But you would have to come back here and make a public apology. Same also goes for all the other nairalanders who have hurled insults at me at one time or the other.

Just be happy because you were not robbed. You could be robbed any where in the world, in london, New York, Detroit, Paris, Munich. Its not some thing that only happens in SA.

Jelousy is a sin. Cape town is most beautiful city IN THE WORLD!!! Milan & Rio are nothing comaped to Cape Town infact I think it is Criminaly UNDERRATED!

Funny bringing an old post back to life after almost two years.

Looking at the topic, the OP is strictly talking about the beauty of Cape Town , I wonder why some people are talking about Abuja, I think another thread should be opened for Abuja instead,