Named best city in Africa in 2012 by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine, Cape Town, South Africa, is a pure delight. [More.] “Its cultivated side, the bright lights and big buildings of the city center, collides with its geography — the dazzle and danger of the wind-whipped mountains and the two oceans that embrace it,” according to The New York Times.

Lots to do in the area

While prices went up during the 2010 World Cup, urban renewal continues in a city with a metro area of 3.5 million where rock-climbers and hang-gliders co-exist peacefully with professors, business professionals and politicians at the country’s National Parliament.  As anyone will tell you who has visited, Cape Town is mind-boggling and thrilling.

It’s also one of the world’s most multi-cultural cities that’s long been an intersection for Europe, Asia and Africa.  With mountains plunging to the sea, Cape Town offers a Mediterranean climate with dry, warm summers and mild, somewhat wet winters.  Its biodiversity is celebrated around the world.