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You are here: Home / Travel / Africa / Why Cape Town is the world’s most fabulous city.

Why Cape Town is the world’s most fabulous city.

August 23, 2013 By Lauren M 30 Comments

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Yes, I am Capetonian and yes that makes me bias, but in my defence I’ve been lucky to visit six continents and have a reasonable size pool of cities to compare it with. Whilst we may have crime and a largely corrupt government (like so many parts of the world), the beauty of our city is unparalleled along with our vibrant, talented inhabitants and every tasty food imaginable. I challenge anyone to visit Cape Town and not fall completely in love with this cosmopolitan peninsula at the tip of Africa. Here’s why I think it’s the greatest…

Our people

I’ve experienced that locals can either make a break a destination for those visiting. For me, South Africans are the greatest wealth of our nation. South Africa at large is one of the friendliest nations there is. We are a warm, expressive bunch who smile freely and easily at strangers, greet each other when in close proximities and apologise when bumping into each other. We form the most diverse crowd with locals who are white, black, Indian, coloured and Asian. With 11 official languages, a plethora of cultures and religions, we really know how to mix it up. As a nation we’ve dealt with the good, the bad and the ugly of discrimination and we’re all the better for it. We feel deeply, we’re honest (blunt at times) and at our core I believe we desire to uplift and encourage more than anything.

Fabulous Cape Town

Fabulous Cape Town.
Beautiful Capetonians.

Fabulous Cape Town.
A man on stilts at a open-air concert in Town.

Fabulous Cape Town.
A young boy at a soccer match.

Fabulous Cape Town
Just a small part of my wonderful, loud and vibrant family.

It’s indescribable natural beauty.

I’ve seen some beautiful cities in my 28 years, some with great forests, show-stopping mountains or dreamy beaches. Cape Town is one of those rare cities that have it all. At any point you can have the mountains and the ocean in your peripheral vision. At times Table Mountain could be on your left with the sun sinking below the Atlantic Ocean, whilst earlier in the day you may have surfed at the long Muizenberg beach with the mountains to your left. After a 45 minute drive you’ll find yourself in the heart of the winelands with sweeping views of vineyards awaiting harvest and preserved Cape Dutch homesteads. You can mountain bike in the forests of Tokai, hike up Lion’s head for full moon or watch the fishing boats come and go from Kalk Bay harbour. I could go on, but that would give it all away.

Fabulous Cape Town
Kalk Bay Harbour.

Fabulous Cape Town.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Simonstown.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Looking down at the city from Lion’s Head.

Food, glorious food.

Whilst Thai food, Italian food and Mexican food are some of my favourites, I don’t think there is a country with such an eclectic mix of cuisine that all tastes this good. The quality of meat is up there with that of Argentina’s, Australia and New Zealand and we will show you just how to prepare it. Boerewors rolls are famous amongst our locals and whatever the occasion, Saffers will gather to get a braai (bbq) going and put boerewors sausage on the coals as well as lamb chops, chicken, steak or whatever else is going. In Cape Town especially we have the largest group of Cape Malay settlers who have done wonders to influence our local cuisine. Butter chicken, breyani, samosas, baboti, koeksisters plus curry and roti are just some of the foods I grew up eating. We have some of the best gourmet restaurants, artisan foodie markets and bakeries around. You’ll find healthy, seedy breads, great cheeses, delicious coffee and some of the world’s best wine. I get ravenous just thinking about it all.

fabulous Cape Town
Delicious meat.

fabulous Cape Town
Crayfish on the braai.

Mediterranean style platters.
Mediterranean style platter of cheeses and humus.

It’s for everyone

Cape Town is for everyone under the sun from the lazy to hardcore adrenaline junkies. You can find your fix of hiking, abseiling, coffee shop lazing, party rocking, sunset picnicking, surfing, boat cruising and gallery browsing all within a few minutes of each other. Depending on the season, you can tan until your SPF factor allows, pamper yourself in serene day spas, shop until you can’t anymore, and watch a live rugby or soccer match, listen to a live band, be enthralled at the theatre or go SUP-ing in a canal.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Watch an open-air concert of local bands and singers.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Hiking Lion’s Head with Table Mountain behind us.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Surfing at Noordhoek Beach.

We are a bubbling pot of talent and entrepreneurial flair.

Whether you’re dancing to the sweet house beats of a local DJ on a rooftop, or sitting front row at Cape Town Fashion week, you’ll get a glimpse of the abundance of talent on these shores. Our design Indabas, blogging conferences, photography exhibitions, bboys, makeup artists, dancers and artisan markets all have one thing in common. They are artists added their talent to our creativity pot and joining the movement towards self-employment.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Local designers at the Blue Bird Garage in Muizenberg.

Fabulous Cape Town.
One of my favourite bands; 340ml( Hail from Mozambique and inherited by South Africa) performing in Cape Town.

fabulous Cape Town
Breakdancers at a Butan Wear ( SA Hip Hop influenced Streetwear) Fashion Show.

Fabulous Cape Town.
The Kaapse Klopse and performers at a concert in Cape Town.

Even in the rain, our inner city is pretty.

Unlike some cities I’ve had the displeasure of walking through in the rain, Cape Town’s little city centre does not resemble a post-apocalyptic town deserted by the humans-turned-zombies. They are not ugly to look at, are not rusting and appear to have been thought out before construction. We have our former colonies, England, Dutch and Portuguese settlers and French and German religious refugees to thank for some of the delightful European architecture found throughout the city. Visitors are often surprised at how ‘European’ Cape Town is with its plazas, town squares and European style architecture. Our city hall built in Italian Renaissance style, Art Nouveau touches added during the Modernist Movement between 1920-1930, the oldest original homestead in the Cape Malay quarter of the Bo Kaap, the Cape Dutch Architecture of Groot Constantia and the Castle of Good Hope a bit of 17-century and medieval architecture.

Fabulous Cape Town

Fabulous Cape Town

Fabulous Cape Town.
A building from 1896.

Fabulous Cape Town.
A church at Green Market Square.

Fabulous Cape Town.
One of the only ‘skyscrapers’ we have.

You’ll find us at the tip of Africa.

We are positioned where land and two oceans meet at the bottom of our continent and for this reason you know there’s gotta be a certain magic in the air. Cape Agulhas, a few hours from the Cape Town, is the true southernmost tip of Africa. But once in Cape Town, you can drive as far south as possible and enter the Cape Point Nature Reserve (a World Heritage Site) to find the Southwestern most tip of Africa. The point where the Agulhas and Benguela currents meet will fluctuate seasonally between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point. At this point where land juts spectacularly out to sea echoes many a tale of sailors and ships lost to the seas. First dubbed ‘the Cape of Storms’ by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, by day it served as a landmark for ships by and on foggy nights, caused many a shipwreck along the coast. Walk up to the tallest point on the peak, the lighthouse built in 1859 which now serves to monitor all other lighthouses on our coast.

Fabulous Cape Town
African Penguins found on Boulders Beach on your way to Cape Point.

We get the best of all weather types.

With a Mediterranean climate, Cape Town experiences dry, warm summer and relatively mild, wet winters. Capetonians live for the summer and everyone comes out for sundowners, parties, live music and drumming on the beach. Thankfully there is no humidity here and the heat is dry and glorious meaning that you won’t constantly be sweating (South East Asia style) and you can get cooler in the shade. Our autumn doesn’t last long but distinctly turns all the vegetation shades of burnt reds, oranges and browns. Most locals just try to survive the winter’s onslaught of rain and cold whilst praying for the sun to return. On nearby mountains, it always snows and we get a chance to throw snowballs and make snowmen without living in the icy temperatures. Spring is spectacular as we are in the rich Cape Floral Kingdom and home to an abundance of fynbos. Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens is a great place to witness the flowers blooming and two hours from Cape Town, you can drive through fields of bright blooms in the Postberg section of the West Coast National Park.

Fabulous Cape Town
Spring along the West Coast 2 hours from Cape Town.

Fabulous Cape Town
The changing leaves in Autumn.

Fabulous Cape Town.
Cape Town summer along the Atlantic Seaboard.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is…I miss Cape Town, its people, food and beauty but I’m so glad I get to call it home.

What did YOU love about Cape Town?

Filed Under: Africa, Featured, Travel Tagged With: africa, cape coastline, cape point, cape town, mother city, south africa

Comments

  1. Jordi says

    August 23, 2013 at 3:14 pm

    Hola Lauren,

    I’ve also done my share of travelling and living abroad and I entirely agree with you, Cape Town is the most beautiful city I’ve been too. Although I’ve got mixed feelings about it. Will it still be the most beautiful one once it’s discovered by the travel masses?

    I left Barcelona (CT;s big sister if you want) 12 years ago and BCN is now a cosmopolitan city where it is easier to find a Swedish girl or a French couple than a local. We better enjoy CT thoroughly before the same thing happens there!

    Saludos,

    Jordi

    Reply
    • lauren says

      August 26, 2013 at 4:36 am

      So True Jordi, I hope it doesn’t change that drastically! Capetonians really love seeing foreigners enjoying our city but what would Cape Town be without her locals 😉

      Reply
  2. Annalene Gerber says

    August 24, 2013 at 1:17 am

    That’s just made me a bit homesick. What a truly beautiful City!

    Reply
    • lauren says

      August 26, 2013 at 4:37 am

      I am totally homesick too Annalene, writing about it’s beauty was a way to comfort myself I guess and serve as reminder that I will return 🙂

      Reply
  3. Trusted Luxury Cruises says

    August 29, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    What beautiful pictures of Cape Town. And the food looks INCREDIBLE!

    Reply
  4. Francoise Armour says

    September 16, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    Wow..what a lovely and comprehensive description of Cape Town, and stunning photos, too!

    We are indeed very fortunate to live here and I am proud to show it off to visitors. I don’t think we should worry too much about it becoming spoilt by too many visitors – it gets busy at peak season but we have what we call our ‘secret seasons’ when there are less visitors and yet the weather is still gorgeous and there’s lots to do and lots of space to do it in.

    Reply
    • lauren says

      September 16, 2013 at 3:24 pm

      Thanks Francoise, glad you enjoyed! I love being able to travel only to return and see my home with new, more appreciative eyes. My Dad is in the same industry as you and he loves the tour part of the business- being able to share this amazing places with visitors. Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Roxanne says

    September 16, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    Thanks for a heartfelt symphony to Cape Town’s allure. As an ex Joburger who made my home in Cape Town when I married, I’ve always thought it was a pity I came here so young because I’d never find a better place to live in South Africa! Cape Town and its people rock!

    Reply
    • lauren says

      September 16, 2013 at 3:26 pm

      My pleasure Roxanne! I totally get that, there are so many spectacular parts of this country, but I suspect none may be a better fit for me than Cape Town 😉

      Reply
  6. Carole M says

    December 14, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Have you been to Rio De Janeiro or Hobart, Tasmania? Look at Santorini in Greece.
    Table Mountain is just a flat boulder and is totally overhyped. From the top it is like looking down over any other coastal town from a great height except the top of the Mountain is barren.
    I was seriously underwhelmed by the scenery and you don’t mention the miles of scrubland in S Africa.
    Cape Town is just a town by the coast. Get over it. Rio is gorgeous, absolutely beautiful views and lots of greenery rather than boring rocks. The views from Rock of Gibraltar are just as stunning. Bu the way your airports including Cape Town are basic and not as plush as most USA airports. No doubt a reflection on the standing of the country,

    Reply
    • Vaughan says

      December 15, 2013 at 6:20 am

      Hi Carole,

      Firstly, apologies for taking so long to publish your comment, we were at a Christmas party last night when you posted it and haven’t had a chance to get back to you until now – the festive season is truly underway!

      The whole point of our travel blog is to get people communicating about the places they love (so thank you for visiting our site and joining the conversation) – we LOVE Cape Town and yes, because we were born and bred here, we are totally bias 🙂 We believe the city is far more than just a seaside town but if that was your experience then that’s ok (well, to be honest we’re kind of disappointed the Mother City let you down like that – when did you visit?). You must live in absolute heaven to have been so underwhelmed.

      I have never been to Rio or Hobart but can assure you they are both high on my priority list, thank you for cementing this! My wife visited Rio six years ago however and absolutely fell in love with it. The vibrance, the people, the music – she stills speaks of it as though she were there yesterday and she can’t wait to return!

      You’re right, South African infrastructure does have a long way to come in terms of meeting international standards – we are by no means “there” but we don’t pretend to be either. We are on a journey, we have issues to overcome and (I believe) we are making progress daily.

      I look forward to the day you return to our sunny shores and are blown away by the same things we are, perhaps drop us a line if you do ever come back and we’ll be more than happy to provide some helpful hints and share some insider secrets.

      Have a great day further and thanks again for your insights.

      Reply
    • Mexican guy says

      June 20, 2014 at 6:48 am

      Table mountain is rocky at the top because of the winds

      But behind table mountain is kirstenboesch which is greener than rios mountains and has far more flowers than rio de janeiro alone

      Sugarloaf mountain looks rocky as well

      And cape town has a way better climate than tropical rio

      Reply
  7. Carole says

    December 14, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    I knew you wouldn’t publish my comment.
    Typical south african can’t take any criticism!!
    Roll on world cup finals 2014–you should watch and marvel at Rio

    Reply
    • Vaughan says

      December 15, 2013 at 6:22 am

      It’s published 🙂

      Please read our reply and again, apologies for the 12 hour delay.

      We can’t wait for Rio 2014!

      Reply
  8. moses says

    May 14, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    carole youre such a bitch, rios waters are actually a sewage

    its disgusting , most cape town beaches are awarded with blue flags

    sorry I woulndt swim in rios shitty seaas http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/13/rio-surfing-event-could-be-threatened-by-raw-sewage-from-nearby-lagoon

    http://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-news/blue-flag-of-pride-flies-at-cape-beaches-1.1761690

    Reply
  9. Eunice Mithy says

    June 26, 2015 at 6:52 am

    I had to live there the last 5 months. The best months of my life.
    http://www.StudentsNtravelers.blogspot.com

    Reply

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