South Africa: Cape Town best city in the world

With summer now well underway, the results of the 2025 Telegraph Travel Awards are in.  

Readers of the British Telegraph newspaper have elected Cape Town as the best city in the world for the seventh time in a row. 

More than 20,000 travellers cast their votes.They placed the South African metropolis ahead of Seville in second place and Sydney in third, in a ranking revealed on Saturday. 

To explain this success, The Telegraph underlined Cape Town’s "photogenic power."

The city features iconic locations like Table Mountain and its famous cable car, or the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. 

Cape Town is used to taking the crown for greatest city on earth. Time Out magazine also placed it at the top of its list in January, based on a survey of travellers and experts.  

The city and its surroundings offer a wide variety of activities. Tourists can admire colonies of African penguins or go on a wine safari in the vineyards of the Cape Winelands.

South Africa’s oldest city is also home to a unique architecture.  

The Telegraph’s ranking echoes the city’s rising popularity among tourists. Cape Town’s international airport welcomed a record-breaking 10.4 million passengers in 2024.  

Other cities in the Telegraph’s top ten include Tokyo (fourth place) Venice (eighth place) and Singapore (tenth place).