Which is Africa’s best city?

Luxury traveller magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, has released the results of its annual readers’ choice awards – revealing Cape Town as the best African city.

The annual list, which is now in its 26th year, compiles information on the best cities, hotels and global destination. This year, the magazine claims to have compiled the most comprehensive list, based on 1.3 million votes on 16,000 destination.

World’s best cities

According to the magazine, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico took the top spot as the best city in the world, followed by Budapest, Hungary, and Florence, Italy, which tied for second place.

Four of the top 25 cities listed can be found in Italy – aside from Florence (2nd), Rome (8th), Siena (9th) and Venice (24th) were also included.

Cape Town was voted 11th overall, tied with Bruges, in Belgium.

City scores are an average based on six categories, rated out of 100. These categories are:

Culture
Friendliness
Atmosphere
Restaurants
Lodging
Shopping

Top 25 Cities in the world

#	City	Country	Score
1	San Miguel de Allende	Mexico	84.6
2	Budapest	Hungary	83.8
2	Florence	Italy	83.8
4	Salzburg	Austria	83.3
5	Charleston	USA	83.2
5	San Sebastián	Spain	83.2
7	Vienna	Austria	83.1
8	Rome	Italy	83.0
9	Siena	Italy	82.9
10	Québec City	Canada	82.7
11	Cape Town	South Africa	82.3
11	Bruges	Belgium	82.3
13	Vancouver	Canada	82.2
14	Kyoto	Japan	81.6
15	Prague	Czech Republic	81.3
15	Krakow	Poland	81.3
17	Victoria	Canada	81.2
17	Sydney	Australia	81.2
17	Santa Fe	New Mexico	81.2
20	Seville	Spain	81.0
20	Beirut	Lebanon	81.0
22	Paris	France	80.8
22	Melbourne	Australia	80.8
24	Venice	Italy	80.5
24	Barcelona	Spain	80.5

Looking at Africa, Cape Town was the only African city to make it into the top 25 – making it the best city on the continent, according to Condé Nast.

Cape Town’s category scores are:

Culture – 85.2
Friendliness – 82.9
Atmosphere – 86.8
Restaurants – 83.4
Lodging – 86.9
Shopping – 67.9

Marrakech, Morocco was voted the second best city in Africa, tied with another Moroccon city, Fez.

Top 5 cities in Africa

#	City	Country	Score
1	Cape Town	South Africa	82.3
2	Marrakech	Morocco	68.6
2	Fez	Morocco	68.6
3	Essaouira	Morocco	67.2
4	Luxor	Egypt	65.7

In the “Top 100 Hotels and Resorts in the World” category, La Residence in South Africa took the top spot – tied with Lodge at Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay, New Zealand.