Sydafrika

Mpumalanga is one of South Africa’s smallest provinces and one of its most exciting. Visually, it's as beautiful as it is diverse, with mountain vistas, lush green valleys, arid bush, subtropical plantations and cool-climate towns. Its natural assets make it a prime target for outdoor enthusiasts, who come to abseil down waterfalls, throw themselves off cliffs, raft or tube down rivers, explore subterranean caves, gallop through grasslands, and hike or bike forest trails.

Sea Point blends into ritzier Bantry Bay and Fresnaye before culminating in the prime real estate of Clifton and Camps Bay, where white modernist villas climb the slopes above golden beaches. South of here, the stunning coast road passes beneath the Twelve Apostles range, and urban development is largely curtailed by Table Mountain National Park until you reach delightful Hout Bay. This harbor town has good access to both the city and, via Constantia Nek pass, the vineyards of Constantia.

Port Elizabeth (PE for short) fringes Algoa Bay at the western end of the Sunshine Coast, and offers many good bathing beaches, great surf spots and excellent water sports. Marine life in the bay is also sensational, with plenty of dolphins and whales that can be spotted throughout the year. The city centre, once a place to avoid, has started to smarten up thanks to a few urban regeneration projects, and it boasts numerous heritage buildings that are well worth a gander.

På den historiska järnvägsbron Selati Bridge, i hjärtat av Kruger nationalpark i Sydafrika, ligger nyöppnade Kruger Shalati. Ett tåg som gjorts om till en lyxig safarilodge som får varje tågälskare att dregla.

The Sunshine Coast has everything the country is known for – pristine beaches, wildlife, stunning scenery, great outdoor activities and culture. It covers a significant chunk of the Eastern Cape coastline, including Port Elizabeth, the seaside towns of Jeffrey's Bay and Port Alfred, and numerous sandy beaches. In the hinterland are the best wildlife-watching areas within easy reach of the coastline between Cape Town and Durban: Addo Elephant National Park and the nearby private reserves.

Route 62 takes you through some spectacular scenery changes, from the rugged mountain passes between Montagu and Calitzdorp to the arid semidesert of the Little Karoo region around Oudtshoorn. It’s touted as the longest wine route in the world and is a great alternative to the N2 if you’re travelling from Cape Town towards the Garden Route.

A coming-together of cultures, cuisines and landscapes, there's nowhere quite like Cape Town, a singularly beautiful city crowned by the magnificent Table Mountain National Park.

Limpopo, which occupies South Africa's northern reaches, is a huge and diverse province characterised by traditional cultures, an interesting historical story, vast open spaces and terrific wildlife watching. In Mapungubwe National Park visitors can walk through the country's most significant Iron Age site, gaze from a rocky bluff over the riverine landscape where South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe meet, and observe birds, big cats and rhinos. Culture and traditional art shine in the enigmatic region of Venda, an area dotted with landforms of great spiritual significance. Nature takes centre stage in the Waterberg, where the eponymous Unesco biosphere reserve has endless skies, a landscape of distinctly South African beauty and great safari opportunities, particularly in Marakele National Park. Best of all, few travelers make it up here to the north, making it one of the country's most rewarding destinations.

En bubblande storstad inramad av en palmkantad strand med ljummet havsvatten och subtropiskt klimat. Durban håller på att förvandlas från beryktat surfmecka till trendigt turistparadis.

If there's one thing that Stellenbosch is renowned for, it is wine. There are hundreds of estates scattered around the outskirts of the town, many of which produce world-class wines. A tour of the wineries with their many tasting options and superlative restaurants will likely form the backbone of your visit, but there is a lot more to see.