Sydafrika

This shipwreck-strewn coastline rivals any in the country in terms of beauty and wilderness, stretching over 350km from just east of East London to Port Edward. Often referred to as the ‘Transkei’ (the name of the apartheid-era homeland that once covered most of this area), the Wild Coast region also stretches inland, covering pastoral landscapes where clusters of rondavels (round huts with a conical roofs) scatter the rolling hills covered in short grass.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a Unesco World Heritage site, stretches for 220 glorious kilometres from the Mozambique border to Maphelane, at the southern end of Lake St Lucia. With the Indian Ocean on one side and a series of lakes (including Lake St Lucia) on the other, the 2038-sq-mile (3280-sq-km) park protects five distinct ecosystems, offering everything from offshore reefs and beaches to lakes, wetlands, woodlands and coastal forests. Loggerhead and leatherback turtles nest along the park’s shores; whales and dolphins appear offshore and the park is occupied by numerous animals, including antelopes, hippos and zebras. The ocean beaches pull big crowds during the holiday season for everything from diving to fishing.

Kapstaden har en viktig historia och kittlande smakupplevelser, men också mäktiga bergsäventyr, lummiga trädgårdar och vita badvikar. Pernilla Sjöholm guidar till sin favoritplats på jorden.

På Babylonstoren odlas frukter och grönsaker, men också en hel del kryddor. Med bergen som fond breder vackra odlingsmarker ut sig och där, på den Sydafrikanska landsbygden, kan man stanna och övernatta.

South Africa’s administrative centre is a handsome city with some gracious old architecture, significant historical sites, prosperous leafy suburbs, and wide streets lined with jacarandas that burst into a beautiful purple haze in October and November. It’s always been more more conservative than Jo’burg – this was the centre of the apartheid regime and its very name a symbol of oppression. However, as the inner city undergoes something of a renaissance, and Pretoria becomes more cosmopolitan, there's a sense that the city is beginning to look to the future.

This stretch of bushveld between Pretoria and the Kalahari is famous for Sun City, the southern hemisphere’s answer to Las Vegas. Though its slot machines and kitsch edifices are grotesquely fascinating, it's the nearby parks and reserves that we really love – Madikwe Game Reserve is a real gem, while Pilanesberg has terrific wildlife and is very accessible. And for that once-in-a-lifetime, romantic Out of Africa–style experience, a night in the bush at Madikwe’s exclusive lodges can’t be beaten.

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.

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.

High on the must-see lists of most visitors to South Africa is the Garden Route, and with good reason: you can’t help but be seduced by the glorious natural beauty. The distance from Mossel Bay in the west to Storms River in the east is just over 200km, yet the range of topography, vegetation, wildlife and outdoor activities is remarkable.

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.