Most beautiful city?

Although it is small, Sintra, Portugal, is the most beautiful city I've visited. Reply to this

A City of Sydney in Australia is the most beautiful place.....

[Edited: 14:48 - Mell ]

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I’ve lived in Europe, the USA, Australia and now Africa, and the world certainly has many beautiful cities. But nothing is like Cape Town. I fell in love with the city when I came here for the first time some years ago, and I have chosen to settle here permanently.

A major preconception is that the city is only naturally beautiful. While this is the drawcard, and spectacular, the architectural heritage of the city is exemplary. Its modern buildings reminds me of a much larger, sexier Zurich. In terms of older buildings, the city has an embarrassment to choose from! Seventeenth century vineyard homesteads in the city itself, an entire Eighteenth century Malay quarter (‘the Bo-Kaap’ - conspicuously Georgian, though with a Dutch / Malay twist). The area near parliament not only has beautiful old Cape Dutch architecture, but also Victorian, Edwardian and of course Georgian styles too. Long street is reminiscent of Bourbon street in New Orleans, intricate wrought iron brocade set against brightly coloured old buildings and houses. An enormous photo book could be dedicated to the old architecture of Cape Town, and it’s modern stuff is exemplary too. De Waterkant and Cape Quarter are spectacular blends of historic with hyper-modern, and the new soccer stadium in Greenpoint is amongst the most beautiful I’ve seen. The Villas on the Atlantic Seaboard shame all others I’ve seen anywhere, the leafy suburbs of Constantia, Bishop’s Court, Rondebosch etc. are ridiculously beautiful too. I would say even architecturally it trumps almost every city I’ve been too.

Of course it’s the nature which is the ultimate show stopper. I’m a biologist, and Cape Town bowled me over, beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The sheer diversity is astonishing. Glancing at my road map of the city shows more two mountain peaks (1000 feet plus) in Cape Town for every hill (100 feet plus) in San Francisco. Few people know, but Table Mountain is nowhere near the highest point in the city! Though it’s geologically the most spectacular mountain, indeed one of the most incredible I have seen anywhere, Somerset Sneeukop in the East of the city rises well over 5000 feet. Some of the mountains rising directly out of the Ocean are over 4000 feet tall. That’s well over three times the height of Sugar Loaf in Rio (the second most naturally beautiful city I’ve been too) and almost double the height of Corcovado and those are mountains coming directly out of the Ocean. Chapman’s Peak drive is to be seen to be believed, the R44 is incredible, and of course Table Mountain defies comprehension.

And perhaps the most wonderful thing of allis that it’s the most bio-diverse city on Earth, with thousands and thousands of species (mostly plants) littering the place. Just this week I was walking on a local beach and had a pod of whales swimming so close to me I could clearly here them each time they took breath. And that’s in a city!

In terms of lifestyle it's easily easily easily the highest I've ever had (yes even more than Sydney, San Fran, Zurich Stockholm - and with MUCH better traffic). As a basic professional I live like only my multi-multi-millionaire friends back in Europe can hope too, and indeed I'd say far better. There's also a great opportunity to help the larger community if you are keen too, and the people are open and friendly (amazingly they are known to be the least friendly people in South Africa! They still knock the socks off other places I've lived). Even the crime is grotesquely exaggerated in the world's perception. It's completely in line with European and Australian crime stats (not like Johannesburg which IS much higher) and I walk around everywhere happily, with no incident thus far.

No city I’ve been to compares to Cape Town for beauty. It’s a stunner, it’s THE stunner. And I'm happy to call it my home, for the past few blissful years now!

Here’s my top 10 'Most Beautiful Cities on Earth':

10: San Francisco
9: Buenos Aires
8: Stockholm
7: Vancouver
6: Sydney
5: Hong Kong
4: Rio
3: Rome
2: Paris
1: Cape Town
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I think Paris the oneeiffel tower restaurant[/url] dinner is one of the best thing to do in paris.Combine the very best of romantic Paris with the wonderful Eiffel Tower Dinner and Seine cruise. Start the evening by dining at the Eiffel Tower restaurant with the light of Paris providing a magical backdrop. The night ends with a cosy cruise along the River Seine past the beautifully illuminated riverbanks.

[Edited: 11:47 - Mell ]

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Most beautiful city: Paris is the city of light. Reply to this

1.Rome...

then.....Nothing Reply to this

Paris is very nice.. Reply to this

Most beautiful city in the world

Paris or San Francisco ?

Although I would love to see Istanbul as I hear it is lovely

And.....please don't forget about Seattle. It is beautiful. Reply to this

Thanks for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.





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[Edited: 07:01 - Rat on the Road - No advertising URLs in signatures pleas]

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I've seen a couple of people mention Rome-- how do you feel about Athens. I think Athens is lovely Reply to this