Editor’s note: if you poll people who are well traveled on what their favorite places in the world are, Cape Town is at the top of many lists. Personally, I have never been. But reading this account from San Spector, adding it to the countless other glowing things about it and the country as a whole, I certainly need to push it up my agenda. For more of Sam’s writing, click here to visit his index page.

I have been so fortunate to travel to many of the most beautiful places on our Earth; sometimes when traveling though you need to choose between a dynamic, exciting city or spectacular nature. If you do find the rare city that is able to combine these two qualities, you might as well assume that it is unaffordable. However, what if I told you that there was a city with a metropolitan area of around 5 million people that had so much to see and do, had scenery and natural features worthy of a national park, and that it was one of the most affordable places that I have ever been? Sounds too good to be true, but there is such a place! I am talking about Cape Town, South Africa.

As a country, South Africa has so much to offer. I only spent a night in Johannesburg, so I cannot speak to it, but hear how the shopping there is world renowned. From there, I went to the KwaZulu-Natal region for safaris around Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Nature Park, the oldest game reserve in Africa. Though I sadly did not see any big cats that safari, rhinoceros, hippopotami, elephants, water buffaloes, warthogs, and other of Africa’s great animals were plentiful. This was also a great place to learn about the proud Zulu culture, which still is prominent in this region. For the last four days of touring Africa’s southernmost country, I headed to one of South Africa’s three capital cities (Pretoria is the executive capital, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital, and Cape Town is home to the legislative branch).

Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa, dating back to 1652, and is the second largest city in the country after Johannesburg. Cape Town also has the most expensive real estate in the country, the highest incomes, and the lowest unemployment rate. Upon arriving in Cape Town, you will see that it sits completely at the foot of one of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders, Table Mountain, which is a national park. The mountain is a flattop peak 3,558 feet above sea level, and is two miles from side to side. The mountain stands dramatically above the city, as its cliffs are practically a straight 3500 drop to down below. To get to the top of Table Mountain, you can hike to the summit (2 to 6 hours depending on which trail) or you can conveniently ride up a cable car. At the top, there are stunning panoramic views of the city and the ocean. Walk around the flat trails on top to see thousands of species of plants and also a little animal called a “rock rabbit,” which despite appearing like a rodent shares its DNA most closely with the elephant.

During your trip to Cape Town, take a day trip driving south to the Cape of Good Hope, a prominent cape that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Just south of the city, you will encounter some of Cape Town’s best beaches, including Camps Bay Beach, a popular vacation spot. On the backdrop of this beach and others are the Twelve Apostles, a set of eighteen (despite the name) jagged peaks that are part of the back of the Table Mountain range. Another must-see on your journey to the Cape is Boulders Beach. At the beach are hundreds of penguins, something you do not associate with Africa. These little penguins are called African penguins, but colloquially they are known as jackass penguins because they bray in a manner similar to a donkey. Their features are distinct from other penguins as they have black polka dots on their chest and pink coloring above their eyes.

Nearby the beach is the Cape Point Ostrich Farm, where hundreds of ostriches and reptiles live. You can tour the farm, and this is an outstanding place to get souvenirs (though they are pricy). The farm makes their own ostrich leather handbags, which are different colors and come with unique dots from where the feathers were plucked. The farm also has an egg shop, where ostrich eggs are carved and decorated into masterpieces. At the farm and in the surrounding area there are troops of baboons. While they are great to look at, they are aggressive, and I watched them try to break into cars – with the occupants inside – to steal their food. At the end of the Cape Peninsula are the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southernmost point in Africa, while it is actually the southwestern-most point; Cape Agulhas, 31 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope, is actually Africa’s southernmost point. It is often thought too that this is the spot where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, but that spot varies between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point (3/4 of a mile east of the Cape of Good Hope). There are many great walkways where you can view the rugged scenery, the rocky cliffs and the coastal views of the Cape of Good Hope and get a photo in front of the iconic Cape of Good Hope sign.

Another worthwhile day trip to the suburbs is visiting the various wineries in the area. South Africa has some of the world’s best wines, which were historically exported to leaders like Napoleon and Otto von Bismarck. The wineries are beautiful and charming, and due to the exchange rate, bottles of wine are a fraction of the price here than what you would pay for the same bottle overseas. The historical exported wines I referred to are from the Groot-Constantia Trust Winery, South Africa’s oldest winery, which dates back to 1685. This region was settled by the Dutch initially (there are landmarks from the Dutch colonialists throughout the Cape) and the buildings at the winery are built in the Cape Dutch architectural style. Another one of my favorite wineries in the area is the Fairview Wine and Cheese estate, which as the name implies has delicious wine and cheese. However, the most memorable part of visiting this location was the goats and the beautiful goat tower that had been built where the goats resided. Make sure to grab some wine and cheese to enjoy on one of your evenings in Cape Town.

In the city itself, there is a lot to see and do. Cape Town has numerous museums and a world-renowned aquarium, where you can pay to swim with sharks. As I am the traveling rabbi, I enjoyed the Jewish Museum in town, which showed a large and beautiful synagogue, and highlighted not only the history but the many contributions that South Africa’s Jewish minority has made to the country. Take time to also visit Cape Town’s many parks and the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, again, world-renowned, which covers 5 of South Africa’s 6 biomes and has paths throughout its 1300 acres for you to enjoy. While Cape Town is a very diverse city, it, too, has the scars from the apartheid era. I encountered wealthy white people who spoke longingly of the apartheid days and would point to beaches and tell me how much more enjoyable they were during the days of apartheid, which made me uncomfortable to hear. There is a memorial and museum dedicated to District Six, which was a predominately black area near downtown that in the 1960s the government wanted to make “whites-only”. The district was bulldozed and the area remains uninhabited; there are also in the area benches that as a sad reminder of South Africa’s racist past say “whites-only” so that the country will not forget the cruelty of apartheid. There still remain shanty towns and incredible poverty throughout South Africa, including in Cape Town, as a consequence of this era.

In the middle of town, visit the Castle of Good Hope, which was built between 1666 and 1679. This bastion fort was built by the colonizers from the Dutch East India Company. It has a belltower with a 660 pound original bell that could be heard from 10 miles away, used to warn locals of invaders. The fort was a prison during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) between the British and the Dutch-originated Afrikaaner Boers. While visiting the Cape Heritage Museum located in the castle-fort with my British-heritage guide who was giving me his narrative, he was accosted by an Afrikaaner Boer who overheard and did not appreciate his tale. The tensions between the different ethnic groups in South Africa still remain high today. At the Castle of Good Hope, there is a changing of the guards and firing from the cannons, which is a spectacle worth staying for.

In Cape Town, there are two neighborhoods that everyone must visit: the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Waterfront and Bo-Kaap. The V&A Waterfront is where the aquarium is located and is full of entertainment facilities, restaurants, and nearly 500 shops. The waterfront also has a wonderful promenade to walk around, which is great for people-watching and also taking in the views of the ocean and Table Mountain. With Bo-Kaap, this neighborhood is at the base of the coned Signal Hill and was formerly called the Malay Quarter. This neighborhood was a segregated neighborhood that was where the Malaysian and Southeast Asian slaves who were brought by the Dutch and their descendants were forced to live. Today, the neighborhood remains majority Muslim and is a great place for buying teas and spices. However, the neighborhood’s claim to fame is its brightly colored houses and buildings that come in blues, pinks, yellows, and greens. Particularly in the age of Instagram tourism, this neighborhood has only increased in popularity.

As you can tell from this article, I did a lot in Cape Town, but it was still not enough time. I did not get to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. I also did not have the time (and honestly the courage) to go cage diving with great white sharks, which you can do in the actual ocean if you want to be even more adventurous than the aquarium experience. Cape Town is a city that requires at least a week because there is so much to see and do. It is a place that truly has everything a tourist desires and is more affordable than cities in America, Australia, and Western Europe, and more beautiful than nearly everywhere else.

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