South Africa crowned the World's Top Wine Tourism Destination for 2025!

South Africa has been named the #1 Wine Tourism Destination in the World for 2025, according to a global study released by Titan Travel. Beating out world-renowned contenders like Portugal and Italy, the country achieved a top score of 8.38 out of 10 - thanks to its unbeatable combination of affordable wine experiences, scenic diversity, and a surging global interest in local wine tours.
Titan Travel’s ranking, based on data from April 2024 to March 2025, assessed over 40 wine-producing countries. The scoring factored in average wine prices, wine tasting costs, the number of organized wine tours available, and global online search volumes. South Africa emerged as a standout with:

• Average wine prices as low as £3.42 (approx. R82 / $4.40 / €4.05) per bottle
• Tasting experiences starting from £11.73 (approx. R280 / $15.10 / €13.90)
• Over 279 wine tour options
• Strong global interest in regions like Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl, and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

While France still tops global search interest, it ranked only 9th overall due to significantly higher average tasting costs (over £180). In contrast, South Africa offers value without compromising on quality - from prestigious estates to family-run cellars surrounded by breathtaking mountains and vineyards.

The full Top 5 Wine Tourism Destinations for 2025, according to Titan Travel, are:

1. South Africa – 8.38/10
2. Portugal – 7.75/10
3. Italy – 7.00/10
4. Cyprus - 6.38/10
5. Chile - 6.25/10
6. Spain - 6.13/10
7. New Zealand - 5.63/10
8. Croatia - 5.50/10
9. France - 5.38/10
10. Armenia - 5.13/10

This latest recognition confirms South Africa's growing reputation not only as a world-class wine producer but also as a leading global wine tourism hotspot. Whether you're a seasoned oenophile or a casual wine enthusiast, there's never been a better time to explore the Cape Winelands.

Plan Your Wine Tour in South Africa
Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Robertson, and Constantia are just the beginning. Discover tasting rooms, cellar tours, vineyard picnics, and wine tram adventures — all just a short drive from Cape Town.

Travel Tip: Visit between March and May for harvest festivals, cool-weather tastings, and spectacular autumn colors in the vineyards.

Have you explored the Cape Winelands? Share your favorite vineyard or tasting experience in the comments below!

 

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Study: South Africa & Namibia named among the top five best African countries to visit with kids!

South Africa and Namibia have recently been named among the top five best African countries to visit with kids. South African travel specialist Go2Africa has analyzed almost four thousand hotels, attractions and restaurants around the globe to help families find the perfect location for their next adventure.
According to the findings of the study, the island nation of Seychelles (29,73%) is ranked as the best country in the world and the best country in Africa to visit with kids. Globally, the Polynesian island of Samoa (28.53%) ranks second, followed by Costa Rica (28.33%) in Central America and New Zealand (27.92%)
In Africa, Morocco (23.04%) in North Africa is the second best spot for families, while South Africa (21.56%) was ranked third and Namibia fourth (21.04%). Congratulations!

Methodology
Go2Africa identified the best countries for family vacation by finding the number of family-friendly and highly-rated hotels, attractions and restaurants in each location. The company then calculated the percentage of family-friendly places compared to non-family-friendly places in each country. All the data was pulled from Tripadvisor in May 2024.

Study: Table Mountain in Cape Town named best viewpoint in Africa!

Remitly, an online remittance service based in the U.S., recently analysed over a million TripAdvisor reviews for landmarks, common tourist spots and viewing points in cities in over 260 countries around the world to find which view point gets the most positive comments from visitors. According to the study, Table Mountain in Cape Town tops the rankings as the best viewpoint in Africa with over 9,800 view-related mentions. The Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway in Hartbeespoort in South Africa's North West Province got the second most view-related mentions in Africa, while The Valley of a Thousand Hills (#9) in KwaZulu-Natal also made it in the Top 10 in Africa. Over-all winner of the study is Top of the Rock in New York City with 42,555 view-related mentions, followed by the London Eye in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Destination study: Cape Town named third greatest city on Earth!

According to the biggest independent destination study since the Covid-19 pandemic, Cape Town in South Africa is the third greatest city on Earth. For this in-depth study, UK newspaper "The Telegraph" analysed a wide range of data from a shortlist of 50 cities selected by the readers of the newspaper, along with selections from a panel of experts. The criteria included factors that the readers of "The Telegraph" prioritise in city break destinations. These are, among others, the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, air quality, green space, LGBT+ safety ranking, disabled access and the number of Michelin-starred restaurants as well as other criteria rewarding safety, practicality and cultural prowess.

Barcelona in Spain was named "the greatest city on Earth", followed by Sydney in Australia and Cape Town in South Africa. In forth place in the ranking was Lisbon, Portugal, and in fifth Venice in Italy. The top 10 was rounded out by Los Angeles (USA), Dubai (UAE), London (UK), Vancouver (Canada) and Florence (Italy).

The top ten cities in The Telegraph's 2022 "The Greatest City on Earth" study:

1. Barcelona
2. Sydney
3. Cape Town
4. Lisbon
5. Venice
6. Los Angeles
7. Dubai
8. London
9. Vancouver
10. Florence

Cape Town: Chapman's Peak Drive named one of the "World's Most Beautiful Road Trip Routes"!

The Chapman's Peak Drive in Cape Town is one of the World's Most Beautiful Road Trip Routes. The Pentagon Motor Group, a motor dealer group from the UK, analyzed over 7 million Instagram hashtags associated with the world's most popular road trip destinations, and calculated how many Instagram pictures are shared per mile of the journey to name the Top 20 Most Picturesque Road Trips on Earth. According to the findings of the study, the 5.5 mile Chapman's Peak Drive, a scenic route between Noordhoek and Hout Bay along the western flank of the Chapman's Peak, a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, is the fifth most beautiful route in the world with 3425 pictures per mile.

Photo by Niklas Eichler on Unsplash

Australia's Great Ocean Road has been crowned the "most beautiful route in the world", followed by the Big Sur in California (USA), the Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain (UAE) and the Hai Van Pass in Vietnam.

The Top 20 Most Picturesque Road Trips on Earth:

1. The Great Ocean Road - VIC, Australia
2. Big Sur - California, USA
3. Jebel Hafeet - Al Ain, UAE
4. Hai Van Pass - Vietnam
5. Chapman's Peak Drive - Cape Town, South Africa
6. Blue Ridge Parkway - USA
7. Going-To-The-Sun Road - Montana, USA
8. Wild Atlantic Way - Ireland
9. Olympic Peninsula Loop - Washington, USA
10. Icefields Parkway - Canada
11. Route 66, USA
12. Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, Austria
13. Pacific Highway, Australia
14. Tioga Pass, USA
15. Military Road, UK
16. Cabot Trail, Canada
17. Hana Highway, USA
18. The Atlantic Road, Norway
19. Causeway Coastal Route, Ireland
20. North Coast 500, Scotland

Study: South Africa's great white sharks are heading for possible extinction

update (02 August 2016): The Earth Touch News Network asks: Are South Africa's great white sharks really "dying out"?

According to a six year study by the Stellenbosch University, South Africa's great white sharks are heading for possible extinction. The study of the country's coastal waters, the largest field research study on South Africa's great white sharks undertaken to date, concluded that only 353 to 522 great white sharks remain. This is 52% fewer than what was estimated in previous studies. The main reasons for the sharp decline in white shark numbers are the impact of shark nets and baited hooks implemented on the eastern seaboard of South Africa. Other contributing factors are poaching, habitat encroachment, pollution and depletion of their food sources.
The reseachers also found that the South African population of great white sharks is made up of an effective population size of only 333 individuals. The effective population size is the number of individuals in a population who contribute offspring to the next generation.

An integrated mark-recapture and genetic approach to estimate the population size of white shark in South Africa

Shark Diving in South Africa >>