Cape Town, aka the Mother City, is innately unique. Its three peaks split the city up, down, front and center. With Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion’s Head towering hundreds of feet above the cityscape, it may actually be impossible to get lost here. No matter where you are you can always look to the sky and guide yourself via these colossal natural wonders. Walking home from work each day seeing the late afternoon sun glowing on the face of Table Mountain as the dense fog gently spills over its peak is as breathtaking the 100^th time as it is the first.

From Chapman’s Peak Drive, sculpted into the cliffs above the menacing Atlantic, to the 360˚ panorama on Devil’s Peak, there’s no doubt Cape Town’s natural aesthetic makes it one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. However, beauty alone does not merit second place on Lonely Planet’s list of top cities to visit in 2017. So what attributes make the world’s largest travel-guide publisher take notice? Well, per their excerpt:

“Cape Town’s deceptively laid-back folk have been working hard to add cultural and culinary cred to the Mother City’s famous natural charms…”

After just three months, I can attest to these claims. The culinary scene here is far above average both in quality and diversity. You can find delectable sushi or mouthwatering burgers at even the most casual joints, not to mention the world-famous Test Kitchen. If you want a more vibrant scene, maybe with some live music in the mix, Bay Harbour Market and Old Biscuit Mill are just two of the many possibilities available. If you’ve got reason to celebrate, the nearby winelands await with open arms bottles!

(Sunrise over Cape Town from Lion's Head)

Personally, I am most enticed by the city’s seemingly endless outdoor activities. Table Mountain National Park has countless hiking trails with ocean andcity views, as well as caves and boulders ready to be climbed. The serenity of watching the sun creep up over the distant mountains as you stand on Lion’s Head is rivaled only by the sunset that occurs over the ocean in the opposite direction just hours later. If you want to get a bit more extreme, you can enjoy the mountain biking trails scattered just above City Bowl on the base of Table Mountain. But, if you prefer to take a more laid-back approach, the white sandy beaches and perfect swells make it a surfer’s paradise.

As Lonely Planet suggests, the city operates on “Cape Town Time.” The pace at which everything occurs is a bit slower than some might be used to, but the gregarious denizens of the Cape are so affable you won’t even notice. Whether it’s short conversation or a more profound discourse, the relaxed nature of the Capetonian people will put you at ease.

A visit to Cape Town is incomplete, however, without a trip to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years before going on to become the President of South Africa in 1994. The District Six Museum also provides an important glimpse into the turbulent history of Cape Town, and of South Africa in general. A history full of injustices, which the country is still working to amend, is not a pleasant history, but it is an important one. Seeing the complete picture of where Cape Town was, is, and will be, requires learning about its darker days.

With continuous progress and development, Cape Town is a little slice of paradise that will only increase in popularity as time goes on.