Cape Town, South Africa
By Andrew Collins

The undisputed gay capital of the African continent, Cape Town has something of the progressive vibe, stunning coastal scenery, and sunny disposition of similarly appealing seaside cities, such as Sydney, San Francisco, and Vancouver. Part of a peninsular region that juts into the Atlantic Ocean along South Africa's southwestern coast, Cape Town has become increasingly popular with visitors from North America, offering travelers a small but vibrant gay business district and wonderful opportunities for day-tripping along the coast and inland to the lush vineyards and swank country inns of the Winelands regions.

There are some logistical issues to consider when planning a trip to this city, which is about 6,000 miles from London, 8,000 miles from New York City, and 10,000 miles from Los Angeles. It takes up to two days to get here and again to return home, and airfares are quite steep, generally $1,000 to $1,500 from North America. The good news is that North American and European currency are relatively strong against South African currency, the Rand, meaning that you'll generally encounter good values in hotels, restaurants, and shops once you're here.

Another thing to keep in mind when traveling such a long distance is that it's prudent to plan a trip of at least 10 days, and ideally 15 days. South Africa is famous not just for Cape Town and the surrounding area, but also for the safari lodges that proliferate in the wildlife-rich Kruger National Park, in the northeast part of the country. Many visitors plan a trip that includes a week or so in greater Cape Town, and another week in Kruger or at a safari camp in a nearby country, such as Botswana, Namibia, or Zimbabwe.

If you're going this route, your best strategy is to book your vacation through a reliable tour operator. Consider the highly regarded and very gay-friendly Premier Tours, which is based in Philadelphia and run by South Africa native Julian Harrison. Premier offers a wide range of preplanned itineraries to South Africa and several other African nations, but they can also design a custom itinerary for you. Sales Associate Steve Gleba is Premier Tours' LGBT travel specialist and can help design a trip that's geared especially toward staying in gay-friendly or gay-owned accommodations. Other gay-oriented or gay-friendly tour companies offering trips to South Africa include New York-based Gay 2Afrika and Vermont-based Hermes Tours.

No matter how you organize your trip, plan to spend at least half your time in and around Cape Town. Right in the city, there are several attractions of note, including Iziko South African Museum, Iziko South African National Gallery, and Table Mountain, the looming geographical feature that defines the city skyline - you can take an aerial cableway to the top of this 3,500-foot behemoth. It's also worth spending an afternoon strolling around the V&A Waterfront, with its shops and restaurants, Two Oceans Aquarium (an excellent facility with more than 8,000 sea creatures), and the South African Maritime Museum. You can also take the ferry from here to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years. It's now a UN World Heritage Site and museum (with tours led by former prisoners).
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