MAGNIFICENT CAPE TOWN

When the cold, snow and long night of winter engulf Europe, the sun of the Southern Hemisphere is one of the safest ways to cure the blues. A pleasant trip to Cape Town onboard Turkish Airlines, one of the best air carriers in the world, is the safest way to combine balmy summer days with stunning natural scenery, vibrant art scene, fine dining and the feel of exploration and discovery.

Cape Town has the deserved fame of one of the most beautifully located cities in the world. Spread between the stunning Table Mountain and the rugged coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it is a place of straight streets, parks and low buildings, with a distinctive atmosphere that simultaneously evokes Africa and Northern Europe.

Strolling around central Cape Town is the best introduction to the place, especially if you begin with the wonderful Company's Garden. It was established in the 17th century by the Dutch settlers as a place to grow vegetables and is now a pleasant park with a variety of plants, animals, monuments.

To get a taste of Cape Town's excellent cafés and restaurants, browse local handcraft in cosy shops and try some adventure and water sports, go to the V&A Waterfront. The old harbour is a still functioning marina and a fun ground. One of the world's best aquariums is there, preserving animals from both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. This is also the place to take a boat to Robben Island, the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was kept for 17 years. The island is now a museum.

For more local art, vibrant cafés and restaurants, and nice settings, visit the Old Biscuit Mill, a former industrial premise transformed into a hip quarter. Do not miss Bo-Kaap neighbourhood: a place of bright coloured houses that is the perfect place for some astonishing selfies.

If you crave lying on a beach under the sun, Llandudno is the place to try for its nice settings and relatively calm waters.

Nature makes a big part of Cape Town, and South Africa for that matter, experience. The easiest way to try it is to climb the majestic Table Mountain with the cableway. It is a national park that preserves an astonishing diversity of plants and animals. The most charming of those are the dassies – cute herbivores that resemble marmots but are evolutionary closer to... elephants.

Renting a car from Cape Town, you have rich options to explore some nice vineyards in the town's vicinity. The must do trip, however, will lead you to more austere landscapes. South of Cape Town, from Noordhoek to Hout Bay, runs one of the most scenic drives in the world – Chapman Peak. Be prepared for stunning vistas and a lot of bends between almost vertical cliffs and the white ribbon of ocean waves breaking beneath.

From here, continue to the emblematic Cape of Good Hope, located in a national park with vibrant wildlife. It is wrongly believed to be Africa's southernmost point and the place where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet. Despite this, Cape of Good Hope is an amazing place of high rocks and strong winds that bring an atmosphere of desolation, but also of excitement.

After Cape of Good Hope you will be delighted to continue to the cosy Simon's Town and Fish Hoek, two small settlements in the nearby False Bay. Neat and beautiful, they are a picturesque collection of cosy houses by the waterfront, a place of quiet and tranquillity – and also of some wildlife. Cute little African penguins inhabit Boulders Beach and in winter, you can spot whales in the bay's waters.

Cape Town is just the beginning of a trip that can turn into your great African adventure. Thanks to Turkish Airlines, the journey will be comfortable and stylish.

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