Travelling to South Africa
Cape Town in Lonely Planet's top three
Bridging the gap
But the guide acknowledges that the work of the design team goes beyond making things look pretty: "The main goal of the design team, though, is to bridge the gap between Cape Town's disparate population, so venture on a tour out of town to see how innovation is turning things around in the disadvantaged townships, then explore suburban sights on the swanky bus system that's finally making Cape Town feasible on public transport." The book also lists the top countries to visit - Brazil is No 1, with Malawi as the only African country, coming in at No 5. Malawi, described as home of "the Big Five and beach life without the crowds", was also commended to tourists for high-visibility snorkelling in Lake Malawi, hiking "over hazy peaks in an otherworldly moonscape" at Mount Mulanje and the "haunting wilderness of grasslands and whaleback hills" of the Viphya Plateau. The Greek Islands have been named as the best-value destination for 2014, with Italy's Heel and Nicaragua in second and third position. Ethiopia, at 10, is "one slice of Africa that rewards the curious as well as the deep-pocketed".Top 10 cities
- Paris, France
- Trinidad, Cuba
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Riga, Latvia
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Shanghai, China
- Vancouver, Canada
- Chicago, USA
- Adelaide, Australia
- Auckland, New Zealand
Top 10 countries
- Brazil
- Antarctica
- Scotland
- Sweden
- Malawi
- Mexico
- Seychelles
- Belgium
- Macedonia
- Malaysia

The Clock Tower at Cape Town's V&A; Waterfront was painted bright yellow to signify the city's status as World Design Capital 2014 (Photo: WDC2014)