Not only is Cape Town itself a very worthwhile stop in South Africa (as discussed last time) but so are a number of destinations within easy reach of it. For wine lovers, less than an hour away are the Cape Winelands, currently on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. Two popular villages are Franschhoek, shown here, and Stellenbosch. Tours of the wineries can happen via the hop-on hop-off Wine Tram, by bicycle, horseback, Harley, walking or private driver—or by helicopte

If you trust Princes William and Harry, Oprah Winfrey, and former President Bill Clinton to know which is the best hotel in Johannesburg, then you may want to choose the Saxon. We couldn’t agree more. To put into perspective how good this hotel is, the city's Four Seasons would be forced to come in second (we’ve stayed at both). Even though Johannesburg itself may not intentionally be on the bucket list of most world travelers, it’s the rare visitor to South Africa who does n

It was only about a year earlier, when staying at a world-class hotel in Paris, that I'd said, "Where hotels are concerned, it will never in this life get better." But then, I had not yet been to La Residence in the Franschhoek Valley, part of the Winelands region near Cape Town. Wow! The gate opened. Lining the right side of the long, winding driveway, scores of iceberg rose bushes were in full bloom in the October springtime. On the left side, a family of springbok frolicke

We get it that not everyone makes it to Durban on their first visit to South Africa. But as ours was a four-week journey, it made sense to schedule a few days of down time—and what better place to do it than on the shores of the beautiful (and warm) Indian Ocean? Besides, I wanted to see The Oyster Box! Yesterday my husband and I were at Starbucks discussing what were our favorite hotels ever in our travels. We’ve had the privilege of staying at some of the world's best, incl