SIMPLY THE BEST

New York-based Travel + Leisure magazine recently announced the winners of its annual World’s Best awards — and, happy Heritage Day SA, you did in fact walk away with some fantastic accolades, including the No 1 city in Africa; four hotels in the global top 100; and a clean sweep in the top five African city hotels. To see who they are, check out our story online or find all the lists at travelandleisure.com.

The rankings across several categories are based on reader votes, cast from January to May this year. Despite widespread travel restrictions, T+L says, “in our hearts, we remained global citizens … We hope this year’s honorees will inspire your own travels as you get back out into the world.”

With that inspiration in mind, we found the top 10 cities particularly interesting. It’s a list full of unusual destinations — certainly for South African travellers. Florence, Italy, and Istanbul, Turkey, are probably the least “out there”, but then three of the top 10 are in Mexico, four are in south Asia, including Udaipur, India (2); Ubud, Indonesia (4); and Chiang Mai (9) and Bangkok (10) in Thailand. Kyoto, Japan, is at No 5.

Pictured here, though, is No 1: a city in Mexico’s central highlands founded in 1542. About 240km north of Mexico City, it is a national monument and a Unesco World Heritage site with Spanish Baroque architecture, cobblestone streets, and a thriving arts scene. Its name is a blend of two people’s names: the monk who founded it, and a captain of the Spanish army (born in 1769) who switched sides to fight for Mexico’s independence from Spain.

● To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the name of the city. E-mail travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday September 28 . Last week’s winner is Wendy Moult. The answer was La Digue.