Pretoria, South Africa

Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa and the greenest, most relaxed of the country's big cities — a spacious, tree-lined place often overshadowed by neighbouring Johannesburg but rewarding in its own right. Its signature image is springtime, when some 70,000 jacaranda trees bloom across the city in late October and November and turn whole avenues purple, earning Pretoria the nickname 'Jacaranda City'. The city's landmark is the Union Buildings, the seat of the national government — a grand sandstone crescent designed by Herbert Baker on a hill above the centre, fronted by terraced gardens and a giant statue of Nelson Mandela, with sweeping views over the city (the gardens are a free and popular spot). Below, the historic core around Church Square holds the old government and commercial buildings, the Palace of Justice and a statue-studded plaza, while the city's museums — the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, the Pretoria Art Museum and the moving Freedom Park memorial and its Hapo Museum, which traces South Africa's long history — give context to the country. Families head for the National Zoological Gardens, one of the largest and best zoos in Africa, in the city centre. Pretoria's wider draw is its location in Gauteng: it makes a calm base within reach of Johannesburg's culture and history, the UNESCO-listed Cradle of Humankind fossil sites to the west, and several malaria-free game reserves — Dinokeng and the Rietvlei reserve right on the city's edge — where you can see the Big Five within an hour of the capital. The city sits on the highveld at altitude, so it enjoys a mild, sunny climate: warm summers with afternoon thunderstorms (October to March) and cool, dry, sunny winters. The jacaranda season in spring is the most beautiful time to visit.