The votes have been tallied and the results are in.

But first, some background.

Over 45 000 readers responded to The Telegraph Travel Awards survey, and the best city in the world knocked Tokyo, Vancouver, Venice and New York out of the running, so you know it’s good.

The best city in the world is a coastal gem, known for its mountain, wine and chilled vibes.

Guessed yet?

Yup, 45 000 people agree – the best city in the world is:

Cape Town!

Here’s a look at past winners:

As if winning this year wasn’t enough of a reason for Capetonians to get even smugger, the above shows us that this is our sixth consecutive win.

So what is it about the Mother City that has people so amped? Despite the water crisis, Cape Town has a lot going for it. Here’s a list of the top 10 reasons why The Telegraph thinks that Cape Town is the greatest:

1. Geography

The original Khoi inhabitants named the iconic flat-topped massif ‘Hoerikwaggo’, Mountain of the Sea, and it is precisely this unique geography – towering mountains that drop, at times perpendicularly, into the vast blue – that is so seductive.

2. Boulders Penguins

The African penguin colony that settled at Boulders beach in 1982 has become a de rigueur stop on every peninsula tour, but those in the know pack a bather and join them in the bracing waters, or watch their antics while sprawled on the beach.

3. Cape Dutch History & Winelands

The oldest winemaking region in the New World is a delight to explore, albeit rather overwhelming – you could spend an entire year sampling your way through more than 500 wineries, from historic Cape Dutch homesteads to modernistic cubes overlooking vineyard-clad valleys.

4. Table Mountain Cable Car

With some 350 paths to the summit, hiking up Table Mountain is a day well spent but those pushed for time ascend in five minutes via a rotating cable car that provides 360° views of the fast-receding city and the sandstone cliff face that dwarfs it.

5. Museum of Contemporary African Art

Conveniently located next to the departure point for the Robben Island ferries, the MOCAA is the largest repository of the continent’s contemporary art, worth visiting to view the repurposed grain silo that houses it as much as the collection itself.

6. V&A Waterfront

The redevelopment of the city’s industrial docklands into the mixed use V&A Waterfront is considered one of the most successful in the world, not least because – amongst the chi chi hotels, restaurants and shops – is the beating heart of an authentic, gritty, working harbour.

7. Cape Point

A 7750-ha nature reserve within Table Mountain National Park, the most southwesterly tip of the continent is oft beset by vicious winds, its sheer, jagged cliffs pounded by a wild Atlantic that devoured many ships prior to the 1859 lighthouse, accessed today via the ‘Flying Dutchman’ funicular.

8. Kirstenbosch Gardens

One of the world’s great botanical gardens, with manicured lawns that blend seamlessly into the dense indigenous forests that carpet the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch hosts sunset concerts in the summer – a backdrop that is worth a picnic, regardless of whose playing.

9. Bo-Kaap

In a city that still suffers a geospatial hangover from apartheid, the predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Bo Kaap is to be treasured, not least when the plangent call of the muezzin floats across the city, calling the faithful to prayer.

10. Weather

Generally speaking, summers are hot and sometimes windy but temperatures and cloud cover can vary enormously at any particular moment, depending on which side of the mountain you find yourself, or how far you are from the coast. One weather pattern that is predicable: when it rains, the locals rejoice.

You can check out the full list of winners here.

After constant buckets, reusing cutlery, not flushing loos and two-minute showers, it’s good to get a win.

[source:telegraph]