Home » Kalk Bay AND Maboneng Named Among World’s Coolest Neighbourhoods

Kalk Bay AND Maboneng Named Among World’s Coolest Neighbourhoods

Prestigious Forbes magazine asked travel experts for their tips on the best up-and-coming neighbourhoods in the world to explore right now… and TWO South African suburbs made it to the Top 12 list! Kalk Bay in Cape Town and Maboneng in Johannesburg. The only other country to have two suburbs featured on the list is […]

Prestigious Forbes magazine asked travel experts for their tips on the best up-and-coming neighbourhoods in the world to explore right now… and TWO South African suburbs made it to the Top 12 list! Kalk Bay in Cape Town and Maboneng in Johannesburg.

Kalk Bay

The only other country to have two suburbs featured on the list is the USA with Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. and Pilsen in Chicago.

The areas selected for the list are those just off the beaten track… “where local life is really happening”, so for instance… take a stroll down Barcelona’s very touristic La Rambla but then visit Sant. When in Athens, visit Keramikos.

Maboneng
Maboneng

The list, which was published a fortnight ago, appears to be in no particular order.

Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of a luxury digital travel company, describes Johannesburg’s Maboneng as a former no-go-zone that has “transformed into a lively urban area with blossoming art and culinary scenes”. She cites some of its cultural and culinary attractions as being the Museum of African Design and Arts on Main with its galleries, boutiques and restaurants.

For those who’ve never visited – Maboneng is an area on the eastern side of Joburg’s CBD – Main Street, Fox St. etc. – which property developer Jonathan Liebmann started developing in 2009, and named the Maboneng (‘Place of Light’) District. It includes galleries, restaurants, shops and on Sundays has the fab Market on Main.

As SAPeople contributor Tyler de Klerk said in a photo essay on Maboneng, it is an “amazing cultural vibey and artistic area” and just one of the “hidden jewels in this dystopian city” of Johannesburg.

Tom Marchant, founder of a holiday website, told Forbes that Kalk Bay is a “seaside haven” which attracts “more than just the local surfer community”. Attractions include the “quaint cafes, rustic fishing boats and colorful storefronts”.

For more on Kalk Bay, the video below captures it all…

WATCH Discovering Kalk Bay

https://www.facebook.com/SAPeople/videos/515140135496621/

View Forbes’ full list here.