North African mountain towns painted in distinctive colours have become some of the region's most distinctive small towns, while southern African wine-country towns offer a completely different, vineyard-framed version of small-town charm further south.
The destinations on this list range from mountain towns built around centuries-old architecture and a single distinctive character to wine-region towns where the appeal is as much the surrounding landscape as the town itself. Both reward simply wandering on foot.
Visiting early in the day tends to mean far better light and considerably fewer crowds at the most popular towns, before day-trip groups arrive from nearby cities. Local guesthouses often double as informal information points. Wearing comfortable walking shoes also matters considerably given the steep, narrow streets involved.
