Cape Town hailed as one of the world's 50 best places to work from remotely

12 January 2021 - 15:06 By sanet oberholzer
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The Bo-Kaap in Cape Town. The fact that the city is 'chock-full of colourful markets and quirky neighbourhoods' makes it a drawcard for digital natives, says Big 7 Travel.
The Bo-Kaap in Cape Town. The fact that the city is 'chock-full of colourful markets and quirky neighbourhoods' makes it a drawcard for digital natives, says Big 7 Travel.
Image: 123RF/photogilio

With more people working from home indefinitely because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the option to work from anywhere in the world has never been as enticing as it is now.

With this in mind, Big 7 Travel has released a list of the 50 best places to work from remotely in 2021 — and the Mother City has made the cut.

Coming in at number 42, Cape Town made the travel website's list by virtue of its atmosphere, scenery and community of expats and nomads.

“Cape Town sometimes gets a bad rap for its droughts, iffy Wi-Fi and occasional safety concerns. However, it still manages to reel in digital nomads by the thousands,” states Big 7 Travel's website.

“Despite having a few drawbacks, Cape Town boasts an incredibly connected expat and digital nomad scene from all corners of the globe. The scenery doesn’t hurt, either. Situated right on the water, surrounded by mountains and chock-full of colourful markets and quirky neighbourhoods, Cape Town is all about the atmosphere.”

The team from Big 7 Travel used variables such as affordability, internet access, cool co-working spaces, expat friendly communities and regulations that make it easy for digital nomads to work from a different country to make their final selection.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, came in first, largely due to a visa the country has put in place that offers digital nomads the opportunity to work remotely within Estonia for up to a year. The cost of living is also relatively low, according to the list, and with 99% of public services available online, internet access is a charm.

Reakoja Plats (Town Hall Square) in Tallinn's Old Town. This country was named the number one place to work from remotely in 2021 by Big 7 Travel.
Reakoja Plats (Town Hall Square) in Tallinn's Old Town. This country was named the number one place to work from remotely in 2021 by Big 7 Travel.
Image: Sue Olswang

Tbilisi in Georgia grabbed second place, owing to its rich cultural offering, funky co-working spaces and a remote-worker visa to qualifying individuals.

Apart from Berlin, at sixth, the top 10 places on the list were dominated by countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucus region, Asia and Latin America.

The top 10 best places for remote working in 2021, according to Big 7 Travel:

  1. Tallinn, Estonia
  2. Tbilisi, Georgia
  3. Belgrade, Serbia
  4. Bali, Indonesia
  5. Chiang Mai, Thailand 
  6. Berlin, Germany
  7. Singapore
  8. Buenos Aires, Argentina
  9. Hanoi, Vietnam
  10. Ljubljana, Slovenia

For the full list, visit bigseventravel.com.


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