Johannesburg

No reviews yetCity Gauteng, South Africa

Apartheidmuseumpool, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Great Hall University Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

South Africa Johannesburg Botanical Garden 002 (cropped), Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Johannesburg Skyline, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

About Johannesburg

Johannesburg exists because of gold. When a rich reef was found on the Witwatersrand ridge in 1886, a mining camp grew almost overnight into what became the largest city in South Africa, still called eGoli, the place of gold. Today it is the country's economic engine, a sprawling, energetic metropolis of towers, leafy suburbs and townships.

The city's story is inseparable from the struggle against apartheid. The Apartheid Museum, the former prison at Constitution Hill and the streets of Soweto, where Nelson Mandela once lived and the 1976 student uprising began, are among the most powerful places to visit anywhere in Africa. Liliesleaf in Rivonia adds the hidden history of the underground resistance.

There is a lighter side too: galleries and rooftop bars in Maboneng, roses beside Emmarentia Dam, the roller coasters of Gold Reef City and long lunches in Melville. Get around by taxi, ride-hailing app or the Gautrain, and use local guides for Soweto and the inner city.

Best seasonMarch to May and September to November; summers bring afternoon thunderstorms and winters are dry with cold nights.

Ideal stayTwo to three days for the museums, Soweto and a neighbourhood or two.

ArrivingO.R. Tambo International Airport lies east of the city and is linked to Sandton and Park Station by the Gautrain.

12 Places Locals Love in Johannesburg

Museums 2

Apartheid Museum

Opened in 2001 beside Gold Reef City, this museum tells the story of racial segregation in South Africa and the long struggle to e...

Origins Centre

On the campus of the University of the Witwatersrand in Braamfontein, the Origins Centre explores the deep story of modern humans...

History 3

Constitution Hill

This former prison complex in Braamfontein once held both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, along with thousands of ordinary peop...

Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum

A few blocks from Vilakazi Street, this memorial and museum honour the students of the Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976, when polic...

Liliesleaf Farm

In leafy Rivonia, this farmhouse served as a secret base for leaders of the liberation movement in the early 1960s, until a police...

Neighborhoods 2

Vilakazi Street

In Orlando West, Soweto, this lively street is often described as the only one in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners li...

Maboneng Precinct

On the eastern edge of the city centre, Maboneng grew from old warehouses and factories into a creative district of galleries, stu...

Parks 1

Johannesburg Botanical Garden

Spread across the slopes beside Emmarentia Dam in the northern suburbs, this large garden is loved for its formal rose garden, her...

Family 1

Johannesburg Zoo

Set among mature trees in the suburb of Parkview, the Johannesburg Zoo has been welcoming families for more than a century, with b...

Entertainment 1

Gold Reef City

Built on the site of an old gold mine south of the city centre, this theme park mixes roller coasters and water rides with a recon...

Shopping 1

Nelson Mandela Square

In the heart of Sandton, the city's glossy business district, this Italian-style piazza is ringed by restaurants and joined to the...

Food and Drink 1

Melville 7th Street

Melville is a relaxed, bohemian suburb near the university campuses, and 7th Street is its main strip of restaurants, cafes, books...

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