Pretoria

No reviews yetCity Gauteng, South Africa

Union Buildings, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

About Pretoria

Every October and November, Pretoria turns purple. Thousands of jacaranda trees bloom along its avenues, carpeting the streets in blossom and giving South Africa's administrative capital its nickname, the Jacaranda City. Behind the flowers lies a city of grand sandstone government buildings, monuments that tell very different versions of the nation's story, and green ridges with wildlife on the edge of town.

Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius and named after his father Andries, a Voortrekker leader, and it became the capital of the South African Republic under Paul Kruger, whose house is now a museum. Herbert Baker's Union Buildings, finished in 1913, look down from Meintjieskop, and it was there that Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president in 1994. On the hills south of the centre, the granite Voortrekker Monument and Freedom Park face each other across the valley.

Pretoria lies about 60 kilometres north of Johannesburg, linked by the Gautrain to Johannesburg and O. R. Tambo International Airport.

Best seasonOctober-November for jacarandas; April-May for mild dry weather

Ideal stay2 days

ArrivingGautrain from O. R. Tambo Airport and Johannesburg

11 Ways to Experience Pretoria

Landmarks 2

Union Buildings

Designed by Sir Herbert Baker and completed in 1913, the sandstone Union Buildings house the offices of the president and stand ab...

Church Square Pretoria

Pretoria's original market square is framed by fine old buildings, including the Ou Raadsaal, the former parliament of the South A...

History 2

Voortrekker Monument

Completed in 1949 on a hill south of the city, this massive granite monument commemorates the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colon...

Freedom Park Pretoria

Facing the Voortrekker Monument from the Salvokop hill, Freedom Park was opened in stages from 2007 to honour those who died in th...

Museums 3

Kruger House Museum

Built in 1884, this modest house on Church Street was the home of Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, until he l...

Ditsong National Museum of Natural History

Founded as the Transvaal Museum in the 19th century, this museum on Paul Kruger Street holds major collections of fossils, mammals...

Melrose House

This ornate Victorian mansion, built in 1886 opposite Burgers Park, served as the headquarters of the British commander Lord Kitch...

Parks 1

Pretoria National Botanical Garden

Run by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in the east of the city, this garden is divided by a quartzite ridge into...

Wildlife 1

National Zoological Garden Pretoria

Founded in 1899 and set along the Apies River in the city centre, the National Zoological Garden is the largest zoo in South Afric...

Nature 1

Groenkloof Nature Reserve

Proclaimed in 1895 under Paul Kruger and often described as the oldest game reserve in Africa, Groenkloof lies just south of the c...

Events 1

Pretoria Jacaranda Season

Each year from about mid-October into November, the city's jacaranda trees burst into purple bloom, lining streets in suburbs such...

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Photo credits

Photo: Utilizator:Țetcu Mircea Rareș at ro.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5

Photo: Joonas Lyytinen, Käyttäjä:Joonasl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

Photo: Leo za1, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: ~ souTH AFRica ~, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Donald Sepeng, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: :ru:User:(WT-ru) Digr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Utilizator:Țetcu Mircea Rareș at ro.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5

Photo: John Walker, Images of Africa Taken from de-Wikipedia, where it had been uploade, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: ~ souTH AFRica ~, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Pieter-ZA, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: PHParsons, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: John Walker, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Louis Oelofse, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Leo za1, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: JMK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: NJR ZA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Jim Speirs, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: NJR ZA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: JMK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Hassanbeem, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: JMK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: JMK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Paul Saad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Yoshi Canopus, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0