Johannesburg Attractions, Things to Do and Facts About Jo'burg

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Johannesburg is a city with so much to offer: there are wonderful restaurants, relaxed sidewalk cafes, laughter-filled shebeens, glitzy shopping malls, tranquil parks, unique emotive museums and monuments, thrilling casinos, busy townships, stunning galleries, funky nightclubs, and more.

There are approximately 10 million trees in Johannesburg − the world’s biggest urban forest Johannesburg’s entertainment and leisure options are vast and varied, so make sure your energy levels are high.

This dynamic city has a range of restaurants – from pub ‘n grub bars, pizza take-outs and African-inspired eateries to delightful delis serving everything from a great cup of coffee to healthy meals.

There are restaurants for virtually every type of cuisine, cocktail bars, cigar bars, and fine dining. You’ve simply got to hang out at one of the many eateries in Soweto (along the famous Vilakazi Street), or soak up the sun in the Soho-type villages of Norwood, Parkhurst and Greenside.

Johannesburg is known for its incredible nightlife. From the funky clubs and pubs of Soweto to the laid-back jazzy groove of Newtown and the stylish venues of the northern suburbs, Jozi (as locals refer to the city) caters for all tastes.

What you’ll love about the place is the multi-cultural cosmopolitan vibe and an attitude that says ‘let’s party’. If you’re looking for a comedy club, a jazz lounge or a venue that plays live music – from rock to pop to kwaito to house – it’s here.

Johannesburg’s Central Business District continues to evolve, with an ongoing urban renewal and cultural regeneration programme breathing new life into the city.

History of Johannesburg

Johannesburg, the metropolis with the country’s tallest skyscrapers, was once just veld (bush), dotted with rocky outcrops, scrubby bush and a network of streams.

Today it is a cosmopolitan city of more than four million people, one of the few of its size in the world that is not located on a river or at the sea.

It is located in Gauteng, the smallest of the country’s nine provinces, which contributes around 40% to South Africa’s GDP.

Johannesburg has seen waves of different peoples occupying the area that is now the city: Stone Age ancestors dating back 500 000 years; Bushmen from 1 000 years ago;

500-year-old Iron Age furnaces belonging to Tswana people, and Boer farmhouses dating from the 1860s. But the city really started in 1886 when gold was discovered by Australian gold prospector George Harrison.

Soon tents and wagons appeared, to be replaced by wood and iron structures, and again replaced by brick buildings.

A town was demarcated, and a large, bustling market square. Buildings got taller and taller, and today the city boasts one of the tallest buildings in Africa – the 50-storey Carlton Centre, built in 1973.

Gold rush Era

The gold rush saw prospectors from around the world trek up to the Witwatersrand, precipitating the Anglo-Boer or South African War of 1899-1902, in which the British fought the Boers over control of the then Transvaal and its gold.

After the war another wave of migrants entered Johannesburg – up to 60 000 Chinese labourers were imported to kick start the mines again, only to be repatriated six years later.

But Chinese merchants had established themselves in the city, and still have a presence. The mines also brought European migrants to the burgeoning town.

They provided the capital to reach deeper into the earth to get the gold, while black South Africans were recruited at low wages to mine the gold.

The first forced removals in the town in 1904 saw residents of Brickfields removed 25km down south after their brickmaking settlement in the town was burnt to the ground to contain a bubonic plague outbreak.

They were settled in Klipspruit. This was the start of the city’s and the country’s largest township, Soweto. And so the segregated city was born.

Another migrant appeared on the dusty streets of the town – Mahatma Gandhi. He fought for equal treatment for Indian and Chinese residents, developing Satyagraha or passive resistance, adopted by the African National Congress at its formation in 1912.

Like Nelson Mandela decades later, Gandhi was locked up in the Old Fort Prison in Hillbrow, the town’s first prison, both of them for the same reason: fighting for equal rights for their compatriots.

The striking Constitutional Court now sits among three prisons: the Old Fort, the notorious No 4 black men’s prison, and the Women’s Gaol.

Gold was the backbone of Johannesburg’s rapid growth. In time, industries were established, and more and more people came seeking jobs and a slice of its wealth, especially after the 1913 Natives Land Act, which robbed black people of their land.

Modern Buildings in Johannesburg

Buildings soared upwards and suburbs stretched in all directions, today covering an area of some 1 700km². The Sachsenwald Forest that was planted in the first decade of the city’s life has today become an urban forest of 10 million trees.

One of these suburbs was Sophiatown. It witnessed the city’s second largest forced removal in the 1950s, when 65 000 people were removed by apartheid decree to make way for working-class whites.

The suburb was the incubator of bountiful talent: writers like Nat Nakasa, Bloke Modisane and Don Mattera; and musicians Hugh Masekela, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka and Thandi Klaasen.

Artist Gerard Sekoto lived in the suburb for a while, recording life on the streets in vivid colours.

Fight for Equality

The city became the microcosm of the country’s fight against race discrimination. It was here that two giants of the anti-apartheid struggle, Mandela and Walter Sisulu, learnt the ropes of resistance.

It was on a dusty soccer field in Kliptown in 1955 that the Freedom Charter was ratified, bringing together people from around the country to express their desires for an equal society.

The ANC was banned in 1960, and turned to armed struggle. On 11 July 1963 the top leadership of the ANC was arrested at a farm on the outskirts of Joburg, at Liliesleaf, hatching a plan for armed resistance.

The farmhouse is now a World Heritage site, documenting in graphic detail the events of the day. Eight men were sentenced to life imprisonment for treason, among them Mandela and Sisulu. The resistance had been silenced.

It took Soweto schoolchildren on a winter’s day in Orlando in June 1976 to rise up against the apartheid government, to remind the world of apartheid’s brutal oppression.

This catapulted Johannesburg and South Africa into the tumultuous 1980s, when apartheid was rapidly unwinding.

Soweto was often the battleground of that demise – police chased protestors into the Regina Mundi Church, where you can still see the bullet holes in the ceiling and walls.

Soweto has become a sprawling township of more than one million people. Its most famous road, Vilakazi Street, is where two Nobel laureates lived: Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

It was in Joburg that Mandela lived after his release from prison in 1990. He settled in Houghton with his third wife, Graça Machel, and it is here that he died.

It is in Joburg that other great struggle stalwarts died and are buried: Sisulu and his wife Albertina, Ahmed Kathrada, Beyers Naude, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Joe Slovo, Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi and many others.

Today Johannesburg still struggles to undo apartheid’s segregation, but the city hardly stops to take a breath, such is the drive of its residents to explore, make money, be better, have fun.

Some of that fun happens in its many parks and green lungs; some of it dancing on top of its tall buildings, some of it in its many excellent restaurants, pubs and shebeens, usually with residents basking in its beautiful sunsets.

Things to Do in Johannesburg

Must-do activities include the Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill to find out more about South Africa’s turbulent past; sundowners at The Westcliff hotel overlooking the green belt of Johannesburg while listening to the lions roar from the nearby Johannesburg Zoo.

Shopping up a storm at any of the many designer malls such as Sandton City, Nelson Mandela Square, Rosebank Mall and Soweto’s Maponya Mall; and, as a fitting end to all the fun, a visit to one of many health and beauty spas, or a walk in one of the many parks.

Use the City Sightseeing Bus

If you’re looking to explore Johannesburg in a leisurely yet thorough way, the hop-on, hop-off bus tour is a great way to get around.

This tour offers a convenient and flexible itinerary that covers a plethora of landmarks, from the poignant Apartheid Museum to the historic Constitution Hill and the thrilling Gold Reef City.

Each stop represents a unique facet of Johannesburg’s vibrant culture and complex history, giving you a full spectrum of what the city has to offer.

Visit the Apartheid Museum

If you want to understand South Africa’s tumultuous past, the Apartheid Museum is a must-visit. It is one of Johannesburg’s main attractions.

This museum, which opened in 2001, provides a poignant and comprehensive account of the apartheid era, showcasing the struggle and resilience of the people.

The exhibits are powerful and thought-provoking, making it an essential stop for anyone visiting Johannesburg.

Explore Constitution Hill

One of the best things to do in Johannesburg is to spend the day on Constitution Hill. You will probably need a full day to see everything the place has to offer.

Steeped in history and transformation, Constitution Hill is a former prison complex that now houses the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Walking through its halls, you’ll feel the weight of its past, from infamous political prisoners to everyday citizens caught in the crossfire of history. The guided tours offer deep insights into its significance and the nation’s fight for justice.

Currently, there is a special exhibition which tells the parallel stories of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, both of whom were imprisoned here.

Spend time in Soweto

Take a guided tour of Soweto, short for ‘south western township’. Make sure your tour guide is local.

Vilakazi Street is a highlight of any such tour. It is not just any street; it’s the only one in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, once lived.

A visit here is like stepping back in time. Don’t miss the Hector Pieterson Memorial, which commemorates the 1976 Soweto Uprising.

The bustling energy of Soweto, combined with its historical landmarks, makes it a vital part of Johannesburg’s story.

Walk Around the Mining District

The mining district is one of the best places to go in Johannesburg. It is a large open-air museum tracing the history of mining in the city.

The area is in downtown Johannesburg and centres around Main Street, which has been home to the city’s mining headquarters ever since Johannesburg was founded 130 years ago.

Back then, the city was little more than a dusty mining camp filled with fortune hunters and prospectors, but in just three years, it became the biggest settlement in South Africa.

Through the 1890s and early 1900s, the low-rise buildings that dotted the landscape were steadily replaced with taller, grander edifices that reflected the metropolitan’s sudden enormous wealth.

Today, this pedestrianised area is a great place to explore early mining history. Old relics of the gold rush such as mining headgear, stamp presses, rail locomotives, and covered wagons line the way, complemented by information boards explaining what you are seeing.

There is a striking sculpture in front of the Chamber of Mines building on Pixley ka Isaka Seme Street. It depicts a mineworker at the mine face and was erected in 2007.

A plaque next to the statue reads: “The monument represents the symbolic and historical role played by mineworkers in shaping the economics of the mining towns and labour-sending areas, in particular, and that of South Africa, in general.”

One of the most noteworthy buildings on Main Street is the former headquarters of the Anglo-American mining company.

It was modelled on the League of Nations complex in Geneva and is home to sculptures by celebrated South African artists, fountains, and an urban garden. The undoubted highlight is the bronze sculpture of a herd of leaping impalas.

Also in the area is the huge Magistrate’s Court, completed in 1936. It is an extremely impressive building! Outside the front entrance is a statue of Nelson Mandela shadow-boxing. It is the work of sculptor Marco Cianfanelli.

Opposite the Magistrate’s Court is Chancellor House, once the offices of the first black law firm in the city, Mandela and Tambo Attorneys.

You can’t go in, but there are window displays focusing on the lives of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.

We really enjoyed our time in the mining district and learned a lot, both about mining for gold and other resources, and about Mandela’s time as a lawyer working hard to represent black people in the city.

Wake up to the Sound of the Hadeba Ibis

The Hadeda Ibis bird is found all over Johannesburg. It has no natural predators, so numbers are out of control. It is named for its loud three to four-note calls made in flight, especially early in the morning when it leaves its roost, and when it returns in the evening.

Locals have nicknamed it ‘the flying vuvuzela’! Its distinctive call makes visitors smile when they first hear it, but I imagine it would drive you crazy if you were in the city for a long period!

Shop at Neighbourgoods Market

For a taste of local culture and cuisine, head to the Neighbourgoods Market. Held every Saturday, this market is a melting pot of flavours, crafts, and vibrant energy.

Stalls brim with everything from gourmet street food to handmade crafts, providing the perfect opportunity to mingle with locals and experience Johannesburg’s diverse culture.

Listen to Live Music at Melville

Melville’s live music scene is nothing short of electric. With numerous bars and clubs offering live performances, you can immerse yourself in the sounds of Johannesburg.

Whether it’s jazz, rock, or traditional African music, Melville is the place to be for a night of rhythm and groove.

Explore Johannesburg’s Art Galleries

The city has several unmissable art galleries. The Everard Read Gallery, with its rich collection of historical and contemporary pieces, invites you to explore the evolution of art in South Africa.

Just a stone’s throw away, the Goodman Gallery stands as a beacon for international artists, showcasing works that challenge and inspire.

If ceramics are your passion, the Kim Sacks Gallery has a superb collection of beautifully crafted pots and traditional African artefacts.

Meanwhile, The Melrose Gallery dazzles with its diverse showcase of African contemporary art, a true celebration of the continent’s artistic prowess.

Don’t miss the Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation, where special exhibitions provide a deeper dive into the cultural narratives shaping today’s art world.

Most galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday and offer free entry, though special events may carry a small fee.

Whether you’re an art aficionado or simply curious about South African culture, Johannesburg’s dynamic art scene promises an enriching journey through creativity and expression.

Try Traditional Cuisine in Maboneng Precinct

Maboneng Precinct is a cultural hotspot brimming with art, food, and life. Wander through its streets and you’ll find restaurants offering an array of traditional South African dishes.

From bunny chow to biltong, your taste buds are in for an adventure. Plus, the street art and galleries add an extra layer of charm to this cultural experience.

Hike on the Melville Koppies

Nature lovers, rejoice! The Melville Koppies Nature Reserve offers hiking trails that take you through Johannesburg’s natural beauty.

It’s a peaceful escape from the city’s hustle and bustle, with trails that cater to all fitness levels. The panoramic views from the top are worth every step.

Visit Johannesburg Zoo

If you’re travelling with family, Johannesburg Zoo is a fantastic outing. Home to over 320 species, the zoo offers a fun and educational experience for all ages.

From the majestic big cats to the playful primates, there’s plenty to see and learn.

Enjoy Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens

Escape to Johannesburg Botanical Garden for a serene day surrounded by lush greenery and stunning waterfalls. T

he garden is a haven for birdwatchers, with the Verreaux’s Eagles being a highlight. It is the perfect place for a picnic and to enjoy a day in nature.

Spend an Afternoon at Gold Reef City Theme Park

Theme parks aren’t really our thing, but if they are yours, don’t miss Gold Reef City Theme Park.

Nestled in the heart of Johannesburg, Gold Reef City is a family-friendly attraction for adrenaline junkies and history buffs alike. It is built on an old gold mine that dates back to the late 1800s.

This lively park is not just about the exhilarating rides—though, I’m told, the Anaconda roller coaster will have you screaming your lungs out as it loops and swoops through the sky.

For a different kind of adrenaline rush, the 4D Theatre is a must-visit, where the magic of cinema jumps off the screen.

Howevwer, what truly sets Gold Reef City apart is its unique blend of entertainment and education; you can explore the depths of a real mine shaft and learn about Johannesburg’s golden past.

Go Window Shopping at Sandton City Mall

For an upscale shopping experience, head to Sandton City Mall. This sprawling shopping centre offers a mix of high-end brands and local boutiques, making it a premier shopping destination.

Plus, the dining options are top-notch, ensuring a delightful culinary experience after a day of retail therapy.

Day Trips from Johannesburg

Cradle of Humankind

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cradle of Humankind is a treasure trove of ancient fossils and archaeological wonders.

Just an hour’s drive from Johannesburg, this site offers a fascinating glimpse into our origins. Go on a guided tour and explore the Sterkfontein Caves for an unforgettable experience.

Pilanesberg National Safari Park

For an African safari experience in South Africa without travelling far, Pilanesberg National Park is the perfect choice.

Located a few hours from Johannesburg, this park is home to the Big Five and offers excellent game-viewing opportunities. Whether you opt for a self-drive or a guided tour, the thrill of spotting wildlife in its natural habitat is unmatched.

Land of the Tswana

There are so many places that you can visit in Botswana but there are some other attractions that stand out more than others and are worth visiting during Botswana Safari. These make the list of the top Tourist Attractions In Botswana.

There are many tours that you can do in Botswana and the most common is the overland tour, where you can drive around to most parts of the country in an overland truck. Most common tours include a Botswana Wildlife Safari, Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park package, Desert tracking, Premium safaris and 5 to 10 day safaris.