In celebration of Youth Month this June, Max Marx rounds up some of Gauteng’s most enticing attractions for young travellers. 

Today’s young travellers are seeking cultural immersion and authentic experiences that will enable them to connect with the people and places they visit. In South Africa, Gauteng and particularly Johannesburg and Soweto are the destinations where hip, young urbanites frequent funky districts and explore the province’s fascinating history and cultural diversity.



Travel agents and tour operators can package a wide variety of immersive travel experiences in Gauteng that give young travellers the ‘insider’ experiences they seek.

Massive urban regeneration projects have given rise to the trendy districts of Maboneng, Newtown and Braamfontein, where hip food markets, unusual restaurants and bars, coffee roasteries, bookshops, street fashion stores, theatres, movie houses and live music venues are attracting young travellers in droves. Young tourism entrepreneurs have launched a range of tourism products that explore Johannesburg’s rich cultural heritage in these older inner-city areas, while in Soweto, they are providing adventurous ways to explore the township’s wealth of history and cultural attractions.



Exploring Maboneng and surrounds

The four-star Curiocity Backpackers in the Maboneng district is a great place to stay for young travellers who want to explore Johannesburg’s inner city areas, says owner, Bheki Dube. Curiocity Backpackers offers several interesting tours that explore the inner city and Soweto. Its cycling tour on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 15h30 to 17h00 explores the history and heritage of Jeppestown, Troyeville, Doornfontein and Maboneng with a focus on public art.



Curiocity’s Underground Pub Crawl on Fridays from 19h00 explores Joburg by night, visiting different pubs in the Maboneng, Fairview and Troyeville areas, where pub-crawlers learn about the history of the area and some of the historic buildings that house these pubs. The tour starts at The Hide Out Bar at Curiocity Backpackers and visits the Poolside Café, Lenin’s Vodka Bar, Fairview Tavern, Zebra Inn (a taxidermy bar), the Don Buildings bar, and the Troyeville Hotel.

Walking tours in the inner city

Inner city walking tours are also extremely popular among the youth, says Jo Buitendach, owner of Past Experiences. Both Past Experiences and Jozy Triangel Tours specialise in walking tours of Johannesburg’s inner city areas such as Newtown and Braamfontein and also offer interesting Soweto tours.



Past Experiences’ graffiti tours are a hit with young travellers interested in exploring the city’s street art and public art spaces. The graffiti tours focus on the global history of the graffiti movement and look at Johannesburg’s graffiti culture. Travellers get to meet a graffiti artist on the weekend tours, who shares interesting facts about life as a graffiti artist. While most of Past Experiences’ tours are private, its scheduled budget-friendly weekend tours are aimed at the youth market.

Jozy Triangel’s street art and graffiti walking tour of Newtown and surrounds combines visits to different graffiti sites with a spoken word experience, where a young poet recites poems with historical themes. The graffiti tour can also be included in Jozy Triangel’s Newtown walking tour, which explores places such as the Workers Museum, Turbine Hall and Market Theatre. Tours start at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre and can cater for up to 50 people. Jozy Triangel has also partnered with Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers to offer cycling tours in Soweto.

Fun in Soweto

For an immersive Soweto experience, staying at Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers is a good option. Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers offers fun tours of the township by bicycle including lunch and traditional beer), Tuk Tuk and on foot. Thrill seekers can enjoy bungee jumping at Orlando Towers (bookable through the Orlando Towers vertical adventure centre) and quad-biking Soweto tours, go-karting and rock climbing, all available from Soweto Outdoor Adventures.

Birding on Bicycle is a new half-day off-road mountain bike adventure offered by Bay of Grace Tours that explores birding in Soweto’s green spaces.



Another must-visit attraction is the Ubuntu Kraal Brewery (home of Soweto Gold craft beer) and the Kasi Beer Garden. Here, visitors can enjoy a guided tour of the brewery and taste Soweto Gold’s five beer varieties. The 450-seat beer garden serves a gourmet township grill. The brewery is in walking distance of Vilakazi Street in Orlando West.

Take You There, which operates its famous party bus and offers full and half-day craft brewery tours in Gauteng – great fun for young travellers – also offers a party-bus Soweto Experience which departs from Montecasino. It stops at Chaf Pozi restaurant at the Orlando Towers (with time for a bungee jump), at 707 Panyaza, a shebeen-type experience serving typical township cuisine, and at Sakhumzi Restaurant in Vilakazi Street. The tour price includes transport and craft beers on board. The next Soweto Experience takes place on June 26.