Wildlife, townships, adrenaline and shopping, Gauteng has lots to offer, but often tourists spend only two or three days in the province. Caro Malherbe takes a look at how to see as much of the province’s best offerings in a short space of time.

Three options for exploring Gauteng

1. Thompsons Africa’s Johannesburg City Tour

“South Africa’s largest city remains its financial and commercial heart. It’s in this fast-paced metropolis that the country’s radical political and social transformation is most evident – this is the ‘Rainbow Nation’ at work. It’s a heady experience, with contrasts of every kind round every single corner,” says Craig Drysdale, General Manager Global Sales for Thompsons Africa.

The tour begins at Constitution Hill, home of South Africa’s Constitutional Court and site of Johannesburg’s Old Fort Prison. It then goes on to explore the inner city of Johannesburg and the influence the discovery of gold brought to this city and South Africa.

Guests visit the Maboneng Precinct, an example of urban regeneration of the eastside of the Johannesburg CBD which is now home to several independent retail, restaurant, art and entertainment venues.

For more information on the tour, click here. 

2. Inner city walking tours

Past Experiences, founded and led by Jo Buitendach, is Johannesburg’s original walking tour company that takes guests on a journey of the inner city of Johannesburg. The company focuses on tours of Johannesburg CBD, Soweto and Pretoria CBD.

Says Buitendach: “[T]he aim of what we do is we try to get people out of tour busses and onto the street or using public transport as much as possible so that they are really interacting with local people.”

Past Experiences specialises in tours that focus on the art of the city. “We do a lot of public art, graffiti and street art. A lot of it is done in conjunction with graffiti artists. Other tours that are quite popular focus on Nelson Mandela’s time in Johannesburg in the 1050s and 1960s, as well as Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo,” says Buitendach.

For more information click here. 

According to Anthony Paton, Deputy Director: Website, Editing & Copywriting for Gauteng Tourism, another inner city walking tour option can be done with Bheki Dube, a photographer and the founder of Main Street Walks, who conducts tours that aim to reconnect people with the inner workings of the city. “He gives tourists an authentic experience, and has contributed towards eradicating the negative stigma that many people attach to Johannesburg. Tours may visit the Bioscope; Arts On Main; Kwa Mai Mai Traditional Market, a traditional South African Market located in Johannesburg's CBD; and Uncle Merv’s signature smoothie stand in The Maboneng Precinct,” Paton says.

For more information on Main Street Walks, click here. 

3. City Sightseeing Bus

City sightseeing open-top bus tour is one of the best ways to go sightseeing in Joburg. The bus operates on a hop-on, hop-off basis, allowing sightseers the chance to get off the bus at any of the designated stops along the route and then get back on a later bus at their leisure.

The city sightseeing bus route includes the following attractions: Gandhi Square, the Carlton Centre, the James Hall Transport Museum, Gold Reef City, the Apartheid Museum, the Mining District Walk, Newtown, the Origins Centre at Wits, Braamfontein, Constitution Hill, as well as a number of attractions in Soweto, including Soccer City, Diep Kloof, the Orlando Towers, the Orlando Stadium, Hector Pieterson Memorial, Vilikazi Street, Mandela House, Desmond Tutu house and Kliptown

To find out more about the bus tour, click here.  

Three things to do and see

1. Soweto

“No visit to Joburg, would be complete without a trip to the sprawling township of Soweto,” says Laura Vercueil, PR & Communication Manager for Joburg Tourism. Some of the things to see in Soweto include: Vilakazi Street, where both former president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu lived; Orlando Towers, where thrill seekers can bungee jump from the suspended bridge or just spend the day relaxing at Chaf Pozi, the local shisa nyama at the foot of the cooling towers.

The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum which opened in 2002, is located not far from the spot where 12-year old Hector was shot on 16 June 1976, during the Soweto uprising.

According to Paton, one way to experience the heritage of Soweto is through a bicycle tour with a bicycle touring company such as Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers and Bicycle Tours. “Bicycle tours allow you to see things at your own pace and have friendly interactions with locals at the squeeze of a handbrake, and of course they are environmentally friendly.”

To find out more about Soweto bicycle tours, click here. 

2. The SAB World of Beer

The SAB World of Beer offers visitors a memorable encounter with beer and brewing, says Felicia Mokhehle Operations Supervisor for SAB.

“The guided tours take you on a trip back in time through the origins of beer and the history of the South African beer industry. The Big Beer Experience uses third-millennium technology to give the World of Beer its dazzling lights, holograms and special effects,” Mokhehle says. The tour ends off with a cold pint in the Tap Room overlooking the city and a keepsake World of Beer glass.

SAB World of Beer is located in the Newtown Precinct along with other attractions such as Museum Africa, Johannesburg's social and cultural history museum, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, and the Market Theatre. 

To find out more, click here. 

3.  Zip line over a pool of crocodiles

Croc City Crocodile & Reptile Park, located 10 minutes outside of Fourways, Johannesburg, offers a zip line experience over Nile crocodiles with its Croc City FlyOver Adventure.

The zip line adventure has two cable sections or slides and three platforms from where visitors take-off, flying over two separate crocodile enclosures. Guests experience a bird’s eye view of these large creatures as they glide over them eight metres above the ground.

Owner Anton Lötter will take guests around the crocodile farm where they can interact with baby crocodile, touch exotic snakes and other reptiles, and even hold a tarantula.

Apart from the main crocodile park, there is a wood-fired pizza restaurant and the Croc Beer Boma.

For more information, click here. 

Three options for shopping and entertainment

1. Gold Reef City

Gold Reef City is a theme park and casino, created around an authentic 19th century gold mine, and offering a wide range of attractions. For more information on Gold Reef City, click here. 

2. Monte Casino

Located in Fourways, north of Johannesburg, Montecasino is a popular entertainment destination in Gauteng that offers a casino, a huge variety of restaurants, a theatre and live shows, while it also hosts international lifestyle festivals. For more information on Montecasino, click here. www.montecasino.co.za

3. Sandton City

Sandton City is one of Africa’s leading and most prestigious shopping centres, says Vercueil. “The centre offers a shopping experience that combines the world’s most desirable brands with everyday leisure and entertainment. With about 300 leading local and international retailers, Sandton City is one-of-a-kind premier fashion and leisure destination.” For more information on Sandton City, click here.

Where to stay?

The Sunnyside Park Hotel in Partown, with its 120-year-old Plane trees, is a 10 minute drive from Braamfontein and Newtown as well as the Joburg Theater, which have all been revived as main attractions in Johannesburg, says Candice Morawitz, Marketing Co-ordinator for Legacy Hotels & Resorts.

“For those who love the city life and being at the pulse of everything, Sandton is the place to be. Sandton offers an endless choice of shops, theatres, clubs, spas, bars and restaurants, within walking distance of the Gautrain station, the Michelangelo Hotel, Michelangelo Towers and Davinci Hotel & Suites.”