Things to do · Johannesburg · South Africa
17 best things to do in Johannesburg
17 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: ConstHill, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
The essential sights in Johannesburg are Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill and Vilakazi Street and Mandela House. Of the 17 picks below, 6 are free, 3 work on a rainy day and 4 suit children. Allow about 3 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Apartheid Museum
- Free sights
- 6
- Good on a rainy day
- Apartheid Museum
- Time to see the highlights
- 3 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartheid Museum | Ormonde | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| Constitution Hill | Braamfontein | 2 hours | Low cost |
| Vilakazi Street and Mandela House | Soweto | 1–2 hours | Low cost |
| Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum | Soweto | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Soweto by bicycle or with a local guide | Soweto | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| Gold Reef City | Ormonde | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| Orlando Towers | Soweto | 1–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Maboneng street art and galleries | Maboneng | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Nelson Mandela Square | Sandton | 45 minutes | Free |
| Nelson Mandela Bridge | Braamfontein | 30 minutes | Free |
| Johannesburg Botanical Garden and Emmarentia Dam | Emmarentia | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Johannesburg Zoo | Parkview | 2–3 hours | Low cost |
| Origins Centre | Braamfontein | 1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Melville Koppies | Melville | 2 hours | Low cost |
| Satyagraha House | Orchards | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Rosebank galleries and Keyes Art Mile | Rosebank | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Walter Sisulu Square | Kliptown, Soweto | 45 minutes | Free |
The 17 best things to do
Museum · Ormonde
1.Apartheid Museum
Opened in 2001 next to Gold Reef City, the museum tells the story of racial segregation from the gold-rush era to the 1994 elections through film, photographs, documents and personal testimony. Your ticket randomly classifies you as 'white' or 'non-white', and you enter through separate gates. Allow at least two to three hours; the material is harrowing and some galleries are unsuitable for young children.
Go in the morning while you are fresh, and leave time for the temporary exhibitions on Mandela and the transition to democracy.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Rainy day
Historic site · Braamfontein
2.Constitution Hill
This former prison complex held Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and thousands of ordinary South Africans arrested under pass laws. Guided tours cover the Old Fort, the notorious Number Four section and the Women's Jail. Beside them stands the Constitutional Court, built in 2004 partly with bricks from the demolished awaiting-trial block.
Take the guided tour; former-prisoner stories bring the cells to life, and look for the court's art collection and the bricks reused in its walls.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Architecture
Street · Soweto
3.Vilakazi Street and Mandela House
Nelson Mandela lived in the small brick house at 8115 Vilakazi Street in Orlando West from 1946 until his arrest in the early 1960s; it is now a museum with family photographs and bullet marks on the walls. Desmond Tutu's home is a few doors down, and the street is lined with restaurants serving township food and cold drinks.
Visit with a local guide who can add stories of the 1976 uprising, then eat lunch at one of the Vilakazi Street restaurants.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Food
Museum · Soweto
4.Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum
On 16 June 1976 police opened fire on students protesting against Afrikaans-language schooling, and 12-year-old Hector Pieterson was among those killed. Sam Nzima's photograph of him being carried away became a defining image of apartheid. The memorial and museum, a few blocks from Vilakazi Street, trace the uprising hour by hour.
Walk the route between the museum and Vilakazi Street; markers on the pavement follow the students' march.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
Experience · Soweto
5.Soweto by bicycle or with a local guide
Guided bicycle and walking tours from Orlando West lead through residential streets, past shebeens, schools and informal settlements, with stops at Vilakazi Street and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. Riding at street level and talking with residents gives a much fuller sense of Soweto than a coach tour.
Choose a Soweto-based operator and add lunch at a local shisa nyama to the tour.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Active
- Food
Theme park · Ormonde
6.Gold Reef City
A theme park built around an old gold mine shaft, with roller coasters and water rides, a recreated gold-rush streetscape and an underground tour that goes down into the former mine workings. It sits next to the Apartheid Museum and a casino complex.
Book the underground mine tour separately when you arrive; it is the part that explains how Johannesburg came to exist.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- History
- Active
Landmark · Soweto
7.Orlando Towers
Two decommissioned power-station cooling towers in Soweto, painted with murals and advertising, now host a bungee jump swinging between the towers and a viewing platform with panoramas over the township. They are among Soweto's most recognisable landmarks.
Even if you skip the jump, the platform view helps you understand Soweto's scale.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Active
- Views
- Photo spot
Neighbourhood · Maboneng
8.Maboneng street art and galleries
Maboneng's converted warehouses around Fox Street hold galleries, studios, cafés and an independent cinema, and large murals by South African and international artists cover the walls. Local guides run inner-city walking tours that start here and continue into the old CBD.
Visit on a Sunday daytime when the precinct is busiest, and join a guided walk to go beyond the precinct safely.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Food
- Shopping
- Photo spot
Landmark · Sandton
1.Nelson Mandela Square
A paved piazza within the Sandton City complex, overlooked by a six-metre bronze statue of Nelson Mandela unveiled in 2004. Restaurants with outdoor seating ring the square, and it connects to one of the largest shopping centres in the country.
Visit at dusk when the restaurants fill up, and combine it with shopping at Sandton City.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Shopping
- Kids
Architecture · Braamfontein
2.Nelson Mandela Bridge
Opened in 2003, this 284-metre cable-stayed bridge spans the railway lines between Braamfontein and Newtown and is lit up in changing colours after dark. It gives one of the best views of the city skyline and links Constitution Hill with the cultural venues of Newtown.
Photograph it from the Braamfontein side in the early evening, and leave by car or ride-hailing rather than walking at night.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- After dark
- Architecture
Garden · Emmarentia
3.Johannesburg Botanical Garden and Emmarentia Dam
Lawns, a large rose garden, herb gardens and an arboretum slope down to Emmarentia Dam, where locals walk dogs, row and picnic at weekends. Entry is free, and it is one of the few large open spaces close to Melville and Parkhurst.
Bring a picnic on a weekend afternoon and walk the dam's edge for views back across the northern suburbs.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Nature
Zoo · Parkview
4.Johannesburg Zoo
Founded in 1904 on land donated by mining magnate Hermann Eckstein, the zoo has large grassy enclosures for lions, elephants, gorillas and Siberian tigers, plus a farmyard section for small children. It sits beside Zoo Lake, a popular weekend park.
Combine it with lunch at Zoo Lake across the road and a walk around the water.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Museum · Braamfontein
5.Origins Centre
At the University of the Witwatersrand, this museum explores human origins in Africa and holds one of the finest collections of southern African rock art. It is a good primer before a trip to the Cradle of Humankind and a short walk from Constitution Hill.
Do it the day before visiting the Cradle of Humankind; the context makes the fossil sites far more meaningful.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
Nature · Melville
6.Melville Koppies
A rocky ridge of protected Highveld grassland on the edge of Melville, with indigenous plants, birdlife and the remains of an Iron Age smelting furnace. Volunteer-led walks explain the geology and archaeology, and the top gives wide views over the northern suburbs.
Join one of the scheduled guided walks rather than going alone; the guides know the plants and the history.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Outdoors
- Nature
- Off the beaten path
- Views
Museum · Orchards
7.Satyagraha House
Gandhi lived in this thatched house, designed by his friend the architect Hermann Kallenbach, in 1908–1909 while developing his philosophy of non-violent resistance. It is now a small museum and guesthouse with displays on his South African years.
Read up on Gandhi's arrest and time at the Old Fort first; Constitution Hill and this house tell two halves of the same story.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Off the beaten path
Gallery · Rosebank
8.Rosebank galleries and Keyes Art Mile
A cluster of commercial galleries around Jellicoe Avenue and Keyes Avenue shows leading contemporary South African and African artists, with design shops and restaurants in between. Entry to the galleries is free, and openings draw a crowd on weekday evenings.
Combine a gallery walk with the Sunday market on the Mall of Rosebank rooftop.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Shopping
Historic site · Kliptown, Soweto
9.Walter Sisulu Square
The open square in Kliptown where the Congress of the People adopted the Freedom Charter on 26 June 1955. A monument holds the charter's ten clauses, and the surrounding streets show a much poorer side of Soweto than Orlando West.
Visit as part of a guided Soweto tour that includes Kliptown, and read the charter text inside the conical monument.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Apartheid Museum, Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, Maboneng street art and galleries and Origins Centre |
| History | Apartheid Museum, Constitution Hill, Vilakazi Street and Mandela House and Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum |
| Views | Orlando Towers, Nelson Mandela Bridge and Melville Koppies |
| Outdoors and nature | Johannesburg Botanical Garden and Emmarentia Dam, Johannesburg Zoo and Melville Koppies |
| Food and markets | Vilakazi Street and Mandela House, Soweto by bicycle or with a local guide and Maboneng street art and galleries |
| After dark | Nelson Mandela Bridge |
| With children | Gold Reef City, Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg Botanical Garden and Emmarentia Dam and Johannesburg Zoo |
| On a rainy day | Apartheid Museum, Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum and Origins Centre |
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Johannesburg?
Apartheid Museum. Opened in 2001 next to Gold Reef City, the museum tells the story of racial segregation from the gold-rush era to the 1994 elections through film, photographs, documents and personal testimony.
+What can you do for free in Johannesburg?
Maboneng street art and galleries, Nelson Mandela Square, Nelson Mandela Bridge, Johannesburg Botanical Garden and Emmarentia Dam and Rosebank galleries and Keyes Art Mile. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Johannesburg when it rains?
Head indoors to Apartheid Museum, Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum and Origins Centre.
+What is there to do in Johannesburg at night?
Nelson Mandela Bridge are best after dark.