54 Best Sights in Johannesburg, South Africa

Built in 1886, this opulent structure is one of South Africa's most beautiful and best-preserved Victorian homes, furnished in period style. It has marble columns, mosaic floors, lovely stained-glass windows, ornate ceilings, porcelain ornaments, and richly colored carpets. On May 31, 1902, the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed in the dining room, ending the South African War. You can view a permanent exhibit on the war or arrange for a guided tour.

A 50-hectare (123-acres) nature reserve and heritage site on the southern side of the Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Melville Koppies preserves lands as they were before the 1886 gold discovery. The central section of the reserve is opened on Sunday mornings from 8 until 11:30 am, with safe parking at the adjacent Marks Park Sports Club and security guards stationed at various points. Visitors can undertake the 5 km (3 mile) hiking trail or the 3 km (1.8 mile) heritage trail that includes information stops that examine the archaeology, history, geology, fauna, and biodiverse highveld flora of the area. The site includes a 500-year-old Iron Age furnace.  Don't visit the east and west sections of Melville Koppies Nature Reserve alone, as it isn't safe.

A symbol of the renewal process going on in the city, this modern, 931-foot-long bridge with sprawling cables spans the Braamfontein railway yard, connecting Braamfontein and the revamped Newtown Cultural Precinct to The Market Theater and Maboneng Precinct. The bridge is especially beautiful at night when it is colorfully illuminated (though walking across without a guide, even during the day, is not advised).

You can watch the intricate art of glass blowing at Ngwenya Glass Village and pick out a handmade souvenir whether it’s one of the Big Five, a glass-crowned cork stopper, napkin rings, paperweights, or a bespoke wine cooler. This retail village also includes a number of other stalls, in little huts arranged in a semi-circle, that sell one-of-a-kind items and food. Gilroy’s Brewery is where you can stop for lunch and a pint of small-batch ales and lagers, after you’ve done the beer tasting experience (Saturdays, 11 am, R145).

Named after mining magnate Ernest Oppenheimer, who established the De Beers diamond mining company as a powerful global brand, this park is one of the few green spaces in Soweto and is rich in flora and birdlife. The park is dominated by a large tower built as a tribute to Oppenheimer, who helped resettle people displaced by the apartheid government in the 1950s. Here you can also see Khayalendaba, a cultural village built in the 1970s by South Africa's best-known traditional healer, artist, and oral historian, Credo Mutwa. Some of his statues here portray African gods, warriors, and mythical figures, even sculptures of prehistoric African animals.

It's best to visit the park with a guide in the daytime for safety reasons.

A giant world map that is handmade of aluminum wire depicts the migration of hominins at the entrance of Origins Centre. This modern museum (situated at the University of the Witwatersrand) explores the development and culture of modern humans over the past 100,000 years, and in particular rock art and stone tools—of which southern Africa has the oldest in the world. Origins is spacious and elegantly designed across three stories that house permanent and temporary exhibitions, which cater to school kids and visiting professors alike. It was renovated in 2021 and boasts interactive multimedia displays and photographs that are enhanced by a free Augmented Reality app (OriginsCentreAR), which can be used with the museum’s free Wi-Fi. The museum’s gift shop sells high-quality crafts made by the Khomani San in the Northern Cape as well as hard-to-source books on rock art in southern Africa. The center's coffee shop, Food Art @ Origins, serves tasty, light meals. If you don’t make it to the museum, you can experience most of its exhibitions via its websites, thanks to Google Arts & Culture.

The 150,000-acre Pilanesberg Game Reserve is centered on the caldera of an extinct volcano. Concentric rings of mountains surround a lake filled with crocodiles and hippos. Open grassland, rocky crags, and forested gorges provide ideal habitats for a wide range of plains and woodland game, especially wildebeests and zebras, which are plentiful here. The Pilanesberg (pronounced pee-luns-berg) can boast the Big Five (you have a great chance of seeing elephants and rhinos here on almost any single drive) and is malaria-free. It's a bird-watcher's paradise, with a vast range of grassland species, waterbirds, and birds of prey. The entertainment and resort complex of Sun City is nearby.

This imposing structure, inaugurated in 1935, has an Italianate style that borrows freely from classical architecture. A tympanum on the front, by Coert Steynberg, one of South Africa's most famous sculptors, symbolizes the growth and development of the city. Statues of Andries Pretorius, the city's founder, and his son Marthinus, stand in the square fronting the building, and relief panels depict the founding in 1855.

Natural grassland and lawns fringed by indigenous flowers provide a welcome contrast to city life in Pretoria. Within the main garden a succulent garden, cycad garden, and dassie trail provide added interest, and more than 200 bird species have been recorded. Look out for hawks, falcons, kestrels, and Verreaux's eagle. An Enabling Garden near the entrance is dedicated to the physically challenged.

Central to the liberation struggle, this Catholic church was a refuge of peace, sanity, and steadfast moral focus for the people of Soweto through the harshest years of repression. Archbishop Desmond Tutu often delivered sermons in this massive church during the apartheid years. And it wasn't always so peaceful—you still can see bullet holes where police opened fire on students and residents seeking refuge. It has a Black Madonna and Child painting and beautiful stained-glass windows, including one depicting the Annunciation.

Rhinos, lions, wild dogs, cheetahs, hippos, and crocodiles are among the animals you can see at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve. You can spot about 650 head of game; visit the lion, wild dog, and cheetah enclosures (be careful of lions approaching vehicles) or vulture hide, or be thrilled by live snake shows every day but Monday and Friday. You can also visit the endangered-species breeding center and the magnificent white lions or cuddle a baby animal at the nursery for an additional charge of R40. In addition to the self-driving tour, you can book an escorted game drive or guided walk. There's a small swimming pool, four restaurants, and a curio shop, as well as rustic chalets and fully equipped cabins for overnights.

SABMiller is Africa's largest brewing company, and its unusual museum is dedicated to that great South African favorite—beer. A guided tour takes you on an interactive, multimedia trip back in time through the origins of beer, where you'll learn about the history of beer brewing in Africa and the process of beer making, including African brewing traditions. After a 75-minute tour you can enjoy two complimentary beers in the taproom (and take home a keepsake World of Beer glass).

About 23 km (14 miles) east of Pretoria's city center, this furnished, 48-room Victorian mansion, in a mixture of grand styles, and its outbuildings, surrounded by gardens, were built in 1884 for mining and industrial magnate Sammy Marks. Guided tours take place every hour on weekends; every 90 minutes on weekdays; and there are ghost tours at night by appointment. A restaurant is on-site, and you can picnic on the grounds.

This small wood-and-iron country house in Irene, an outlying suburb of Pretoria, was the residence of three-time South African prime minister Jan Christian Smuts, who played active roles in the South African War and World Wars I and II and was instrumental in setting up the League of Nations (forerunner of the United Nations). Despite his military background, he was committed to working for peace and remains one of South Africa's most interesting historical characters. His home illustrates the simple manner in which he lived until his death in 1950. There's a tea garden on the large grounds, an adjacent campsite, and easy trails up a nearby hill. A crafts market takes place on the grounds on certain weekends (visit for upcoming dates).

Originally a coal-fired power station, the brightly painted cooling towers are now a well-known Johannesburg landmark that's been transformed into an adrenaline junkie's paradise, where you can do bungee jumping and a scad freefall from the top of the 33-story structure, as well as rock climbing and paintballing. The viewing deck offers 360-degree views of Soweto below. Afterward, you can relax at Chaf-Pozi, the popular restaurant located on the premises that serves authentic South African cuisine.

At the home of the Standard Bank African art collection you can admire contemporary South African artwork. The gallery hosts high-quality, ever-changing local and international exhibitions, including the annual traveling World Press Photo show. Across the street, Standard Bank also hosts the entrance to a gold mine dating back to the city's earliest days; it was discovered when the headquarters was being built in the 1980s. You can take an elevator down to see it, along with a small exhibition of photos and maps.

Braamfontein’s Juta Street Precinct has been reignited with the establishment of The Playground (at the site of what was Neighborhoods Market pre-pandemic). Housed in an underground parking lot with a rooftop and wraparound wooden deck accented by a living green wall, the venue hosts an artisan market on weekends (9 am–6 pm). It's characterized by good food, with a selection of gourmet stalls and street food vendors, coupled with cocktails and a showcase of local artists’ design, art, and fashion wares. Live music and DJ sets emanate from this performance venue on Sundays.

The Playground looks out onto a towering mural of Nelson Mandela by graffiti artist Shepard Fairey titled The purple shall govern. It references an anti-apartheid march on September 2, 1989, during which police sprayed protestors with water cannons containing purple dye to distinguish them easily. And while you’re here, just across the street, beneath the mural, is an intimate rooftop bar called The Beach where you can dig your feet into beach sand while reclining on a lounger in the shade of an umbrella.

The huge Tswaing meteorite crater was formed about 220,000 years ago. Today the area is a nature reserve home to 240 bird species, zebra, impala, kudu, steenbok, reptiles, and even more trees and plant species. Browse through the crater's eco-museum to learn more. A three-hour guided tour includes a walk to the crater and an informative talk. Self-guided tour options are also available. The site is of great significance to traditional healers because of the mythical snake believed to live in the salty crater lake. Picnic tables and rustic accommodation are also available.

Built in 1901, this impressive cream-sandstone complex—home to the administrative branch of government and now a national heritage site—was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, one of South Africa's most revered architects. This is where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the country’s first democratically elected president in 1994. The complex incorporates a hodgepodge of styles—an Italian tile roof, wooden shutters inspired by Cape Dutch architecture, and Renaissance columns—that somehow works beautifully. Expansive formal gardens step down the hillside in terraces, which are dotted with war memorials and statues of former prime ministers. What is most striking is the nine-meter-tall bronze statue of Mandela with outstretched arms by South African sculptors André Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren. While there's no public access to the building, the gardens are perfect for a picnic lunch.

This famous national heritage site is regarded as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism and independence. Completed in 1949, the monument honors the Voortrekkers, who rejected colonial rule and trekked into the hinterland to found their own nation. The Hall of Heroes traces in its marble frieze their momentous Great Trek, culminating in the Battle of Blood River (December 16, 1838), when a small force of Boers defeated a large Zulu army without losing a single life. The Voortrekkers considered this victory a covenant with God. An adjoining museum displays scenes and artifacts of daily Voortrekker life, as well as the Voortrekker Tapestries, 15 pictorial weavings that trace the historical high points of the Great Trek. The monument is in a nature reserve, which has a picnic area. You can dine in the restaurant and tea garden if you don't like to rough it. At an additional cost, Adventure Zone offers hiking trails (3km, 5.6km and 8km), as well as other activities such as: quad biking, drumming, fire-making and archery. Also on-site is Fort Schanskop, the best preserved of four area forts commissioned by President Paul Kruger in about 1897. The fort houses a South African (Anglo-Boer) War museum and gift shop.

More than 240 bird species and a variety of small mammals add to a biodiverse garden named in honor of late ANC stalwart Walter Sisulu. The Witpoortjie Falls dominate the garden, providing a backdrop to a succulent rockery, cycads, an arboretum, bird and butterfly garden, wildflowers, a children's section, and bird hides. The garden is famous for a pair of Verreaux eagles that breed in early spring (August/September). There are four self-guided walking trails, the most popular of which is a brisk trail to the top of the waterfall where you can get a closer look. Eagle's Fare Restaurant serves breakfast, light meals and hearty dishes throughout the day beneath the shade of the trees or on the sunny deck. Most of the garden is accessible by wheelchair. Guided tours are offered (R170).  Email is the best way to contact the Gardens with any questions.

In 1955 the Freedom Charter was adopted on a dusty field here by the Congress Alliance, a gathering of political and cultural groups trying to map a way forward in the repressive 1950s. The charter, the guiding document of the African National Congress, envisaged an alternative nonracial dispensation in which "all shall be equal before the law." Its significance in South Africa is similar to that of the Declaration of Independence in the United States, and it influenced South Africa's new constitution, adopted in 1995 and widely considered one of the best and most progressive in the world. The site has been recently revamped as an open-air museum centered around the Ten Pillars of Freedom and includes shops and a four-star hotel in what is being described as South Africa's first township entertainment explosion center.

This planetarium, dating from 1960, has entertaining and informative programs on the African skies and presentations that range from space travel to the planets. Have a look at the website to find out what's on and to book tickets.

Wonder Cave is a huge single-chamber cave with a number of intact stalagmites and stalactites and formations up to 50 feet high. Steep stairs and a elevator take regular guided tours all the way down, but if you're feeling adventurous you can rappel down (by prior arrangement only). Groups of 20 or more may book evening tours.