Must see places in Johannesburg

What to do and see in Johannesburg ?

Find out what the “must see” places are and what you can do in the city. Read the list and pick your choices of the best things to see – also the things that are for free, maybe you will have fun without spending a cent.

Below we have some recommendations for you. You can use the disqus field below to share experiences with other travellers.

Top of Africa, Carlton Centre, 150 Commissioner St. Get a panoramic view of the city from the top of Africa’s tallest building.

Johannesburg Art Gallery, Corner of Klein and King George streets, Joubert Park. The biggest gallery on the African continent with a good collection of local and international work on display.

Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Electric Workshop building, Miriam Makeba and President street, Newtown.

Origins Centre – The South African Museum of Rock Art: Yale Road, University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein. An excellent multimedia display of rock art and the origins of humankind.

Johannesburg Planetarium, Yale Road, Entrance 10, University of the Witwatersrand, Milner Park. See website for upcoming shows.

South African National Museum of Military History, Erlswold Way, Saxonwold. A good collection of military hardware, including one of very few ME 262 jet fighters from WW2 still in existence. A shop selling genuine and reproduced vintage military equipment is located within the museum.

James Hall museum of Transport, Pioneers’ Park, Rosettenville Road, La Rochelle. Largest museum dedicated to transport in South Africa.

Mandela Family Museum, Orlando West, Soweto. Mandela’s first house, now museum.

The Apartheid Museum. A very moving and informative trip through South Africa’s turbulent past and present. You can easily spend a day in this museum. It is located alongside Gold Reef City.

Absa Money Museum, 187 Fox Street. The only banking museum in the country, the Absa Museum houses a collection of various forms of money used through South African history, including cowrie shells, Venetian glass beads and gold coins recovered from sunken ships. 

Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. One of the last green areas remaining within Johannesburg. Lots of birds, including the endangered Black Eagle. There is a restaurant situated within the grounds as well as picnic and braai areas. 

Constitution Hill Located downtown on the eastern edge of Braamfontein the site of the notorious Old Fort prison complex.

South African Lipizzaners, 1 Dahlia Road, Kyalami. Other than Vienna, this is the only place you will ever got to see performing Lipizzaners recognized by the Spanish Riding School.

Lion Park, The entrance ticket gives you a visit with the lion cubs, feed the giraffe and a self drive game viewing through the lion camps and game area (antelope, zebra, giraffe and others live here). 

Old Kromdraai Gold Mine. The Kromdraai Gold Mine was one of the first gold mines on the Witwatersrand and is situated about 20 minutes from Johannesburg city.

Ferreira’s Mine, Standard Bank Centre. Open during normal banking hours 8AM to 4PM. This bank literally sits on gold. An old abandoned gold mine from the late 19^th century was rediscovered during construction of the Standard Bank head office in the 1980s. After taking the access tunnels of the mine into account, construction continued over it. Portions of the original mine as well as the new museum associated with it, have been opened to the public.

Workers Museum, Newtown Park, Jeppe st, Newtown. The Newtown Compound is one of the last surviving examples of municipal compounds for black male workers. The City Council built the compound in 1913 to house migrant workers who worked first for the Sanitary Department and then later at the nearby power station. The Museum tells the story of Migrant Labourers who came to Johannesburg to find work.