Museums
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Adler Museum of Medicine
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Apartheid Museum open: Tues- Sun 09h00-17h00. Metro Bus 34 |
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Con court hours Mon-Fri 09h00-17h00, Sat 10h00-15h00. Metro bus 17 will take you along Empire road from where you will have to walk up the hill to the court. |
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Tours from R320 pp. |
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Lilliesleaf open weekdays 0h30-17h00, Weekends 09h00-16h00. Cost: R60 pp Students R30 |
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Sterkfontein open: 09h00-17h00 daily.
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Museum open: Monday and Friday Morning and Wednesday afternoons
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Workers Museum open: Tues –Sun 09h00-17h00. Entry free. |
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Origins open: Mon- Fri 09h00-17h00. Sat 09h00-13h00.
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Open: Tues-Sun. Tours during the week @ 10h00, 11h30, 13h00, 14h30, 16h00. Weekends tours every hour on the hour from 10h00 – 16h00. |
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Open: 1 May- 31 August 08h00- 17h00. 1 Sept-30 April 08h00- 18h00.
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War Museum open daily: 09h00-16h30. Metro Bus 9 |
Have lunch at the Old Johannian and see the magnificent Herbert Baker buildings which house one of the oldest private boys schools in Johannesburg (the school is private property so you cannot really wander around, but you can get a sense of the place from the restaurant.) Take a drive down Munro Drive for a hazy view of the northern reaches of Jozi and then turn back towards the Medical school for a visit to the Adler Museum. The Museum has a complete Victorian pharmacy on display and captures the history of medical development. Look out for special exhibitions.
Visit the Apartheid Museum and experience why apartheid belongs in a museum. Break the sadness and depression with a visit afterwards to Melrose Arch for lunch at Moyo’s and view contemporary ‘black diamonds’ in one of their favourite stomping grounds and see for yourself how far and fast Johannesburgers have moved.
Visit Constitution Hill where knowledgeable guides take you through the male and female prisons to the Constitutional Court itself. Make sure that you book to go when there is no case being heard in the court otherwise you will miss out on visiting the interior of the court with its subtle layers of symbolism. This site gives you a great sense of the past and the future of South Africa. After your visit drive or walk down to Parktown and have lunch at Mikes Kitchen which is still one of the best steakhouses in Johannesburg. Take in a play or musical at the Joburg Theatre in the evening or go to Linder Auditorium if there is a musical event on there.
If you want a tan with a difference then opt for what is called the Soweto tan which you can only acquire on a bicycle tour of Soweto. The tour includes visits to the Hector Pieterson museum as well as Vilikazi street renowned as the home of three Nobel Prize laureates. Ask to go to Morris Isaacson school from where the famous June 16 march of 1976 started and then cycle down the hill to the museum. You will have travelled the physical distance it took to spark enormous and lasting change in South Africa. Have a meal at Nambitha in Vilikazi street where the butter chicken is legendary.
Experience a day of contrasts in the northern reaches of Jozi. Visit the Lippizaner horse show at one of the few places in the world where these magnificent horses are trained. Afterwards travel to Lilliesleaf farm in nearby Rivonia where you can learn about the events leading to the treason trial as well as the founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Delicious light meals are available there.
Travel to Sterkfontein for the day. Walk where our earliest ancestors walked and explore the fascinating story of how archaeologists and palaeontologists from Wits have contributed to our understanding of our human origins at this unique Unesco World Heritage Site. Take a picnic with you or splash out and have a meal at the Roots restaurant.
A secret gem of eastern Johannesburg is to be found at the site of AECI, a dynamite factory. An industry critical to the development of the mines, the Modderfontein areas has charming old houses and buildings scattered around. There is the monthly Piston Club meeting held on a Sunday morning which is the place to go if you love vintage cars and the small but interesting museum is open during the week. For nature lovers the Modderfontein Reserve which was created by AECI to prove that industry and nature could work together, is a lovely place to go birding and to meet fellow nature lovers. The Modderfontein Conservation Society organises regular walks on weekends.
Experience a museum day in Newtown and visit the Workers Museum, Museum Africa or the SAB World of Beer. If you have children with you then SciBono is a must but be prepared for high noise levels as children run mad enjoying a highly interactive experience. Break up the day with authentic South African cuisine at Gramadoelas before taking in more of the museums. End the day with a play at the Market Theatre the home of Jozi’s most original theatre productions housed in the original old market building. Even though this is suggested as a single itinerary you might want to break it down over two or three days but whatever you do try and attend at least one production at the Market, the atmosphere is unique.
Start with a visit to the Origins Museum located in the grounds of Wits for a superb interactive journey through our human origins. Afterwards take a short trip down Yale road along Empire to 44 Stanley Ave. Enjoy the outdoor restaurants and trendy shops. If you feel you still need diversion head for Rosebank and take in a movie at the Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank.
Plan a full day excursion east of Pretoria and visit the Sammy Marks Museum. You can book a breakfast or Victorian tea before you go or even better book to go on the evening ghost tour. The house is an intriguing example of what self made men created out of imperial dreams. Tours are guided and informative. This has to be one of the best places to get a sense of how early rand pioneers who made this country lived.
Take a trip to Pretoria and visit the Voortrekker monument, a huge structure with hardly anything in it but of great symbolic importance to Afrikaans culture. Book to go riding in the nature reserve that surrounds the park on reliable cape horses or more sedately take a ride on an ox wagon and experience a form of travel totally at odds with contemporary speed. Have a braai whilst there and see SA from yet another cultural perspective. Try and go when the jacaranda trees are in flower (late September to October) and you will have a marvellous view of Pretoria dressed in blue.
Visit the War Museum which has to be one of the few places where you will see grown up men playing with toy soldiers on a Sunday morning. Visit the Angel statue which commemorates all the South Africans killed in the various world wars. Afterwards walk to Killarney mall and watch a Bollywood movie to restore your spirits.
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