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Johannesburg hotels

What's On?                     Overview                     Prepare                     Highlights 

Johannesburg is often confused as the capital of South Africa, an honour that actually lies with nearby Pretoria, however hotels in Johannesburg offer a wide range of choice for every kind of visitor to this bustling city.  As the commercial centre of the nation it is not a city that many visit for tourism, instead using it as a springboard to other areas of the country or to visit Sun City to the north.  Johannesburg hotels range from simple guest houses through to top end hotels and all the major chains are well represented.

Hotels in Johannesburg offer a wide range of choice for every kind of visitor...

Built on the trade of minerals and diamonds, it is a city of many riches with excellent shopping and restaurants, although it has a reputation as not the safest of places and caution should therefore be applied at all times when travelling around. 

The mining industry provides several opportunities to visit gold and diamond mines as well as to buy products fashioned from the minerals within the city environs.

Image of a large hotel in Johannesburg with a water fountain in the foreground

Cheap hotels in Johannesburg are generally available during the off peak summer of May through to August although it is best to use a comparison service to check for prices. Whilst there are many areas to choose to stay in, the upmarket Sandton area is one of the best know and well served by excellent quality hotels.  Hotels in the city tend to serve the business traveller and the city is well known for excellent convention and conference facilities.

Overview

Overview

Bright and bold, the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa is dense with skyscrapers, freeways, townships and leafy suburbs. Affectionately known as Jozi, the city built on a gold reef now offers super-mall shopping, safari and frank Apartheid museums.

See

Take a poignant look at the dark years of Apartheid in the critically acclaimed Apartheid Museum, Soweto's Hector Pieterson Museum and former prison Constitutional Hill. Relive the early gold mining years at Gold Reef City, and get close to wildlife at the Lion and Rhino Nature Reserve and Lion Park.
New

Discover the story of mankind in the recently opened Maropeng and Origins museums. Take the new Nelson Mandela Bridge from the Central Business District (CBD) to the reborn Newtown Cultural Precinct. Feel the fever as the city gears up for the 2010 Soccer World Cup with the revamping of the FNB Stadium and the Ellis Park Stadium, and the construction of the Gautrain network.
Spend

Shop up a storm in the 20-plus mega-malls around the city, where international brands feature alongside South African chain stores. Find everything under one roof in the vast Sandton City mall and designer wear in the adjoining Nelson Mandela Square. Glide with supermodels in Hyde Park Corner and buy African art and curios at the Rosebank Mall markets.
Get Out

Resembling a rainforest on satellite images, Johannesburg has an estimated six million trees. Admire the giant oaks and sycamores at Zoo Lake park, row on the water and take the kids to nearby Johannesburg Zoo. Hike in the Melville Koppies nature reserve or stroll through indigenous flora at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden and Johannesburg Botanic Garden.
Culture

See top quality local drama at Newtown's Market Theatre, and imported West End musicals, international ballet and opera at the Civic Centre. Catch cabaret at the casino theatres and live South African jazz or Kwaito (South African hip-hop) at Bassline or the Blues Room bars.
Eat & Drink

Hop from bar to bar along the streets of Melville or dine alfresco in smart Nelson Mandela Square and Melrose Arch. Find African food and entertainment at the renowned Gramadoelas, Carnivore or Moyo restaurants. Taste local flavours boerewors (spicy sausage) and biltong (salted dried meat).
New Perspective

Enjoy afternoon tea with crisp white linen and silverware on the Westcliffe Hotel's conservatory terrace. Take in the sweeping view of the tree-filled northern suburbs and look directly down into the zoo.

Prepare

Prepare

There's nothing that can't be bought in a Johannesburg shopping mall so don't worry if you leave something at home. Prepare to broaden your mind – the city's excellent museums are thought-provoking as well as entertaining.

Johannesburg Year

Catch eclectic performances of modern dance at the FNB Dance Umbrella in February. Explore the many stalls, live shows and children's entertainment at the vast Rand Show in April. Discover the South African jazz scene during the Joy of Jazz Festival in August, and enjoy a cultural explosion of music, dance, poetry and literature at September's Arts Alive Festival.
Public Holidays

New Year's Day (1 Jan), Human Rights Day (21 Mar), Good Friday (Mar/Apr), Family Day (Mar/Apr), Freedom Day (Apr), Labour Day (1 May), Youth Day (16 Jun), Women's Day (9 Aug), Heritage Day (24 Sep), Day of Reconciliation (16 Dec), Christmas Day (25 Dec), Day of Goodwill (26 Dec).
Weather

The summer months, November to February, are the warmest and wettest with an average temperature of 25°C and short electrical storms. Johannesburg's trees are at their best during spring and autumn which are warm and clear. The coldest months are July and August when daytime temperatures rarely rise over 17°C and can be as low as 4°C at night. Most restaurant terraces have heaters and awnings.
Electricity

220/230V AC, 50 Hz, three-point round-pin plugs are standard.
Dialling Code

+27 (national), (0) 11 + 7-figure number (Johannesburg).
Money

South African Rand (R) is the currency.
GMT

GMT +2
Johannesburg Tourist Info

Johannesburg Tourism website

Fit In

Fashion in Johannesburg echoes European styles, and you might even be able to pick up that Versace dress or suit a little cheaper than at home. Accessorise with chunky African bead jewellery or a colourful print shirt.

Get Around

Get Around

Johannesburg is split into around 600 suburbs, neatly dissected by a sleek grid of modern highways that are easily navigated outside of rush hour.

The core of Johannesburg is the CBD (Central Business District), a neat grid of skyscrapers surrounded by billboards and a tangle of flyovers. Travel west to sprawling, vibey Soweto and east to Chinatown at Cyrildene. North are green and affluent suburbs: find nightlife at Melville, shops and hotels in Rosebank, street-side dining in Norwood and Parkhurst and swanky living in Sandton, with its own clutch of skyscrapers.
Car

Johannesburg was designed with motorists in mind. Driving is on the left and poses no problems except from 4pm-6pm when jams on the N1 highway turn it into a car park. Fuel and car hire are relatively cheap. Any hotel can arrange a car within an hour.
Taxi

Metred taxis cannot be hailed on the street, but any hotel or restaurant can order one and they take just minutes to materialise. If going to an obscure destination, the driver may not know the way and will need directions.
Bus

Usually used only by commuters, useful buses run between the bus station in Gandhi (formerly Vanderbiji) Square in the CBD to the northern suburbs along Jan Smuts Avenue, Oxford, Louis Botha and Barry Hertzog roads, though there are over 100 bus routes in the city.
Foot

Due to long distances between attractions and safety issues around the CBD, walking is not recommended. Save the leg work for the giant shopping malls or a stroll in the park.
Transport Tips

City Tours are on offer to all the sites for those who don't want to self-drive. Half and full day tours in minibuses go to key locations including Soweto, Gold Reef City, the Lion Park, Lesedi Cultural Village and the CBD. Local guides give a fascinating low-down on history, culture and the social make-up of the city. Public transport like minibus taxis and the Metro train are not recommended for visitors because of theft and safety issues.
Time Travel

Imagine what Johannesburg was like as an early mining camp. Hunt out the Guildhall Pub on Market Street, the original miners' watering hole, and Cecil Rhode's Rand Club on Loveday Street, the city's first gentleman's' club. See how the first gold magnates lived in the Herbert Baker-designed mansions of Parktown.

Highlights

Highlights

From the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre get a 360° perspective of Johannesburg as the views roll away endlessly in every direction.

Take a tour of the CBD and learn about the city's fascinating history at Museum Africa. Wander around the theatres and cultural centres of the Newtown Precinct, and step inside Nelson Mandela's former cell at Constitutional Hill, once a notorious jail and now a superb museum.

Take the turbulent journey from the beginning of segregation in South Africa to its overturning at the acclaimed Apartheid Museum. Next door, sink down a mine shaft at Gold Reef City. Celebrate the country's freedom at Mandela House Museum and the recently made-over Walter Sisulu Freedom Square.
Sightseeing Tips

Pick up one of the city's free touring maps to specific areas like Soweto, or the World Heritage Site ‘Cradle of Humankind'. Themed itineraries include Celebration of Democracy, Gold, Arts and Crafts, and the gay Pink Map.

Content provided by Frommer's Unlimited © 2009, Whatsonwhen Limited.