World City Guide

Tours of the City

Walking Tours
Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust (tel: (011) 482 3349; website: http://home.intekom.com/parktown) offers fairly easy walking tours that are around three hours and cost around R150. These can be guided or self-guided (pamphlets are available from ‘Northwards’, 21 Rockridge Road, Parktown, daily 0900-1300). The ‘Mansions & Minor Masterpieces’ walk explores the stately Sir Herbert Baker-designed ‘mining-magnate’ homes of Parktown and the artworks that decorate them. ‘From Cliff to Forest’ starts at Westcliff (another historic suburb) and ends in Forest Town, where the Zoo and Military History Museum are located. ‘Northcliff and Melville: Pre-History to Present’ covers the ancient Stone Age sites on Melville Koppies, the heights of Northcliff, the Louw Geldenhuys farmhouse, Emmarentia Dam and the Botanical Gardens. Departure points vary depending on the tour chosen.

Walktours (tel: (011) 444 1639; website: http://users.iafrica.com/b/bp/bporter) organises longer guided walks, which take four to eight hours and cost R70-400 per person. Routes include ‘Sophisticated Sandton,’ exploring Africa’s richest shopping, business and residential areas, ‘Natural Johannesburg,’ which follows the Braamfontein Spruit (stream) and Sand Spruit trails, ‘Historic Johannesburg,’ covering the Central Business District, first suburbs and Alexander Township, and ‘Johannesburg by Night,’ which includes nocturnal Zoo animals, restaurants and clubs in Sandton, Rosebank or Melville. Departure points vary depending on the tour chosen.

Bus Tours
The Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust (see above) puts on irregular guided bus tours, such as ‘Winsome, Wiley and Wonderful’ and ‘Magnates and Miners’, each 90 minutes long, according to a quarterly schedule advertised on their website. Departure is from ‘Northwards’, 21 Rockridge Road, Parktown. Springbok Atlas Safaris (tel: (011) 396 1053; fax: (011) 396 1069; website: www.spingbokatlas.co.za) organises full- or half-day tours (pick-up from hotels) to Central Johannesburg, Gold Reef City and Soweto. Prices for bus tours range from R65 to R150 per person.

Other Tours
Joburg’s Gay History Tour (tel: (011) 717 4239; e-mail: gala@library.wits.ac.co.za). The queer Joburg tour takes in sites of past and present significance to the struggle for gay rights in South Africa.
Heliadventures Helicopter Tours and Safaris (Tel/fax: (012) 344 5435; www.geotoursafrica.com/heliadventures.htm) offers helicopter flips over Johannesburg and surrounding interesting sites, as well as game viewing for the more adventurous.

Historical Flights (tel: (011) 978 5625 or 5685; website: www.historicflight.co.za) runs slow and low champagne flights over Johannesburg, in older historic aircraft – such as the SAA Junkers JU52. The two-hour balloon tour costs R375 per person.

Bill Harrop’s Original Balloon Safaris (tel: (011) 705 3201-03; website: www.africantravel.com/billharrop) offers sunrise tours over the majestic Magaliesberg Mountains in a huge colourful hot-air balloon. The flight (R1200 per person) lasts for about an hour and is followed by a superb freshly prepared hot breakfast with champagne, upon landing. Balloon excursions depart from the Balloon Safaris Country Base (website: www.balloon.co.za) in the Magalies River Valley, near Hartebeespoort Dam, 65km (40 miles) north of the city.