Places to visit in Gauteng, South Africa
20 places to visit in Gauteng, South Africa, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Constitution Hill, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Cradle of Humankind and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Gauteng volume.
6 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 3 Famous places to visit · 11 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Gauteng (6)
-
Constitution Hill
A former prison complex in Braamfontein that once held Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and many ordinary people, now home to the Constitutional Court. Visitors can tour the Old Fort, Number Four and the Women's Jail, and see exhibitions on human rights.
-
Constitutional Court of South Africa
The highest court on constitutional matters, built within the Constitution Hill site in Hillbrow and opened in 2004. Its entrance is a row of slanted columns, and the building uses bricks from the old Number Four prison and holds a notable art collection.
-
Cradle of Humankind
A World Heritage fossil area about 50 kilometres north west of Johannesburg, with dozens of limestone caves that have yielded hominin remains. Sterkfontein produced the skull known as Mrs Ples, and the Maropeng visitor centre explains the story of human origins.
-
Liliesleaf Farm
A farm in Rivonia where the African National Congress and its allies planned their struggle in secret in the early 1960s. Police raided it in July 1963 and arrested leaders including Walter Sisulu, leading to the Rivonia Trial. It is now a museum.
-
Sterkfontein Caves
A limestone cave system in the Cradle of Humankind, where the fossil skull of an Australopithecus nicknamed Mrs Ples was found in 1947. Excavations continue to this day, and visitors can walk down into the caves with a guide.
-
Union Buildings
The seat of the South African government, a sandstone building with two wings and a curved colonnade on Meintjieskop hill in Pretoria. Designed by Herbert Baker and finished in 1913, it overlooks terraced gardens and a statue of Nelson Mandela.
Famous places to visit in Gauteng (3)
-
Ponte City Apartments
A round 173 metre residential tower in Berea, finished in 1975, with a hollow central core that once served as a rubbish pit. Tours today take visitors up through the courtyard, and it dominates the skyline of the city.
-
Rising Star Cave
A deep cave system in the Cradle of Humankind where researchers found the remains of Homo naledi in 2013, reached through a narrow chamber called the Dinaledi. The fossils belong to a small human relative, and the cave is closed to the public.
-
Voortrekker Monument
A massive granite monument on a hill south of Pretoria, opened in 1949 to honour the Afrikaner pioneers of the Great Trek. Inside, a marble frieze tells the story of the trek, and a hole in the roof lets the sun fall on a cenotaph at noon on 16 December.
Hidden gems in Gauteng (11)
-
Apartheid Museum
A museum near Gold Reef City that tells the story of apartheid and the struggle against it, opened in 2001. Visitors enter through separate gates marked white or non white, and the displays use film, documents and photographs to trace the road to democracy.
-
Carlton Centre
A 50 storey office tower and shopping centre in central Johannesburg, finished in 1973 and for decades the tallest building in Africa. Its roof level viewing deck, called the Top of Africa, looks over the city and the old mine dumps.
-
Church Square
The square at the historic centre of Pretoria, first laid out as a market place and church yard by the city's founder Marthinus Pretorius. A statue of Paul Kruger stands in the middle, surrounded by old government and court buildings.
-
Gold Reef City
An amusement park in Johannesburg built on an old gold mine that closed in 1971. It is themed around the gold rush that began on the Witwatersrand in 1886, with buildings made to match that period and a visit underground.
-
Hillbrow Tower
A 270 metre telecommunications tower in the Hillbrow district, completed in 1971 and the tallest structure on the African continent for many years. It carries a revolving observation deck and rises above one of the most densely built parts of Johannesburg.
-
Johannesburg Zoo
A 55 hectare zoo in Johannesburg, which houses about 2,000 animals of 320 species. It lies on the slope of Parkview and has long been one of the city's best known family outings.
-
Magaliesberg
A range of ancient quartzite ridges stretching west of Pretoria, among the oldest mountains on Earth. Gorges, waterfalls, hiking trails and the Hartbeespoort Dam lie along it, and it is a weekend escape for people from Johannesburg and Pretoria.
-
Mandela House
The small house at 8115 Vilakazi Street in Orlando West where Nelson Mandela lived from 1946 to 1962. It is now the Nelson Mandela National Museum, with family objects and a street that also once housed Desmond Tutu.
-
Nelson Mandela Bridge
A cable stayed bridge opened in 2003 that links Braamfontein and Newtown across railway lines in Johannesburg. It is 284 metres long, and its two white masts, one tall and one short, make it a landmark of the city skyline.
-
Premier Mine
An underground diamond mine in Cullinan, 40 km east of Pretoria, established in 1902 and renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine in 2003. It produced the 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond, the largest gem quality diamond ever found.
-
Pretoria National Botanical Garden
One of South Africa's nine national botanical gardens, in the eastern suburb of Brummeria. It flanks a central rocky ridge and shows plants of the highveld grassland and savanna in their natural settings.
Collecting in Gauteng
What are the best places to visit in Gauteng?
LOQAH lists 20 places in Gauteng. The best known include Constitution Hill, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Cradle of Humankind, Liliesleaf Farm and Sterkfontein Caves. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Gauteng?
20, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Gauteng?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Gauteng before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Gauteng and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in South Africa
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 40 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.