Inner City of Johannesburg

The Inner city encompasses the central districts of Johannesburg, including the tourist areas of Braamfontein, Maboneng, Newtown and Fordsburg.

Understand

The historic inner city is rich in architectural history and contains many institutions, museums and excellent art galleries. The district has a however a troubled recent past, with many residents and businesses leaving in the years after the end of apartheid. During the late 1990s and early 2000s the inner city was in practice a no-go zone with rampant crime and destitution. However, a massive reinvestment programme in the last decade have started to rejuvenate the district.

Crime is however still an issue, and walking alone during late evenings and nights are not recommended. Also, several squatted buildings are still dotted around the inner city. These places are often safe havens for drug users and dealers. Such buildings can often be seen from a distance and a detour around them is strongly advised.

Get in

By train

The beating heart of all rail services within Gauteng region as well as intercity trains from cities across the country is the sprawling Johannesburg Park Station. MetroRail runs frequent local and regional services while Gautrain provides a fast link with Pretoria and O.R. Tambo International Airport via an easy change in Sandton.

• 1 Johannesburg Park Station. (updated Dec 2020)

There are several other stations within the inner city that can be of use if you are travelling to specific destinations. A few relevant stations includes:

• 2 Johannesburg Westgate railway station. (updated Dec 2020)
• 3 Johannesburg Faraday railway station. (updated Dec 2020)

By bus

There are plenty of buses going into the inner city, most of them convey at Gandhi Square.

• 4 Gandhi Square bus station. (updated Sep 2022)

See

The area is home to Johannesburg's original 1 Chinatown on Commissioner Street, and while the community has declined considerably since the 1990s, a handful of shops and restaurants remain in the area.

Museums

• 2 Museum Africa, 121 Lilian Ngoyi St, ☏ +27 11 833 5624. (updated Dec 2020)
• 3 Origins Centre, Yale Road and Enoch Sontonga Ave (at University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein), ☏ +27 11 717-4700. M-F 09:00-17:00, Sa and public holiday 09:00-16:00. An excellent multimedia display of the rock art and the origins of humankind. Good curio shop, book shop and coffee shop. Adult R90, senior R70, student or child <12 R45. (updated Dec 2024)
• 4 Constitution Hill, 11 Kotze St. Located downtown on the eastern edge of Braamfontein the site of the notorious Old Fort prison complex. In a similar vein to the Apartheid Museum the South African Constitutional Court set around the infamous Fort prison is a fascinating place well worth a visit: part courtroom, part museum and part art gallery. Free. (updated Dec 2020)
• 5 Sci-Bono Discovery Centre (corner of Miriam Makeba St and Helen Joseph St). A science centre that supports maths, science and technology education and offers innovative, dynamic learning experiences. Adult >18 R60, child 3 - 18 or student or pensioner R40, child <3 free, family (2 adults and 2 children <18) R180. (updated Dec 2024)
• 6 WITS Anglo American Digital Dome (formerly Johannesburg Planetarium), Yale Road, Entrance 10, University of the Witwatersrand, Milner Park, ☏ +27 11 717-1392. See their website for upcoming shows. High-resolution projectors and surround-sound technology create an immersive environment for educational experiences about the wonders of the universe and the richness of human creativity. Adult R70, child R40. (updated Dec 2024)
• 7 Fietas Museum, 25 14th St, ☏ +27 72 193 3580. Dedicated to the district of Fietas, which was the inofficial name of the district Pageview. The area was forcefully cleared of it's predominantly Indian inhabitants and largely razed during the early 1980s. (updated Feb 2021)
• 8 Lindfield Victorian House Museum, 72 Richmond Ave, ☏ +27 11 726 2932. (updated Feb 2021)
• 9 Workers Museum, Newtown Park, Jeppe st, Newtown (travel Nelson Mandela Bridge, left into Carr st then right into Miriam Makeba st, cross over Jeppe st and parking is on your right; entrance is from Newtown Park), ☏ +27 11 833-5624. Tu-Su 09:00-17:00. The Workers Museum is a site specific museum and is housed in the Newtown Compound on Mary Fitzgerald Square. 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. Having left their homes and families, black migrant workers faced slave-like conditions shown by the original dormitories, concrete bunks and punishment room at the old compound building. The museum reveals the hardships of workers under the migrant labour system, a cornerstone of apartheid, from the early 1900s through to the 1970s, when the system of job reservation began to breakdown. More positively it shows the vibrancy and creative resilience of migrant worker's culture. Oral history interviews and individual stories are combined with archival photographs and documents as well as a documentary on Migrant Labour. Free. (updated Dec 2024)

Art galleries

• 10 Johannesburg Art Gallery, Klein and King George streets, Joubert Park, ☏ +27 11 725-3130. The biggest gallery on the African continent with a good collection of local and international work on display. Free entrance. (updated Oct 2018)
• 11 Standard Bank Gallery, Corner Simmonds and Frederick Streets, ☏ +27 11 631-1889. M-F 08:00 to 16:30, Sa 09:00-13:00. It is a corporate-owned gallery that hosts South African and international exhibitions. Free. (updated Dec 2024)
• 12 Wits Art Museum (At University of the Witwatersrand, Corner of Bertha St and Jorissen St), ☏ +27 11 717 1365. (updated Dec 2020)

Churches

• 13 Greek Orthodox Church in Joubert Park, 74 Wolmarans St, Hillbrow. Built in 1912. (updated Dec 2020)
• 14 St Mary's Cathedral, 13 Wanderers St. (updated Dec 2020)
• 15 Friedenskirche, 38 Edith Cavell St, Hillbrow. This church was for a long time at the centre of German cultural life in Johannesburg. (updated Dec 2020)
• 16 Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 16 Stiemens St, Braamfontein, ☏ +27 11 339 2826. Built in 1938. (updated Sep 2022)

Parks

• 17 Enoch Sontonga Memorial Park. Large park dedicated to Enoch Sontonga (1873-1905) who in 1897 composed the Xhosa hymn Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika ("God Bless Africa"). The hymn was picked up by ANC in 1925 and has been South Africa's official anthem since 1994. (updated Sep 2022)

Others

• 18 Top of Africa, Carlton Centre, 150 Commissioner St (take the elevator from the second floor to the 50th), ☏ +27 11 308-1331. Daily 09:30 to 15:30. Get a panoramic view of the city from the top of Africa's tallest building. Be careful in the neighbourhood around the Carlton Centre as it has been reported for be dangerous. Uber drivers may not be able to pick you up at the mall because of a dispute with taxi drivers. R30. (updated Dec 2024)
• 19 Hillbrow Tower. The tallest building in Africa until 2021, at 269 m. Inaccessible for visitors.  
• 20 Ponte City. The tallest residential building in Africa, with the largest neon sign in the Southern Hemisphere on top of it. Since the hollow building rises above an uneven rock floor that was left in the original state, the contrast between Brutalist architecture and bare rock is quite moving.  

Do

• 1 Joburg Theatre, 163 Civic Boulevard. (updated Dec 2020)
• 2 Market Theatre, 56 Margaret Mcingana St. (updated Dec 2020)
• 3 Tin Town Theatre, 4 Margaret Mcingana St. (updated Dec 2020)
• 4 Ellis Park Stadium (Emirates Airline Park), 47 North Park Lane. Joburg's home for rugby union, hosting the Lions of the European-based United Rugby Championship (though including three other South African sides), with a playing season October–March. The stadium is also the primary home of the Golden Lions, an effective developmental side for the URC Lions that plays in the domestic Currie Cup from January–June. (Some Golden Lions games are played at a much smaller stadium at the University of the Witwatersrand.) It also frequently hosts matches of the South Africa men's national team, known as the Springboks (also "Bokke", a contraction of the Afrikaans Springbokke). The stadium, with a capacity of about 60,000, is in the Doornfontein district 500 m north of Jeppe railway station. (updated Oct 2023)

Buy

• 1 Kwa Mai Mai, Anderson and Berea St. The oldest flea market in Johannesburg. Here you'll see plenty of traditional healers selling traditional herbs & remedies. (updated Dec 2024)

Oriental Plaza

• 2 Oriental Plaza, 38 Lilian Ngoyi St, Fordsburg. A taste of the orient in Africa and also where you can find some good bargains. The bazaar-like structure was built in 1974 for Indian trader after that the apartheid regime had forcefully removed them from the suburb of Parkview, or Fietas as it was known back then. Unlike other malls in South Africa you can bargain with the shopkeepers here. The Oriental Plaza is unique as it has over 360 independently owned stores. A block away from the Oriental Plaza is the site where Mahatma Gandhi staged the famous pass-burning ceremony in 1908. The location, which is outside the nearby Newtown mosque, is appropriately marked with a cauldron and the relevant historical details. (updated Dec 2024)
• 3 44 Stanley, 44 Stanley Avenue, Milpark (from the M1 north or south, turn right at the Empire Road turnoff; take the second robot (traffic light) left into Owl St (under the bridge); Stanley Ave is the 2nd road on the right), ☏ +27 11 482-4444. A welcome alternative to the sterility of standard shopping malls. Built in a complex of former industrial buildings near the city gasworks, 44 Stanley is now home to 25 boutiques, restaurants and creative studios set around connecting courtyards. The centre of an interesting urban regeneration project and well worth a visit. (updated Dec 2024)
• 4 Bedford Centre. In the east, a smaller mall that is worth seeking out. It ha a good selection of independent shops, rather than the chain store overload of standard South African malls. (updated Dec 2024)
• 5 Eastgate, Cnr Nicol and Bradford, Bedfordview, ☏ +27 11 616-2209, egmarketing@libertyproperties.co.za. 09:00-18:00. (updated Dec 2024)

Eat

There are plenty cheap hole-in-the-wall eateries and food carts within the city centre. However, options for higher end dining are limited even if there are a few gems. A more accessible option for fine dining is Sandton.

Budget

• 1 Akhalwayas Fast Foods, Central Rd, ☏ +27 11 834-2040. until 17:00. A favourite take-away among the locals, situated on Central Road. It specializes in fish and chips and various tasty sandwiches. However they are better known for the quality of their food then the speed of service and it's not unheard of to wait for 45 min (or more!) for your meal at peak lunch times. (updated Dec 2024)

Mid range

• 2 Mangrove, 2 De Beer St, ☏ +27 73 667 9509. Popular all-day eatery. (updated Sep 2022)

Splurge

• 3 The Rand Club, 33 Loveday St. Housed in a majestic club house built in 1904. While most of the building is members-only, the restaurant is open to the public. (updated Dec 2020)

Drink

• 1 Kitchener's Carvery Bar, 71 Juta St, ☏ +27 11 403 0166. Has been around, in some form or another, at this site since 1906. Pub by day and early evening that turns into a nightclub after midnight. (updated Sep 2022)
• 2 Troyeville Hotel, 1403 Albertina Sisulu Road, ☏ +2 79 612 0125. Restaurant M–Th 07:00-20:30, F Sa 07:00-21:00, Su 07:00-17:00. Sports bar with pool tables. Good restaurant, known for its Portuguese cuisine. Rooftop bar. Bakery for pasteis de nata. Close to rugby and soccer stadiums, the bar is packed on match days. Sunday barbecues with a view of the city and local draught beers. (updated Dec 2024)

Sleep

Mid range

• 1 ANEW Hotel Parktonian, 120 De Korte St, ☏ +27 11 403 5740. (updated Sep 2022)
• 2 The Bannister Hotel, 9 De Beer St, ☏ +27 11 403 6888. Small, trendy hotel. (updated Sep 2022)

Splurge

• 3 The Westcliff Four Seasons, 67 Jan Smuts Avenue, Westcliff, ☏ +27 11 481-6000. Hotel with hillside setting and cascading sculpted gardens along with elegantly opulent accommodation. Great facilities and several restaurants and bars. Double from R12,800. (updated Dec 2024)