Understanding Johannesburg
If there is only one thing you do in Johannesburg, then it must be the LocalPlaces Understanding Johannesburg walking tour. It will provide you with insight and understanding of the history and make-up of this fascinating city. In fact, it will make you understand the entire South African story. With this knowledge, you will enjoy the rest of your visit to the city and country much more and make better sense of it all!
This leisurely, 4-hour walking tour is easy and slow, covering about 3km, with the focus on the background history and context of the city. It provides you with insight into how the city, and South Africa as a country, has come into being. It is the best introductory tour of the city as its history and layout will suddenly make perfect sense to you.
It is a tour for the curiously minded, but it includes plenty opportunity for sightseeing, photography, experiencing the vibe and ambience of the city – and even a stop or two for coffee along the way (food and drinks for your own account).
We meet at JSE Newtown (the erstwhile stock exchange in Diagonal Street). We amble to the streetside museum at Chancellor House, where Mandela & Tambo once had their law practice. We explore verdant green Main Street with its incredible architectural edifices, famous sculptures and streetside cafes. We marvel at impressive Gandhi Square and return via Beyers Naude Square (Library Gardens) to end the tour back at the starting point.
It is a mesmerizing storytelling experience, told within the context of Johannesburg, referring to the architecture, landmarks, and spatial planning of the city throughout. It will provide you with astonishing insight into Johannesburg (and South Africa) of today.
The tour focuses on the background story of Johannesburg and unpacks its complex, contested and fascinating history from ancient times to the 20th Century. It focuses on our first two storytelling themes – Ancient Times to Gold Rush (1200-1902) and the Glory to Apartheid Days (1902-1973). While we briefly mention the fall of apartheid, the change to democracy and the evolving society since, it is impossible to talk about those in detail on this tour. For a complete Johannesburg story, best is to combine this tour in the morning with the East Town is Alive Tour in the afternoon, which covers the Changing Times (1973-2026). This way you get to hear and experience the full story of the city in one, perfect day.
The story of Johannesburg, a city reimagined at least seven times, ,will leave you astonished. You will encounter the Victorian City of the Gold Rush (1880s and 90s), followed by the Edwardian Empire City, also known as the London of Africa, post the Anglo-Boer War (1900s onwards). Then the Art Deco, New York of Africa (1930s onwards). Followed by the Modernist Brutalist Apartheid City (1960s onwards). You will learn about sanctions against apartheid, urban decline and the dawn of democracy in the 1980s and 90s, resulting in the birth of a new city in the north (Sandton) in the 1990s/2000s. You will encounter urban regeneration in the ‘old’ city in the 2000s and a city that is constantly evolving since.
RATES:
This tour lasts 4 hours and can be booked for 9am or 2pm starts. Public/open tours only available at 9am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. All other tours on a private booking basis.
Public tours:
Special local rate (for South African citizens and permanent residents): R400 per person.
Children (12-18): R250 per person.
Children under 12: Free
Special international rate: R750 per person.
Children (12-18): R375 per person.
Children under 12: Free
Available as a private tour at any time, at a minimum rate of R3000 for up to 4 guests
(or R750 per person if more than 4 guests).
Public tours run from 9am-1pm. Meet us at the dedicated starting point. The special price only apply to the morning Understanding Johannesburg walking tours on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. All other tours available at full rates on a private booking basis.
Any food, drinks, or shopping along the way for guests’ own account.
Understanding Johannesburg walking tours start and end at JSE Newtown (the old stock exchange corner of Diagonal & Pritchard Streets). Underground paid parking available. Tours are guided by Charlie Moyo.
BOOK NOW:
To book your tour, send an email to gerald@localplaces.co.za or a WhatsApp to + 27 82 894 5216.
Please do not phone as we are mostly busy hosting guests.
Send a message and we will contact you as soon as is possible.
We will respond to your booking request and provide an online payment link for you to pay by bank card to secure the booking.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Guests participate in all LocalPlaces tours at their own risk. Neither LocalPlaces, nor its guides, accept any responsibility whatsoever for any injury, accident or death that may occur while participating in a LocalPlaces tour, whether in a public or a private space.
A tour booking is only secured upon payment.
Provisional bookings will automatically be cancelled if not paid within 48 hours from making a booking.
Bookings cannot be cancelled once paid for any reason whatsoever and no refunds will be offered for cancelled bookings.
Bookings can be postponed to another date if postponed more than 30 days in advance of the booked date. However, bookings cannot be postponed for any reason whatsoever within 30 days of the tour date, as we would lose the opportunity to take another booking for that slot.
STARTING POINT
We will stipulate the starting point for your tour in your booking confirmation letter. Most (but not all) tours start at the at JSE Newtown, 17 Diagonal Street (cnr Pritchard). We provide detailed directions of the safe route to drive if you come with your own car and need to park. However, we recommend that you Uber there.
SAFETY
We care for all our customers’ safety as our reputation depends on our guests feeling safe and enjoying their experiences. We have been doing tours safely in downtown Johannesburg for 13 years. Regardless of what your hotel receptionist, concierge or even other residents in the suburbs of Johannesburg, may tell you, it is safe to come on a walking tour in town. We would not recommend that you set out and go and explore on your own before having done a walking tour. As a tour will orientate you and give you the local streetwise knowledge of how to navigate the city and what to avoid. Gerald lived in the inner-city of Johannesburg for 10 years and loved walking around. Charlie lives in Maboneng on the eastern edge of the inner-city and loves it too!
Our starting point is carefully chosen so that we can meet safely in the foyer of a building and with our directions in the confirmation letter, you will know how to get there easily and simply. JSE Newtown is in Diagonal Street on the edge of the Southwestern Improvement District, opposite Bank City, the offices of First National Bank. It is the most beautiful, easily walkable and safest part of the city, with many security guards working for the many bank offices and for the improvement district in the area.
For private tour bookings, it is possible to arrange pick up and drop off from your hotel or accommodation, possibly for an additional fee, depending on location.
