01
1 hr 30 min
Apartheid Museum
The Apartheid Museum is a Johannesburg museum dedicated to South Africa’s apartheid era and the country’s transition to democracy.
- Must see
- Museum
City guide · South Africa
Museums in Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg is a large, decentralised city whose major visitor sites are separated by substantial road distances. The historic centre, Constitution Hill and Br...
Photograph · Mark Hillary · CC BY 2.0
2,386
Places
- Suggested stay
- Not recorded
- Getting around
- Gautrain, bus, shuttle and car
Turn this list into a plan
Set your days, your pace and the hours you actually want to be out. The planner works around closing days and travel time, and leaves room to eat.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Johannesburg is a large, decentralised city whose major visitor sites are separated by substantial road distances. The historic centre, Constitution Hill and Braamfontein form one urban cluster; Soweto is a distinct southwestern route; Rosebank and Sandton form northern hubs. A practical itinerary groups places geographically and arranges transport before departure instead of treating the city as a walkable chain of landmarks.
Checked 2026-08-26
Practical information
- Language spoken
- 12 official languages; English is widely used in visitor services
- National practical orientation; regional and minority languages may also be used
- Dialling code
- +27
- International calling code; local area and mobile prefixes still apply
- Currency
- South African rand (ZAR)
- Use the official local currency; card acceptance varies by place
- Emergency number
- 112 from mobile · 10111 police · 10177 ambulance
- Use only for an emergency; tourist assistance may use a separate number
- Plug type
- Type M and N · 230 V
- Check that chargers support the recorded voltage before using an adapter
- Tap water
- Not recorded
- Water conditions and restrictions vary by municipality
Planning a visit
September · September in Johannesburg has mean high 22.8°C, mean low 9.3°C, rainfall 27 mm, and 3.7 rain days. Dry, mild weather gives Johannesburg a reliable outdoor sightseeing window. September supports a full day of outdoor stops in Johannesburg.
- January: viable with meaningful trade-offs
- February: viable with meaningful trade-offs
- March: good time to visit
- April: good time to visit
- May: best time to visit
- June: good time to visit
- July: good time to visit
- August: best time to visit
- September: best time to visit — current month
- October: good time to visit
- November: viable with meaningful trade-offs
- December: viable with meaningful trade-offs
- Best time
- Good time
- Viable with trade-offs
- Difficult conditions
Sources
- worldweather.wmo.int Checked 2026-08-28
Top things to see
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
Filter the list
17 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
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02 1 hr 30 minMandela House
Mandela House is Nelson Mandela’s former home on Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, Soweto. Mandela lived in the house before his imprisonment and returned there briefly after his release in 1990.
- Must see
- Museum
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03 1 hr 30 minHector Pieterson Museum
The Hector Pieterson Museum is a memorial museum in Soweto dedicated to the 1976 Soweto uprising.
- Must see
- Museum
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04 1 hr 30 minJohannesburg Art Gallery
Johannesburg Art Gallery is a public art museum in Joubert Park, in Johannesburg’s inner city.
- Must see
- Museum
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05 1 hr 30 minOrigins Centre
Origins Centre Museum is a museum at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The museum explores human origins, archaeology, rock art, indigenous knowledge, and southern African heritage.
- Must see
- Museum
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06 1 hr 30 minWits Art Museum
Wits Art Museum is the public art museum of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The museum collects, preserves, and exhibits African and South African art within a university setting.
- Must see
- Museum
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07 1 hr 30 minMuseuMAfricA
Museum Africa
Museum Africa is a museum in Newtown devoted to the social, cultural, and urban history of Johannesburg and Africa. It places the city within wider African stories of movement, work, community, political change, and cultural expression.
- Must see
- Museum
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08 2 hoursJohannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre
The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre is a museum and educational facility located in the Rosebank area of Johannesburg. It examines the Holocaust alongside other genocides globally, with particular attention to South African human-rights history.
- Must see
- Museum
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09 1 hr 30 minSci-Bono Centre
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre is an independently entered science museum located in Newtown, Johannesburg. It operates with its own exhibitions and visitor programme, distinguishing it from other institutions in the precinct.
- Must see
- Museum
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10 1 hr 30 minLiliesleaf Farm
Liliesleaf Farm is a liberation-history museum in Rivonia, northern Johannesburg. The property served as an underground headquarters for the African National Congress during the early 1960s.
- Must see
- Museum
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11 1 hr 30 minSatyagraha House
Satyagraha House is a historic residence in Johannesburg where Mohandas Gandhi lived during his early political activism in South Africa. The house is associated with the development of Satyagraha, his philosophy of nonviolent resistance.
- Must see
- Museum
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12 2 hoursNelson Mandela Foundation
The Nelson Mandela Foundation is an archive, exhibition, and research centre in Houghton, Johannesburg. It preserves and interprets Nelson Mandela’s papers, photographs, personal effects, and public legacy.
- Must see
- Museum
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13 1 hr 30 minWorkers Museum
The Workers' Museum occupies a former municipal compound in Newtown, Johannesburg. It preserves the history of migrant labourers who constructed and sustained the mining city from the late 19th century onward.
- Must see
- Museum
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14 1 hr 30 minJames Hall Transport Museum
James Hall Museum of Transport
The James Hall Museum of Transport is a Johannesburg museum devoted to the history of transport in South Africa.
- Must see
- Museum
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15 1 hr 30 minLindfield Victorian House Museum
Lindfield Victorian House Museum is a preserved Victorian-era residence in Johannesburg, locally known as Lindfield House.
- Must see
- Museum
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16 1 hr 30 minCredo Mutwa Cultural Village
Credo Mutwa Cultural Village is an outdoor sculpture garden and cultural site in Soweto, Johannesburg.
- Must see
- Museum
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17 1 hr 30 minSterkfontein Caves
Sterkfontein Caves forms the principal fossil cave system within the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located northwest of Johannesburg.
- Must see
- Museum
How the city is laid out
The central business district contains mining-era architecture, museums and regenerated precincts, with Braamfontein and Constitution Hill immediately north. Rosebank and Sandton are separate northern centres linked by Gautrain. Soweto lies southwest and contains Vilakazi Street, Mandela House and the Hector Pieterson precinct. The Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City sit south of the centre, while the Cradle of Humankind is a regional excursion beyond the urban core.
Checked 2026-08-26
Getting around
Use Gautrain for the airport, Sandton, Rosebank and selected regional connections, then combine buses, registered shuttles, ride-hailing or a rental car elsewhere. Joburg Tourism lists Gautrain, buses, car rental and tour operators as practical options. Walking is useful inside a defined precinct, but distances between precincts are too large for a citywide walking plan, and transfers should be arranged with the return journey in mind.
Checked 2026-08-26
Common questions
How many days should I plan for Johannesburg?
No fixed stay length is recorded. Build separate blocks for the central precincts, Soweto, the southern museum cluster and the northern Rosebank or Sandton corridor.
Is Johannesburg a walkable sightseeing city?
Only within individual precincts. The principal visitor areas are widely separated, so a citywide itinerary needs rail, bus, shuttle, ride-hailing or car transfers.
Which Johannesburg sights belong in one route?
Constitution Hill and Braamfontein combine naturally. Mandela House and the Hector Pieterson precinct form a Soweto route, while the Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City make a southern cluster.
Where is Gautrain most useful for visitors?
Gautrain is useful for travel between the airport, Sandton, Rosebank and its other served stations. Many museums and heritage areas still require a road connection.
Should transport be arranged before outer-district visits?
Yes. Confirm both outward and return journeys when a destination lies outside the Gautrain corridor or involves several separated stops.