Day Trips From Johannesburg & the Johannesburg Hop on Hop off Bus Tour

Day trips from Johannesburg city skyline

Are you in Johannesburg and wondering what interesting day trips from Johannesburg you can go on? If so, you are in the right place. Let’s get right to it.

Day Trips From Johannesburg/Day Tours From Johannesburg/Day Trips Johannesburg/Day Trips Around Johannesburg

If you are interested in interesting day trips from Johannesburg, peruse a selection of them here.

READ ALSO: Daisy de Melker & City Sightseeing South Africa

Johannesburg Sightseeing Tours/Bus Tours Johannesburg/Red Bus Tour Johannesburg

Update: After a long closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, City Sightseeing Johannesburg is operating again. You can buy tickets for this tour here.


In my last post, I wrote about flying from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg with Fastjet, Africa’s new low-cost airline.

In that post, I promised to one day tell you more about what I saw and did while I was in Johannesburg.

Today, I’ll tell you about a great way I found to go sightseeing and to explore Johannesburg. Furthermore, this way enables you to do so time effectively and at a good price

Watch the video below for a brief introduction.

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I fell in love with Johannesburg almost instantly.

I loved its clean streets, cute homes, flashy cars, and organized public transit system.

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The Johannesburg I saw during the first days I was there had nothing to do with the dangerous, crime-filled city of Johannesburg that I had heard so much about before I got there.

Granted I was staying in Sandton (as a taxi driver rudely pointed out one day), but could there really be another part of Johannesburg so different from what I saw?

The best way to find out, I thought, was to go on one of many Johannesburg tours.

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Comparing a few options, I settled on City Sightseeing Joburg because it seemed to offer good value for money.

From what I learned online, I knew I could join the tour at one of two places: Gold Reef City (which I had no clue how to get to) or the Gautrain Park Station (more like it).

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The City Sightseeing Joburg Johannesburg Tour

On the appointed day, I made my way to the Gautrain Park Station.

There, I easily found the City Sightseeing Joburg bus stop. The bus stop was manned by a brightly-clad-in-red uniformed attendant just like the website promised.

I also knew from the website that I would be able to buy my ticket on the bus. This would have to be by debit or credit card though.

I was glad to get on the bus and find that I could also pay for my ticket with cash. This is usually my preference.

READ ALSO: The City Sightseeing Joburg Tour & More on Visiting South Africa

Gandhi Square and Johannesburg Tours

The bus’s first stop was Gandhi Square, named after Mahatma Gandhi, who in the early part of his career practiced law in Johannesburg.

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It’s as a result of the racial segregation that he experienced in South Africa, that Gandhi began the  social activism for which he is best known.

Johannesburg hop on hop off tour first stop: Ghandi Square, Johannesburg at Night

In hindsight, there was so much to see on the tour that though I would have loved to hop off at every stop, it simply wasn’t possible.

Furthermore, I joined the tour around noon each day which just made it worse. Do not do this: start earlier!

It soon became clear to me that I would have to carefully pick and choose which stops to explore because some of them, such as visiting the Apartheid Museum, could take up to three hours to visit.

Johannesburg Tours Tickets & Excursions

If you are interested in buying tickets for a tour or excursion in Johanneburg, you can find a wide range of those here.

Johannesburg Safari Day Trip

If you are in Johannesburg and only have a day to go on safari, find easy trips you can book to do so here.

Johannesburg Tours Day Trips

If you are in Johannesburg and want to take a day trip but don’t want to leave the city then, if you are not staying in Soweto, that would be a cool thing to do for the day.

Click here to find out how you can easily do that.

Top Gauteng Multi Day Tours

If you are interested in multi day tours within the South African province of Gauteng, click here.

Photo Credits: SafariBookings

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2 comments

  1. The contrast between Sandton and the central business district is quite stark. I’m not a great lover of Sandton’s shopping centres and shopping malls, and prefer the open streets of the CBD. The Apartheid Museum is amazing. You’re absolutely right – there’s so much to say about the place. I visited a couple of years ago and have not quite got round to starting what would be a very lengthy blog, ditto for Robben Island…
    I haven’t been on the Johannesburg city bus tour, but I did the bus tour when I was in Cape Town. What a fantastic way to see the city. You really need to go round twice tho: lap 1, plan your route and lap 2, actually do all the things you want to do! Much as I love finding my way round on my own – read “get lost at my own pace” – it’s also nice having someone point out the best places too.
    Here’s my take on Joburg visit.http://muzungubloguganda.com/2011/02/johannesburg-dont-hit-the-panic-button-until-after-dinner/#.VD0WgN2UdxM

    1. Hi Charlie,

      Thanks for leaving me a comment. I enjoyed your post (and shared it on Twitter), but I can’t find the second one that you mention: “Get lost at my own pace”. Want to share a link?

      That’s great advice: day 1 serves to plan your route and day 2 is when its best to do all the things you want to do! I’ll definitely do the tour if ever I visit Cape Town!

      What’s it like shopping in Jo’burg’s CBD? What streets/shops do you recommend?

      Biche

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