10 ways to experience Johannesburg like a local

Tired of trekking along the same old tourist trails? Want to see a city like Johannesburg in a completely different way? Discover a new, unexplored side of Jozi with a raft of fresh and unique experiences you won’t find on any other list…

Located in one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, Lorentzville, is a 20,000m sq complex known as Victoria Yards. Formerly an industrial steam laundry, it was redeveloped in 2016 into a creative community of artisans, makers, retail outlets and dining spaces, as well as an urban farm. You can watch silkscreen printers, ceramicists or fine artists at work, sip small-batch coffee, and browse rails of handmade fashion, chatting to makers and absorbing the energy of the people who’ve made their home in this innovative space. Victoria Yards also aims to foster meaningful community engagement and transfer of skills, acting as an incubator to young potential entrepreneurs.

Eat like locals really do on a guided culinary tour around Soweto township. As well as tasting new flavours, you’ll soak up the area’s community spirit and learn more about its culture, stopping at historical landmarks such as Vilakazi Street, famous for being the only street in the world to have been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Try the kind of dishes they’d have eaten, from shisa nyama (a braai-style barbecue) to skopo (cow head), maotwana (chicken feet), and Joburg’s popular kota – a quarter loaf stuffed with fries, sausage, eggs and sauces.

Global style meets local flair at Rosebank, Joburg’s polished creative quarter. Home to art galleries, diverse dining experiences and unique boutiques, it’s the perfect place to spend a few hours. Shop for beaded bracelets or animal heads, spiral-design bowls, printed textiles and vibrant paintings at Rosebank Arts and Crafts Market, admire the bronze sculptures inside and outside the Everard Read Gallery, treat yourself to a glass of Pinotage at QLounge, and don’t miss the Rosebank Sunday Market; the biggest and longest-running craft market in the city, you’ll find great food and drink, handmade arts and crafts, vintage goods and more.

Blending urban grit with cultural energy, Braamfontein – fondly known as ‘Braamies’ by locals – has transformed from a rundown business district to a hip, boho, student-friendly neighbourhood complete with massive murals (you literally can’t miss US street artist Shepard Fairey’s 20m-high image of a smiling Nelson Mandela), large-scale public artworks and cool jazz bars. Known for its underground music and design scene, you can shop for local LPs at Mr Vinyl, browse the Pan-African contemporary art by some of the most progressive and influential artists in South Africa at Afronova, then grab a gin and tonic at Kitchener’s, Jozi’s second-oldest bar, to the soundtrack of soul music.

Reach for the stars, and escape the city buzz, at the Johannesburg Observatory. Local astronomers and storytellers guide you through constellations, Southern skies, and indigenous star lore. The city lights shimmer faintly on the horizon, as, overhead, the heavens are brilliantly clear, a reminder of Joburg’s high-altitude vantage point, at an elevation of 1,753m above sea level. From here, you can see Southern Hemisphere constellatins such as the Southern Cross and the Milky Way, and planets like Jupiter and Saturn. For truly dark sky stargazing, head an hour out of the city to the Cradle of Humankind. 

6: Sleep in an iconic artist hotel

Less a mere place to stay, more an intense cultural experience, Hallmark House is a striking design hotel created by architect David Adjaye and infused with South African art, fashion and music. The 46 rooms combine industrial edge with modern chic, brought to life with brightly printed textiles, curated installations, and contemporary furnishings, while remote workers will find solace in the relaxed ambience of Thorn, a popular co-working space. Dine at the place to be seen, the hip, rooftop Twenty Twenty Club, which offers unrivalled panoramic views of Jozi, or settle in at the Marabi Club, an atmospheric, dimly lit hideaway showcasing some of the best jazz rhythms the city has to offer.

7: Join a Jozi regenerative travel tour

Get hands-on with community gardens, sustainable fashion designers and local changemakers: a regenerative tour is a concept for experiencing Jozi through a lens of urban regeneration, community empowerment, and cultural heritage, focusing on projects and places that embody sustainable and community-driven revitalisation in the city. Makers Valley, for example, is a neighbourhood in the inner city, just east of the CBD, where you’ll find a hotbed of creative entrepreneurs, from urban gardeners to carpenters, metal workers, shoemakers and artists, while Bertrams Inner City Farm was founded to combat hunger and promote food security by growing and distributing organic produce.

Tucked beneath the Artivist venue, Untitled Basement is an effortlessly cool bar, eatery and gallery. This moody, candle-lit space is home to some of the city’s best live music, launched by DJs Kenzhero and Bradley Williams in 2017. Expect soul, jazz, poetry and occasional improv sessions with top South African talent, which draws eager afficionados alongside its good food and cocktails. Don’t miss a browse of the art upstairs; new exhibitions are held regularly, ranging from installations to photography and painting, with the canvases decorating the walls both upstairs on the mezzanine and in the bar’s main hall where floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto buzzy Reserve Street.

As you would expect of such a vast continent composed of 54 different countries, Africa is home to a diverse plethora of cooking styles, ingredients, dishes and flavours. Sample a selection of these at a Pan-African cooking class – small-group classes led by local chefs which go beyond South African cuisine to explore the continent’s culinary roots. Cooking combines with dining and storytelling to create a warm, cultural exchange, where you might taste anything from Ethiopian injera to Mozambican seafood, West African jollof, Moroccan tajine, fufu from Ghana, or nyama choma from Kenya. Bring your appetite, because you’re going to need it.

10: Shop sustainably at the Re.Bag.Re.Use Market

Held monthly, this market is focused on upcycled, repurposed and zero-waste goods, showcasing Joburg’s shift toward conscious consumerism. Founded by Regine le Roux, this community initiative empowers local women by providing an income for their work, with additional proceeds donated to local charities. Discarded plastic bags (like bread bags) and other plastic film are transformed into functional, crocheted products such as beach bags, placemats, hats, bracelets and more; you’ll find these, as well as handmade fashion, refillable beauty, and recycled decor.