Johannesburg Travel Guide
For details of what to do and see in Johannesburg, South Africa check out our Johannesburg guide to car hire in Johannesburg.
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Although mainly a gateway to the country and a hub city for getting to other places in South Africa rather than a destination in its own right, Johannesburg has plenty of attractions to keep you occupied for a few days should you choose to stay. From the glamorous shopping malls, golf courses, country clubs and top class hotels in the city of Sandton to the poverty in Soweto, Johannesburg is a city of contrasting fortunes, a city divided by the past.
Lying in the middle of South Africa, Johannesburg is the largest city in the country, although the reputation it has for crime and violence means that it is not a major tourist centre. It is a popular place to enter the country if a visitor plans to spend their holiday in the African utopia of Sun City with its top class hotels, water parks and golf courses; or in the natural heaven of the Kruger National Park to the east.
Johannesburg lies at the centre of the transport infrastructure of the country, and as such most flights to South Africa arrive into Johannesburg before being filtered onto flights to other cities in the country such as Durban, East London and Cape Town.
As with anywhere else in the world, the simmering violence in Johannesburg is driven by inequality. If you stick to the more upmarket bits of Johannesburg, then the city is as safe as anywhere else in the world, but you should avoid going out after dark, and stay clear of the poorer areas.