Somewhere For The Weekend: Johannesburg

Where?

Where?

Built on a high plateau surrounded by the world's richest gold mines, Johannesburg dominates Gauteng - both in size and wealth. The high-rise city centre is surrounded by some dozens of suburbs: to the north lie the realms of the wealthy, both black and white, while in the south-west is the vast township of Soweto. The city is ringed and criss-crossed by highways, which speed commuters into the centre or skirt around between suburbs. Pretoria, the capital, lies 50km to the north.

The best hotels are in the northern suburbs. Ten Bompas (Bompas Road, Dunkeld West, 00 27 11 325 2442; www.tenbompas.co.za) is a stylish boutique hotel with 10 individually designed suites, and a good restaurant run by a Yorkshireman. Rooms cost R2,400 (£210), including breakfast. Vergelegen (Tottenham Avenue, Melrose Estate, Rosebank, 00 27 11 447 3434; www.vergelegen-guesthouse.co.za) has themed rooms set in a 1930s Rosebank mansion, costing R660 (£58) per night, with breakfast. In Pretoria, Court Classique (corner of Schoeman and Beckett Streets, Arcadia, 00 27 12 344 4420; www.courtclassique.co.za) is a practical choice, where the suites have kitchenettes, costing R1,260 (£110), including breakfast.

Why?

Loud, brash and rich, Johannesburg has long been both the bane and lifeblood of South Africa. Since its sudden birth in 1886 when a hapless Aussie discovered gold on the highveld (he went on to sell his plot for £10), it has dominated the country, morphing from a rough and debauched frontier town into a financial metropolis - one with a rough-and-ready edge.

The reality lives up to the reputation. The fast-paced centre is a striking forest of skyscrapers, casting far-reaching shadows over hawkers and market sellers peddling clothes, fruit and pirate DVDs. Office workers hurry by, avoiding the notorious inner-city suburbs like Hillbrow, where drugs and sex are hawked alongside oranges and copies of Spider-Man 2. In Newtown, seedy jazz clubs and cutting-edge theatres sit alongside fine restaurants. Glitzy shopping malls sprawl in the north, where ladies lunch and tourists shop, and in Melville long-haired arty types argue over cappuccinos. The city is a confusing mess, but with an electric atmosphere which means you do like it, even if you think you shouldn't.

If Jo'burg is wayward and rebellious, Pretoria is its well-behaved sister, in warmer climes 50km to the north. Although connected by an almost unbroken ribbon of development, the two cities couldn't be more different. Pretoria is the staid, conservative capital, with wide streets lined with jacaranda trees that bloom purple in spring. The centre feels peaceful and orderly, with attractive sandstone buildings and large, tidy parks. It has long been a centre of Afrikanerdom, best summed up by the somber Voortrekker monument. But its conservative feel has mellowed, with a student population and the influx of a multilingual diplomatic community.

What?

Although Johannesburg is the real draw, it's best to combine it with a trip to Pretoria; together, they have enough sights to fill a weekend. Legend Tours (00 27 21 697 4056; www.legendtourism.co.za) organises half- and full-day tours of the city and Soweto.

A good place to get your bearings is at the Carlton Centre (open daily from 9am to 5pm, R7, 60p) in downtown Johannesburg. From the 50th-storey lookout deck you can get a good idea of why it's called "the Manhattan of Africa", with a tight grid of skyscrapers surrounded by endless urban sprawl. Many of the gleaming high-rise office blocks now stand empty, thanks to violent crime which pushed businesses out to the northern suburbs in the 1990s. A massive revitalisation programme, with high-profile security and a citywide grid of CCTV, has meant that businesses are starting to move back.

From here, it's a quick drive to Newtown, a rejuvenated district with restaurants, flea markets, the Market Theatre and the Museum Africa, which has displays on San rock art, gold-mining and the history of Soweto.

For a light finale to a city tour, head north to Sandton and Rosebank, posh suburban areas with many American-style malls. Rosebank Mall is the best, with an excellent two-storey African crafts market.

It's a half-hour drive to Pretoria, which has a compact centre focused on Church Square. Here you'll see Pretoria's finest buildings, such as the late 19th-century Palace of Justice, where Nelson Mandela was tried for treason in 1964. The square is today a lively hub, with families picnicking alongside market hawkers. And 1km to the east are the impressive Union Buildings, a grand complex built by Herbert Baker in 1913, and today the administrative headquarters of President Mbeki. This is where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president in 1994 in front of an audience of tens of thousands.

South of the city is the altogether less inspiring but no less important Voortrekker Monument, a vast cube of granite which is a place of pilgrimage for Afrikaners. Inside, the echoing Hall of Heroes is decorated with friezes depicting the Great Trek and the massacre of Zulus at Blood River. Head to the roof for views out over Pretoria.

Wow!

The highlight of a Jo'burg city tour is the Apartheid Museum, one of the finest museums in the country, just outside the centre (0027 11 309 4700; www.apartheidmuseum.org). It opened in 2002 and gives a harrowing portrayal of Apartheid, from its birth in 1948 through to elections and reconciliation in the 1990s. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm; entry is R25 (£2) and is one of biggest attractions in the country.

Top five

Yum (26 Gleneagles Road, Greenside; 00 27 11 486 1645) Widely regarded as Jo'burg's top restaurant, Yum has a minimalist interior and modern cuisine, including roast duck with bitter chocolate.

Gramadoelas (Market Theatre Complex, Newtown; 00 27 11 838 6960) Lively staff serve up a good range of Southern African dishes, from fried mopani worms to bobotie (sweet and spicy ground beef pie).

The Grill House (The Firs, Oxford Road, Rosebank; 00 27 11 880 3945) Melt-in-the-mouth steaks attract hordes of well-heeled jozis (locals), who move on to the attached Katzy's for a late-night cocktail.

The Singing Fig (44 The Avenue, 00 27 11 728 2434). Award-winning restaurant with the menu chalked up on blackboards. Excellent French food, plus some weird extras such as crocodile roulade.

Café Riche (Church Square, Pretoria, 00 27 12 328 3173). The oldest café in Pretoria, with a Parisian feel, great brunch and views over Church Square.

Safaris from the city

The closest game park to Johannesburg is Pilanesberg National Park, the fourth-largest in the country, a two-hour drive away. It's an excellent place to see the Big Five, plus a range of antelope, giraffes, hippos, and rare species such as brown hyena. There are several private camps within the park, including the luxurious Tshukudu Bush Lodge (00 27 14 552 6255; www.legacyhotels.co.za). Golden Leopard runs two more modest camps, which include self-catering chalets and campsites (00 27 14 555 1000; www.goldenleopard.co.za).

Three hours from Johannesburg is Madikwe Game Reserve, an exclusive game area known for its elephant population. Madikwe doesn't allow day-visitors and accommodation is limited to a handful of upmarket lodges, so the park is peaceful and the game viewing, excellent. CC Africa (00 27 11 809 4300; www.ccafrica.com) operates three stylish lodges.

The jewel in South Africa's crown is, of course, Kruger National Park. Covering an area the size of Wales, Kruger encompasses a huge range of habitats. It's around 450km from Johannesburg, and there are daily flights to Kruger Mpumalanga at Nelspruit, or Phalaborwa Airport. Skukuza Camp airstrip is also used by top-end camps. Most are run by South African National Parks (00 27 12 428 9111; www.sanparks.org). There are also a number of top-end private reserves on the borders of Kruger, such as Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, which has the country's most exclusive (and expensive) lodge, Ulusaba, owned by Sir Richard Branson (020-8600 0430, www.ulusaba.com).

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