The undisputed economic and, together with the neighboring cities of Soweto and Pretoria, also the political heart of South Africa is neither a beauty nor a tourist city.
As a historical result of the exhausted gold rush, today’s metropolis of four million people reflects the country’s recent history.
Today, you can visit the sites of crucial events in the city’s history such as the Gold Reef City gold mine, which has been transformed into an amusement park with a living museum, the neighboring Apartheid Museum, or the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto, which commemorates the student protests of the 1970s, when hundreds of young people were killed by police forces for opposing the introduction of Afrikaans as the classroom language.
Johannesburg has been fighting its bad image as a crime hotspot for years, although in vain for the time being, but if you avoid certain neighborhoods and use common sense, you can discover many interesting things, such as a lively art, theater and music scene.
Johannesburg can also keep up with Cape Town in terms of cuisine.
Neighborhoods such as Melville, which are considered safe and also have a good range of restaurants, are recommended for overnight stays.