Cities Of South Africa

Cape Town

Perched between the ocean and the mountain, with a national park as its heart, there is nowhere like Cape Town. Cape Town, the "Mother City", is the oldest city in South Africa and has a cultural heritage spanning more than 300 years.

The unique topography of the region makes it easy to orientate oneself as long as you remember that with Table Mountain behind you and Robben Island before you, you are facing north, looking across Table Bay and up the west coast of Africa.

It is in Cape Town that the Rainbow Nation really covers the spectrum. Between beautiful Cape Dutch homesteads, traditional dancers with painted faces performing in the streets, the smell of spicy Malay cooking and the taste of a well-made wine, this city will fill your senses.

The bells of St George's Cathedral alternate with the plaintive tones of the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Visitors give a startled jump, and Capetonians calmly glance at their watches, when the noon gun booms above the city - a relic from the days of sail when sea captains had to check their chronometers.

It has the top five national attractions in South Africa, all of which should appear on every visitor’s itinerary all year round. These include a visit up Table Mountain, either by cable car or manually climbing up routes of varying degrees of difficulty; and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, internationally acclaimed as one of the great botanical gardens of the world.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, one of the city's main tourist attractions, offers the visitor a unique shopping and holiday experience on a scenic working harbour. Currently undergoing expansion, the complex features shops, restaurants, launch areas for short cruises and a variety of entertainment for those who flock through it by day and night.

Looking further offshore, visitors can take a boat ride to Robben Island, the former home of Nelson Mandela and several other political prisoners who fought against the apartheid government. Visitors to the island are taken on a tour of the old prison complex, as well as to a museum on the island.

Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State. A pretty, medium-sized city, it lives up to its name which means "spring of flowers". There are thousands of rose bushes lining the streets, which create a wonderful spectacle most of the year, but especially in spring.

In the middle of the city is a small nature reserve called Naval Hill, where you can go for walks and see small game. Also nearby is the orchid house - another tribute to that lovely name.

Bloemfontein was the capital of the independent Boer republic of the Orange Free State until the Union of South Africa was declared in 1910, when it was made the judicial capital of South Africa. It is still the site of the Supreme Court of Appeal.

There are a number of museums dedicated to subjects ranging from natural history to warfare. Probably the most poignant memorial is the Women's Monument, erected to commemorate the tens of thousands of women and children who died in British concentration camps during the South African war (Anglo-Boer War).

Bloemfontein is very conveniently situated as a stopover point if you're driving between Cape Town and Johannesburg, and it is the closest major city to the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the major international gateway into South Africa so you are quite likely to spend, at the very least, a few hours in this rather misunderstood and misrepresented city. It's a vibrant and dynamic place with a throbbing pulse and an awesome sense of rhythm.

Everyone is on the move - doing business, making money, jogging, going to gym, cycling, partying till late, eating out, and attending shows, movies and exhibitions. If you're a city person, you will love Johannesburg.

The older part of the city is developing an interesting character - in parts somewhat neglected and a bit scary, and in parts humming with a new kind of vibrancy.

It is the de facto capital of Africa - in the centre of Johannesburg, you will find people from all over the continent, and in some pretty unusual and out-of-the way venues, you can sample their cuisine and jive to their music - not for the faint of heart, though.

Also in the city centre is the Civic Theatre, and the Newtown Cultural Project, with Museum Africa. But the head offices of major corporations, and the majority of businesses, have moved out to the northern suburbs and to Midrand - the burgeoning industrial, commercial, semi-agricultural and residential area halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The northern suburbs radiate a sense of opulence and prosperity. The many shopping malls carry a vast range of high quality consumer goods, including many luxuries, and the hundreds of restaurants and coffee shops offer a wide range of fashionable cuisines.

There really is a lot to do in Johannesburg. You could go on an escorted tour of Soweto, which is not the voyeuristic horror it sounds like. It's actually a mind-expanding experience as you see not only how other people live, but also how this resilient community contributed to South Africa's liberation struggle.

A visit to Gold Reef City is a fun day out with amusement rides and a reconstructed mining village, but it is a lot more authentic than most theme parks. The trip down a gold mine is a real eye-opener, but that's nothing compared to the paradigm shift many people may experience in visiting the Apartheid Museum, also at Gold Reef City.

And for the golf enthusiast, Johannesburg is a wonderful destination. The city boasts an ideal climate for spending time out on the fairways under the bright African sun, and golfers here are blessed for choice - there are golf courses aplenty in the city and more widely in its province, Gauteng.

Soweto

Infused with the history of the struggle against apartheid and abuzz with the energy of the city of gold, Soweto is a must-see for tourists who are looking for more than sun, sea and the big five.

With heritage sites, restaurants, shebeens and budget accommodation options aplenty, Soweto is well worth visiting, whether on a day tour or for a longer period to experience the real Soweto – a place of friendship, vibrancy and contrasts.

Soweto is the most populous black urban residential area in the country, with Census 2001 putting its population at close to a million. Thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country, it is also the most metropolitan township in the country - setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language.

Pretoria, city of jacarandas

Known as the Jacaranda City for all the purple blossom-bedecked trees which line its thoroughfares, Pretoria is a lovely, quiet city. It has a long, involved and fascinating history.

Here you will find many significant old buildings and some fascinating museums. The Transvaal Museum has wonderful natural history displays and is the home of Mrs Ples, the australopithecine fossil found at Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind. Also worth visiting are the Cultural History Museum and the Smuts Museum, just outside town.

Probably the most heartening thing about the new government in South Africa is that, unlike many successful revolutionaries, we have not gone on an iconoclastic, monument-topping orgy. The Union Buildings changed overnight from a symbol of white, neo-colonial unity to one of true unity, and the iconic Voortrekker Monument still stands.

Ironically, though, the bust of one of apartheid's most ardent supporters, JG Strydom, which stood in Strydom Square near the State Theatre, toppled without any help other than gravity and the erosive quality of time on steel supports - on the 40th anniversary of the day South Africa became a white-governed republic.

It's a great town - there are quite a few open spaces where you can walk or mountain bike. Nearby is the Premier Game Reserve, next door to the Cullinan Diamond Mine, where the largest diamond in the world was found.

You could do a short horse trail at the Voortrekker Monument or through the Premier Reserve, taking a careful look at some white rhino and a number of eland - which are pretty much the size of a big horse. You could do a tandem skydive or a first jump at the Pretoria Skydiving Club, which is the largest in the country