Explore Joburg from a new angle

Welcome to Joburg.

Or Jozi, as the locals call it.

I’ll bet you’re in for a pleasant surprise! Yes, there’s crime, but there’s also a vibrant city with a short, rich history, people of every colour and creed, plenty of trees and outdoor spaces, museums, galleries, shops and restaurants – and a buzzing night life, too.

So get ready to explore on foot or by car; take in the sights, sounds and smells – and let Africa sink into your soul.

Our Popular Tours – Eight of the Best!

Newtown walk

3hrs

This walking tour traces the history of Newtown, from brickmaking and markets to its influence in music and the arts – and now its urban regeneration.

Braamfontein Walk

3hrs

Braamfontein is home to art galleries and museums, public art and graffiti, municipal buildings, the Nelson Mandela Bridge and numerous coffee shops, clubs and restaurants. On Saturdays, it also hosts the popular Neighbourgoods Market.

Maboneng & Jewel City Walk

3hrs

Not as much culture as usual, but a great chance to witness some urban regeneration and to soak up the atmosphere created by the street vendors, restaurants, bars, public art and graffiti.

Constitution Hill Walk

3hrs

Constitution Hill is a national heritage site that encapsulates the oppression of South Africa’s past together with our hopes for the future. Visit the Old Fort, the former men’s and women’s prisons, as well as the Constitutional Court building and chamber.

Soweto Tour

4.5 hrs

The Soweto tour is what we like to call Soweto On and Off the Beaten Track. You will visit Regina Mundi Catholic church and the well-known Vilakazi Street, but you will also catch a glimpse of some lesser known places (such as the Bara taxi rank and the Soweto Theatre) and get a taste of a day in the life of a Sowetan.

Marshalltown Walk

3 hrs

Discover Johannesburg’s mining past, with a combination of history, trivia and public art – plus stops for coffee and a mocktail. Highlights include the pedestrianised mining walk, the Rand Club, Gandhi Square and the Thunder Walker Arcade at Somerset House.

A Walk in the Wilds

1 . 5 hrs

The Wilds was established in 1938 as a national botanical garden. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers in recent years, it’s a safe haven again, and the 8kms of stone pathways make it easy to navigate this glorious 40-acre site.

This tour is free of charge.

Troyeville Walk

3 hrs

Troyeville was once the home of artists, architects and activists, and it’s a suburb with a rich history dating back to 1889. Nowadays it’s inhabited by residents from a wide variety of African countries, each bringing with them a distinctive flavour.

Custom-Made Tours

If you have anything particular in mind, such as an artistic, culinary or sporting theme, let us put together a walk or tour to suit you. Please just contact us with a brief, and we’ll put together a proposal and quotation.

Forthcoming Tours

NEWTOWN walking tour

Date to be advised

09h30 – 12h30

Discover Jo’burg’s mining past, with a combination of history, trivia and public art – plus a stop for a cool drink or refreshing ale. Highlights include the Market Theatre, Chancellor House and Diagonal Street.

See ‘Rates’ section for costs.

Please book here or email sarah@joburg360.com for more information.

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maboneng & jewel city walking tour

date to be advised

10h00 – 13h00

Discover Jo’burg’s inner city regeneration, with a combination of history, trivia and colourful graffiti – plus stops for coffee and a cocktail. Visit some of the familiar sights of Maboneng but combine your walk with a look at the revamped Hallmark House as well as the brand-new development of Jewel City. See ‘Rates’ section for costs. Please book here or email sarah@joburg360.com for more information.

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soweto tour – on and off the beaten track

date to be advised

09h00 – 15h30

Yes, it’s a fun and action-packed day in Soweto. Some favourite spots such as Vilakazi Street and Regina Mundi are interspersed with unusual gems such as the Bara taxi rank and the Soweto Theatre. Throw in the Kota Food Festival at the Soweto Cricket Ground, and the tour packs a great punch! See ‘Rates’ section for costs. Please book here or email sarah@joburg360.com for more information.

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constitution hill walking tour

date to be advised

09h30 – 12h30

This walking tour encompasses The Old Fort, the Women’s Prison, No 4 and the Constitutional Court, giving a comprehensive summary of this national heritage site, from its harrowing past to its hopes for the future.

See ‘Rates’ section for costs.

Please book here or email sarah@joburg360.com for info on payment and bookings.

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Meet Our Tour guides

Sarah Barret

‘One thing I wish I’d understood in school is that the word History is simply a contraction of the words His Story; it’s just someone’s story! Now I act as a story-teller, bringing the history and culture of Johannesburg to life in a fun and informative way.’

Meet Sarah

Tshepo Tshoadi

Tshepo is a young tourist guide who springs from Jabulani in Soweto. He is passionate about travel and tourism and his favourite life experience so far is a road trip he undertook with friends to Cape Town and along the Garden Route to the Eastern Cape.

Meet Tshepo

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Sarah is a vibrant guide; she brings an interesting angle and research to every site. She loves the art aspect, which brings new insight to the historical aspect. An absolute gem; a tour with Sarah is poignant, informative and uplifting all at once.

Mary Raubenheimer
January 2020

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Thank you SO much for such a stunning walk on Saturday. I loved it. I felt quite uplifted afterwards with the possibilities that exist. With some luck on our side hopefully things will continue to take root and happen there. So wonderful to see it so clean too.

Kathryn Paton
August 2020

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In November we took our group of about 10 on the Newtown Walking Tour with Sarah from Joburg 360. Well, it turned out to be the most awesome day. We are all South Africans who were gobsmacked at the history and the way Sarah presents it in a user-friendly fashion. The Market Theatre, the Rand Club, the statues of Walter and Albertina Sisulu and so much more beside. When you stand in Gandhi Square and hear his involvement followed by a lunch in an old building you drive home so proud to be South African and richer for sharing in the complex development of what remains a great African city. Whoever does this walk will be rewarded with a sense of appreciation of the development of a city so interwoven with cultural diversity and beauty despite years of intolerance and political interference.

Reg & Teresa Thomson
December 2019

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Such an enjoyable walk around Newtown with Sarah on Sunday morning. She kept us on our toes asking questions as well as imparting many interesting historical facts about a city I thought I knew! Thanks Sarah. I learned so much and had fun too! 5 star experience.

Tamara LePine-Williams
January 2020

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+27 82 880 1820

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sarah@joburg360.com

3 hour walking tour

Newtown Walk

Did you know that Newtown was originally known as Brickfields? That’s because, at the end of the 19th century, the bricks for the new mining settlement of Johannesburg were made here.

This walking tour traces the history of Newtown from brick-making, power stations and markets to its influence in music and the arts – and now its urban regeneration. Important stops along the route include Nelson Mandela’s law practice office at Chancellor House as well as Randjeslaagte, the triangular piece of land on which Johannesburg’s first mining camp was established.

And it’s not all history; there’s plenty of trivia, public art, graffiti and a stop for coffee or a refreshing ale.

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3 hour walking tour

Braamfontein Walk

Braamfontein used to be a highveld farm and is now a bustling suburb of Johannesburg. It was known as the unlucky farm as it was so close to the gold reef, but not one ounce of gold was found on Braamfontein farm itself.

Today, Braamfontein is home to a university, art galleries and museums, public art and graffiti, municipal buildings, the Nelson Mandela Bridge and numerous coffee shops, clubs and restaurants.

Our walking tour traces the history and regeneration of this suburb where you can soak up the vibe of the students and young professionals who hang out here. Depending on lockdown restrictions, it’s also possible to visit a rooftop bar for magnificent views of the city.

This tour is best recommended on a Saturday, when the bustling Neighbourgoods Market takes place.

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3 hour walking tour

Maboneng Walk

Not as much culture as usual, but a great chance to witness some urban regeneration and to soak up the atmosphere created by the street vendors, restaurants, bars, public art and graffiti.

The brainchild of entrepreneur Jonathan Liebmann, Maboneng has been through a tough time with the demise of Liebmann’s company Propertuity, but it’s bouncing back and is now buoyed by the adjacent Divercity project called “Jewel City”where R2 billion has been spent to uplift the old jewellery manufacturing quarter.

Highlights on the Maboneng & Jewel City walk include the former home of the Pacific Press, the 1902 Cosmopolitan Hotel, the splendid Hallmark House (designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye), plenty of street art and a visit to a rooftop bar.

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3 hour walking tour

Constitution Hill Walk

Constitution Hill is a national heritage site and a living museum that traces South Africa’s journey to democracy. More than any other site in South Africa, it encapsulates the oppression of the country’s past together with our hopes for the future.

The tour of the site includes a visit to the Old Fort with an impressive view from its ramparts, a visit to the Women’s Jail (1910-1983), the Men’s Jail which is known as Number 4, (1904-1983) and the fully-operational Constitutional Court itself (2004-present). Apart from the warmth and accessibility of the court building, the Constitutional Court also boasts an art collection of over 600 works, many of which are on display.

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4.5 hr tour

Soweto Tour

At Joburg 360, nothing is humdrum, so be prepared for some off-the-beaten track gems; a street stall here, a vibrant mural there; a long funeral procession or simply goats in the road; herbs, roots, coffee and beer – as well as a traditional Kota included as a lunchtime treat.

The Soweto tour is available on any day of the week and runs from approximately 9am to 1h15pm, departing from and returning to 44 Stanley Avenue, Milpark.

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3 hour walking tour

Marshalltown Walk

Other ports of call on the Marshalltown walk include the Ferreira Mine Stope, the Culinary & Pastry school, Bridge Books, the replica of the 13th century Mapungubwe Rhino, and a specially preserved turret with a spiral staircase!

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1.5 hour walking tour

A Walk in the Wilds

Since 2013, The Wilds has been managed by City Parks, but most of the credit goes to James Delaney and his band of volunteers. Little by little, they cut away at the undergrowth, cleared the paths, dug up weeds, mowed the lawns and fixed the water pump – the result of which is a triumphal reclamation of this open space of public parkland. The recent addition of decorative mosaics, plus over 100 laser-cut aluminium animals, serves to enhance the experience for the visitor. The flora and fauna are thriving again, and so too the birdlife that is inevitably drawn to the area.

Come and enjoy a walk on the Wilds side!

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3 hour walking tour

Troyeville Walk

Highlights of this tour include a visit to David Webster’s house, Gandhi’s house and the Troyeville House. Plus there are beautiful churches and other buildings from the early 1900s to enjoy. At least one art gallery will be included on the tour, too.

Why not round off your tour with a delicious Portuguese lunch at The Troyeville Hotel or a visit to Victoria Yards?

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Sarah Barret

Sarah grew up in rural Wales; an area she describes as having ‘more sheep than people’. After studying a BSc Econ. (Hons) and a post-graduate diploma in Office Information Technology, Sarah fell ‘accidentally’ into tour guiding as a holiday job in 1987. From there, the travel bug set in, and she has worked in tourism in Boston (USA), London and Johannesburg, as well as guiding in cities all over the world.

Sarah gained her global tourism experience in educational tours, ski tours and incentive travel. She operated her own business in the incentive travel field for 8 years, designing unique global travel experiences for corporates and other groups. When age 40 hit, she relinquished overseas journeys and settled into tour guiding in Johannesburg, which has been her home base since 1992. Sarah is passionate about showing both the everyday and the hidden Johannesburg to locals and visitors alike. Her passions include music, literature and art, and she is able to incorporate these themes into her walking tours of the city.

‘One thing I wish I’d understood in school’, exclaims Sarah with a smile, ‘is that the word History is simply a contraction of the words His Story; it’s just someone’s story! Now I act as a story-teller, bringing the history and culture of Johannesburg to life in a fun and informative way. The city may be working off a low base (with a reputation for crime), but Johannesburg is on the up in a big way! It’s an exciting, diverse and multi-cultural African city where no two days are the same, and there’s never a dull moment!’

Sarah lives in an industrial loft apartment with her teenage son and their dog, Atticus. Her aim is to increase her in-depth knowledge of Johannesburg’s city and suburban areas, to improve her working knowledge of French and German, and to buy a bigger vehicle to transport guests too.

Tshepo Tshoadi

Tshepo is a young tourist guide who springs from Jabulani in Soweto. He lives in a four-roomed house with his mother, two sisters, two nieces and a nephew.

Tshepo is passionate about travel and tourism. His favourite life experience so far is a road trip he undertook with friends to Cape Town and along the Garden Route to the Eastern Cape.

In his free time, Tshepo loves to visit the Soweto Theatre, located in Jabulani, to watch a play or a movie or to take part in the Seven Colours event there on Sundays, where popular local food is prepared.

Tshepo is passionate about Johannesburg and Soweto. He loves sharing our diverse heritage with visitors and giving them a memorable experience in his home town. He also loves to connect with local people to help them grow their businesses through tourism. His dream is one day to travel overseas.