For the visitor to Johannesburg the difficulty lies not in finding something to do, but in choosing between all the exciting options. There's something for everyone - museums that examine the country's apartheid past, the city's exciting new Constitutional Court, a look at the city's gold mining beginnings, traditional African medicine or muti, and plenty of animals and outdoor fun. Just relax and enjoy yourself, Johannesburg style.

Explore Joburg
Soweto
Soweto is the largest township in the country, and is synonymous with anti-apartheid resistance. But it is much more. Sowetans agree – the township has soul.

Mandela House museum
The Mandela House in Soweto has been restored to look like the home when Nelson Mandela lived there with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and his first wife Evelyn.
Where: Vilakazi Street, Orlando West, Soweto
Tel: 011 936 7754
Open: Mondays to Sundays from 9.30am to 5pm


Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum
The 12-year-old died from a police bullet on June 16, 1976, and became a worldwide symbol of apartheid repression. This museum commemorates the day and its significance.
Where: 8288 Khumalo Street, Orlando West
Open: Mondays to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm
Tel: 011 536 0611

Constitution Hill
There are three jails on the site: the Women's Jail, No 4, and the Old Fort, where activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were held. The Constitutional Court is the newest building on the site, an impressive building with a wonderful art collection.
Where: Kotze Street, Braamfontein
Tel: 011 381 3100
Open: Every day 9am to 5pm except Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Cradle of Humankind
Sterkfontein Cave is some 50 kilometres north-west of Johannesburg, in the Cradle of Humankind where around 40 percent of all hominid fossils have been excavated. A must see.
Where: R563 Hekpoort Road
Tel: 014 577 9000
Open: Mondays to Sundays 9am to 5pm


Apartheid Museum
A visit to Johannesburg's Apartheid Museum is a moving experience -- you almost feel you were there among the toyi-toying demonstrators facing down the police.
Where: Cnr Northern Parkway and Gold Reef Road, Ormonde
Tel: 011 309 4700
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm


Origins Centre
Many of the exhibits bring to life the heritage of the Bushmen or San, whose DNA contains the earliest genetic print, linking them to the Homo sapiens who lived 160 000 years ago.
Where: University of the Witwatersrand, corner of Yale Road and Enoch Sontonga Avenue, Braamfontein
Tel: 011 717 4700/4703/4704
Open: Tuesdays to Thursdays 9am to 6pm, Fridays 9am to 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 5pm


Maropeng
This spectacular building, constructed to resemble an ancient burial mound, offers an array of exhibitions which aim to teach visitors more about the beginning of the world, what it means to be human, and how humans moved out of Africa. It also boasts an original fossil display. It is in the Cradle of Humankind, 50 kilometres north-west of Johannesburg.
Tel: 014 577 9000
Where: R563 Hekpoort Road
Open: Every day 9am to 5pm


Regina Mundi Catholic Church
This iconic church still has the scars of the anti-apartheid struggle – bullets fired at fleeing protestors who ran into the church for refuge. Its peaceful ambience belies the terrible stories its walls could tell.
Where: 1149 Khumalo Street
Tel: 011 986 2546
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8am to 5pm

Johannesburg Art Gallery
The continent's most significant gallery spans international artists such as Rodin, Picasso and Henry Moore, to South Africans such as Gerard Sekoto, Walter Battiss and Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef.
Where: Klein Street, Joubert Park
Tel: 011 725 3130
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm

Rosebank Rooftop Flea Market
The Rooftop Market is regarded by many as South Africa's best flea market. It has over 70 stalls offer clothing, ceramics, art and craft objects, African art and collectibles. The rooftop also boasts a food court and deli to curb the hunger while you shop.
Where: Rosebank Mall, 50 Bath Avenue, Rosebank
Tel: 011 442 4488
Open: Public holidays and Sundays 9am to 5pm

Johannesburg Zoo
Opened in 1904, the zoo is now a sprawling 54ha site housing 1 807 creatures - lions, tigers, elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, sable antelope, bat-eared foxes, polar bears and much more - in all some 333 different species.
Where: Cnr Jan Smuts Avenue and Upper Park Drive, Parkview
Tel: 011 646 2000
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8.30am to 5.30pm


Lion Park
This expansive park is home to an impressive assortment of animals, including a large population of rare white lions, wild dogs, spotted hyenas, the rare black leopards, cheetahs and numerous antelope.
Where: Corner Malibongwe and R114
Tel: 011 691 9905/011 691 9904
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8.30am to 5.30pm

Liliesleaf Farm
The farm where the ANC's underground leaders, including Nelson Mandela, operated until their capture in 1963, is now a museum and resource centre.
Tel: 011 803 7882/3/4
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8am to 6pm
Where: 7 George Avenue, Rivonia

Kliptown Museum and Square
The township where the Freedom Charter was ratified half a century ago, is now a dramatic heritage site.
Tel: 011 022 182/5574
Open: Mondays to Fridays 10am to 4pm
Where: Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, corner Union Avenue and Main Road, Kliptown

Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens
A magnificent garden of 300ha of landscaped and natural veld areas, planted with only indigenous trees, plus 2 500 species of indigenous flowering plants and shrubs.
Where: Malcolm Road, Poortview
Tel: 086 100 1278
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8am to 6pm

Montecasino Bird Garden
Marvel at 200 species of birds and over 1 500 species of small animals. A feature of the garden is the walk-in aviary containing 100 species of birds.
Where: 230 Witkoppen Road, Fourways
Tel: 011 511 1864
Open: Mondays to Sundays 8am to 5pm


Gold Reef City theme park
Take a trip down an old Johannesburg gold mine, and visit a recreated turn-of-the-century gold rush town. Have fun on the rides too.
Where: Cnr Northern Parkway and Gold Reef Road, Ormonde
Tel: 011 248 6800
Open: Wednesdays to Sundays 9.30am to 5pm


Johannesburg Planetarium
Learn more about the heavens and mysteries of the skies at the Johannesburg Planetarium.
Where: Wits University, Yale Road, Braamfontein
Tel: 011 717 1392
Open: Shows on Fridays 8-9pm; Saturdays 3-4pm

Lipizzaner horses
These magnificent horses have it all - strength, beauty, presence, Roman ancestry and military discipline. The best thing is that you can see a whole stableful of them in a show that can be seen in only one other country in the world - Austria.
Where: 1 Dahlia Road, Kyalami
Tel: 011 702 2103
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays and shows only on Sundays 10.30am


James Hall Transport Museum
The museum displays land transport in all its forms: ox-wagons, coaches and carts, bicycles, motorbikes, tractors, fire engines, buses, trams, trains and cars - from the Model T Ford to electric cars.
Where: Rosettenville Road, La Rochelle
Tel: 011 435- 9718/ 9485/6/7
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 9am to 5pm.


SA National Museum of Military History
The museum has a collection of more than 400 000 items, divided into 30 separate categories, including official South African war art.
Where: 22 Erlswold Way, Saxonwold
Tel: 011 646 5513
Open: Mondays to Sundays from 9am to 4.30pm
Website: www.militarymuseum.co.za

Museum Africa
A huge collection of objects, paintings and photographs has been collected since 1935, telling the story of South Africa.
Where: 121 Bree Street, Newtown
Tel: 011 833 5624/5/6/7
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays 9am to 5pm


South African Breweries Museum
Beer is a drink that is loved worldwide and South African Breweries is one of the largest brewing groups in the world. The SAB Museum traces every aspect of the history of brewing - and as a bonus the entrance fee includes two beers.
Where: 15 President Street, Newtown
Tel: 011 836 4900
Open: Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am to 6pm


Melville Koppies
Step into unspoilt Melville Koppies, with its iron age artefacts, and you'll forget that you're in the middle of a bustling metropolis.
Where: Judith Road, Emmarentia
Open: every weekend


Credo Mutwa Cultural Village
The village offers a unique insight into the mind of healer Credo Mutwa, with its large, mythical human and animal figures depicting African culture and folklore.
Where: 991Magoena Street, Central Western Jabavu
Tel: 011 930 1813/083 381 8857
Open: 8am to 4pm

Faraday Market
Visit a wonderland of traditional muti and gaze at the array of ingredients used by sangomas: from crocodile skins, antelope horns to herbal roots, all with the aroma of Africa. Make an appointment with a sangoma and learn all about yourself. 
Tel: 082 683 6262/083 626 5695/078 803 1829
Address: Corner Eloff Street and Wemmer Jubilee Road
Open: Mondays to Sundays 6am to 9pm

Art Deco
Johannesburg has an impressive collection of Art Deco buildings, particularly in Commissioner Street in the CBD, but also in the suburb of Killarney. The Parktown & Westcliff Heritage Trust does tours of the buildings several times a year.
Tel: 011 482 3349

Gold mining stope
One of the city's only remaining early gold mining stopes is preserved in the headquarters of the Standard Bank in the CBD.
Where: 5 Simmonds Street
Open: Mondays to Sundays 7am to 6pm
Tel: 011 636 2355

Confidence Reef
Two years before the rich gold thread was found in Joburg in 1886, brothers Fred and Harry Struben discovered gold in Roodepoort. They mined gold for a year before it ran out. Their mine workings are still visible in the koppies of the Kloofendal Nature Reserve. Take a tour of the workings.
Tel: 072 595 6991

Wonder Cave
This is the third largest cave chamber in South Africa  - a wonderland of rock twirls and ice-cream cone rocks 1,5 million years old. The cave is 125m long and 154m wide, filled with up to 14 different stalactite and stalagmite formations, 85 percent of which are still growing.
Tel: 011 957 0106
Open: Mondays to Fridays 8am to 5pm, Saturdays to Sundays 8am to 6pm
Address: 520 Kromdraai Road, Krugersdorp


Bungee jumping
The two distinctive power towers at the entrance to Soweto are good for bungee jumping, rap and base jumping. Get your adrenalin rush at 100m.
Address: Dynamo Street, corner Chris Hani Road, Orlando
Tel:  082 895 1250/082 895 1279
Open: Mondays to Sundays 10am to 5pm