We live in a beautiful city – Johannesburg, South Africa that has so much to offer. Sometimes we forget to appreciate our own town and search for something in another city which we already have!
I listed 15 places that I think you should visit with the kids especially during the school holidays since many of these places have awesome school holiday programmes. My daughter Kitana loves trying new activities, some of her favourite spots are listed down below.
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15 Places to visit and Activities to try:
1. Sci-Bono Discovery Center
Sci-Bono is a great place to introduce your child to science, maths, and technology. They even run educational holiday programmes.
Website: www.sci-bono.co.za
2. City ROCK
Get your kids to experience real rock climbing at one of Johannesburg’s local climbing crags.
Website: www.cityrock.co.za
3. Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens
A great picnic spot with beautiful scenery for the entire family.
Website: www.sanbi.org
4. The Lion Park
If your child loves animals as much as mine does, then this is a must visit. I love that you can get close to the lions.
Website: www.lion-park.com
5. Acrobranch
Acrobranch is an exciting aerial adventure where zip lines, Tarzan swings, nets, bridges and other fun obstacles take children from tree to tree.
Website: www.acrobranch.co.za
6. Peoples Theatre
Situated in the Joburg Theatre Complex, this 200 seater theatre caters specifically for kids. Audiences are enchanted, captivated and entertained by the magical world of theatre.
Website: www.peoplestheatre.co.za
Memories for the whole family are created on stage at the Peoples Theatre!
7. Bounce
Fly through the air and bounce off the walls. BOUNCE is a massive indoor trampoline park for all ages with venues around Gauteng.
8. Papachinos
A family restaurant with a supervised kiddies area. Kids can also make their own pizzas. This is one of the popular places in Johannesburg which offers great food for the entire family.
Website: www.papachinos.co.za
9. Johannesburg Zoo
The Joburg Zoo is one of the most popular local and tourist attractions situated in the leafy northern suburb of Johannesburg.
Website: www.jhbzoo.org.za
10. Mapatiza – Underground Gemstone Mine Tour
Something different for the kids to do! My daughter really enjoyed the tour and digging up for “treasure”. At Mapatiza, you learn a little more about the different gemstones (via the underground tour) and get the opportunity to dig in the scratch patch for gems.
Website: www.geckojewellers.co.za
11. Artjamming
Allow your child to paint his/her expressions via art. A fun activity for the entire family!
Website: www.artjamming.co.za
12. Gold Reef City theme park
A popular and well-known place in Johannesburg. A theme park filled with adventure for the entire day!
Website: www.tsogosun.com
13. Montecasino Bird Park
One of my favorite places to visit with my kids on a Sunday. There’s so much to see at this beautiful park which is filled with all different types of birds.
Website: www.tsogosun.com
14. RollEgoli
RollEgoliis a safe suburban roller skating facility in Bryanston Johannesburg. They offer 1000sqm of covered concrete floor perfect for roller skates or roller blades.
Website: www.rollegoli.co.za
15. Croc City Crocodile & Reptile Park
Croc City has guided tours daily from 9 am to 4:30 pm which features reptile interaction, where all visitors are given the opportunity to safely interact with various reptiles (Including a croc-hatchling). Crocodile feeding happens on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. They do a venomous snake show, which is very popular, every Sunday at 11 am. Additionally, in 2014 they opened a Zip-line which we call a Flyover; the only one of its kind in Africa where you can safely fly over the crocodile enclosures!
Website: www.croccity.co.za
Sightseeing Johannesburg Red bus
Website: www.citysightseeing.co.za
The best way to see what Johannesburg has to offer is by you getting on a big red bus :)!
It’s an experience you will never forget.
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Hi, I'm Shan!
Entrepreneur, Blogger, and Podcaster.
Forbes Africa 30 under 30.
There is so much to do there. I would love to book a trip one of these days!
Great ideas – apart from Lory park zoo which I will never visit again. Those cages are way too small for the animals in them.
Really?! I’ve heard all good things, it’s really sad to hear this. Will look into it.
We did visit yesterday, great job, need and tidy animals in good condition. Will recommend to all families with children.
If I had a child, I would totally want him/her to be enrolled in a dancing and performing arts center such as the Buzz. This place fosters not only dancing skills but also creativity and social skills.
Wow, what a diverse collection of ideas for families. I didn’t realize it was such a family-friendly place!
What a wonderful resource for kid-related activities. The Buzz workshops sound amazing.
I would love for my children to be able to experience South Africa! They would really love to try dancing 🙂
I would not have thought of this being such a family friendly place. I have always wanted to go to Africa!!
I have always wanted to visit here. I like how some of the restaurants have places for the kids to play.
I know this is cliche to say but Johannesburg is on my bucket-list. ONE DAY!!!!!
You should come! We have a beautiful city. 🙂
Those all look like some really wonderful places to visit with the kids. Thank you for sharing!
I would love to go visit! It looks like such an interesting place. I’m dying to see the lions at Lion park!
That Yeesh place looks nice – I never heard of it!
It’s in Woodmead.
Looks like there’s a lot to do there! I always love the “secret/hidden” places to go 🙂
Oh my world just so many fab place to go and see.
I have never been to Johannesburg before but would love to go. They have many awesome places for kids and adults indeed. Thanks for sharing.
Doesn’t look that bad to take the kids. That would be one long trip for me so maybe when my kids are older it would be better for us.
Oh, I would love to visit Lory Park myself! An animal and owl sanctuary is a place that I could sit and watch for hours. This is an excellent list! Peace, Debbie
Wow I would want to visit them all! 🙂
Looks like there’s a lot to do in Johanesburg! We don’t hear enough about that part of the world!
I’m planning to visit Johannesburg. I’ll take note of your tips.
I love that these are all family friendly places to visit. I would love to explore the beauty of Johannesburg.
Eeeeep!! I LOVE big cats! I would be absolutely thrilled to see that.
The “Freerange” lifestyle centre sounds like my kind of place! Especially with wine on the table 😉 lol
My uncle and family live in Johannesburg and I am planning of visiting them next year so excited to check some of these places out.
I remember my Johannesburg trip. Love looking at the animals.
Love the Lion Park!!! There are som mant places to go in Jhb and not all are expensive
This is such a great post. My partner is from Jo-Burg so we’ll surely visit there one day as our son is half South African. These places will be on our travel list for sure 🙂
I want to go to Johannesburg.. well, South Africa in general. I’m really wanting to go in a cage and dive with sharks.
I would love to go there. Someday, I hope. 🙂
Those all look and sound like fun places to visit. The animals are all so gorgeous.
Wow! Looks like there is a ton of fun activities to do!!
Thanks a lot for sharing this! A friend of mine is flying with her family to South Africa in January. I will show her this post.
Wow, thank you for sharing! I have found some new places to visit with my kids!
Excellent suggestions, thank you for sharing
If I am to visit Johannesburg, the kids (when I have them) would be visiting the animal places on their own lol. I will take them to the theme parks, but I’m a chicken when it comes to wildlife.
Thanks for all these great ideas! I never thought of Johannesburg as a family friendly place to travel, but between the lions and owls… my son would have a blast!
Now that my kids have moved out of the house, we’re ready to see the world. I would love to visit South Africa some day.
So many great activities for families! I’d love to visit someday! Adding to my bucket list!
There is a lot of great places to visit! My family and I would have a great time in Johannesburg.
That sure looks like a fun place to visit. I have been wanting to go to South Africa to see the ‘real safari’ but I guess I’ll have to postpone it for other concerns. 😀
Thanks for the great recommendations! I would definitely check out Lory Park 🙂
Cheers!
JoAnna
foreverinparadise.net
If I went to Johanesburg, I would definitely like to check out animal-related attractions. From your list, the Lion PArk, Jozi Real Food Market, and Lory Park interested me the most!
It would be a dream come true to visit Africa, ecspecially with my family.
those are all amazing places to visit. i do hope i get to visit South Africa with my boys one day!
Now this would be the vacation of a life time. I would love to see Johannesburg.
That’s a great list. Excellent for parents visting too!
we have no plans yet to travel outside the country but when we do, this will be on list!
You must include all the amazing places in Hartebeespoort. 30 minutes away from Joburg, starts camping venues along rivers; water parks, horse safaris, bird preserves, the dam, shopping…endless! 🙂
I kept it to Jhb only but I think I will do another post on this! Thank you so much.
Been to almost all the places you listed with our son. Hes had so much of fun. Please advise on any new updated places to visit.
Thank you for much for the support! I will definitely do more posts like these! 🙂 Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter for updates.