Pretoria - Post Report Question and Answers
What are some interesting/fun things to do in the area? Can you recommend any “hidden gems"?
Lots of nearby nature reserves where you can do small game drives. - Oct 2024
See above. - Apr 2023
Pretoria Boeremark, Irene Farm, Blos Cafe. - Mar 2023
The Elephant & Monkey Sanctuary in Hartbeesport. The Aranda blanket factory store near Johannesburg. The Cradle of Humankind was quite good. (I found the Apartheid Museum to be too much reading & auditory inputs). Hector Peterson Museum & eating at the nearby local buffet restaurant in Soweto. Staying in a "matchbox" house. Driving through the country side. - Jun 2022
Pretoria is about four hours from Kruger National Park, and there are innumerable other options in between. It can cost as little as US $100 for a round trip plane ticket to Cape Town. The Garden Route is a short flight away and not to be missed. You can even go on an evening game drive 15 minutes from Pretoria and see all kinds of birds and animals, and be home in time for dinner. Photographers and birders are especially happy here. It is hard to fit all of the cool things to do into a three year assignment. You can drive to Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho,and eSwatini very easily. - Jan 2020
There are so many people and things to do, there are few 'hidden gems.' The Big Red Barn at Irene market has a farmers/craft market a couple of times a month and the location includes an acrobranch, playground, biking, and a restaurant. You could easily spend the day there. There are other locations with similar family-friendly restaurant and activities. There are plenty of movie theaters are malls. The malls across the country have most of the same stores and even restaurants. Grove mall has ice-skating and a ice hockey league. - Dec 2019
Safaris are really great and we have been on a lot of them. They are not cheap (figure $100-$300/person/night, even at the discounted prices for residents). But it’s an experience like nothing else, and we spent many, many weeks on safari. While most of the safari parks are 4-6 hours from Pretoria, there are two smaller parks on the Pretoria outskirts where you can see (from your car) free-ranging giraffe, rhino, springbok, impala, eland, ostrich, oryx, blesbok, wildebeest, hippos, hundreds of birds, and more. Pretoria itself is a little sleepy and we end up going to Johannesburg very frequently, for the restaurants / parks / museums / markets / etc. Nationwide, SA is a diverse country, with beaches, diving, surfing, mountains, camping, wine tasting, caves, history, animals, rivers, telescopes, soccer, dunes, townships, and on and on. It’s a relatively large country (3x the size of California), so you won’t see it all. Cape Town is a different world from Pretoria / Johannesburg. It’s the most cosmopolitan and touristy city in southern Africa, and maybe the most beautiful too. It can feel more Euro-glitzy than African. It's beautiful for a getaway, but Johannesburg is much more typical of African cities. Johannesburg is 30 minutes away, has a lot of neighborhoods, and is a real African city with art, grime, food, industry, food, crime, and everything else in between. South Africa is also a good jumping-off point for the rest of the region: we took trips to Namibia, Swaziland, and Madagascar, all of which are wildly different from South Africa. - Mar 2019
No. - Jun 2018
You will have zero problem finding activities and diversions. Anyone with a taste for the outdoors will be thrilled. Foodies should hit the Saturday Hazelwood Market in Pretoria -- a great gathering of cooks and vendors. Bring a bottle of wine and sit under the trees sampling paella, sushi, kebabs, koeksesters, samosas... it's great. - Jan 2018
Safaris, lion park, monkey sanctuary, elephant orphanage, trips to Capetown, wine tours, nice hotels, shopping, hiking, swimming, bird watching. - Jun 2012
Safaris, lots of stunning, unique outdoor destinations, Cape Town, Namibia. Touristic areas are very well managed, relatively inexpensive and really impressive. Most parks are accessible via sedan, 4X4 are also useful. The food is amazing, and still pretty cheap. - Dec 2009
Safaris, diamond mines, archeological sites, mountain biking and hiking, great zoos, beaches...too many things to mention. You can't possibly get bored here. The real problem is narrowing down your choices to do/see everything during your tour. - Aug 2009
Safaris are a must in South Africa. There are self-drive safari opportunities close to Pretoria. There are markets on the weekends in and around Pretoria and also plenty of malls and movies theaters. There are ample hiking opportunities and a lot of camp grounds. There are zoos and also museums and some art galleries. If you like sports, rugby, cricket and soccer games abound. Braais (BBQs) are a national past time. - Feb 2009
Travel, art, gardening, music -participating, every sport known to man or woman. - Oct 2008
Getting out to the country, wildlife reserves, beaches, golf. - Sep 2008
Game parks, cycling, hiking, horseback riding, beaches, Gold Reef City (amusement park), Cape Town, lots of touristic things to do. - Jun 2008
