Pretoria travel guide

The name Pretoria was given to the new settlement by Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, in memory of his father, Andries Pretorius, who had led the Voortrekkers in the bloody massacre of the Zulus at Blood River. Today it is the administrative capital of South Africa and the third largest city in the country. Despite being almost joined to Johannesburg 56 km to the south by a band of green-belt towns, the atmosphere of each city couldn’t be more different. While Johannesburg was built on gold and industry, Pretoria’s was founded on the Voortrekker period of South Africa’s turbulent past and retains a rather stern, bureaucratic atmosphere – albeit softened by a large student population. In 2000, it underwent a name change to Tshwane, which after many years has finally caught on, is now in common use and is reflected on maps and signposts. While it is safer than Johannesburg, downtown Tshwane (Pretoria), like most major cities in South Africa, has gone through a transformation in recent years. With the demise of Apartheid, black South Africans are again permitted to live and work freely within the city centre, and it has much more of an African feel about it.

Most of Tshwane (Pretoria)’s sights lie in the surrounding hills. While there is a good local bus service, it does not connect between the various monuments in the city’s suburbs. The easiest way to see the city sights is either on a guided tour or with a hire car. During the day, taking a municipal bus that runs between the centre and suburbs is a safe and cheap way of getting about town. Church Street is Tshwane (Pretoria)’s main through road, running from east to west, and at 26 km long is considered to be one of the world’s longest streets. From the city centre it leads east to Arcadia where many of the embassies and the Union Buildings are located. To the south of here is Sunnyside, which until recently was home to most hotels and nightlife. However, the area has suffered a decline in recent years, with increasing crime rates. Many restaurants, hotels and backpacker hostels have relocated to the safer suburbs of Hatfield and Brooklyn, a few kilometres further east where the colleges, universities and sports stadiums are located. Both are attractive suburbs, dotted with parks and gardens, and streets lined with Tshwane (Pretoria)’s distinctive jacaranda trees....read more