Pretoria from Johannesburg

6 min read Updated November 2026 Compare all tours

South Africa has three capitals: Cape Town for parliament, Bloemfontein for the courts and Pretoria for the government. Pretoria lies about 50 km north of Johannesburg, says South African Tourism, and the city is also known by the name of its municipality, Tshwane. Most visitors come for a half day, and the tours follow the same circuit: the Voortrekker Monument, Kruger House, Church Square and the Union Buildings.

The Voortrekker Monument

The granite monument stands on a hilltop in a nature reserve and commemorates the Voortrekkers, the Afrikaner settlers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854. Inside, a marble frieze tells the story of the Great Trek. The tours spend the most time here, and guests often name it as the highlight. From the grounds you look across the city to the Union Buildings.

The monument is open daily from 08:00 to 17:30. Admission for international visitors is R370 for adults and R180 for children, plus R20 per vehicle (Voortrekker Monument, as of November 2026). Whether a tour includes the entry fee is stated in its listing.

The steps are the catch. A reviewer on one half-day tour found that the members of his group with limited mobility could not climb them, and suggested the listing should say a certain fitness level is needed.

Church Square and Kruger House

Church Square, once the market square, is the historic centre of Pretoria. In the middle stands a statue of Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, with four Boer citizen-soldiers on a lower level of the plinth. Kruger House, built in 1884, is the house where he lived as president. It keeps original furniture or pieces from the same period, and guides like to tell the story that milk was mixed into the cement because the cement of the day was poor.

Most tours drive past the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, formerly Pretoria Central Prison, which held many political prisoners during apartheid. The centre of Pretoria is a working city centre: the U.S. Department of State advises visitors to stay alert in the business districts of the big cities, especially after dark.

The Union Buildings

The Union Buildings, in light sandstone and designed by Sir Herbert Baker, stand on Meintjieskop above the city and house the offices of the president. Nelson Mandela was inaugurated here as South Africa’s first democratic president. A 9 m bronze statue of him, arms stretched out, stands in the terraced gardens below. The buildings are closed at weekends and on public holidays; the tours stop at the gardens and the viewpoint.

One city tour also adds a stop at Freedom Park with its Wall of Names, though entry to the Freedom Park museum is not included.

Choosing a city tour

The half days differ more in the small print than in the route. The tour with the most reviews leaves Johannesburg at 8 am and 1 pm, is offered in English, French and Portuguese, and only runs with at least two people; entry to the monument and Kruger House is included, lunch is not. The English-only tour with pickup from your address includes all entrance fees, gives you time to look around after the guide’s explanation at each stop and can provide baby car seats on request. A private tour of four to five hours is listed as wheelchair accessible, which matters at the monument. One guest who does not speak English mentions that the guide used a translation app.

Getting there on your own

The Gautrain’s north-south line runs from Park Station in central Johannesburg through Rosebank, Sandton, Marlboro, Midrand and Centurion to Pretoria and Hatfield. Sandton to Pretoria takes about 30 minutes, and Park to Hatfield about 40. From O.R. Tambo airport you change at Marlboro. Trains take contactless bank cards or a Gautrain Card, but no cash. The Union Buildings stand on a hill away from the centre and the monument outside it, so you will still need a car or e-hailing ride between them; see getting around.

Jacaranda season

Pretoria is called the Jacaranda City. The University of Pretoria counts about 65,000 mature trees, which originally come from Brazil, and gives the flowering season as late September through October, sometimes extending into early November. It is also the month when the summer rains begin in Johannesburg; see the best time to visit.

Cullinan, Soweto and Dinokeng

Pretoria combines well with three other trips. The Cullinan diamond mine is about 40 minutes’ drive away; the eight-hour tour visits Pretoria in the morning and the mine in the afternoon, with airport-style security at the gate. A seven-hour day continues from Pretoria to Soweto and ends at the Apartheid Museum, which leaves less time at each stop.

Dinokeng Game Reserve, about 40 minutes from central Pretoria, calls itself Gauteng’s only Big Five reserve and is malaria-free. The tour with pickup from Pretoria or Johannesburg includes a game drive of two and a half hours with a ranger and is not suitable for children under six. Sightings are never guaranteed. Other reserves near the city are compared on game reserves near Johannesburg.