Things to do in Pretoria

Landmark · Arcadia

Herbert Baker's sandstone crescent above terraced gardens, the seat of the Presidency, with a nine-metre Mandela statue on the lawn.

Local tip: The gardens are free and open — go at sunset for the view over the city. The building itself is not open to the public, so do not plan around a tour.

Culture · Salvokop

A memorial and museum on a hill facing the Voortrekker Monument, telling three hundred years of South African conflict from the other side.

Local tip: Take the guided walk along the Wall of Names rather than self-touring, and do it on the same day as the Voortrekker Monument — seen together they make an argument neither makes alone.

Landmark · Groenkloof

A vast granite block commemorating the 1830s Great Trek, with a marble frieze and a cenotaph lit by the sun at noon each 16 December.

Local tip: Climb to the roof for the best panorama of the city. The surrounding nature reserve has good walking trails that most visitors never notice.

Nature · South-eastern Tshwane

Thirty-eight square kilometres of highveld grassland inside the city limits, holding rhino, buffalo, cheetah, eland and over three hundred bird species.

Local tip: Twenty-five minutes from the CBD and you are self-driving past white rhino. Go at opening time in winter for the best sightings, and take the hide at the dam.

Neighborhood · Hatfield / Arcadia / Brooklyn

The student and diplomatic quarter — the University of Pretoria, a Gautrain station, embassy walls, and the city's densest run of bars and cafés.

Local tip: Hatfield Square and Burnett Street are where the student nightlife is; the quieter, better eating is a few blocks south around Brooklyn and Duncan Street.

Food · West of the CBD

The historic Indian and Asian trading quarter — spice merchants, fabric shops, temples and mosques, and samoosas made in front of you.

Local tip: Go on a weekday morning, go with someone who knows it, and buy your spices here rather than at a supermarket; it is a fraction of the price and incomparably better.