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Tours in Johannesburg |
Johannesburg has a lively nightlife and venues go in and out of fashion all the time. In Soweto and other townships, nightlife is centred on shebeens (informal drinking places, which are often in someone's home) or taverns (more fancy than shebeens, possibly with live music). Going out alone in Soweto is not advised, although do go with a local or take a guided shebeen tour (see Soweto Tours in the Key Attractions section).
Across the rest of the city are numerous places to drink from male- and sport-dominated pubs to fancy cocktail lounges or trendy hotel bars. Nightlife is focused around distinct districts, with Melville being one of the most popular areas. Here along Seventh Street and the neighbouring roads, dozens of little bars spill out on the street and are ideal for a pub crawl. Other northern suburbs such as Rosebank, Norwood, Rivonia and Orange Grove are favoured by more affluent party animals, while in the Central Business District, Newtown has become popular again after dark.
Nightclubs have very late opening hours as there are no real licensing laws in South Africa. The legal drinking age is 18, though some clubs have a 21 or 25 age restriction. Some of the upmarket hotels and nightclubs have a smart-casual dress code, although in almost all other establishments, anything goes. Admission charges for clubs are fairly common and a certainty when there is a live band playing, though some are free before 2300. A highly recommended listings website is www.jhblive.co.za.
Bars: In Melville, Catz Pajamas is a 24-hour restaurant and pub on Main Road, housed in an old building with an iron balcony where you can watch the sun come up over breakfast after a night's partying. Roxy Rhythm Bar, also on Main Road, is a laid-back place for a drink and a game of pool or pinball, although it does get busy later as local bands play every night. The Ratz Bar, Seventh Street, is another vibrant young bar, while Xai Xai, also on Seventh Street, is an artsy late-night bar with a long list of cocktails and Mozambique-inspired menu. Cool Runnings on Fourth Avenue has a reggae theme and occasional hosts live comedy.
One of the city's oldest bars is Radium Beer Hall, 282 Louis Botha Avenue, in Orange Grove (website: www.theradium.co.za). It started life as a tea room in 1929, was converted to a beer hall in 1944 and has never looked back. The long bar is the original bar from the Ferreirastown Hotel from the early mining days.
Alternatively, for real upmarket swank in the suburbs, try the bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Oxford Road, Rosebank, which is currently a trendy spot to be seen, especially for an after-work drink. Also in Rosebank in the mall attached to the Park Hyatt, Katzy's is very popular with the northern suburbs affluent residents and offers fat sofas, chunky bricks, soft blues music and a top-of-the-range selection of cigars, cognacs and whiskies.
In Sandton, most of the happening bars are located around the atmospheric Nelson Mandela Square, adjacent to the Sandton City Mall (website: www.nelsonmandelasquare.com). This is an Italian-style piazza ringed with trees with twinkly lights and overlooked by a 6m (20ft) statue of the formidable man himself.
Melrose Arch, off Corlett Drive in Melrose (website: www.melrosearch.co.za), is another trendy piazza-style complex with a number of fashionable places to eat and drink. Try the stylish bar in the Melrose Arch Hotel with its stylish dark wood bar, leather armchairs and unique modern African décor.
Clubs: The most upmarket club in Johannesburg is Monsoon Lagoon at the Emperor's Palace Casino in Kempton Park (website: www.monsoonlagoon.co.za), where there's extravagant décor and lighting, high-tech sound equipment and a team of professional dancers who strut their stuff on podiums.
Melville has its fair share of trendy nightclubs. Look into Buzz 9 on Seventh Street, which has oversized mirrors, plush cushions and regular DJs, while Tokyo Star on Fourth Avenue is decorated in Japanese pop culture décor and sushi is available.
In Newtown, the Horror Cafe, 15 Miriam Makeba Street, is decorated with horror movie memorabilia and plays African music including the infectious kwaito at the weekends, while Carfax, 39 Pim Street (website: www.carfax.co.za), is the place to go if you are in the mood for performance art with your beer - it also arranges raves at the weekends on three dance floors. The Rock, 1987 Vundla Street, Rockville, is one of Soweto's trendiest clubs, which again features kwaito and jazz, a large bar, roof deck and dance floor.
Favoured venues for raves are Reality, 248 Jeppe Street, which has three dance floors and offers a blend of hip hop, house and drum'n'bass, Bump, on the corner of Alexander and Aitken Roads, and Midrand, the home of some big parties of note. Big Brother Productions (clubs website: www.clubzone.co.za) hosts regular H²O parties at Wildwaters, a water theme park in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
Live Music: Formerly in Melville, The Bassline (website: www.bassline.co.za) has moved to the Newtown Music Hall in Newtown and is still one of the most popular jazz and blues venues in Johannesburg, hosting many great local live bands (such as Tananas, who have previously performed with Sting and Paul Simon). Also in Newtown, The Songwriter's Club, Carr Street, hosts up-and-coming musicians including hip-hop artists from the townships, while Kippies, at the Market Theatre, 121 Bree Street (website: www.kippies.co.za), hosts very good (and consequently packed) jazz nights.
In Melville, Roxy Rhythm Bar (see Bars above) may lean towards students but, despite its brawny rock and basic burger atmosphere, you are still certain of a great local music line-up. Rosebank has the dark, smoky Blues Room, located in the Village Walk complex on Rivonia Road (website: www.bluesroom.co.za), which is rated as the best jazz and blues venue in town. There's also live music four nights a week at the Radium Beer Hall (see Bars above) and a 19-piece jazz band plays on the first Sunday of the month. An excellent website to visit is www.tonight.co.za.
Across the rest of the city are numerous places to drink from male- and sport-dominated pubs to fancy cocktail lounges or trendy hotel bars. Nightlife is focused around distinct districts, with Melville being one of the most popular areas. Here along Seventh Street and the neighbouring roads, dozens of little bars spill out on the street and are ideal for a pub crawl. Other northern suburbs such as Rosebank, Norwood, Rivonia and Orange Grove are favoured by more affluent party animals, while in the Central Business District, Newtown has become popular again after dark.
Nightclubs have very late opening hours as there are no real licensing laws in South Africa. The legal drinking age is 18, though some clubs have a 21 or 25 age restriction. Some of the upmarket hotels and nightclubs have a smart-casual dress code, although in almost all other establishments, anything goes. Admission charges for clubs are fairly common and a certainty when there is a live band playing, though some are free before 2300. A highly recommended listings website is www.jhblive.co.za.
Bars: In Melville, Catz Pajamas is a 24-hour restaurant and pub on Main Road, housed in an old building with an iron balcony where you can watch the sun come up over breakfast after a night's partying. Roxy Rhythm Bar, also on Main Road, is a laid-back place for a drink and a game of pool or pinball, although it does get busy later as local bands play every night. The Ratz Bar, Seventh Street, is another vibrant young bar, while Xai Xai, also on Seventh Street, is an artsy late-night bar with a long list of cocktails and Mozambique-inspired menu. Cool Runnings on Fourth Avenue has a reggae theme and occasional hosts live comedy.
One of the city's oldest bars is Radium Beer Hall, 282 Louis Botha Avenue, in Orange Grove (website: www.theradium.co.za). It started life as a tea room in 1929, was converted to a beer hall in 1944 and has never looked back. The long bar is the original bar from the Ferreirastown Hotel from the early mining days.
Alternatively, for real upmarket swank in the suburbs, try the bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Oxford Road, Rosebank, which is currently a trendy spot to be seen, especially for an after-work drink. Also in Rosebank in the mall attached to the Park Hyatt, Katzy's is very popular with the northern suburbs affluent residents and offers fat sofas, chunky bricks, soft blues music and a top-of-the-range selection of cigars, cognacs and whiskies.
In Sandton, most of the happening bars are located around the atmospheric Nelson Mandela Square, adjacent to the Sandton City Mall (website: www.nelsonmandelasquare.com). This is an Italian-style piazza ringed with trees with twinkly lights and overlooked by a 6m (20ft) statue of the formidable man himself.
Melrose Arch, off Corlett Drive in Melrose (website: www.melrosearch.co.za), is another trendy piazza-style complex with a number of fashionable places to eat and drink. Try the stylish bar in the Melrose Arch Hotel with its stylish dark wood bar, leather armchairs and unique modern African décor.
Clubs: The most upmarket club in Johannesburg is Monsoon Lagoon at the Emperor's Palace Casino in Kempton Park (website: www.monsoonlagoon.co.za), where there's extravagant décor and lighting, high-tech sound equipment and a team of professional dancers who strut their stuff on podiums.
Melville has its fair share of trendy nightclubs. Look into Buzz 9 on Seventh Street, which has oversized mirrors, plush cushions and regular DJs, while Tokyo Star on Fourth Avenue is decorated in Japanese pop culture décor and sushi is available.
In Newtown, the Horror Cafe, 15 Miriam Makeba Street, is decorated with horror movie memorabilia and plays African music including the infectious kwaito at the weekends, while Carfax, 39 Pim Street (website: www.carfax.co.za), is the place to go if you are in the mood for performance art with your beer - it also arranges raves at the weekends on three dance floors. The Rock, 1987 Vundla Street, Rockville, is one of Soweto's trendiest clubs, which again features kwaito and jazz, a large bar, roof deck and dance floor.
Favoured venues for raves are Reality, 248 Jeppe Street, which has three dance floors and offers a blend of hip hop, house and drum'n'bass, Bump, on the corner of Alexander and Aitken Roads, and Midrand, the home of some big parties of note. Big Brother Productions (clubs website: www.clubzone.co.za) hosts regular H²O parties at Wildwaters, a water theme park in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
Live Music: Formerly in Melville, The Bassline (website: www.bassline.co.za) has moved to the Newtown Music Hall in Newtown and is still one of the most popular jazz and blues venues in Johannesburg, hosting many great local live bands (such as Tananas, who have previously performed with Sting and Paul Simon). Also in Newtown, The Songwriter's Club, Carr Street, hosts up-and-coming musicians including hip-hop artists from the townships, while Kippies, at the Market Theatre, 121 Bree Street (website: www.kippies.co.za), hosts very good (and consequently packed) jazz nights.
In Melville, Roxy Rhythm Bar (see Bars above) may lean towards students but, despite its brawny rock and basic burger atmosphere, you are still certain of a great local music line-up. Rosebank has the dark, smoky Blues Room, located in the Village Walk complex on Rivonia Road (website: www.bluesroom.co.za), which is rated as the best jazz and blues venue in town. There's also live music four nights a week at the Radium Beer Hall (see Bars above) and a 19-piece jazz band plays on the first Sunday of the month. An excellent website to visit is www.tonight.co.za.
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(Johannesburg) O R Tambo International Airport
