Top things to do in Pretoria
1. The Union Buildings
The Union Buildings house the offices of the South African presidency, and the building was designed by Sir Herbert Baker in 1908. Entrance to the building itself is prohibited for security reasons, but the terraced gardens are open to the public and provide a wide view over the city.
The gardens are open 24/7 and admission is free. They are also a good place to view lines of jacaranda trees when the purple flowers appear in September, so combine a garden visit with a walk along the surrounding streets south of the buildings.
2. Voortrekker Monument and Fort Schanskop
This monument to the Voortrekkers, the Afrikaner pioneers, sits on Proclamation Hill to the south west of the city and includes a museum of Afrikaner heritage. The big cubic building is hard to miss from the surrounding area.
It is open from 8:00am to 4:00pm, seven days a week, and closes on December 25. Admission is R270 per person plus R22 per car. The //hapo Museum & Freedom Park sits on Salvokop across from the monument, so the two can be visited together.
3. //hapo Museum & Freedom Park
This museum covers the history of South Africa, its wars and apartheid, and behind it a park commemorates the people who gave their lives for freedom and humanity. It sits on Salvokop, on a hill across from the Voortrekker Monument.
Admission is R80 for South Africans and R160 for international visitors. Because it is directly across from the Voortrekker Monument, it works well as the second half of a visit to that side of the city.
4. National Zoological Gardens
The zoo, near the city centre on Boom Street, holds an aquarium, a reptile park and the larger mammals, including koalas. It is open daily from 08:30 to 17:30, 365 days a year.
Admission is R95 for adults, R60 for children and R20 per vehicle. Golf carts can be rented at R80 per hour and children's pushcarts at R60 per day, and a cableway runs between the top and bottom of the zoo from 10:00 to 16:15 at R20 one way or R30 return. You can also camp within the zoo on Friday and Saturday nights.
5. Church Square
Church Square is one of the few places in the Pretoria CBD where you can get a sense of how the city looked a century ago, and it is often used as a set for period films and television series. It is surrounded by civic buildings including the Palace of Justice, the General Post Office, the Old Council Chamber and the Old Capitol Theatre, and a statue commemorating President Paul Kruger stands on the square.
Entry is free and the square is accessible at any hour. Pair it with a walk through the surrounding CBD streets rather than treating it as a stand-alone stop.
6. Pretoria Botanical Gardens
This 76-hectare garden on Cussonia Ave in Brummeria is a getaway in the eastern suburbs of the administrative capital. It is open daily from 08:00 to 18:00 and operates as a cashless environment.
Adults pay R80 off peak (April to August) and R100 in peak season (September to March); students R45 and R50; children R30; children under six go free. Pensioners get free entry on Tuesdays. Book it as an eastern-suburbs outing rather than trying to fold it into a CBD day.
7. The Wonderboom
The Wonderboom, or Tree of Wonder, is a fig tree over 1000 years old and a national monument, standing some 25 metres high with a 5.5-metre main trunk. Its branches drooped, took root and formed a circle of daughter trees, so the tree now has 13 trunks and covers an area 55 metres across.
The reserve is open 07:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:00, and admission is R41 for adults, R25 for children and R26 for seniors. Look for the dassies living in the caves overlooking the Apies River, and for the black eagles that nest nearby and often circle above. The ruins of the Wonderboom Fort sit at the top of the hill, and there are picnic facilities.
8. Melrose House Museum
Melrose House on Jacob Maré Street is where the peace treaty that ended the Anglo-Boer War was signed in 1902. It is a single-subject stop, best for travellers following the city's Boer War history.
Pair it with the other historic sites in the centre rather than making a separate trip for it alone.
9. Kruger House Museum
Kruger House on Church Street is the home of Boer leader and president of the ZAR Paul Kruger. It is well kept and interesting, and worth about an hour.
It sits on Church Street, so it can be combined with a walk to Church Square and the other civic buildings in the CBD.
10. National Museum of Cultural History
On Visagie Street, this museum covers the people and cultures of South Africa from the Iron Age to the present. Exhibitions include rock paintings and engravings of the San people, 1000-year-old Iron Age figurines from Schroda in Limpopo Province, an art gallery tracing South African culture through objects, crafts, sculpture and paintings, and an exhibition on Marabastad.
It is open daily from 08:00 to 16:00 and is wheelchair accessible. Admission is R35 for adults and R20 for children and seniors.
11. Ditsong National Museum of Natural History
Housed in the GaMohle Building on WF Nkomo (Church) Street, this is the city's natural history museum. It is open daily from 09:00 to 20:00, which makes it one of the few museum options that stays open into the evening.
Its late closing makes it a sensible fallback if you have spent the daylight hours outdoors.
12. Pioneer Museum
The Pioneer Museum on Keuning Drive in Silverton is a pioneer house built of clay and local materials, with a thatched roof and earthen floors, furnished in traditional 19th-century rural style. It is surrounded by a herb and vegetable garden, an orchard, a furnished wagon house and a vineyard, and guides wear period clothing.
It is open daily from 09:00 to 16:00, and a guided tour costs R40 with lower rates for South African nationals.
13. Correctional Services Museum
At the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, this museum traces the development of the penal system in South Africa, including the pursuit of hobbies by prisoners shown through matchstick work, art objects, wood and stone carvings. Confiscated illegal objects are also displayed.
It is open Tuesday to Friday from 09:00 to 15:00, so it needs to be slotted into a weekday rather than a weekend.
14. Friends of the Rail
From alongside Miechaelson Street in Hermanstad, you can circle Pretoria on a steam train or travel to Cullinan, the birthplace of the world's largest diamond. It runs daily from 09:00 to 12:00.
This is a morning commitment, so keep the rest of the day free rather than scheduling a second fixed-time attraction alongside it.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start at the Union Buildings, where the terraced gardens open 24/7 and are free, and take in the view over the city and the jacaranda-lined streets to the south. Then walk down into the CBD to Church Square to see the Palace of Justice, the General Post Office and the Kruger statue, and continue to Kruger House Museum on Church Street.
Afternoon: Head south west to the Voortrekker Monument and Fort Schanskop on Proclamation Hill, then cross to Salvokop for the //hapo Museum & Freedom Park. Both sit on the same side of the city, so the two fit into one block of the afternoon.
Evening: Return towards the centre and finish at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History on WF Nkomo (Church) Street, which stays open until 20:00.
Frequently asked questions
When do the jacarandas flower in Pretoria?
In September, when the jacarandas have purple flowers. Many streets are lined with the trees, and the Union Buildings are named as a good place to view lines of them.
Is there anything worth doing in Pretoria in the evening?
The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History is open daily from 09:00 to 20:00, and the Union Buildings gardens are open 24/7. Church Square is also accessible at any hour.
Can I visit the Union Buildings themselves?
No. Entrance to the building is prohibited for security reasons, but the terraced gardens are open to the public and are free.
Which sights suit a weekday rather than a weekend?
The Correctional Services Museum is open only Tuesday to Friday, from 09:00 to 15:00. Friends of the Rail runs daily from 09:00 to 12:00, so it takes up a morning either way.
Decide which side of the city you want to start on, check the days that suit each museum, and you can put a Pretoria itinerary together from this list.