City Sightseeing, the world’s leading open-top bus tour operator, is launching a Johannesburg hop on–hop off city tour in January 2013.
Soon Johannesburg residents and visitors will be able to jump on one of City Sightseeing’s bright and cheerful red buses and explore some off the city’s most famous tourist attractions. These include Constitution Hill, Newtown, the Origins Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand, the James Hall Transport Museum, the Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City.
The tour will enable visitors to sample Johannesburg’s sights, sounds, colours, cultures, and rich heritage and history like never before. The bus commentary will be available in 16 languages.
The Red Route city tour will depart 7 days a week, every 30 minutes, from the Gautrain at Park Station and travel to Gandhi Square. It will then pass the City Hall, the High Court and Methodist Church, stopping at the James Hall Transport Museum in Wemmer Pan.
The tour then travels through Turffontein to the Apartheid Museum and Gold Reef City. Gold Reef City has agreed to keep parts of its theme park open 7 days a week, particularly the mine experience, says Claus Tworeck, MD of City Sightseeing South Africa.
The tour continues past Soccer City football stadium and on to the mining district in Johannesburg’s CBD. From there it travels to Newtown, a vibrant arts, culture and music district of Johannesburg. Here you have the option of joining a guided walking tour of the area. This includes exploring famous Diagonal Street.
At Newtown you’ll find the SAB World of Beer, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Museum Africa, Market Theatre, The Dance Factory, Artist Proof Studio, Drum Café, art galleries, restaurants, clubs, and many other interesting attractions and spaces.
The tour then journeys over iconic Mandela Bridge to the Origins Centre in Braamfontein, where you can learn about humanity’s origins. It’s then on to Constitutional Hill, home of South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the Old Fort Prison and Women’s Gaol. All offer fascinating insights into South Africa’s rich political past. The 90-minute tour ends back at the Gautrain at Park Station.
Tworeck says that future attractions on this tour will include a boat trip around Wemmer Pan and a Soweto extension, which will be operated by accredited minibus operators to offer a more interactive and local experience.
A City Sightseeing day trip will cost approx R140 per adult with special deals for children. Booking online will save you around 25% off your ticket price. Buses will depart Park Station daily from 09:00 with the last bus departing around 16:00. There will be ticket offices at the Gautrain at Park Station and at the Apartheid Museum. Tickets can be purchased on the bus using a credit card, and online vouchers can also be redeemed on board.
Children can join a Kids Club online. They will receive an activity pack on board, and will have their own kids channel to listen to on the bus.
Phase 2 of the project will see the launch of a city tour of Pretoria and later a loop around Sandton, connecting all 3 circuits with the Gautrain.