Plan early November around Soweto Fashion Week

Orlando West is the easiest base for the museums, with small B&Bs such as Motsolga on Bacela Street, about 500 metres from Vilakazi Street, and Dakalo on Inhlwathi Street. Staying here lets you walk to Vilakazi Street without driving. If you arrive by car after dark, ask your host to meet you on a main road and lead…

Lebo's is a hostel and guesthouse on Pooe Street in Orlando West, with dorms, private rooms, chalets and camping beside a community park that was once a dumping site. Breakfast, lunch and dinner come from the open-air restaurant, and guests get a discount on the bike, walking and tuk-tuk tours. Book through the…

The Soweto Wine Festival is an annual lifestyle event that has usually been held in September. Older reports place it at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, while the 2025 edition was listed at Soweto Theatre in Jabulani. Confirm the venue and dates on the organiser's channels or Joburg tourism listings before you book…

Native Rebels is a restaurant and bar on Kadebe Street in Jabavu where boom-bap, broken beat, jazz and soul artists play, and where Jazzuary events are held. Earlier listings mention a Wednesday jam session and Friday DeepSoulja parties. The venue has no sign of its own, so look for the Pick n Pay sign and climb to…

The Jabulani Amphitheatre has been a cultural landmark since 1952 and now has upgraded outdoor staging, at the Soweto Theatre complex in Jabulani. Soweto Theatre's own calendar lists music and choral nights, such as Kings of Harmony Voices and Nkalakatha Fest, so check what is on while you are in town. Buy tickets…

Craft stalls gather near the Hector Pieterson Museum, and guides point visitors to the printed Nelson Mandela cloth there. An art and craft fair is also listed beside the memorial, so you can see several makers in one stop. Buy from the maker where you can, ask what each pattern means, and bargain politely with a…

Streetside stalls on Vilakazi Street sell beadwork, struggle-era T-shirts and other crafts, so compare a few before you buy and ask who made each piece. At the top of the street, The Box Shop is a building made from shipping containers, with local fashion labels, skincare and accessories. Kofi, on its second floor…

Credo Mutwa made this open-air village in Jabavu between 1974 and 1986: Zulu chiefs, tokoloshes, creation gods and a traditional healing clinic, set among medicinal plants below the Oppenheimer Tower. It is weathered rather than polished, so go with a guide, sturdy shoes and a hat, and allow a morning. Sources differ…