Accommodation in Pretoria, Northern Gauteng
View a preview of the establishments offering accommodation in Pretoria (listed to the right) by clicking on the establishment name. This will open a short description, photo and links to the properties' info pages. Or, to refine your search by specifying facilities you require for your stay, click to view: Pretoria Accommodation
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Known as the Jacaranda City for all the purple blossom-bedecked trees, which line its thoroughfares, Pretoria is a lovely, quiet city. It has a long, involved and fascinating history. Here you will find significant old buildings and fascinating museums. The Transvaal Museum has natural history displays and is the home of Mrs Ples, the australopithecine fossil found at Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind. Also worth visiting are the Cultural History Museum and Smuts Museum in Irene, outside Pretoria.
Sedate, leafy Pretoria tends to endure a Cinderella complex when compared with the neighbouring city of Johannesburg. When it comes to world class cities, Johannesburg is one of the most ‘happening’ cities on the African continent and the city gleams with the glamour of money. Pretoria has been left to shrug off its former association with the apartheid government in a relative state of slumber, lying as it does in a warm, sheltered valley surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range that ensure that temperatures here are invariably a few degrees warmer than Johannesburg.
But don’t let the sleepy nature of the pretty city lull you into a false perception. Pretoria has a beauty all of its own, and the slow pace of life is regarded as a bonus by its residents. Many Jo’burgers seek a quieter existence in Pretoria, prepared to commute daily rather live in the comparative rat race. Wall flower the city is not. When in full bloom in October, Pretoria literally comes alive with blossoms and leaves no one in doubt as to the origin of its nickname - Jacaranda city.
Pretoria functions as one of three capitals of South Africa with a population that exceeds a million people, the bulk of whom are government officials. The city centre is laid out in typical city fashion on a grid with wide roads, making getting around fairly simple.
Pretoria’s potential name change to Tshwane (the city lies in the greater Metropolitan municipality of Tshwane) was approved by the names’ council in 2005 but still lacks endorsement by the Minister of Arts And Culture, remaining ‘under consideration’, which may or may not have something to do with the hue and cry that ensued at the onset of the name change.
Practically mandatory when visiting the city are the Pretoria Botanical Gardens, the Zoo, the Union Buildings and various museums and galleries that include Melrose House, the Pioneer Museum, Sammy Marks museum, and the Voortrekker Monument. Outdoor activities include the Wonderboom and Groenkloof Nature Reserves, the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary, and a steam train ride around Pretoria.
A visit to the Victorian style home of South Africa’s first industrialist and entrepreneur, Sammy Marks, is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. The beautiful home, known as Zwartkoppies hall, is set in park-like gardens on an estate about 23 kilometres outside of Pretoria.
The gracious home has no fewer than 48 rooms filled with the personal effects of Bertha and Sammy Marks that today includes superb furniture, paintings, silver and porcelain. Samuel Marks married Bertha, nineteen years his junior, in his early forties, and together they had nine children, all of whom were educated at home until they were old enough to be privately schooled in England. The house had a staff of 14 and the family was said to entertain lavishly, the tennis courts, gardens and surrounds catering for up to 30 guests at a time.... [continued]
More: Pretoria Info, Northern Gauteng Attractions, Gauteng Attractions
