Newtown, Johannesburg
Situated in Johannesburg inner-city, Newtown forms the heart of the city’s regeneration and reinvention of itself. Newtown is a fairly large area that lies sandwiched between the railway lines to the north, the M2 highway in the south and bounded in the east and west by West Street and Quinn Street respectively.
What makes Newtown so accessible is the Nelson Mandela Bridge, which links Braamfontein to Newtown, is able to carry some 3000 cars an hour and forms the new gateway into the city from the north. Newtown is now a mixed-use area with a vibrant and unique character, particularly if you take its cultural facilities into account. Newtown is home to the renowned Market Theatre, which played such an important role in South African theatre during the apartheid era, committed as it was to non-racial theatre right from 1974, where a run-down Edwardian market hall was converted into a cultural arena that provided a platform for some of the country’s best actors and playwrights.
Just around the corner from the market complex is the Oriental Plaza where every shopkeeper owns his shop and the vibrant colour of the busy complex is a sheer delight. Rolls of fabric spew out on to tables, pots, pans and crockery, kiosks with hair accessories, electronics, leather goods, fashion and the smell of incense, samoosas and chilli merge charmingly.
Travellers' Reviews
1 Review from SA-Venues.com travellers. All reviews are verified.
Verified review
Newtown is the best site in johannesburg to be in ... the market theater, SAB and beautiful Mandela bridge on the edge connecting Braamfontein with this massive city of exploration and disastrous beauty. The accomodation from top class hotels to guests house that will feed your soul and ease up everything. The museum in market theater tells secret stories hidden from the apartheid and history of South Africa. Newtown is a place to be. Oriental plaza on the side making shopping very easy.
makgato machaba (johannesburg)
In the vicinity
Hotels & other accommodation options
The Franklin Apartment 1513
The Franklin Apartment 1513 is a spacious, loft-style apartment offering Johannesburg self catering in a high-rise apartment block. Guests can ex...
The Franklin Apartment 1106
The Franklin Apartment 1106 is a spacious, loft-style apartment in a high-rise apartment block. Guests can expect friendly staff, 24 hour securit...
The Franklin Apartment 1512
The Franklin Apartment 1512 is a spacious, loft-style apartment offering Johannesburg self catering in a high-rise apartment block. Guests can ex...
The Franklin Apartment 1610
The Franklin Apartment 1610 embodies the epitome of inner-city living. Guests can expect friendly staff; 24 hour security; secure underground par...
The Franklin Loft Apartment 1602
The Franklin Apartment 1602 is a spacious, loft-style apartment offering all the amenities & facilities you would expect from an upscale apartmen...
Things to do in the area
Visit Museum Africa
Museum Africa is a journey back into the glory years of the Africa continent’s past, when the first civilisations thrived. The journey through Af...
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Gauteng’s exciting new Science Centre and the largest in Africa, is a uniquely crafted edutainment destination for lea...
The Market Theatre
A visit to Johannesburg is incomplete without a night out at this internationally acclaimed theatre, made famous as the first integrated theatre,...
Bensusan Museum of Photography
The Bensusan Museum of Photography in Johannesburg is home to a collection of rare and valuable precision-made photographic equipment. For exampl...
Find Your Rhythm at The Drum Café Shop
Find your rhythm to the beat of your own drum. Stomp your feet in 'rain boots' like a traditional African dancer and learn the Gumboot Dance. Cre...
Market on Main
Maboneng Precinct launches “Food + Design” every Sunday at Arts On Main. Jacques van der Watt and Bradley Kirschenbaum, the design duo behind the...
Father Coffee
In the very heart of Johannesburg the capital city of Gauteng Province and the major commercial epicentre of South Africa, is the quirky little h...
Worker's Museum
Today, Newtown is a vibrant suburb of Johannesburg; where cultures, colours and language converge. It is alive with sounds, sights, smells and an...
Noteworthy attractions
Crown Mines Golf Club
South Africa is famous for its gold, and Crown Mines Golf Club is built in genuine mining country, just a few kilometres southeast of central Joh...
Observatory Golf Club
Observatory Golf Course is one of the less well known Johannesburg courses, but just as good as many of its more famous neighbors. A sophisticate...
Randpark Golf Club
With two very distinct but different golf courses, Randpark offers golfers of varying ability an unforgettable experience on two of the finest an...
Royal Johannesburg Golf Club
The World Atlas of Golf, which lists the great courses and how they are played, features just two South African clubs on its hallowed pages. One ...
OR Tambo International Airport
Formerly officially known as Johannesburg International Airport, the OR Tambo International Airport is a large airport near the city of Johannesb...
East Rand Flea Market
Just outside Johannesburg in Boksburg, the East Rand Flea Market lies right next to the East Rand Mall, and as a result, is open just about all w...
East Rand Mall
The popular East Rand Mall takes full advantage of the prime position of this area and offers a variety of restaurants, boutiques, chain stores a...
Absa Money Museum
Home to the largest collection of money used in South Africa’s past in the world, Absa Money Museum lies in downtown Johannesburg on Troye Street...
Apartheid Museum
The Apartheid Museum is the story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Beginning in 1948, the white elected National Party governme...
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