Pretoria: Half-Day City Tour with Hotel Pickup｜South Africa

With German, French & Dutch speaking guides, this halfday Pretoria City tour explores one of the country’s three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government (Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital). We offer private tours especially tailored to your specific needs.

Pretoria has a reputation for being an academic city with three universities. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some controversy. Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and within South Africa is popularly known as the “Jacaranda City” due to the 50,000 of Jacaranda trees planted in its streets, parks and gardens. Purple (the colour of the flowers which bloom for a short period only around October) is a colour often associated with the city and is often included on local council logos and services.
Pretoria has over the years had very diverse cultural influences and this is reflected in the architectural styles that can be found in the city. It ranges from 19th century Dutch, German and British Colonial Architecture to modern, postmodern, neomodern, and art deco architecture styles with a good mix of a uniquely South African style.

The tour of 4,5 hours is for a minimum of 2 guests. It can be extended into a full day tour by adding a visit to Cullinan Diamond Mine, where the world's largest diamond was found.

Some of the notable structures in Pretoria include the late 19th century Palace of Justice, the early 20th century Union Buildings, the post-war Voortrekker Monument, the diverse buildings dotting the main campuses of both the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa, traditional Cape Dutch style Mahlamba Ndlopfu (the President’s House), the more modern Reserve Bank of South Africa (Office skyscraper) and the Telkom Lukas Rand Transmission Tower.

A popular tourist attraction is Smut’ house in Irene. General Smuts wrote the preamble to the League of Nations Charter, which became the modern day United Nations. Pretoria is home to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa as well as the Pretoria National Botanical Garden. There are also a number of smaller parks and gardens located throughout the city including Nelson Mandel Park, Mandela Park Peace Garden and Belgrave Square Park.