Joburg

Accommodation

Johannesburg has an enormous range of options for accommodation.  The hotels in Rosebank -- the Monarch, Holiday Inn, Hyatt and the Crowne Plaza -- are all convenient to the shops and the Gautrain, but they are also expensive.  There are many B&Bs in Melville; the Lucky Bean,  the Melville Turret, the Wedgwood are all good value, very comfortable and they include breakfast.

Transport

Unless you are arriving after 8:30pm, we recommend that you use the Gautrain to travel between the airport and the city.  It is very quick, clean, efficient and possibly the safest space in the country.  You will need to buy a card, which you can do in the Gautrain station, and load it with at least R340 (the cost of a return ticket).  The journey between the Airport and Rosebank normally takes about 30 minutes.

The Gautrain station is on the top floor on your right hand side of the airport Arrivals building.  You will need to travel up two long escalators.  It is signposted.

The train travels via two other stops to Sandton and it comes to a standstill where you must get out.  At Sandton take the escalators up one flight and take the train to Park Station, usually from Platform B.  If in doubt ask one of the many security officers or another traveller.  On a weekday these trains run frequently.  On weekends and public holidays they run only every 30 minutes so if you're unlucky you can easily wait for a twenty minutes.

You will leave the train at the next station (Rosebank); that journey takes about five minutes.  At Rosebank you should leave using the North Exit which will bring you to the surface near to the Monarch Hotel.  The Holiday Inn and the Hyatt are about 50 metres north of the exit, walking along Oxford Road.

Uber works well in Johannesburg although it will require you to have access to data.  Most Uber drivers prefer to pick people up from the Airport Departures Drop and Go of Terminal B which is the top floor of that building.  (Arrivals are on the ground.)  The fare will be between R250 and R300.

If you don't have decent roaming it's probably a good idea to pick up a SIM card and some data when you arrive.  You can do that from the Vodacom shop in the Arrivals Hall.  It will cost you about R115 and include some airtime.  Almost all South African shops and restaurants will use VISA and it's generally safe -- especially if you have pin and chip.  There is 30 minutes of free wifi available from AlwaysOn at the airport.  There are touts in the OR Tambo Airport arrivals area; they're not aggressive but you should not engage with them ...

Things to do.  If you're arriving early or late you may be wondering about things to do.  Johannesburg is a very interesting city, with much to do and to learn. There's a good list at https://www.inyourpocket.com/johannesburg.  There is an interesting arts precinct within walking distance of the hotels in Rosebank, see https://www.inyourpocket.com/johannesburg/keyes-art-mile_146837v.  If you have time, and you're interested to really understand the city, you might want to do one of the tours run by http://dlalanje.spaza.co/shop.  If you don't have much time the Origins Centre and the Apartheid Museum are both very much worth visiting.