Explore Johannesburg's Amazing Skyline

Johannesburg isn’t your conventional travel destination. The city is landlocked, lacking the sea as a drawcard, and doesn’t have a prominent natural wonder like Cape Town’s Table Mountain. What the city does have though is its stunning skyline.

Jo’burg sits atop one of the world’s largest gold deposits, and the city above the ground was built to match the riches below it. At the height of the gold boom, in the mid-to-late 20th century, skyscrapers sprouted like weeds across the city. To this day, all of Africa’s tallest buildings stand in Jo’burg.

And since the city is surrounded by ridges, the skyline takes on different configurations depending on which part of the city you’re standing in. Here’s a quick tour of Joburg’s most prominent skyscrapers.

1. Ponte City Apartments

Building

Ponte City – which many people refer to as “the Vodacom building” due to the massive billboard at the top – is Joburg’s most unusual skyscraper, with a cylindrical shape and a round, hollow core. Built in 1975, the 55-storey, 173-metre-tall (568ft) apartment building was once Joburg’s most fashionable address, before falling into neglect in the 1990s and becoming the domain of gangsters and drug dealers. It’s rumoured that rubbish once filled Ponte’s core up to the 14th floor. Today, Ponte is fully occupied by legal tenants. The Dlala Nje Foundation, a social enterprise based on Ponte’s ground floor, offers tours during which visitors can walk down into the core of the building and also visit a penthouse apartment on the 51st floor. Views from both the top and bottom are jaw-dropping.

3. The Leonardo

Building, Architectural Landmark

The brand-new Leonardo – a skyscraper consisting of hotel rooms, offices, apartments, shops and a posh restaurant called Aurum – surpassed the Carlton Centre as Africa’s tallest building in 2019. At 55 storeys and 234 metres (768ft) tall, the Leonardo looms far above all the other surrounding buildings in Sandton – a northern suburb that has become the centre of Joburg’s financial and high-end retail industries. While the view from the top of the Leonardo is impressive, it doesn’t have the same drama as the views from the Carlton and Ponte City, which are surrounded by a sea of other tall buildings. Nonetheless, if you score an invitation to one of the Leonardo’s ridiculously luxurious penthouse apartments, you should absolutely accept.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.