About Saxonwold & Rosebank Region
Johannesburg, South Africa

Saxonwold is one of Joburg's older suburbs steeped in the history of an area made famous by the early Rand Lords around the turn of the century. This was a time of unbridled growth for the city with the most successful tycoons establishing palatial homes in neighbouring areas.

Immediate areas very close to Saxonwold such as the top of Parktown Ridge and Westcliff provide a variety of architectural styles from that era which can be viewed on weekly tours conducted by The Parktown & Westcliff Heritage Trust.

These splendid suburbs display some of the finest examples of Joburg's architectural wealth. Sir Herbert Baker's Stone House, Lord Alfred Milner's 'Kindergarten', Pilrig House and St. Margaret's are just some of the fine buildings that can be viewed.

Spectacular panoramic views of this area and further north can be enjoyed from the pool deck of the Westcliff Hotel on Jan Smuts Avenue, particularly in October and November when thousands of Jacaranda trees are in full bloom.

Prior to this spectacular natural event is Joburg's popular Arts Alive cultural festival held in September, showcasing its music, art, photography, dance, choral singing and arts and crafts. Highlights include a street carnival in the inner city, Jazz at the Zoo Lake in Parkview, Festival in the Park at Mofolo Park, Soweto, The Craft Fair at The Bus Factory in Newtown and Dance Manyano at The Dance Factory in Newtown.

Being one of Joburg's most central suburbs, Saxonwold is surrounded by places of great interest and culture such as The Johannesburg Zoo (tours are also available to the beautiful Zoological Gardens) and the relaxing Zoo Lake, a popular recreational area for jogging and lazy walks or gentle boating. The Zoo Lake is also home to the trendy Moyo restaurant which serves exotically flavoured foods from around the African continent.

Just a twenty minute walk away is the excellent South African Museum of Military History with over
44 000 different exhibits including a Spitfire, a Messeschmidtt BF 109 E3 and, the world's oldest jet fighter, an ME262, the only one left of it's kind in the world.

In nearby Parkwood you will discover some of South Africa’s best art at the Goodman gallery, the Everard Read gallery, Warren Siebrits, David Krut, Kim Sacks and Artspace to mention but a few. The vibrant Hadeda arts & craft shop is also in Parkwood selling decorative and colourful pewterware from Mexico and the Goethe Institute for German culture, politics and learning is just a stone’s throw away.

Some of South Africa’s most famous sports facilities such as the Wanderer’s, Joburg’s home of cricket and Ellis Park (recently re-named The Coca Cola Stadium) are nearby too. Ellis Park is hosting 7 of this year’s soccer matches and, Soccer City in Soweto is hosting 8 matches of which the eighth match is the final.

Saxonwold is also close to excellent golf courses, such as The Royal Johannesburg Golf Club (a favourite of Gary Player's), the Houghton Golf Club, Killarney Golf Club and Parkview Golf Club. If you don't know your way around let Golf Crazy Tours put a golfing package together for you.

Cotswold Gardens Guest House is also close to excellent medical facilities such as The Rosebank Clinic, The Centre for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics, The Diabetics Clinic and the South African Oncology Centre. Just a kilometre or two away is the Virgin Active Gym, Camelot a health and skin care training centre, two conference centres and several top golf courses.

When you’re in Saxonwold, you’re in shoppers paradise, within easy walking distance to the Rosebank Mall, The Zone, The Firs, the African Craft Market and several top hotels such as The Hyatt, The Westcliff, and The Grace. The area is crammed with restaurants, coffee shops, clothing stores and cinemas. Every Sunday the roof of the Rosebank Mall is transformed into the famous Rooftop Market with more than 600 stalls offering quality clothing, deli food, ceramics, arts and crafts, antiques and collectables. In the Rosebank Mall there is also a Planet Fitness Gym and a dance studio. Further north is the upmarket The Hyde Park shopping centre and Sandton City, South Africa’s premier shopping and business centre, boasting some of the swankiest hotels on the continent.

OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST AND ACTIVITY WHILST IN JOHANNESBURG.

Jazz at the Bassline, Newtown,
The Johannesburg Art gallery Tour,
Museum Africa and the Market Theatre,
The Apartheid Museum,
Constitution Hill and The Constitutional Court,
Soweto Tours including the former home of Nelson Mandela and other ANC heroes,
Origins Africa,
The Cradle of Humankind, Sterkfontein Caves,
The SAB World Of Beer,
Gold Reef City and Gold Reef City Amusement Park. 

All the images on this page were provided by www.southafrica.net