Gauteng hotel makes for great getaways

Visiting a major city in a foreign country can be daunting, but with GPS and mobile phone technology travel today can be more efficient and a lot more fun. Choosing a Gauteng hotel to begin your South African tour is easy. There is so much to see and do in this province; a self-drive in a hired car is probably the best way to make the most of your trip.

If you like getting out into nature, The Palazzo Montecasino in Fourways is close to the Northern Farm Nature Reserve in Diepsloot. It’s a great venue for hiking, mountain biking, bird watching and picnics. This Gauteng hotel is also near Montecasino Bird Gardens, where you can be thrilled by the Flights of Fantasy bird show and see the birds, mammals and reptiles that live there. The Intercontinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo is a Gauteng hotel that is well positioned for activities like a Soweto township tour. Learn to blow your vuvuzela, share a beer with the locals, and visit famous landmarks in a Soweto taxi.

If you appreciate tremendous horsemanship and love beautiful horses, be sure to make your way to Kyalami. The area is not only renowned for motor racing activity; it’s also the home of the famous Lipizzaner stallions that are trained to dance to recorded music with amazing precision.

But, if adrenalin is really your thing you might want to check out the Randburg Raceway for indoor go-karting in Randburg or go bumboarding or skiing on a 65m icy slope and drag lift at Cedar Square in Fourways.  The Intercontinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers is a Gauteng hotel that is about 45 minutes away from the Cradle of Humankind in Maropeng. This World Heritage Site has yielded some of the world's most valuable paleo-anthropological evidence, including a two-million-year-old fossil and a new species of hominid.

While you’re in the area, consider signing up for the Cooper’s Cave Picnic and Walking Tour at the Sterkfontein Caves in Maropeng. This incorporates an interactive fossil and site talk as well as a chance to explore a cave, look for fossils and learn how to make stone tools at a relatively new 1,5-million-year-old fossil site. Your Gauteng hotel will also make it possible to visit Van Gaalen's Cheese Farm in Skeerpoort at the foot of the Magaliesberg Mountains, near Hartebeespoort, or go fishing at Footloose Trout Farm in Fourways on a scenic 10-hectare estate.