Gauteng mountain town in the ancient Magaliesberg range, popular for weekends outside Johannesburg.
Magaliesburg is a small town in the Magaliesberg mountain range about 70 kilometres west of Johannesburg, making it the most popular weekend escape for Gauteng residents. The mountains are ancient — among the oldest on earth — and the country around them is beautiful: broad valleys, rocky kloofs, and rivers shaded by fig trees and willows. After the noise and concrete of the city, the contrast is immediate.
The town itself is modest, little more than a main street with a few shops and restaurants. The appeal is the surroundings rather than any urban life. Hiking and mountain biking trails wind through the range, the Skeerpoort and Magalies rivers are good for swimming in summer, and several working farms in the valley have opened as guesthouses or activity centres. Canopy tours and hot-air ballooning are popular, though both book up quickly on weekends.
If you are based in Johannesburg and want a single night away in proper countryside, Magaliesburg is the practical choice. It's close enough to reach after work on a Friday and far enough to feel genuinely removed from the city.
Guide
Day Trips
The Magaliesburg valley sits at the western end of one of South Africa's most concentrated clusters of significant places. The Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is forty minutes east — the Sterkfontein Caves within it are where some of the most important early hominid fossils have been excavated. The Maropeng Visitor Centre at the cradle interprets the discoveries.
Hartbeespoort Dam, about half an hour east, is a sprawling weekend-leisure lake with cable car, aerial cableway up the Magaliesberg, and a slightly tacky chain of resort hotels and curio shops. Sun City and Pilanesberg National Park are within a two-hour drive west — a longer day trip but doable, especially if you want one day of big-five game viewing without committing to a multi-day safari.
For active travellers, the bigger end of the Magaliesberg trail system (the Highveld Trail) starts about an hour east near Pretoria and runs multiple-day routes along the spine of the range.
Guide
Getting There
Magaliesburg is about 70 kilometres west of Johannesburg, off the N14 highway. By car the drive is around an hour outside rush hour, longer leaving Johannesburg on a Friday afternoon. From OR Tambo International Airport allow ninety minutes.
There is no scheduled public transport into Magaliesburg town. The nearest sizeable town on the train network is Krugersdorp, about 30 kilometres east; the Magaliesberg Express tourist steam train still runs occasional weekend trips from Krugersdorp through to Magaliesburg but is not a regular service. For most travellers, hire car or arranged transfer is the only practical option.
