3 Fun Things To Do In Pretoria

The festive season is around the corner and many of you reading this will be making your way down to the coastal regions of our country at low-flying speeds. But there will also be  many of you who are staying at home in Gauteng. This doesn’t have to be boring. There are some really fun things to do in Pretoria that you should consider to kill the boredom.

Visit the Pretoria Zoo: Did you know that Pretoria has the largest zoo in South Africa? The Pretoria Zoo’s official name is actually the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa. The zoo was established in 1899 and has a reptile park, aviary, Australian section, primate section and carnivore section.

Over 700 species of mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians are housed in the zoo. In fact, over 9,000 animals in total can be seen. There are over 6 km of walkways, but you don’t have to walk all the way, there are golf carts and children’s push carts available to rent to make going around a bit easier. Visitors can also see the zoo from a different perspective if they take a trip in the zoo’s cable car or on the zoo train.

This is definitely one of the fun things to do in Pretoria. If you haven’t been the Pretoria zoo, you should definitely check it out. Entrance to the zoo costs R66 for adults and R44 for children. You can visit the zoo on any of the 365 days in a year. You can enter the zoo from 08:30 AM to 4:30 PM daily and the zoo closes at 17:30.

Visit one of these markets: If you love good food, you should probably check out the Hazel Food Market. The market is held every Saturday from 8 AM to 1 PM at the Greenlyn Shopping Center in Menlo Park.

You’ll find food stalls that offer lasagna (and other ready made meals), Polish cakes,  German Sausages, Cupcakes, old fashioned sweets, pancakes, hold and cold drinks, natural smoked meats, fresh pizza, macaroons, crepes, Portuguese chicken and a lot more. There certainly is food for every taste bud at the Hazel Food Market and it’s definitely worth checking out.

If arts and crafts is more your thing, then the Hatfield Flea Market should be on your list of fun things to do in Pretoria. The market is held every Sunday in the parking lot at the Hatfield Plaza shopping center. This market has become quite popular with collectors, bargain hunters and foodies over the years.

Visitors can browse through over 200 undercover stalls offering incredible deals on a wide variety of merchandise like chic clothing, décor, accessories, art, crafts, jewellery, furniture and more. The Hatfield Flea Market also has a food court for those who love good food. The Hatfield Flea Market is open from 9 AM to 5 PM every Sunday. The curious person inside you must be aching to check this market out, so please do, you won’t be disappointed.

Watch a movie or two at the Menlyn Park Drive-in:  The whole experience of going to the drive-in has grown less popular over the years but Menlyn Park Shopping Centre is keeping this tradition alive in Pretoria. The shopping centre features a rooftop drive-in theatre  and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to watch movies here.

The ticket office is located on the P7 of the parking area at Menlyn Park and opens at 6 PM daily. Performances start at 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.  The Menlyn Park Drive-in costs R65 per car (from Monday to Saturday) for both movies and R30 per car (on Sundays for only one movie). Pedestrian tickets are also available for R30 per person. This is an awesome way to enjoy something your parents did when they were growing up and definitely one of the fun things to do in Pretoria.

Do you know of more fun things to do in Pretoria? Leave a comment and let me know. I’m awaiting your suggestions. If you found this informational useful, feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Useful Tips category on the Junk Mail blog.

Henno Kruger

Digital Marketing Campaign Coordinator at Junk Mail Publishing.

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