Johannesburg Neighbourhoods

Explore Neighbourhoods

Melville

Today the village of Melville is reinventing itself and is well worth a visit, especially if you’re into shopping, good restaurants and nightlife.

It’s one of the few places in Johannesburg that has a restaurant and café street life, so if you want to escape the ubiquitous city mall culture, then Melville, with its terrific location close to town, is the place to be.

Long the haunt of students from two of Johannesburg’s top universities – the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand – as well as visitors and tourists, the area teems with life, especially at night when the bars are buzzing, the restaurants rocking and the clubs crowded.

Catz Pyjamas – open 24 hours, seven days a week, and with a 24-hour delivery service – has been drawing people in for years, as has the laid-back Lucky Bean Restaurant, with its good food and live music.

The Leopard is the culinary home of author-chef Andrea Burgener, while a great family pizza place is Picobello Trattoria. Buzz 9 serves interesting cocktails in a vibrant atmosphere, as does Six Cocktail Bar, a Melville institution and one of its oldest bars.

Forget the big chain stores and upmarket labels when you come shopping in Melville. Instead, expect inviting little craft shops, quaint boutiques, second-hand vintage stores and antique shops, and the Bamboo lifestyle centre, where a contemporary South African theme rules.

Each of the shops at Bamboo, selling everything from decor, art and food to wellness products, collectables and clothes, is independent and owner-run. There’s a great second-hand bookstore and every Saturday a farmers’ market, open from 9am to 1pm, sells local and organic fresh produce.

27boxes, built of shipping containers, with 24-hour secure parking, is the first of its kind in South Africa and has an exciting mix of pop-up to permanent stores, set in landscaped gardens.

Unique to Melville and a place to unwind, hike or just enjoy the lovely natural surroundings of indigenous bush, is the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve, a city heritage site, and the last remaining remnant of Johannesburg’s ridges as they were before gold was discovered in 1886.

Early Stone Age people lived here some 500 000 years ago and the geology goes back three billion years. Take a scheduled guided walk on a Sunday morning (only if you’re fit as the walks are strenuous), or amble at your own pace on weekdays and enjoy stunning city views.

Share

Other Neighbourhoods

Victory Park
Victory Park
Hidden between Delta Park and the Johannesburg Botanical Garden, you will find the quiet leafy suburb...
Read More
Soweto-Orlando-Towers
Soweto
There can be few places in the world whose name is more synonymous with modern-day freedom struggles...
Read More
Rosebank
Rosebank
Lying directly between Johannesburg’s historic city centre and the newer Sandton business district, and...
Read More
Parkhurst
Parkhurst
An area very popular with locals and visitors alike, the busy suburb of Parkhurst, just north of Rosebank,...
Read More
Orange Grove
Orange Grove
Adjacent to Norwood and Houghton, and divided neatly in half by the busy thoroughfare of Louis Botha...
Read More
Norwood
Norwood
Sitting between the M1 highway and Linksfield Ridge, Norwood is one of the city’s oldest suburbs with...
Read More
1 2 3 4 5

MENU

Gauteng Tourism Authority

Media

Gauteng Convention & Events Bureau

Visitors

Weekly articles about traveling to make your live better than before

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

We promise you will not recieve spam from us. You can unsubscribe anytime