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TommiG88

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Hello S
I've been lucky enough to snare a ticket for the opening test in Johannesburg.

I would like your help with what areas I should look to stay in? And what I should do whilst in the capital.

Your help will be appreciated!
 
TommiG88 said:
Hello S
I've been lucky enough to snare a ticket for the opening test in Johannesburg.

I would like your help with what areas I should look to stay in? And what I should do whilst in the capital.

Your help will be appreciated!
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You lucky son-of-a-gun!

Did you just get the ticket? or did you get a tour package and will tour with the other fans?

It all depends on you and your preferences, what are your interests and is there something specific you want to do. Johannesburg and Pretoria is very close to each other, so there are a lot of places to visit. Plus because of it being so central, you can go to a lot of places surrounding the metropolitan area. The Kruger National Park is 4 hours away from the city, So you can even go there, and watch some real Lions...
 
South Africa works differently than the other countries and that City centres are not the nicest areas. They are the most dangerous. The outskirts are the tourist friendly areas so don't make the mistake of going to the city centre and thinking it will be the best option. Stay away on all days apart from game day.
 
unrated said:
South Africa works differently than the other countries and that City centres are not the nicest areas. They are the most dangerous. The outskirts are the tourist friendly areas so don't make the mistake of going to the city centre and thinking it will be the best option. Stay away on all days apart from game day.
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Yeah. This cannot be stressed enough. Stay away from the Hillbrow area where the stadium is situated at all times apart from game time!!

The city of Joburg itself isn't that attractive, it's the surrounding areas which is nice. Lot's of small mining towns with things to do and see. The City itself is more for clubbing and restaurants if that's your scene.
 
TRF_heineken said:
You lucky son-of-a-gun!

Did you just get the ticket? or did you get a tour package and will tour with the other fans?

It all depends on you and your preferences, what are your interests and is there something specific you want to do. Johannesburg and Pretoria is very close to each other, so there are a lot of places to visit. Plus because of it being so central, you can go to a lot of places surrounding the metropolitan area. The Kruger National Park is 4 hours away from the city, So you can even go there, and watch some real Lions...
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I got the ticket through the ballot for me and my friend, so we're organising flights and accommodation ourselves. Found some decent looking places on Airbnb so will probably do that.
I have no preferences, I just like to explore. Bit of culture never goes a miss.
Just want to make sure I don't book accommodation in a dodgy place, did that once in Paris! It wasn't nice haha

The mining towns certainly sounds like my kind of thing. I'll keep away from the centre of the city, but will do some of the bars and restaurants.
 
TommiG88 said:
I got the ticket through the ballot for me and my friend, so we're organising flights and accommodation ourselves. Found some decent looking places on Airbnb so will probably do that.
I have no preferences, I just like to explore. Bit of culture never goes a miss.
Just want to make sure I don't book accommodation in a dodgy place, did that once in Paris! It wasn't nice haha

The mining towns certainly sounds like my kind of thing. I'll keep away from the centre of the city, but will do some of the bars and restaurants.
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If you want, you can PM me and give me those places you found on AirBnB. I have a lot of family still in Joburg, so it will be easy to have them check it out for you.

If you save up, you can have a roaring time in SA because of the difference in value of our currency. And depending on where you eat, you'll sometimes get a decent plate of food for not that much money.

Just get used to the idea that we don't serve beer warm. Here it's Ice Cold. Also, please do me a favour, and get yourself a double brandy and coke when you go to a bar. It's just tradition to drink what most of us rugby-loving fans this side of the pond drink. You will also buy a lot of goodwill with the locals if you do that.

Oh, and don't forget, we have some of the most beautiful women in the world, so don't come here, with a ring on your finger, you'll make yourself very miserable...
 
Try and get a guest house/lodging in Roodepoort. Roodepoort is really nice. And Johannesburg is not the capital. Pretoria is :D
 
TRF_heineken said:
If you want, you can PM me and give me those places you found on AirBnB. I have a lot of family still in Joburg, so it will be easy to have them check it out for you.

If you save up, you can have a roaring time in SA because of the difference in value of our currency. And depending on where you eat, you'll sometimes get a decent plate of food for not that much money.

Just get used to the idea that we don't serve beer warm. Here it's Ice Cold. Also, please do me a favour, and get yourself a double brandy and coke when you go to a bar. It's just tradition to drink what most of us rugby-loving fans this side of the pond drink. You will also buy a lot of goodwill with the locals if you do that.

Oh, and don't forget, we have some of the most beautiful women in the world, so don't come here, with a ring on your finger, you'll make yourself very miserable...
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I'll drop you a pm in the new year. Hoping to book flights in January when there's a few more available. Probably spending a week out there so gives me a chance to look around.

I'm certainly going to save up for this. Won't be able to holiday until the 2023 World Cup though!
Nothing wrong with a beer served at room temperature :D I will certainly purchase a double brandy and coke, probably won't go down well. You still have Castle Lager down there don't you?

I'm single so things may be looking up for me o_O
 
I've been to a lot of cities in six continents where the city centers/downtown areas are dangerous, including here in North America. Keep your head up and act like you live there is the best advice I've gotten and can pass along to others. If you act like a typical tourist by taking a lot of pictures, buying tourist items and asking questions you'll stick out in the crowd and that's not good. Save the tourist stuff for the Hop On-Hop Off tourist bus (or other companies). I've used those tourist buses many times and have never had a problem.
 
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Which site do you use to buy tickets for rugby matches in the SA? How far in advance do you buy them?
 
Yulia said:
Which site do you use to buy tickets for rugby matches in the SA? How far in advance do you buy them?
Click to expand...

ticketweb or computicket is usually the only sites selling tickets online for rugby matches in SA.

But for the B&I Lions tour they went a different route because of the popularity of the tour, and the huge amount of foreigners streaming in to the country, making it nearly impossible for a local rugby fan to get tickets at a relatively decent price.

For the tour, they had their own website, and you had to sign up to become eligible for the lottery and if your name was drawn, you could buy the tickets. all of the other tickets went to the UK.
 
If I did not Drink beer for the taste I would drink Castle lager . Luckily I dont. Unluckily I have to pay unreasonable craft beer prices now.

With that said, cold beer still has the same amount of taste as room temp for me, room temp just grosses me out . It's like you forgot you beer in the car but you are desperate for alcohol so you drink it anyway.
 
TRF_heineken said:
Do you drink beer for the taste????
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Lager is not great tasting. and yes I prefer the taste of IPAs, pale ales and Hefeweizens. It's a misnomer that warm beer is bad and cold beer is good. And it's cool beer at around 12 degrees c , here in UK and that is not room temperature.
 

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