River Cottages Caravan and Camping

Extreme-sports enthusiasts won’t have far to go to get their thrills, whether it’s tandem jumps at Skydive Parys (10 minutes’ drive) or ziplines at Koepel Mega Zip Adventures (15 minutes), where you can travel above the Vredefort Dome, a huge crater formed after impact with an asteroid many millennia ago. If you’re travelling with the kids (and even if you’re not), Vanderbijlpark (40 minutes) is well worth a visit, with the Aquadome, an indoor waterpark with multiple pools and a lazy river, plus miniature golf. If you’re after the real thing (golf-wise), there’s the Heron Banks Golf Course, stretching along the Vaal River. In Johannesburg (one hour and 20 minutes), Mandela’s House, the Apartheid Museum and the various sites at Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct all shed light on the country’s regime of racial segregation, which lasted for close to half a century. You might be lucky enough to catch a sporting event at Ellis Park Stadium, or interesting exhibitions at Johannesburg Art Gallery.