While in Pretoria you might want to visit one or more of the city's renowned urban nature reserves or one or more of its fine museums.

Pretoria's flagship nature reserve is Rietvlei, a highveld reserve, up to 1550m above sea level and about 4000 hectares in extent, probably the largest and perhaps the finest urban nature reserve in the world. It is home to White Rhinos, Hippos, Cheetahs, Buffalo, Brown Hyena, large herds of Blesbuck, Eland, Red Hartebeest, Springbok and many other mammals.

Groenkloof Nature Reserve is Rietvlei's smaller brother, about 490 hectares in extent and between 1400 and 1500m above sea level. It has Giraffe, Sable Antelope, Blue Wildebeest, Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Impala, Ostrich and several other species. Originally Groenkloof Nature Reserve included the entire farm Groenkloof 358JR which was more than 2000 hectares in extent. Over the years parts of the reserve have been deproclaimed, but Groenkloof Nature Reserve, including Fountains Valley, Klapperkop, the area around the Voortrekker Monument, Weskoppies and of course Kruin Park, with a total area of about 1200 hectares, is one of the largest and most significant urban nature reserves in the world.

A visit to the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary is a real pleasure. Take a pair of binoculars if you can, visit the Blue Crane Restaurant and enjoy watching the many different birds on the water as you drink a cup of coffee. The restaurant also offers a good meal.

Melrose House is a lovely home dating from the late 19th Century. The house is owned by the city, restored to the way it was in 1895, appropriately furnished and managed as a museum. It was here that the Peace of Vereeniging, which formally ended the Second Anglo-Boer War, was signed.

You will also really enjoy a visit to the Sammy Marks Museum at Swartkoppies east of the city. Swartkoppies was the home of Sammy Marks, a wealthy businessman. The house dates back to the late 19th Century and it is still furnished with Sammy Marks's own furniture. Literally everything in the house - the furniture, the cutlery, the crockery, the paintings - is as it was 110 years ago.

The Union Buildings, which were built in about 1912 to accommodate all the government departments when the Union of South Africa was formed, now houses the offices of the State President Jacob Zuma. The building are not open to the public but there are fine views of the city from the beautiful gardens.

Fort Klapperkop is one of five forts built at the end of the 19th Century by the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek to defend Pretoria. No shot was ever fired from any of the forts and no resistance was offered when the British marched into Pretoria in 1900. For some time Fort Klapperkop was a military museum operated by the Department of Defense. Some 12 years ago the Fort was bought by the city and it was restored to its original condition.

Smuts House on the Farm Doornkloof near Irene, south of the city, not far from the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, is the former home of General Jan Christiaan Smuts, a graduate in law from Cambridge, a Boer General during the Anglo-Boer War, Prime Minister of South from 1919 to 1924 and from 1938 to 1948 and the author of the League of Nations which was replaced by the United Nations.

Kruger House was the home of Paul Kruger, the President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek before the Second Anglo-Boer war. It is managed as a museum.