Rosebank Market, Johannesburg

Anyone planning to visit southern Africa is quite likely to travel through Johannesburg, South Africa. Johannesburg is served by O.R. Tambo International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Africa and it is the gateway for international air travel to and from the rest of southern Africa.

If you are planning a holiday to South Africa, Botswana or another southern African destination and you are connecting through Johannesburg, then I urge you to plan for a Sunday spent in Jozi, so that you can visit the Rosebank Flea Market.

The market is a fabulous place to shop for authentic African carvings, textiles, ceramics, clothing, beadwork, jewelry, spices, and local foods.  The prices are very fair as marked, but most everything there is negotiable in terms of price and you should definitely haggle.  Ask for their “best price” and go from there.

There is a wide variety of arts and crafts on display by African artists from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, the Congo, and other African regions. Locals and tourists alike throng to the market every Sunday for the prized wooden giraffes, African masks and other items of African flavor.

Another benefit is that the market is located alongside the mall of Rosebank, one of Joburg’s best collections of shops that includes boutiques, jewelry stores, major clothing chains, restaurants and coffee shops. The complex also includes the Grace Rosebank Hotel, one of the city’s most popular hotels for tourists.

The Rosebank Market is only open on Sundays from 9am to 5pm and once you’ve been, you will understand why this market is so popular.  I try to visit the market on every trip I make to South Africa – usually twice a year and I always seem to find a few new treasures to bring home with me.