Each September, to coincide with World Tourism Day, we invite Joburgers and visitors to ditch the car, slow down and experience neighbourhoods through the eyes of the people who live, hustle and create there. 

Through an open call, community activists, creatives, tourism entrepreneurs, historians and everyday residents pitch walk ideas. From those applications, we select a programme of guided walks that stretch across the inner city and surrounding suburbs, each one led by a local champion with a story to tell and a route to prove it. 

Jozi Walks is not just sightseeing. It’s about shifting fear to familiarity, reputation to relationship. The walks surface hidden histories, street art, faith spaces, food spots, green pockets and small businesses that rarely make the brochure while directing real spend into local hands. Over time, these citizen-designed routes help seed longer-term tourism products and feed into our broader walkable network work, making Johannesburg a city you don’t just drive through, but connect with, corner by corner.