Pretoria

Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, is in Gauteng. Pretoria is contained in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as one of several constituent former administrations, and therefore sometimes incorrectly referred to as Tshwane - this contentious issue is still being decided as of 2009.

The city has a subtropical climate with long, hot summers and short cool winters. The average annual temperature is 18.74OC. This is rather high considering its relatively high altitude of 1340 metres and is due to a combination of its sheltered valley position that acts as a heat trap and also cuts off cold southerly and south-easterly winds for much of the year. Snow is an extremely rare event, which occurs once or twice in a century.

Being the capital, there are many posh hotels (including the Sheraton) and guest houses and all the usual hotel chains have one or more hotels. With so many hotels owned by the same chains, in particularly Southern Sun, and occasional change of ownership things can get a bit confusing. Make sure you note the address when booking so you go to the right hotel. When Parliament is in session and when there are other state events it can be almost impossible to find a mid-range or splurge room. Consider nearby Centurion as an alternative if you have to be in Pretoria at those times.