Victory Park

Victory Park, Johannesburg

Lying on the Parkhurst side of Delta Park, virtually between Delta Park and the Johannesburg Botanical Garden, Victory Park is regarded as one of the few suburbs in the city where residents can still safely walk the dog.

Described as one of the oldest and more trendy suburbs in Johannesburg, it certainly enjoys an exceptional bird life wedged as it is between two of the largest green lungs in the city. Homes in Victory Park are large and sit on fairly big estates and the neighbourhood is quiet and undisturbed for its location. Yet getting around is fairly simple and Sandton from Victory Park, if you know the short cuts, is not difficult to reach.

You are spoilt for choice in the evenings as Greenside, with its myriad haunts and pretty setting, Parkhurst with its trendy eateries and village lifestyle, Rosebank and its lively nightlife, and Hyde Park shopping centre are all within a sedate enough driving distance not to feel as if you have driven halfway across the city.

Victory Park also happens to be in what is arguably the green belt of the northern suburbs. Delta Park is home to the Delta Environmental Centre and the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary. It is a popular spot for dog walking, biking and ambling, although not as popular, or as safe, as Emmarentia Dam and the Johannesburg Botanical Garden on the south western parameters of Victory Park where the Summer Sunset Concerts bring huge crowds to this part of town.

And find the time to visit Melville Koppies Nature Reserve - a gem of open space within the city's borders that is more often than not completely overlooked. You can get in a good two to three hour hiking trail from the gate in 3rd Avenue, Westdene.