God’s Window — Attraction in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality

It looks like nobody in management from The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency has visited the sites on the Panorama route in years (Lisbon Falls was ok though).

I literally want to give this zero stars. The condition of the ladies' toilets at God's Window were beyond disgusting (and our driver implied the gents were really bad as well). We went the 1st week in March 2025. The fact that visitors have to pay to go to God's Window and international visitors pay a premium, if you go with a full bladder, you do so at your peril. I really wish I had taken a photo to post. I went with a friend from Singapore on the panorama tour, starting at God's window (you pay an entrance at each venue - and a higher price if you are not a local), then to the "Potholes" (half of those toilets were not working, I didn't even look at the ones that were, but a couple of the ladies who worked there warned me that I "would cry" when I saw the loos at 3 Rondavels. That was our 3rd stop. There was NO running water at those toilets at all. You have to take some water out of a bucket🪣 in front off all the other ladies in the queue to "flush" the loo and a lady sits outside the toilets with a coke bottle and pours a little water out for you if you want to "wash" your hands when you leave the loo - true story🙈!! The next stop was Lisbon falls ... finally a loo🚽 that worked albeit so dark inside I needed to put on my mobile's torch🔦 to see. Our last stop was Graskop Gorge Lift by which stage I was so embarrassed by the appalling offering at these tourist destinations, that I nearly suggested to my Singaporean friend that we give it a miss and go back to the hotel, but what did we find? A WORLD CLASS venue🌏🏆. Google it, ignore ALL the other places and spend a great half a day, or longer at Graskop Gorge Lift Company. Take the lift down to the gorge, and enjoy! Of course, this is privately owned 🙄. Oh yes, their loos are 1st...

God's Window is one of the most popular stops along the Panorama Route in the Mpumalanga Highlands of South Africa. It is situated along R534 around 6km past the Pinnacle Rock.

Opening hours are presently stated as 7am to 5pm daily and entry fee is now R17 per person (Sept 2019). There is parking for perhaps 50-60 vehicles in a long u-shaped parking area surrounding a large number of curio stalls. There are toilet facilities here as well.

From the carpark follow the paved footpath to the original God's Window viewing area. It is a 2-3 minute walk to the viewpoint. If you have limited time, you can just have look here before leaving. What you will find are panoramic views down into a lush forested ravine descending nearly 900 metres below and into the distance.

Sadly, large tracts of forest have been cleared in distance, this makes for less impressive views compared to what we found on our last visit (June 2012) when we found mostly uninterrupted forests below. Regardless the views down the escarpment remain nice, particularly with clear skies.

If you have more time, there is a marked rainforest trail just after the God's Window viewpoint. This is a short and relatively easy hike which ascends upward through lush forested area. The trail is well marked with deck stairs. Some beautiful natural forest, flowers and birdlife on display. After 10 minutes or so, you reach a higher viewpoint that is worth spending a few minutes to enjoy.

Overall, allow 5-10 minutes at God's Window if you are only here to see the main viewpoint. If you take the rainforest trail, add 20 minutes for...

We arrived at about 11h30 on a Saturday, the lines went quick, we paid R50 per person, we parked along some stalls selling traditional african items. They also have a public restroom to use. Afterwards we went back and started walking along the walkways. The little exercise we got in, was well satisfied with the view at the end. There are about three view points which branch out from that pathway. It took us half an hour to get to the top, and about 15 minutes to go down again. We spent about an hour here. Bring comfy shoes for the rocky paths and stairs. All paths lead to climbing, we got a little out pf breath as we procedes upwards, wa also laughed with a few other people who also struggled to climb upwards. Remember to apply sunblock if nescessary and wear a hat and bring water to drink, all this depends om the time you want to spend there, we were over prepared though. There are a lot of trees along the path way, but some open areas in the sun. The stairs are not that bad, we would definately climb them again on another occasion. We also came accross a lot of Dutch speaking tourists and a few Americans. Glad to see many people adoring the nature. At the top they have a board explaining the view and the air, so please make a note to read the noticeboard. The walkways upward are not too difficult to climb, some pathways are paved, some have small bridges, some are big stone stairs and some have big rocks that you have to climb over. We saw skinny people and overweight people finish the path, so you have no excuse not to go and...