THE city has lots to offer teenagers besides movies and shopping malls. From outdoors trails, quad biking and paintball games, to star gazing, theatre and ice skating, there's little chance of boredom. For adrenalin junkies, there are also plenty of extreme sports to keep you buzzing.

Paintball craze
One of the latest crazes is paintball, a game in which people don protective overalls, hire guns and masks, and line up behind barricades in teams, with the aim of eliminating the opposing team by shooting M&M-size paint bullets at them. The winner is the person with the least amount of stinging spots. There are two venues in town: Paintball City is on Main Reef Road, Knights, Germiston. Phone 011 828-7583 for directions and bookings, or visit the website . Or, phone Roy at River Raiders in Craigavon on 082 447 1554 for directions and to make a booking.

Lipizzaner shows
If you're a horse lover, don't miss the amazing lipizzaners - big, beautiful, pure-white horses with Roman ancestry, which, besides South Africa, can only be seen in Austria. The horses are bred in KwaZulu-Natal, and at three years the stallions are moved to Kyalami to begin their training. The Lipizzaner show is on every Sunday at 10.30am at 1 Dahlia Road, Kyalami. Booking is through Computicket or at the gate. Phone 011 702 2103 and check the website.

Star gazing
There've been some great celestial events happening lately. Visit the Johannesburg Planetarium 011 717-1392 in Yale Road in Braamfontein, to learn more about the heavens. Or try an astronomy course for beginners, offered at the planetarium. Otherwise, there are shows on Fridays (8pm), Saturdays (3pm) and Sundays (4pm). Check out the details on the website.

Quad bikes
Feel like some noisy, motorised action? Try the quad bikes at Daytona Adventure Park in Fourways. There are 18 quad bikes - hop on one and do the guided outride into the bush and across rivers. The park is open from 9am till dark, and is at Plot 12, R511 Riversands, Fourways. Phone 011 795-1091.

Water fun and sun
For the best outdoor fun, head for Sun City, where the sun always shines. From the Valley of the Waves, where a wave machine produces 2m waves rolling up onto a large beach, to rides on a 17m high chute, the complex provides endless thrills. More outdoor fun includes horse riding, quad biking, riding an elephant, archery and flying in a Tiger Moth. Indoor fun includes a games arcade. Phone Sun City on 014 557-1000 for directions or visit the website.

Theatre freaks
Learn theatre skills at the Johannesburg Youth Theatre, 011 484-1584, at 3 Junction Avenue in Parktown. There are classes every Saturday morning from 9.30am to 12 for teenagers where where music, movement and drama instruction is given and selections for one of four annual productions is made.

Ice skating
Develop your skills at the Northgate Ice Arena in the Northgate Shopping Centre, entrance 6, Olievenhout and Northumberland avenues, Northriding. Phone 011 794-8706. It's open seven days a week, 10am to 5pm, and 7.30pm to 10.30pm. If you can't skate, the arena runs a skating academy with 8-week courses held on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Phone Colleen or Mike on 011 463-4239.

Adventurous rides
No Johannesburg teenager would turn down an invitation to the Gold Reef City theme park which offers 31 exhilarating rides. Try out the anaconda, earthquake tunnel, miner's revenge, the tower of terror and the river rapids, followed by an underground tour, down a mine. Gold Reef City, 6km south of the city in Ormonde off the M1 South freeway, is open from 9.30am to 5pm every day.

Zoo expeditions
Take a night tour of the zoo, or camp overnight among the animals. And for some hands-on stuff, volunteer work is available - phone Craig of Friends of the Zoo on 011 807-7749. The zoo is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, seven days a week and secure parking is available at the entrance on Upper Park Drive in Saxonwold. Phone 011 646-2000.

Back-to-nature trails
For the energetic teenager, there are some great walks around about the city. Most are manageable at around 5km, others are up to 10km with sleepovers in the veld, at Suikerbosrand. Still others involve walking among wild animals, at Klipriviersberg, or taking in historical sites like the Iron Age furnace and 16th century Tswana stone walls, at Melville Koppies. Get more details. Open three Sundays in the month, for three hours, you can take a guided tour along the many paths of Melville Koppies, or just find your own way around, enjoying the wonderful views of the city and suburbs. Secure parking is available at Marks Park on Judith Road. Click here for the open days. Phone 011 482-4797 for more details.

Alternative raves
Raves don't have to involve nightclubs or hanging out in malls or arcades. Take a bus tour of the city's haunted places and cemeteriesat night, stroll across Melville Koppies at dusk and take in the night sounds, or explore nocturnal crawlies and birds by torchlight at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. Get more details.

Extreme stuff
Tired of hiking, jogging or the gym treadmill to get exercise? Try stepping off a 24-storey building, or descending into a pitch-dark cave, or climbing, Spiderman-style, over huge boulders without ropes. Bring it on!

Indoor pools
Streamline your swimming skills in one of the city's heated pools at Linden, Pimville, Ellis Park or Coronationville. For the more daring, Ellis Park also has diving facilities, as well as a life-saving club. Get more details.

Sci Bono Discovery Centre
Science doesn't always have to be about chemicals and formulas worked out in stuffy classrooms. It can be a truly exciting learning experience at Newtown's Sci Bono Discovery Centre . For more information call 011 832 3363 or log on to http://www.sci-bono.co.za/.

For more information contact the Johannesburg Tourism Company on
tel: 011 214 0700 or fax: 011 214 0715 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it