Soweto & Apartheid Museum Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, situated in Orlando West, Soweto, commemorates the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid and in particular the role played by the school children who took part in the Soweto protests of 1976, many of whom were shot by the apartheid police while protesting against the sub-standard of education in black schools in South Africa.

   30 minAdmission included

2. The Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid. An architectural consortium, comprising several leading architectural firms, conceptualised the design of the building on a seven-hectare stand. The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the international community a unique South African experience. The exhibits have been assembled and organised by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers, historians and designers. They include provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts illustrating the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga, known as apartheid. A series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state-sanctioned system based on racial discrimination and the struggle of the majority to overthrow this tyranny. For anyone wanting to understand and experience what apartheid South Africa was really like, a visit to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental. The museum is a beacon of hope showing the world how South Africa is coming to terms with its oppressive past and working towards a future that all South Africans can call their own.

   1 hAdmission included

3. The Mandela House strives to be a world-class visitor attraction, and a leading centre for the preservation, presentation, and research of the history, heritage and legacy of the Mandela Family.

   45 minAdmission included

4. Vilakazi Street is the Soweto street of the greats, named after Dr Benedict Wallet Vilakazi, a distinguished writer and educator who wrote the first poetry book published in Zulu. The homes of two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – South Africa’s first democratically elected president, the late Nelson Mandela, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu – are found on Vilakazi Street. This is the only street in the world that can boast having had two Nobel Laureates as residents.

   10 min

5. The Orlando Power Station, when it was active, was considered one of the most advanced in the Southern hemisphere. The colourful Orlando Towers are now not only one of the most distinctive landmarks in Soweto, they’re also the site of the world’s first bungee jump between two cooling towers. Look out over South Africa’s most famous township as you embark on an unparalleled experience that will get your adrenaline pumping and provide you with memories that will last a lifetime

   Passes by

6. Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is the third largest hospital in the world after the West China Hospital of West China Medical Center of Sichuan University, and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, occupying 70 ha, with 3,400 beds and 6,760 staff members

   Passes by

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 21 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Pretoria

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 237 day trips we list in Pretoria.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 30 of 237.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Pretoria

Pretoria is South Africa's administrative capital in Gauteng, known for jacaranda-lined streets, the Union Buildings and sites of the nation's history.

Pretoria sits in a valley between ridges of the highveld, about an hour's drive north of Johannesburg. The Union Buildings, a sweeping sandstone complex on a hill with formal gardens, is the seat of the presidency and the site of Nelson Mandela's 1994 inauguration. Church Square, with its statue of Paul Kruger, is the historic heart, and the Voortrekker Monument stands on a hilltop, a granite landmark with a museum inside.

Top-ranked sights in Pretoria: Voortrekker Monument, Union Buildings, Kruger Museum.

See all 530 experiences in Pretoria