Location: Johannesburg
Top Things to do in Johannesburg
The 10 Best Historical & Heritage Tours in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Johannesburg is the place to go to mix big-city culture, shopping, dining and nightlife with outdoor adventures, up-close wildlife encounters and visits to historical sites. Explore caves and nature reserves, or visit a traditional village by day, then enjoy dinner at a hip cafe or five-star restaurant. And if you're a shopper, bring an extra, empty suitcase. With malls, open-air markets and places that blend the two, you'll find plenty of unique souvenirs.
Restaurants in Johannesburg
1. Apartheid Museum Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 4 reviews
This museum, through 22 exhibition areas, takes the visitor through the dramatic emotional journey of the history of apartheid and the struggle to overcome it in South Africa. The museum was designed by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film makers, historians and designers and is a moving testimonial to recent South Africa history.
Inclusions: Tours Fees, Complimentary Bottled Water
Exclusions: Drinks, Food and drinks, Lunch, Gratuities, Guide
Reviewed By Julie M
My boyfriend and I did all our tours with Nic from Africa Moja Tours & Transfers-Cradle of Human Kind, Lesedi, Soweto, and Pretoria. We were very nervous booking tours as it was all last minute and we did not have a lot of time to research. However, our first day went so great with Nic that we booked another day. He is a very safe driver, incredibly knowledgeable and smart, and a great person to hang out with while touring the area. Nic and the tours were truly one of the highlights of our three week trip in South Africa and I would highly recommend using this company and Nic for your tours. I am so grateful we had an incredible experience on our first time visiting.
2. Private Soweto Tour 5 hours approximately from Johannesburg or Pretoria.
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Explore South Africa's most famous township with this half-day tour of Soweto from Johannesburg. Join a knowledgeable local guide, born and raised in Soweto, for this unforgettable experience. Get personal insights into the culture of the township and learn about Soweto's vibrant modern personality. Highlights 5-hour tour of Soweto from Johannesburg Visit this famous township with a guide who was born and raised there See the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu Learn about the 1976 Soweto Uprising Meet some of the residents of a Soweto shanty town
Inclusions: Driver/guide Local guide Hotel drop-off Hotel pickup, water , snacks , entrance fee to Museums, professional guide , round up transportation
Exclusions: Gratitudes, Soviniar (available for purchase)
Reviewed By LordP428
Fantastic experience lead by a team of knowledgeable passionate team members who manage smaller groups to make your experience that much more special. The animals look well cared for and the facilities unbelievably beautiful. This truly was a very magical experience.
3. Soweto & Apartheid Museum Combo Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
This is the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20th century history. Showcasing the rise and fall of apartheid. The museum is a beacon of hope showing the world how SA is coming to terms with its oppressive past. Working towards a future.This birth place of South African democracy and struggle , South Africa’s. Home to two Nobel Peace prize winners. Soweto is the melting pot of South African urban culture with a constant evolving fashion, food, lifestyle and entertainment.This is a Township filled with Historic landmarks. This is the place where apartheid history is still revolutionized.
Inclusions: Air-conditioned vehicle, All Fees and Taxes, Bottled water
Exclusions: Lunch
Reviewed By MariePierre999
Nice tour, we visited places I couldn't have gone alone. Shaun is very interesting and share all he knows. Discussing was easy, interesting.
4. Soweto & Johannesburg Private
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
Why should travelers book this tour because Soweto represents the hard-fought struggle against apartheid . We look beyond the bloody legend of the 16 June uprising and behind the hardened face of resistance politics, to core of Soweto- its people. Soweto is about people leading their lives- working and commuting, celebrating and grieving. See the poverty of informal settlement shack and hostel in contrast with the upper class suburbs of Diepkloof in Soweto.
Inclusions: Parking Fees
Exclusions: Lunch
Reviewed By hwallace4
This was an excellent experience - my guide Joseph was kind and helpful. I was travelling solo and he picked me up directly from my accomodation and provided me with a tour of Soweto, Johannesburg and the Apartheid Museum. He was very knowledgeable about the history of the city. I would certainly recommend this tour to others. Thank you!
5. Pretoria Capital Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
Pretoria ,The administrative Capital city of the then ZAR,The Union Of South Africa And the New South Africa. We also Visit The Union Buildings,The President’s State House.There you can have a nice scenery view of the Jacaranda City.
Inclusions: All Fees and Taxes, Air-conditioned vehicle
Exclusions: Dinner, Snacks, Alcoholic Beverages, Lunch
Reviewed By KahnFamily4
What a breath of fresh air! Well organised, clean and equipped to prevent COVID. Sanitizers at facilities, COVID scanning and questioning before entering the park. Lots of animals.
6. Johannesburg City Centre Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Our tour is the best way to discover the city centre and know more about the places of significant history and see some of the areas you can't visit on your own and here you experience the city from the local perspective and our guides are very good at making the clients happy all the time making sure that the clients explore the city and are safe through out and they are also very good walking companions who are happy to share the history, culture and life of of the city as a whole
Inclusions: Local guide
Exclusions:
Reviewed By Compass818748
We did the Soweto Pub Crawl Tour together and were simply thrilled. Although only two of us took part in the tour, our guides Nthabi and Luthando took a lot of time for us and introduced us to beers in South Africa. Of course there were also numerous and really nice photos taken. During the tour we got to know Soweto from a very personal and exciting side. We tasted several beers and at the end there was a surprise for us. We learned a lot and our alcohol level was accordingly high at the end of the evening and the atmosphere was relaxed and fun. We were also lovingly welcomed by the other South Africans and integrated into the conversations. For both of us it was an unforgettable evening. I can recommend the tour to anyone who likes to drink a beer or two and get to know Soweto in a very personal way. The only point of criticism is that at the end of the evening Luthando did not behave like a professional guide anymore and became a bit pushy. Apart from that, the guides were super good and cared a lot about our well-being and gave us a lot of knowledge.
7. Johannesburg Walking Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
Johannesburg is the largest urban complex of South Africa with a population exceeding quarter million. This tour will take you back from the apartheid to freedom by guiding you through the historical area in Johannesburg. With this tour you will embrace things like art, architecture, history and multi-culturism. This is a walking tour where we are going to use public transport and walking the streets.
Inclusions: Air-conditioned vehicle, Bottled water
Exclusions:
Reviewed By Z7246PSmarkd
Andile is a very friendly, engaging and knowledgeable tour guide. Unfortunately for us, we were in Johannesburg at a time when many attractions were still closed due to COVID-19. This meant we could not go to the Apartheid museum. Andile did his best to compensate for this. He took us to Soweto Towers instead and gave us a lot of history and background on the Apartheid era, as well as great insight into life in Soweto today. Despite us not being able to do the full tour, I would still recommend this package. Thank you Andile.
8. Apartheid Museum & Soweto Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 7 reviews
The tour will take you to the oldest and the biggest township in South Africa. Soweto was a dumping place where the apartheid government of South African allocated the area for Africans who used to work in the mines without their knowledge. it is home to Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Miriam Makeba and many more. your guide will take you to the old hostels which were build by the apartheid government for African miners and this hostels were same gender hostels, out of 10 hostels only one was women hostel. we are now on democracy and apartheid is dead, but some part of Soweto they still experience extreme poverty
Inclusions: Bottled water, Air-conditioned vehicle
Exclusions: Lunch
Reviewed By Londeka55
It was a good tour, we enjoyed it with my friend. Andile was very friendly and informative about the areas we went to. I will advice other travellers to do this tour. It was very impressive.
9. This is Hillbrow
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 12 reviews
Explore the streets of Hillbrow and Berea and discover more about one of Johannesburg's most notorious and misunderstood districts.
Inclusions: Classic Hillbrow street fare - Pap & Chicken with a drink of your choice
Exclusions:
Reviewed By kennedy116
Was an awesome experience. Very friendly guys and they are knowledgeable on the history of the place. The venue offers killer views! Will keep on visiting this space!
10. Soweto Walking Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 40 reviews
A history tour of Soweto where political Icons lived during Apartheid fighting against the regime. Walking you will get an idea about the everyday life in the township, local talents and nowadays youth culture. Starting at the Hector Pietersen Museum, we will talk first about the Soweto uprising, which was one the downfall of apartheid. I will then introduce you to the house of Nelson Mandela in Vilakazi Street, built in 1945 where he lived until his imprisonments for 27 years. We will then have a conversation about Arch bishop Desmond Tutu in the famous street in Vilakazi Street. Continueing through Orlando East the first formal settlement of Soweto & Orlando Stadium, Soweto football giants, the Orlando Pirate and making local by riding a minibus taxi to our last stop at the Orlando Towers. we will share many personal stories about my family's generations, how apartheid had an impact in each and everyone of us, and how Soweto has changed today. Lunch Included : Kota (Local burger)
Inclusions: Local Burger (Kota), Private transportation
Exclusions: All additional Items and Cost
Reviewed By I982HPjennyc
Excellent virtual tour of the beautiful city, culture, and history. Sipho is a very talented photographer and storyteller. I highly recommend this virtual tour.
