Johannesburg Private Cultural Heritage Tour

This tour is private just for you with our guide. Johannesburg is the only major city in the world built because of an underground resource, gold instead of a river or port. For over 100 years it was the world's biggest producer of the yellow metal. Johannesburg and the township of Soweto together make up arguably Africa's most interesting city, least of all because of the vast diversities in race, culture, and wealth of its inhabitants. During this full-day private tour, your informative guide highlights places and events that changed the cultural and political landscape of South Africa and in some cases the world. See the former homes (both old and recent) of Nelson Mandela and spend time exploring the Apartheid Museum. Your customizable itinerary includes lunch on vibrant Vilakazi Street in Soweto. Changes can be made to add going down a gold mine, seeing Gandhis home, who, during his 20 years in South Africa he became the human rights activist we know him as today.

What's included:

• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Professional guide
• Local taxes

Not included:

• Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
• Souvenirs and curios

What to expect:

Duration: between 8 hours and 9 hours

Apartheid Museum

Northern Park Way and Gold Reef Rd, Johannesburg, 2001

The Apartheid Museum traces the history of this abhorrent form of South African society but also celebrates our emergence out of it into a brave multicultural democracy that still strives to attain equality of opportunity fro all its citizens . It has been described as a masterpiece of Museum design. There is incredible depth to the exhibits and the multi media narratives they illustrate and although they do create a feeling of sadness at the injustices committed spirits are raised by the stories of heroic South Africans who fought and died to create a pathway to something better. You can easily spend the whole day here and still not see it all but 2 hours will give you a good overview of what it was like to live here during these bad old days.There is a book and curio shop focusing on relevant items, and a coffee bar serving light meals. Next to it indigenous grasses and plants are grown to give a glimpse of what this area of the "veld" would have looked like before Joburg existed.

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Hector Pieterson Memorial

Hector Pieterson Square, Soweto

The killing of a 12-year-old child by police firing on demonstrating school children is commemorated here along with the 70 or more others who died on that fateful but momentous day on the 16th of June 1976. The date is now our National Youth Day and a public holiday.
There is a large African crafts market next to it if you want to buy some souvenirs.

30 minutes

Vilakazi Street

Vilakazi Street, Soweto, 1804

Lunch will be at a popular restaurant on Vilakazi Street where you will sample the local fare. Here also you will find the previous homes of two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

1 hour

South Western Townships

Johannesburg

South West African Townships or Soweto is the home of as many as 2 million South Africans and people of other African nationalities. Its citizens have the illustrious heritage of being at the center of resistance to oppression under colonialism and Apartheid.

Pass by without stopping

Mandela House

8115 Vilakazi Street, Ngakane St., Soweto, 1804

Visit the Soweto home of Nelson Mandela, now a museum and tribute to his life and role in our progression to a fully representative democracy.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct

11 Kotze Street, Johannesburg, 2001

Constitution Hill is a living museum that tells the story of South Africa's journey to democracy. The site is a former prison and military fort fort that bears testament to a turbulent past. visit the country's Constitutional Court, which endorses the rights of all citizens.

1 hour, 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Johannesburg

Johannesburg

All the way to the centre of the city you'll see a vibrant mixture of cultures before reaching the Carlton Centre, located in what was once Johannesburg's most prestigious business district.

Pass by without stopping

Houghton Estate

Houghton Estate

Following hotel pickup in Johannesburg or Pretoria, your personalized tour of the historic city starts off with a visit to the home Nelson Mandela lived in just prior to his death in the still high wealth suburb of Houghton. From here you cross the “Rand” or to give it its full name the “Witwatersrand”. “rand” means ridge in Afrikaans. This is Johannesburg’s only prominent physical feature, a high ridge that bisects Johannesburg from east to west and to a great extent its wealth. In the past, the wealthy gold barons built their mansions along the ridge giving them a great view to the north where the majority of Joburg’s well-off residents now live. The mansions are still there and we will stop close to the top of the Rand on Munro Drive for the magnificent view they share. Because of its association with the wealthy our currency, the Rand is named after it and we orientate our location in the city in relation to it, West Rand, East Rand, North Rand, Midrand, and so on.

30 minutes