Apartheid Museum & Soweto tour from Johannesburg: small group

Walk through Soweto's three neighborhoods and stand inside the Apartheid Museum

A nine-hour guided tour of Johannesburg and Soweto that covers the Apartheid Museum, Constitutional Hill, Mandela's Houghton residence, Vilakazi Street with the houses of Mandela and Tutu, and three distinct neighborhoods of Soweto—upper, middle and lower class—in a small group with a live English-speaking guide and hotel pickup. Lunch is at your own expense; children from age 3 are welcome.

Step-by-step itinerary

Johannesburg, Soweto and Apartheid Museum Tour

• Visit Constitutional Hill and Court
• See Houghton Estate Mandela Residence
• Explore Hillbrow area
• Walk across Mandela Bridge
• Experience Newtown street arts
• Tour Downtown Johannesburg
• Visit Chancellor's House
• Explore Mining District
• See Gandhi Square
• View FNB Stadium (Soccer City)
• Discover Soweto's three classes
• Visit Soweto Hostel
• See Baragwanath Hospital
• View Orlando Towers
• Explore informal settlement
• Walk Vilakazi Street
• Visit Mandela and Tutu Houses
• Lunch stop (guest expense)
• See Hector Pieterson Memorial
• Experience Apartheid Museum

The Experience

The tour starts with pickup from your Johannesburg hotel and moves through the city's political landmarks: Constitutional Hill and the Constitutional Court, the Houghton estate where Mandela lived, Mandela Bridge, and downtown Johannesburg's mining district and Gandhi Square. You'll see the street art of Newtown and pass through Chancellor's House before heading into Soweto, where the day opens up across three distinct neighborhoods—upper, middle and lower class—so you move through the economic layers that shaped the township's history.

Vilakazi Street is where you walk past the houses of both Mandela and Tutu, then the tour takes you to the Hector Pieterson Memorial sites and the Orlando Towers. You'll pass the Baragwanath Hospital and informal settlements, seeing how the township was built and how people lived under apartheid. The Apartheid Museum itself closes the day—a full museum experience that anchors everything you've seen on the streets into the documented history of the system itself.

The group stays small, which means the guide can answer questions and the van moves without the stop-and-start of a larger tour. You get bottled water and WiFi on board, and the vehicle is air-conditioned. Lunch happens at a stop of your choice and is at your own cost. The whole day runs nine hours, so plan for an early start and a late afternoon return.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup in Johannesburg.
• a live English-speaking guide for the full nine hours.
• bottled water and WiFi on board.
• an air-conditioned vehicle.
• entry to the Apartheid Museum.
• and visits to Constitutional Hill, Mandela's Houghton residence, Vilakazi Street, the Hector Pieterson Memorial sites, and three neighborhoods of Soweto.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by MHLANGANISI TRAVEL AND TOURS

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you're traveling with a small group and want to move through Johannesburg and Soweto with a guide who can answer questions as you go—the group size keeps the pace conversational instead of rushed, and the nine-hour span lets you see both the street-level neighborhoods and the museum context that explains them.

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Top questions

What is Vilakazi Street and why does the tour spend time there?

Vilakazi Street in Soweto is where both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived—you walk past both houses on the same street, a rare pairing that makes the location historically significant and central to understanding the township's role in the anti-apartheid movement.

Does the tour include entry to the Apartheid Museum?

Yes, the Apartheid Museum experience is included in the tour; you spend time inside the museum as the final stop of the day, after seeing the streets and neighborhoods that the exhibits document.

How many people travel in the group?

The tour is designed for small groups, which keeps the experience more personal and allows the guide to engage with questions and observations as you move through each neighborhood and site.

What does the tour cover in Soweto itself?

In Soweto, you visit three distinct neighborhoods representing upper, middle and lower-class areas, the Hector Pieterson Memorial sites, Orlando Towers, the Baragwanath Hospital, informal settlements, and Vilakazi Street with the Mandela and Tutu houses—a cross-section of how the township was organized and lived in.

Is lunch included, and when does it happen?

Lunch is at your own expense and happens at a stop during the tour where you choose where to eat; the guide will point out options, but the cost is separate from the tour price.

What language does the guide speak?

The guide speaks English throughout the tour and can answer questions about the sites, the history and the neighborhoods you're moving through.