Soweto, Apartheid Museum & Constitution Hill Day Tour

Walk through the places where apartheid was built and resisted

A guided day tour from Johannesburg covering Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum, Soweto's Mandela House and Hector Pieterson Memorial, and a walk through Nomzamo Informal Settlement with a local resident. Groups stay under seven per vehicle; all entrance fees are included; the tour runs 5 to 6 hours with hotel pickup and drop-off.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time at each

1. Constitution Hill1h · entry included
2. Apartheid Museum2h · entry included
3. Mandela House10m

Explore Johannesburg and Soweto history

• Visit Constitution Hill and Old Fort
• Drive through Johannesburg inner city
• Tour Apartheid Museum exhibitions
• Photo stop at historical stadium
• Overview briefing in Soweto
• Visit Mandela House Museum
• Walk through Nomzamo Informal Settlement

The experience

The tour opens at Constitution Hill, where a 60-minute guided walk takes you through the Old Fort and its prisons: built by Paul Kruger in the late 1800s and later home to Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela and Robert Sobukwe. Your guide explains the precinct's mutations through time and why the Constitutional Court now sits in this place of former humiliation. From there you drive through Johannesburg's inner city, passing Braamfontein and the Nelson Mandela Bridge, stopping at the Chancellor House where Mandela and Tambo ran their law practice.

The Apartheid Museum occupies the morning's second half: a self-reading experience through two hours of well-curated exhibitions, photographs, videos, audio recordings and historical artefacts that document the racial segregation era and the struggle for freedom. The museum's materials come from historians, journalists, filmmakers and organisations with access to the relevant archives. After lunch, you head to Soweto to visit Mandela House, where site guides walk you through the rooms where Nelson lived with his first wife Evelyne and later with Winnie, and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. You also pass the old electricity power station, now a bungee jumping and entertainment facility, and get an overview of the historical site from a local Sowetan guide.

The final stop is a 10-minute guided walk through Nomzamo Informal Settlement with a local resident who shares firsthand stories of community challenges, resilience and hope. You see how unemployment affects real people on the ground and how they survive day to day. The tour ends with a brief look at one of the world's largest hospitals and its role in serving Soweto residents and international medical research. Throughout the day you travel in a small group under seven guests, with a professional guide providing live commentary, bottled water, and hotel pickup and drop-off included.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off.
• entrance fees to Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum, Mandela House and Hector Pieterson Memorial.
• bottled water.
• live guide commentary in English or French.
• small-group travel under seven guests per vehicle.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day

AgesAdult (18 to 64 years) · Senior (65 to 85 years) · Youth (13 to 17 years) · Child (3 to 12 years) · Infant (under 3): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and French

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 20 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Explore Joburg

Is this one for you?You travel in a small group under seven, which keeps the pace intimate and lets your guide answer questions without managing a crowd. Choose this tour if you want the major sites of apartheid history and Soweto's resistance in a single day, with a local guide and a walk through an informal settlement where residents share their own stories, not a sanitized version, but the place as people live in it now.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and French.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (13 to 17 years); Child (3 to 12 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What is Constitution Hill and why does the tour spend an hour there?

Constitution Hill is the site of the Old Fort and its prisons, built in the late 1800s by Paul Kruger and later used to detain political prisoners including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela and Robert Sobukwe. The Constitutional Court of South Africa now stands on the same grounds, making it a place where injustice and the rule of law occupy the same space. The 60-minute guided walk explores this complex history and explains why the court's presence there is meaningful.

How much time do you spend inside the Apartheid Museum?

The Apartheid Museum takes up two hours in the morning, starting at 9 am. It is a self-reading experience through exhibitions, photographs, videos, audio recordings and historical artefacts that document apartheid and the struggle for freedom. The materials were assembled by historians, journalists, filmmakers and organisations with access to the relevant sources.

What happens during the walk through Nomzamo Informal Settlement?

A local resident guides a 10-minute walk through Nomzamo and shares firsthand stories about community challenges, resilience and hope. You see how unemployment affects real people and how they survive day to day. The operator welcomes visitors to bring gifts to assist residents directly.

Does the tour include Mandela House, and what will you see there?

Mandela House in Soweto is included. Site guides walk you through the different rooms where Nelson lived with his first wife Evelyne and later with Winnie, sharing detailed stories from the struggle era that shaped his life.

What is included in the price, and what costs extra?

All entrance fees to Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum, Mandela House and the Hector Pieterson Memorial are included, along with hotel pickup and drop-off, bottled water and live guide commentary. Alcoholic drinks are available to purchase at noon. Gratuities are not included.