Johannesburg Soweto Tour
Johannesburg, South Africa
Rating: 
Trip Type: Day Trips
Duration: 8 hours
See all the significant historic parts of Johannesburg/Soweto that have a significant influence on the landscape of Johannesburg and South Africa.
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See all the significant historic parts of Johannesburg/Soweto that have a significant influence on the landscape of Johannesburg and South Africa.
You will be collected from your hotel, then depart on an exploration of Johannesburg, Africa's richest and arguably most historic city. Start off with visiting the house and elite suburb where Nelson Mandela lived for many years before he passed on, then up through the previously all white high rise apartment areas now occupied by black emigrants from Africa seeking their fortune in the "City of Gold", a mixture of vibrant cultural variety, squalor, and the newly successful.
Then proceed on through the old city centre to the highest building in Africa, the Carlton Centre. This was once Johannesburg's most prestigious business location, now a little aged but still a robust and well maintained building towering above the city. From the 50th floor you can get a magnificent 360 degree view of the city.
Then on past Gandhi square and the statue of the great Mahatma who spent 25 years here and developed his principles of passive resistance to injustice . Then across the gold mining strip that divides the city and the reason for its existence to the Apartheid Museum- Johannesburg's most popular visitor’s venue.
After an hour or two at this well presented museum proceed to Soweto. Start this part of the tour with a well proportioned "Shebeen Lunch" in the famous Vilakazi St at its center. The lunch is served every day (buffet style) and is very much what Sowetans would eat on Sundays. In Vilakazi St you will find the previous homes of two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela (the only street in the world that can claim this). Visit the home of the latter, now a museum and tribute to the great man.
From here proceed past the spot where the first child to be martyred in the 1976 student riots that changed South African history to the Hector Pietersen Memorial erected in his honor and that of the 70 others who died that day and after which many in the western world realized they could no longer support the apartheid regime. The heroic young high school students aged 12 upwards created a pivotal point in South African history and many died on that first day and in the ensuing months and years in their drive to secure a better education.
You will also see Freedom Square, the Regina Mundi Church, the "Cooling Towers “Africa’s largest artwork “and the World Cup Soccer Stadium as you depart Soweto back to your hotel.
Then proceed on through the old city centre to the highest building in Africa, the Carlton Centre. This was once Johannesburg's most prestigious business location, now a little aged but still a robust and well maintained building towering above the city. From the 50th floor you can get a magnificent 360 degree view of the city.
Then on past Gandhi square and the statue of the great Mahatma who spent 25 years here and developed his principles of passive resistance to injustice . Then across the gold mining strip that divides the city and the reason for its existence to the Apartheid Museum- Johannesburg's most popular visitor’s venue.
After an hour or two at this well presented museum proceed to Soweto. Start this part of the tour with a well proportioned "Shebeen Lunch" in the famous Vilakazi St at its center. The lunch is served every day (buffet style) and is very much what Sowetans would eat on Sundays. In Vilakazi St you will find the previous homes of two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela (the only street in the world that can claim this). Visit the home of the latter, now a museum and tribute to the great man.
From here proceed past the spot where the first child to be martyred in the 1976 student riots that changed South African history to the Hector Pietersen Memorial erected in his honor and that of the 70 others who died that day and after which many in the western world realized they could no longer support the apartheid regime. The heroic young high school students aged 12 upwards created a pivotal point in South African history and many died on that first day and in the ensuing months and years in their drive to secure a better education.
You will also see Freedom Square, the Regina Mundi Church, the "Cooling Towers “Africa’s largest artwork “and the World Cup Soccer Stadium as you depart Soweto back to your hotel.
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