A full-day private Johannesburg tour will take visitors to iconic heritage sites in Johannesburg CBD and Soweto, highlighting South Africa’s turbulent past and promising future. It is an opportunity to learn more about the historical events that shaped the country while also exploring the dynamic cultural diversity of two of the country’s most important cities.

Choose a tour operator whose top priority is your safety and well-being, and who is available at any time and on any day to assist you with booking additional activities, resolving any issues, offering advice on how to make your trip extra special, and simply being there for you.

Constitutional Hill, the Apartheid Museum, the Carlton Centre, and the vibrant Newtown Junction are among the highlights of the Johannesburg tour.

Visitors to Soweto are encouraged to interact with locals rather than simply observe them at heritage sites commemorating the city’s troubled history and the people’s fight for freedom and equality.

You might also be interested in our private Cape Town tours, or private-guided Kruger park safaris. 

What to expect from a private Johannesburg tour

Highlights of the Johannesburg part of the excursion include:

• Constitutional Hill – Perhaps no other South African prison housed as many world-famous men and women as those held within the walls of Constitution Hill’s Old Fort, Women’s Jail, and Number Four – Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Joe Slovo, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Fatima Meer as well as tens of thousands of ordinary people over its 100-year history.
• The 284m-long Mandela Bridge – the largest cable-stayed bridge in South Africa that connects two significant business areas
• The Newtown Precinct – a suburb rich in a history, biodiversity and culture, from as far back as the 1880s.
• The Carlton Centre – a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre in central Johannesburg
• Apartheid Museum – at the museum in Johannesburg CBD, you can listen to a brief overview of the museum’s exhibits and take your time exploring the museum.

Highlights of the Soweto part of the tour include:

• The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and taxi rank
• Life in the Motsoaledi informal settlement
• Visiting Freedom Square in Kliptown, the historic location where the Freedom Charter was adopted on 26 June 1955 by the Congress of the People, which opposed the white supremacist government of South Africa.
• Visit Regina Mundi Church in Rockville, Soweto, the largest Roman Catholic church in South Africa.
• Visit the Hector Pieterson Museum, a big museum in Orlando West located a few blocks from the location where Hector Pieterson was shot and killed on 16 June 1976.
• Visit the Mandela House Museum, located in the Orlando West residence where Nelson Mandela resided from 1946 until 1962.
• Walk through Vilakazi Street
• Admire the vibrant artwork on the Orlando Towers

All this can be enjoyed with your own privatedriver and guide in a private vehicle.

Guests should note however that, while the transfers will be private, the places visited are open to the public.

How a typical private tour of Johannesburg would proceed

Following pick-ups, you will travel to Braamfontein’s Constitutional Hill in a private vehicle with your own driver and guide for a guided tour of this iconic institution.

Visitors should keep in mind that, while this is a private tour, the locations visited are open to the public, so other visitors may enjoy the same sights and visit the same locations.

Constitution Hill is a living museum depicting South Africa’s democratic transition. The venue is a former prison and military fort that bears witness to South Africa’s turbulent history. It now serves as the home of the country’s Constitutional Court.

You pass under the eye-catching Mandela Bridge on our way into Johannesburg’s CBD. The Nelson Mandela Bridge, named after him, is South Africa’s largest cable-stayed bridge, connecting two important business districts.

Your guide will show you around Johannesburg, pointing out historic landmarks and buildings like Newtown Precinct, Mary Fitzgerald Square, Gandhi Square, and Luthuli House.

Your itinerary may include a stop at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. Africa’s second-tallest structure is a 50-story, 223-meter-tall skyscraper and shopping centre. A panoramic view of Johannesburg and its northern suburbs can be seen from the top.

The next stop could be the Apartheid Museum. It is a one-of-a-kind museum that depicts South Africa during apartheid’s turbulent years.Through a series of 22 individual exhibitions, the museum depicts apartheid’s rise and fall, taking you on an emotional journey from the heart breaking struggle for freedom and equality to the ultimate climax of Nelson Mandela’s election as South Africa’s first Black president.

You will get to the Apartheid Museum around midday where you can buy something to eat and drink at the Truth Café.

The journey continues to Soweto, passing famous landmarks such as the FNB Soccer Stadium, Baragwanath Hospital, and the massive Soweto Towers.

The afternoon part of the tour includes significant heritage sites in Soweto that commemorate the city’s struggles during the apartheid era, as well as popular streets and markets that highlight the city’s vibrant, multi-cultural lifestyle.

A next stop may be the Motsoaledi informal settlement, where you can go on a walkabout.

The Hector Pieterson Museum, that was established in memory of the young boy and other schoolchildren who were killed during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, is possibly next on the itinerary.

As you make your way to the cultural hub of Vilakazi Street and the historic suburb of Orlando West, you can also visit the Regina Mundi Church and the Nelson Mandela Museum (at your own expense).

Your guide will drive you back to your Johannesburg hotel after an exciting day.

Included in such a tour package

Included in your private Soweto tours package will usually be:

• Collection and drop off from any address in Johannesburg
• Transfer in a private air-conditioned tour vehicle
• Your own English-speaking guide
• Entrance fee to Constitutional Hill
• Carlton Centre tour
• Entrance fee to Hector Pieterson Museum
• Entrance to the Apartheid Museum

Excluded from your package are food and beverages and all purchases of a personal nature.

FAQ

Can you do a private tour of Johannesburg that includes Soweto?

Yes, you can book a private tour of either of the two cities or you can combine it into a full day trip.

 Can you book a private tour of the city of Johannesburg?

Yes, you can book a tour in a private vehicle with your own private driver and guide.

What is meant by a private tour?

You and those accompanying you will be picked up from your address by a private guide and driver in a private vehicle. The places you will visit is open to the public however and there will be other enjoying the same attractions too.