Johannesburg is without a doubt a city with a lot of history behind it, but if you’re visiting, you have to stop by Soweto as well. A place that resonates with history, culture, and the rich urban life of South Africa, you want an authentic look into the city’s past and present.

The best way to do so is on one of the 5 top Soweto Johannesburg tours that is well worth your time and money. You’ll be able to learn about South Africa’s social and political evolution with expert guides there to lead the way, complete with personal stories and deep insights. Let’s jump right in.

Best Soweto Tours From Johannesburg

	Full-Day Soweto, Apartheid Museum and Lunch Tour	Half-Day Tour of Soweto Tour	Pretoria, Soweto and Apartheid Museum Guided Day Tour from Johannesburg
Location:	Hotel pickup and drop-off included	Hotel pickup and drop-off included	Hotel pickup and drop-off included
Start:	9:00 AM	9:30 AM & 1:30 PM	8:00 AM
Duration:	9 hours	5 hours	10 hours
Includes:	Round trip transport, lunch, driver/guide, free onboard wifi	Local guide, roundtrip transport, air-conditioned minivan, free onboard wifi	Bottled water, all activities, local guide, roundtrip transportation, snacks
	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking	Tour Information & Booking

Quick Answer: The 5 Best Rated Soweto Johannesburg Tours For 2024

1. Full-Day Soweto, Apartheid Museum and Lunch Tour
2. Half-Day Tour of Soweto Tour
3. Pretoria, Soweto and Apartheid Museum Guided Day Tour from Johannesburg
4. Soweto and Johannesburg Exclusive Full Day Guided Tour
5. Johannesburg and Soweto Tour

Soweto Johannesburg Tour Reviews

1. Full-Day Soweto, Apartheid Museum and Lunch Tour

Starting things off right, the Full-Day Soweto, Apartheid Museum and Lunch Tour was one of the most striking to me. If you’re looking for an eye-opening experience and a tour to maximize your time in South Africa, this one should be at the top of your list.

This full-day tour will take you to the most famous township in the country, visiting the renowned museum and hospital, along with trying traditional goods, and much more.

This tour starts off with a convenient hotel pickup so you don’t have to worry about booking any separate transportation. Our guide arrived around 9:00 am, which meant that we had all day to take advantage of exploring and learning!

Hop into your transportation for the day and head to the FNB Soccer Stadium located right outsight Soweto, while your guide shared interesting stories about the stadium and why it was so important to the city’s history.

After that, we passed various important landmarks such as the Baragnwanath Hospital before arriving at the Elias Motsoaledi Road, where we got out and went on a walking tour with our guide. We saw plenty of charming cafes, colorful markets, and got to learn about the locals’ lifestyles.

Afterward, you’ll make a few more stops before arriving at the Nelson Mandela Museum which was incredibly educational and moving to see in person. We took a break for a traditional shisa nyama barbecued meat dish and if you dare, you may even be able to bungee jump off the top of the Orlando Towers!

Finally, head to the famous Apartheid museum, where you’ll learn all about this grim point in history and Nelson Mandela’s significance in leading the anti-apartheid movement. This is an absolutely amazing experience, and I recommend anyone and everyone to take it.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

2. Half-Day Tour of Soweto Tour

If the first tour caught your interest but you aren’t able to fit a full-day tour into your itinerary, this next tour is a fantastic alternative. It is like a more condensed version of the previous tour, while still being quite a compelling experience.

The Half-Day Tour of Soweto excursion lasts 5 hours and with hotel pickup and drop-off included, you really do make the most of your time. Despite being a shorter tour, I appreciated the fact that they still offered complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off, simplifying everything for us.

Our transport for the day was a comfortable, spacious minivan with complete climate control. As we traveled along, our guide regaled us with interesting historical and cultural commentary on the surrounding area so we had a good background before arriving in Soweto.

Our first stop was the FNB Stadium which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup, before taking a leisurely stroll around the vendors in the Diepkloof area. After that, we drove past the Baragwanath Hospital and finally stopped at the Motsoaledi Street.

This informal settlement is known for its sand streets, its deep ties to local heritage, as well as its connection to the area’s working-class roots.

Continuing on, we saw the Hector Pieterson Museum before walking down the famed Vilakazi Street – a living testament to South Africa’s fight against apartheid as well as being the only street in the world to have been home to 2 Nobel Peace Prize laureates (Mandela and Desmond Tutu).

Finally, we stopped at the massive Soweto Towers where you can choose (at extra cost) to grab lunch, a coffee, bungee jump, or simply stroll around.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

3. Pretoria, Soweto and Apartheid Museum Guided Day Tour from Johannesburg

If you really want to take a deep dive into South Africa’s turbulent yet inspiring history, this next tour is one of the best experiences. The Pretoria, Soweto and Apartheid Museum Guided Day Tour from Johannesburg is a well-thought-out journey through the country’s struggle for freedom, guided by experts who are respectful and highly knowledgeable on the subject.

This full-day experience is certainly a life-changing one, taking you on multiple stops in an organized, stress-free manner. Just like with the other tours I’ve covered, this one also includes a hotel pickup and drop-off which will save you time and a lot of hassle!

Onboard our comfortable transportation for the day, we were provided with plenty of bottled water and snacks to keep us feeling energetic. Our first stop of the day as the Apartheid Museum which has been open for a little over 20 years, but offers history leading all the way back to 20th-century South Africa.

We then stopped at the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial, which honors its namesake – a 12-year-old boy who became a symbol of resistance during the ’76 Soweto Uprising and whose death became a symbol of the apartheid regime’s brutality.

Next, we see the Voortrekker Monument next to Pretoria, the Paul Kruger Country House Museum, and take some time to explore the Mandela House Museum (one of the highlights of the tour for me), where we spent about 45 minutes learning and exploring.

Lastly, we took some time to see the union buildings which is where the office of the president of South Africa sits, and features a national monument which is from 1994, when the first democratic elections were held in the country.

We spent around 20 minutes taking photos and walking around while our guide shared interesting stories about the nation’s political background. Make sure to get some snapshots of Pretoria in the background!

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

4. Soweto and Johannesburg Exclusive Full Day Guided Tour

Next up, we have the Soweto and Johannesburg Exclusive Full Day Guided Tour, which is great if you’re traveling as a friend group or bringing the entire family along.

Seeing as it’s a private tour with a maximum of up to 14 participants, it’s super convenient and more personalized, depending on what interests you and your group most. While the price does go up a bit, it’s still incredibly affordable from the value you’ll receive!

This deep dive is notably more intimate and exclusive than some of the other tours, which I feel is perfect for such a somber subject as this. This tour does a great job of learning about South Africa’s evolution from its colonial past to its rich present, taking you to some of the most iconic landmarks.

Start out by being picked up at your hotel in a comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle, setting off first tor Nelson Mandela Square to see his statue, learn a bit about his importance and then move on to the Houghton Estate.

The Houghton House is where Mandela moved with his wife in the later years of his presidency, and we took some time here before heading over to Constitution Hill. This site is a former prison and military fort, and we learned all about its role in apartheid and how brutal the regime could be.

We continued on to the Newtown Precinct, which is currently lined with cute cafes and is filled with art, but has plenty of history dating back to the 1800s. Seeing the Mining District, Gandhi Square, and Carlton Centre were also quite interesting, and we finally stopped at the Maboneng Precinct to explore food, coffee, and shopping sights.

Keep in mind this is a personalized, private tour, so yours won’t likely be exactly the same as mine – it all depends on your interests! However, this is a great tour to take if it’s your first time here or if you have already gone on a local tour and want to see something else.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience

5. Johannesburg and Soweto Tour

Lastly, is the Johannesburg and Soweto Tour, which is another half-day excursion that will give you a taste of the country’s rough history. If it’s your first time in Johannesburg, it’s a great way to get a “lay of the land” and check off some landmarks while learning from an expert local guide.

It’s crazy that this is also a private tour, considering the affordable price associated with it! The fact that it’s a private tour means that you and your group (or just you, if you’re solo traveling), get to help customize your itinerary, depending on your interests.

Perhaps you’ve already seen certain landmarks and attractions before, and want to avoid them to spend your time on something new. You can do that, so long as it’s a feasible stop on your itinerary (don’t worry, your guide will help with this).

Your tour starts out with a convenient hotel pickup right from your lobby, so you don’t have to deal with booking separate transport or trying to locate a meetup point on your own.

The air-conditioned vehicle we took was very comfortable and as there were only a few of us, we had plenty of room. As we cruised along, our guide told us all about the local area and answered any questions we had.

If you really want to have a better understanding of the local culture and the struggle of South Africans, I highly suggest checking this one out. Our guide did a fantastic job bringing history to life and really helping us gain just a bit of insight into its turbulent past.

More Information & Tour Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience