Cape Town is a destination with many communities and stunning scenery, but beyond that lies a history of transformation, liberation, and diversity. From the world-famous Robben Island to the numerous apartheid museums. There are countless historical sites that you can visit to be absorbed in everything that makes this city unique. Getting to all of them in one go can be difficult, so here are some of the best Cape Town historical tours to try out first!
Table of Contents
The list below is in no particular order. Each entry is equally celebrated for their achievements, and the sequence of names is arbitrary, not indicating any ranking or preference.
Cape Town Heritage Tours ⚖️
Cape Town Heritage Tours offers weekly guided historical tours that tells the stories of old Cape Town. With this agency, you’re spoiled for choice, for its tour locations spanning the entire city. Some highlights include Bo Kaap, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Seapoint, and Company’s Garden. Each tour is +/- 3 hours and focuses on various historical themes specific to the area, whether Cape Town’s history with industrialism, colonialism, or slavery.
The founder of CTHT guides every tour, offering a personalised and community-centric experience. It feels just like a stroll with friends! With a new location every Sunday (updated on their Facebook page), Cape Town Heritage Tours provides an engaging and informative experience from a guide with an intimate knowledge of Cape Town’s spirit from the past to present.
Price: R120 – R150
Website:https://www.capetownheritagetours.co.za/
Contact: 076 033 8146
Footsteps to Freedom – City Walking Tour 🏰
Footsteps to Freedom rewards travellers with vivid explanations of Cape Town’s past. This agency has talented tourist guides with a deep love for Cape Town and professional backgrounds. The tours span several genres, including historical, leisure and hiking tours. Specifically, their city walking tour traces monuments, streets, and memorials in Cape Town’s historic precinct.
Footsteps provide a personalised approach, catering their tours to your interests. The city walking tour takes you through the commemorated Grand Parade and City Hall, Castle of Good Hope, District Six Museum, and Greenmarket Square. This tour is ideal for curious minds eager to learn about Cape Town’s history.
Price: R2700
Website:https://footstepstofreedom.co.za/tours-rates/walks-hikes/3736-2/
Contact: 083 309 5378/083 452 1112
Cape Town Day Tours – Robben Island, City & Table Mountain 🚡
Cape Town Day Tours takes the stress off your shoulders by planning full-day adventures with your interests in mind. This tour takes you through a few of the most popular Cape Town attractions, namely Robben Island and Table Mountain. Robben Island is known to be the place where Nelson Mandela and many political prisoners were held for protesting the apartheid government.
Robben Island Museum takes charge of the tour, which is guided by past political prisoners who offer their first-hand perspectives. The experience begins with a three-hour tour of Robben Island and then takes you to the iconic Cableway leading to Table Mountain’s summit. Along the way, you’ll also be able to see Greenmarket Square’s market and the Castle of Good Hope. This is the perfect tour for travellers who crave a combination of history and leisure.
Price: R3150
Website:https://www.capetowndaytours.co.za/city-table-mountain-robben-island
Contact: 021 713 0809 || 076 130 4638
District Six Museum – Ex Resident Tour 📫
District Six is a neighbourhood that represents the effects of apartheid’s Group Areas Act, which allocated locations based on race. The area was a spirited of immigrants, labourers, freed slaves and merchants. However, in 1982, the apartheid government forcibly removed the community and demolished their houses. The District Six Museum memorialises the original residents and their lives.
The museum offers a profound experience with its Ex-Resident Museum Tour. The museum arranges these tours with District Six’s original residents. You can learn through their unique perspective of the community and the events that led to its demise. This is a rare opportunity to learn about Cape Town’s history directly from those affected.
Price: R75 (Pre-Booking is essential)
District Six Museum, Tour Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9.30 am to 1.30 pm
Address: 25A, Buitenkant Street, District Six, Cape Town
Website:https://www.districtsix.co.za/
Contact: 021 466 7200 | 021 466 7210
Five Star Guides – Cape & African History Tour 🚌
Five Star Guides offers tourists private luxury tours across Cape Town and the Western Cape. Their specialist guides are knowledgeable on every aspect of the city, from South African wildlife to its wine, politics and architecture. Their Cape & African History tour highlights prominent historical sites and contextualises their history and significance to Cape Town’s heritage.
Whether you’re interested in history, art, or architecture, their guides will cater to your interests. The tour highlights include the Slave Lodge Museum, District Six, and the Castle of Good Hope. Five Star Guide’s tours cater to discerning travellers who would prefer to sit back and relax, with vehicle costs, attraction/museum entrance fees, and light snacks included.
Price: Available upon request.
Website:https://www.fivestarguides.co.za/tours/cape-and-african-history-tour
Contact: 078 549 8268
Withlocals – Nelson Mandela & Cape Town’s History Private Tour 🏫
Withlocals is a travel platform that connects local independent tour guides with travellers seeking a genuine Cape Town experience. The Nelson Mandela and Cape Town History tour offers an opportunity to see the city through Nelson Mandela’s eyes. It begins at the Iziko Slave Lodge museum, taking you through the city’s history with slavery, and ends at Cape Town’s City Hall & Grand Parade. This is where Nelson Mandela first addressed South Africa as a free man.
The tour lasts 3 hours and is customisable to your interests. Your tour guide will provide a well-informed outlook on South Africa’s first president in a newly democratic country. Learning through the perspective of a local provides an authentic, private, and friendly atmosphere.
Price: R1000
Website:https://www.withlocals.com/experience/nelson-mandela-tour/
Explore Sideways – Historical Cape Town City Tour 🍷
Explore Sideways is a travel company specialising in curated experiences with specialist guides. Their Historical Cape Town City Tour gives you a remarkable overview of the city’s complex history. The full-day tour takes you from the Company’s Garden through celebrated attractions such as Rhodes Memorial, Bo Kaap and more. This tour is especially popular because it stops at Cape Town’s historical wine farm, Groot Constantia.
Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine farm, represents Dutch influences on Cape Town’s booming wine industry. You’ll end your tour with a world-class wine tasting while learning why Cape Town wines are some of the best in the world. Explore Sideways provides travellers with a grand historical tour spanning the whole city and every part of its history.
Price: Available upon request
Website:https://exploresideways.com/tour/historical-cape-town-city-tour/
Contact: 087 265 1285
Cape Town Day Tours – V&A Waterfront 🛥️
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is one of Cape Town’s most popular destinations. Located at Cape Town’s harbour, the V&A Waterfront is central to the city’s history. It has up to 22 landmarks and dates back to the 1650s when South African gold and diamonds were first discovered. Cape Town Day Tours’ guided historical walk provides travellers with an insightful exploration of the harbour and its origins.
The tour begins at Chavonne’s Battery Museum and winds its way through Clock Tower Square, Breakwater Prison, and the Victoria Basin. You can learn about the harbour’s inauguration, the treatment of prisoners in the 1860s, and the SAS Somerset (the sole remaining boom defence vessel on earth). The tour is 1.5 hours; however, you can electively include the Diamond Cutting Tour and a Big Wheel ride.
Price: R1600
Website:https://www.capetowndaytours.co.za/cape-town-walking-tour-va-waterfront
Contact: 021 713 0809 || 076 130 4638
Free Walking Tours Cape Town ☂️
Free Walking Tours Cape Town is an accessible option that requires no booking. Each tour sets off every day at designated time intervals, intending to make Cape Town walkable for everyone. Free Walking Tours promotes accessibility for budget-friendly travellers, giving them the experience of professionally guided tours at no charge.
With Free Walking’s Best of Bo Kaap tour, you can walk along the cobblestone streets of Bo Kaap, learn about Islam and Cape Malay culture and see the oldest mosque in the country. Their Apartheid to Freedom Tour takes a deep dive into Cape Town’s history of apartheid and its related locations. Lastly, the Historic City Tour shows Cape Town’s colonial legacy and those who fought against it. Be sure to check the time of your desired tour on their socials/website.
Free Walking Tours Cape Town, Tour Hours: 9.30 am, 11 am, 2 pm and 4.20 pm
Meet at: Mandela Rhodes Place, Wale St & Georges Mall, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town
Website: https://freewalkingtourscapetown.co.za/
Contact: 076 636 9007
Self Guided Tours 🗺️
The City of Cape Town has worked alongside professional historians and scholars to develop self-guided tour pamphlets that allow visitors to learn about the city independently. This is ideal for travel mavericks who want a first-hand Cape Town experience. Each pamphlet includes a deep dive into the attractions’ historical value. You can download these pamphlets on your device and easily follow the map!
- Slave Heritage Walk: Visit the monumental buildings, markets, and city squares related to the history of enslaved people in Cape Town, including their emancipation and the Dutch East India Company’s involvement
- Company’s Garden and Precinct Walk: Explore the green space in the middle of postcolonial Cape Town. The garden walk takes you from Iziko Slave Lodge and back and features 42 attractions.
- City Hall & Precinct Walk: Tour Cape Town’s oldest urban precinct with its grand Edwardian architecture and complex heritage. This tour features 8 attractions.
Website:https://www.capetown.gov.za/walking-heritage-tours/
Cape Town offers uncountable opportunities to learn about its history, not only through museums but buildings, community and stories. No matter where you are in the city, there is a piece of heritage in every corner. Cape Town’s historical tours take the weight off your shoulders by providing services that share these pieces. Whether you’re interested in learning about Cape Town’s heritage of the Cape Malay community, Dutch colonialism or South Africa’s apartheid era; you’re sure to find your niche with these options!
