Top of Africa

Activities

Experience the heart of Johannesburg in a thrilling 4-hour walking tour! Kick off at Gandhi Square, be inspired by Gandhi's legacy, then uncover the city's gold mining origins on Main Street. Visit Chancellor House, witness Mandela's historical impact, and explore Ferreirasdorp, the birthplace of Johannesburg. Be amazed by the Nelson Mandela Bridge in vibrant Newtown and the iconic Market Theatre, a hub of cultural resistance. Indulge in Braamfontein's lively atmosphere with a lunch break among stunning street art. Conclude at Constitution Hill, a testament to South Africa's turbulent past and hopeful future. This easy, exciting tour is your gateway to Johannesburg's rich history and vibrant culture, complete with a Constitution Hill ticket. All ages welcome – just bring comfy shoes and a sense of adventure!

Johannesburg, Soweto and the Apartheid Museum are the perfect destinations for learning about the City of Gold. Start the day by visiting key landmarks in Johannesburg city, starting with Constitutional Hill where you will learn about apartheid prisoners. Then, head deep into the city, driving through the tall buildings, most of them built during the gold rush period. The next stop will be Top of Africa where you can see the city from above and take photos. The Apartheid Museum tour is the next stop as you dig deeper into the dark apartheid history of South Africa. This will be a 3-hour tour of the museum before heading into Soweto township. On arrival, you visit Mandela House Museum and get a 30-minute guided tour into his former house before he was sent to prison. The Hector Pieterson Museum will give you some inspiration on the language resistance uprising of 1976. Finally, drive by Orlando Towers and the World Cup Stadium to finish the tour.

We will build an image of the history of the city from an architectural standpoint. We will walk and explore the city from that perspective. Our tour starts at Mary Fitzgerald Square in the Newtown district where art and creativity thrive, making our way into Albertina Sisulu Street (formerly known as Market Street) which is the birth of the entire city. There, we will pause at the Library gardens where it all started as I tell you and show you the historical spaces and changes over the years. Our path will take us to the beautiful mining offices of the Marshalltown district which holds a vital role in the narrative of the city, and our tour ends at “The top of Africa” in Carlton Center, which was the highest point in the whole of Africa until recently. (Currently, the Top of Africa is closed, we'll end at the bottom of the Carlton Center).