Setting off from Nelson Mandela Gateway in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, you’ll board a catamaran for the half-hour crossing to Robben Island. A video will be shown on board explaining some of the history of Robben Island, from its early days as a place of exile for Indigenous and Muslim leaders who rebelled against Dutch and British Imperial rule through to its use as a leper colony in the early 20th century and its phase as a prison under the apartheid regime for both common-law and political prisoners.
Once you arrive, you’ll board a bus for a tour of the island. Here you can see the village where the warders lived. There’s also the church and graveyard built during the island's time as a leper colony, the house where the Pan-African Congress leader, Robert Sobukwe, spent nine years in solitary confinement, and the lime quarry where prisoners including Nelson Mandela were put to work.
At the prison itself, your tour will be conducted by a former inmate, who’ll recount their time there as they show you around the cells, detailing how overcrowded conditions were. You’ll also see where Nelson Mandela spent much of his incarceration, which has been left exactly as it was.
After your tour, you’ll take the ferry back to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
Start planning your tailor-made trip by contacting one of our South Africa specialists
These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.
A journey aboard The Blue Train
Travel between Pretoria and Cape Town aboard the Blue Train to experience one of South Africa’s finest rail journeys. You’ll pass through mountains, farmland, and vineyards, pausing to explore old diamond-mining towns en route.
A journey on Rovos Rail
Travel across Southern Africa in the restored trains of Rovos Rail. With several luxury journeys to choose from, you can explore the regions that most interest you in both comfort and style.
Cape Town city tour
Take a guided tour of the “Mother City”. You’ll visit the Castle of Good Hope, the Parliament Buildings, and the brightly painted Bo-Kaap district for a grounding in the city’s history and culture, as well as riding the rotating cable car up to Table Mountain’s summit.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden occupies a large swathe of beautiful land on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. It houses a huge collection of indigenous flora, such as heathery fynbos, flowering proteas and dramatically colored strelitzias.
Museums of Cape Town
Cape Town boasts a variety of museums that help tell the story of the city’s multi-layered past, as well as that of South Africa as a whole and the wider continent. We share a few that we particularly recommend visiting during your stay.
Peninsula Tour
The Cape Peninsula is an area of dramatic natural beauty and huge ecological significance, which manages to retain a wild feel despite its huge popularity with visitors. As you drive south from Cape Town, you pass through the exclusive suburbs of Camps Bay and Clifton before continuing onto Hout Bay and through Constantia, where the road meanders behind Table Mountain and down onto the coast.
Table Mountain Tour
Guests are taken to the lower terminal for the cable-car up Table Mountain. The cable-car is a very modern affair, and completes a 360º rotation during the ascent, affording you fantastic views over the city.
You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.
