Soweto
South Africa's most famous township — the heart of the struggle story, Vilakazi Street, and the country's most important living history walk.
Trip Role
Ideal stay
Best for
Our take
The single most important living-history visit in Johannesburg — but only if you go with someone who lives there.
The single most important living-history visit in Johannesburg — but only if you go with someone who lives there.
- Trip Role
- Trip Anchor
- Ideal Stay
- Half a day with a guide
- Best For
- First-time visitors, history readers, anyone who wants the struggle story on the ground.
- Skip If
- Travellers who won't go with a local guide or tour.
- Go If
- You want to understand South Africa's recent history where it happened, and you'll do it with a resident guide.
- Worth Extra Drive
- 0 min
Why go
The township at the south-west of Johannesburg, born of forced removals and central to the fight against apartheid — the 1976 Soweto Uprising began here. For travellers, Soweto is not a sight but an experience: Vilakazi Street (the only street in the world to have housed two Nobel Peace Prize laureates), the Hector Pieterson Museum, Mandela House, a shebeen lunch at Sakhumzi, and a bicycle or tuk-tuk tour led by residents. Done with a local guide it is one of the most valuable days in South Africa; done as a quick self-drive selfie stop it misses the point entirely.
What we love
Vilakazi Street's energy; the Hector Pieterson Museum; a Sakhumzi lunch on the street; the bicycle tours run by Soweto residents.
What to know
Go with a resident guide or a community tour operator — the experience is the point, not the sights. Don't self-drive the back streets without a guide. Budget a half day, not an hour.
Last reviewed