Robben Island Tour: Historical Journey

Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Robben Island and discover Nelson Mandela’s prison with guided tours. Book now and skip the ticketing line!

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Robben Island Museum - Experience a full day in the Mother City historic tour with a private guide and experience Robben Island, Long March to Freedom, Canal Walk, & V&A Waterfront (where you will enjoy your lunch). This private day tour is relaxed and enjoyable for guests who prefer complete flexibility at the attractions in Cape Town, South Africa.
What's Included
  • Entry/Admission - Robben Island Museum
  • Bottled water
  • Boat ticket
  • Pre Booked Robben Island Ticket return
What's Not Included
  • Standard Tasting, Select 5 Wines of your choice R130.
  • Kirstenbosch Gardens Entrance Fees R 200.00/adult(international)
  • Food , Drink and Gratuities(optional)
Additional Information

Robben Island, a place of historical significance where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is widely visited in South Africa. The island offers a journey into the past with its guided tours through the prison, black township, and colonial structures.
Book this tour and be guaranteed your group…

Location
Robben Island Museum
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(22 Ratings)
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Lainie_k
Nov 18, 2024
A great day - Jojo is very nice and gives you time to go at your own pace. I would take another tour in the future!
Review provided by Viator
Escape61091434339
Aug 31, 2024
What a day! - The whole tour was incredible, the history at Robben Island and a chance to hear stories from ex inmates was a memory that will last a lifetime. Kirstenbosch like the rest of Cape Town is so beautiful and the wine tasting at the end capped off a great tour! Jojo was the best guide, doing a great job driving us between each stop and sharing information.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Norman_n
Jul 5, 2024
A Great Day In Cape Town! - Georgeo, our tour guide, was professional, friendly and accommodating. Robben island was educational . Both the Island Staff tour guide and the tour guide that had been a political prisoner, offered a clear picture of the Island’s history, both recent and distant. The gardens were beautiful, even though it’s winter here. The food at Moyo offered the perfect comfort food for the time of year. Groot Constancia wineries offered a wine tasting of 5 of their wines. Each wine delivered a pleasant and distinct set of flavourful characteristics. We finished with the Groot Constana dessert wine that was once popular with both Napoleon and Jane Austin. This wine, I believe, is up there and perhaps better than some the best Ice wine, Port or Tokaji wines that I have had the chance to try. Thank you Shine the Way Tour’s.
Review provided by Viator
Mszkoh
Mar 19, 2024
Thank you JoJo! - Jojo was a very kind and thoughtful operator. When constantia’a electricity went out he drove us to an atm to get cash and return. If we asked for slight adjustments he was present. The tour was well organized and he was friendly and knowledgeable the whole way. I super recommend a tour with him!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Explorer53966270560
Mar 13, 2024
Amazing - It was an awesome experience and our driver jojo was the best we felt comfortable and safe and he was very kind to us if possible I would recommend him.....such a truly incredible experience both of the trip and the driver
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nadia_s
Sep 19, 2024
Soggy but memorable trip - First the positives. Jojo was a pleasant guide. He was punctual and a safe driver. Robbens Island experience really touched us in terms of the way Tory outlined things on the bus and Sparks an ex political prisoner described things to us in the prison. I had no idea the suffering and cruelty they experienced and hearing it from someone who lived it put it on a whole other levels. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad when we went- the wind and the rain made for pretty rough going heading to the island that was exponentially worse coming back. That weather also made for less than conducive to explore the Gardens much. We skipped the wine tasting with the weather. Tour would be great with good weather so would recommend- you just cannot plan for Mother Nature!
Review provided by Viator
Ns134
Sep 18, 2024
Soggy but memorable day! - First the positives. Jojo was a pleasant guide. He was punctual and a safe driver. Robbens Island experience really touched us in terms of the way Tory outlined things on the bus and Sparks an ex political prisoner described things to us in the prison. I had no idea the suffering and cruelty they experienced and hearing it from someone who lived it put it on a whole other levels. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad when we went- the wind and the rain made for pretty rough going heading to the island that was exponentially worse coming back. That weather also made for less than conducive to explore the Gardens much. We skipped the wine tasting with the weather. Tour would be great with good weather so would recommend- you just cannot plan for Mother Nature!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Leticiarodegheri
Jul 3, 2024
Worth a visit! - Super punctual and attentive! A pity the day was cold and cloudy, because I believe it would have been better. It's worth it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Edwin_j
Nov 24, 2024
“Private?” Robben Island, Kirstenbosch Gardens and Groot Constantia - This tour is advertised as a tour with a PRIVATE GUIDE,” which I believe is a false description. Yes, my wife and I were the only 2 people on the tour, and we were picked up by a “private tour guide.” However, our “private tour guide,” JoJo, picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the Kirstenbosch Gardens where he told us where to go to purchase our tickets and informed us of the time he would return to pick us up for the next tour. We entered and toured the gardens by ourselves for about 75 minutes until we were fortunate enough to join a free scheduled volunteer-led guided tour of the gardens (for about an hour due to our time constraints). The volunteer guide informed us about the history of the gardens, the various flowers in the sections we toured, and she was fantastic and very knowledgeable. Our “private tour guide” then picked us up in Kirstenbosch Gardens at the appointed time, and he drove us to Groot Constantia Winery. Again, he told us where to go to purchase tickets for a wine tasting and informed us of the time he would return to pick us up for the next tour. The wines we tasted were very good. However, we did not purchase any wines because of the extremely high cost to ship the wines to the USA. The shipping cost alone would have been equivalent to the cost to purchase 6 bottles of wine for every one bottle we purchased. I recorded the names of the wines I liked, and I will see if I can purchase them from a wine seller near my home. We also toured the onsite museum where we learned about the history of the winery, including how Black slaves were used to work in the winery. Additionally, we purchased lunch at the winery, which was very good. There was no tour of the winery facilities itself, which was disappointing. Our “private tour guide” again picked us up at Groot Constantia Winery at the appointed time, and he drove us to the Cape Town harbor for the boat ride to Robbins Island Prison. He again informed us of the time he would return to pick us up after the Robbins Island Prison tour. Going to the prison was a very emotional experience, and it was made more so because our prison guide was also a political prisoner who was incarcerated for about 7 years at the prison, and he was imprisoned along with Nelson Mandela and many others. It is very admirable that he chooses to serve as a guide and relive his experience to tourists, and he exhibited a surprisingly cheerful manner at a place that could only be described as horrible, painful and inhumane for him and the other incarcerated political prisoners. Our “private tour guide” picked us up at the Cape Town harbor at the appointed time, and he drove us to back to our hotel. My low rating is due to the FALSE description of the tour as being with a “PRIVATE GUIDE.” Our “private tour guide” was essentially a driver who took us to 3 different locations for sightseeing. We have done a few other Viator privately guided tours, and this tour DEFINITELY WAS NOT a “privately guided tour.” I must say that our “private tour guide,” JoJo, was very pleasant and punctual, and he did inform us of the sights along the way as he drove us to our various destinations, as well as the sights we would see and experience at each of our respective destinations.
Review provided by Viator
Andy_h
Aug 28, 2024
Never arrived on Robben Island - The ferry was not in operation due to bad weather conditions; they could have known that already at the time of booking..
Review provided by Viator
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January 2025
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