1 Day Robben Island & Cape Town History Tour

The tour begins with a visit to the Robben Island Gateway at the V&A Waterfront (Nelson Mandela Gateway), where a ferry is boarded to the island. Robben Island is a powerful symbol of the struggle against apartheid and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the visit includes a guided experience through the maximum-security prison. A highlight is viewing Nelson Mandela’s former cell, alongside broader interpretation of daily prison life and the island’s layered history. Depending on conditions and schedules, the outing typically includes time on the ferry and an island tour element before returning to the V&A Waterfront, where guests can enjoy lunch before continuing with Cape Town’s historic attractions.

First on the afternoon agenda is the Castle of Good Hope, historically significant as South Africa’s oldest existing building, constructed between 1666 and 1679. After visiting the Castle, the tour continues to the Company’s Garden, established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company as a produce garden supporting passing ships and the early settlement. Today it is a central public park and botanical space where guests can stroll among key features such as the gardens and ponds while your guide adds context to Cape Town’s colonial-era development. After the final stop, guests are transferred back to their chosen drop-off locations in Cape Town.