Understanding Cape Town Walking Tour
If there is only one thing you do in Cape Town, then it must be the LocalPlaces Understanding Cape Town walking tour. It will provide you with insight and understanding of the history and make-up of this fascinating city. In fact, it will make you understand the entire South African story. With this knowledge, you will enjoy the rest of your visit to the city and country much more and make better sense of it all!
This leisurely, 4-hour walking tour is easy and slow, covering about 3,5km, with the focus on the background history and context of the city. It provides you with insight into how the city, and South Africa as a country, has come into being. It is the best introductory tour of the city as its history and layout will suddenly make perfect sense to you.
It is a tour for the curiously minded, but it also includes plenty opportunity for sightseeing, photography, experiencing the vibe and ambience of the city – and even a stop or two for drinks and sampling a local delicacy along the way (and food and drinks for your own account).
We meet at Ginja restaurant inside the Victoria & Alfred Hotel at the V&A Waterfront and walk along the Canal District to Battery Park, before making our way over the pedestrian bridge into the city’s Foreshore, where jetties once protruded into the sea. If time allows, we stop at the 14 Stories rooftop for astonishing views, before ambling to Heritage Square with its series or restaurants, and retail spaces in a historic setting. We proceed through the heart of the city (Greenmarket Square) and up St Georges Mall, ending in the astonishing Company’s Garden.
It is a mesmerizing storytelling experience, told within the context of Cape Town, referring to the architecture, landmarks, and spatial planning of the city throughout. It will provide you with astonishing insight into the Cape Town (and South Africa) of today.
The tour focuses on the background story of Cape Town and unpacks its complex, contested and fascinating history from ancient times to the 20th Century. It focuses on our first two storytelling themes, mentioned on our welcome page – Ancient to Dutch Times (1200-1795) and British Times (1795-1910). While we briefly mention the 20th and 21st centuries, including apartheid and democracy, it is impossible to talk about those in detail on this tour. For a complete Cape Town story, best is to combine this tour with the Contemporary Cape Town City tour, explaining the more recent history from Apartheid times to the democratic South Africa of today.
The Cape Town story is presented in easy-to-listen parts along the way. We start off with the 1870s 2nd Industrial Revolution and the Scramble for Africa before returning to pre-colonial history. From ancient African Empires to the local San and Khoi people. On to Portuguese seafarers, conflicts at Salt River, the emergence of Britain and the Netherlands as seafaring nations, a shipwreck and the eventual establishment of a Dutch refreshment station for ships.
This is followed by the events that shaped Cape Town:
– Growth from veggie garden to agricultural settlement (1650-1700)
– Establishment of a multicultural, multi-racial and multi-religious society by the 1700s.
– Turmoil in International Relations (late 1700s) including the USA, France, Britain & Netherlands.
– A British invasion, return to Dutch rule and another British invasion (early 1800s).
– Establishment and reinforcement of the British Cape Colony.
– British Settlers and Frontier Wars with the Xhosa people.
– Migrations out of the Cape Colony and conflicts along the way.
– Discovery of diamonds and gold coinciding with the Scramble for Africa.
– Conflict, occupation and expansion including the Anglo-Zulu and Anglo-Boer wars.
– Cape Town as a British colonial city during and after the South African (2nd Anglo-Boer) War.
We then briefly look at the 20th Century including the industrialized Art Deco era, the Modernist Brutalist Apartheid era (1950-1990) and the contemporary democratic era. More detail on the 20th and 21st centuries can be gained by doing the Contemporary Cape Town City Tour after the Understanding Cape Town tour (combining these two tours with a lunch break in between, makes for the perfect full-day tour experience).
Duration:
This tour lasts 4 hours (but sometimes stretching to 4,5 hours) and can be booked for a 9am or 2pm start.
Rates:
This is our only Cape Town tour that is available as a public tour at a per person rate. All other tours are on a private booking basis. Note our special Summer Series rates:
Daily morning walking tours in Johannesburg & Cape Town this summer! From 20 November to 31 December 2025, LocalPlaces will be offering its most popular Understanding Cape Town and Understanding Johannesburg walking tours as public tours and at an attractive discounted rate. Perfect for a group of friends, a family, work colleagues for a year-end event, or solo travels to engage in a meaningful and most enjoyable activity. Make the most of the sunshine and good weather. Join our thought-provoking and inspiring tours and learn more about the astonishing stories, people, spaces and places of our cities.
Book at a per person rate for any date available (we do have private full-day tour bookings here and there, so please check availability for the date you have in mind).
Special local rate (for anyone residing in South Africa): R300 per person.
Children (12-18): R150 per person.
Children under 12: Free
Special international rate: R500 per person.
Children (12-18): R250 per person.
Children under 12: Free
Tours run from 9am-1pm. Meet us at the dedicated starting points. These special prices only apply to the morning Understanding Cape Town and Understanding Johannesburg walking tours. All other tours available at full rates on a private booking basis.
Starting points and guides
Understanding Cape Town walking tours start at Ginja Restaurant at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel in the V&A Waterfront and end at the Company’s Garden. Tours are guided by Gerald Garner
Understanding Johannesburg walking tours start and end at JSE Newtown (the old stock exchange corner of Diagonal & Pritchard Streets). Underground paid parking available. Tours are guided by Charlie Moyo.
Available as a private tour at any time, at a minimum rate of R2880 for up to 4 guests
(or R720 per person if more than 4 guests).
OR available as a public tour in 2026 (so that other guests can join the group) at any time, subject to availability, at the following rates:
If booking for only one guest: R1250
If booking for two two guests: R950 x 2 = R1900
If booking for three guests: R850 x 3 = R2550
If booking for four guests: R720 x 4 = R2880
And R720 per person if more than 4 guests.
Any food, drinks, or shopping along the way for guests’ own account.
BOOK NOW:
To book your tour, send an email to gerald@localplaces.co.za or a WhatsApp to + 27 82 894 5216.
Please do not phone as we are mostly busy hosting guests.
Send a message and we will contact you as soon as is possible.
We will respond to your booking request and provide an online payment link for you to pay by bank card to secure the booking.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Guests participate in all LocalPlaces tours at their own risk. Neither LocalPlaces, nor its guides, accept any responsibility whatsoever for any injury, accident or death that may occur while participating in an LocalPlaces tour, whether in a public or a private space.
A tour booking is only secured upon payment.
Provisional bookings will automatically be cancelled if not paid within 48 hours from making a booking.
Bookings cannot be cancelled once paid for any reason whatsoever and no refunds will be offered for cancelled bookings.
Bookings can be postponed to another date if postponed more than 30 days in advance of the booked date. However, bookings cannot be postponed for any reason whatsoever within 30 days of the tour date, as we would lose the opportunity to take another booking for that slot.
STARTING POINT
We will stipulate the starting point for your tour in your booking confirmation letter. Most (but not all) tours start at Ginja Restaurant at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel on the V&A Waterfront.
For private tour bookings, it is possible to arrange pick up and drop off from your hotel or accommodation, possibly for an additional fee, depending on location.
