Event information
Free Walking Tours runs free, tip-based tours that require no prior booking: guests are only required to show up during the allotted time slots.
Tours leave daily all year round. The company considers itself more a community service than a tour company, emphasizing a relaxed, fun and informative atmosphere for each tour they lead. As an added plus the tour guides give visitors advice on the best places to visit, shop, eat and explore.
Free Walking Tours has had more than 120 000 walkers and offers four different walking tours. The Historic City Tour tells the stories of the important figures that built and broke colonialism, while also discussing the different eras in Cape Town’s history and how it's like to live in Cape Town today. The Bo Kaap walking tour is a sensory experience: walkers see the colourful houses, smell the eastern spices, and listen to the prayer from a nearby mosque. Guests can taste the Cape Malay food and hear the history of the community while visiting its historical buildings.
In the Apartheid To Freedom walking tour guests are taught about the role Cape Town played in the era, and about laws and the consequences of breaking them. Highlights include the 'apartheid benches', The Cape High Court, and the exact spot where Nelson Mandela made his first speech as a free man.
Tour groups meet at the Motherland Coffee Company in Mandela Rhodes Place. Arrive just before the tour is set to start and look out for their green umbrellas.
