Robben Island

Seeing Mandela's tiny cell and hearing firsthand accounts of apartheid's darkest chapter is sobering and essential.

The tour takes about 3.5 hours total, including the 30-minute ferry ride each way. Once on the island, you'll board a bus to see key sites like the lime quarry where prisoners labored and Robert Sobukwe's house, before the walking tour through the prison itself. The guides' personal stories bring the harsh realities of apartheid to life in ways no museum exhibit could.