Robben Island

Approx. Time: 4 hours
Activity Level: Easy to Moderate

For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometers from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society.

This island was originally a penal colony for errant slaves and today offers tours of Nelson Mandela's quarters, where he spent twenty years for his struggle against apartheid. The prison was closed in 1996 and declared a National Monument and Museum. It is an interesting attraction for anyone who enjoys South African political history!

The Robben Island Museum tour starts at Jetty 1 on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, where the museum ticket office, shop and information center is located. From December 2001, ferries will depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway building at the new Clock Tower precinct development.

Ferries depart seven days a week at regular intervals throughout the day, weather permitting.

The standard tour is presently 3 and half hours long, including the two half-hour ferry trips there and back.

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