‘Footsteps to Freedom’, a guided walking tour around key heritage sites in Cape Town’s historic city centre, is being hosted by the Taj Cape Town as part of the luxury hotel’s unique service offerings. In association with the Only Team, a specialist team of tour guides who provide quality personalised experiences, the Taj Cape Town’s Footsteps to Freedom tours will provide locals and visitors to the city an opportunity to learn more about the city’s fascinating history.
The Only Team has provided the Taj Cape Town with professional tour guides who will take participants on a leisurely walking tour of sites including St George’s Cathedral, the Slave Precinct, the Grand Parade, St George’s Mall, Company Gardens and Parliament.
“The guides take you on a journey through time and build up a picture in your mind using the city’s streets and ‘fabric’ as props to tell its story,” says Willie Williams, Director of Sales and Marketing. The tour also tells tales of international struggles when observing a piece of the Berlin Wall situated on the Taj Cape Town’s doorstep, as well as more uplifting stories, including South Africa’s three Nobel Peace Prize winners, who all worked within 15 metres from the hotel itself.
Each guide has a minimum of five years of tour guiding experience and, since they are partnered with a host of independent professional service providers, they have the expert ability to impart a culturally rich and knowledgeable experience as part of the walk. In addition to the cultural offering at the Taj Cape Town, guests may also avail themselves of complimentary consultations with one of the city specialists in the comfort of the Taj lobby, any morning between 08h30 and 10h30, Tuesdays to Saturdays, for expert advice on what to see and experience based on their individual interests.
St George’s Mall, a multi-faceted pedestrian walkway in the heart of the city, is on the Taj Cape Town’s doorstep. It offers a plethora of activities ranging from sidewalk restaurants and coffee bistros, to African curio shops, stalls and art galleries. It is also known as the ‘jewellery route’ of Cape Town, with numerous jewellers along the mall, from Thibault Square up to St George’s Cathedral – one of the few cathedrals that opened its doors to all races during the apartheid era. Live entertainment by drummers, dancers and street artists provide a lively and entertaining ambience for shoppers and strollers.
Locals and tourists can enjoy this two-hour leisurely stroll which departs from the Taj Cape Town’s lobby at 10h30, from Tuesdays to Saturdays, at R200 per person.
From 28 July to 29 September, as part of the hotel’s winter promotion, the Taj Cape Town is offering a Winter Discovery Walk at 10h30 on Saturdays. This special includes the wonderful Footsteps to Freedom walk as well as hearty, homemade soup and freshly baked bread rolls at the Taj’s MINT Restaurant, for only R95 per person.
