Ponte Experience
5
Ponte Experience
By Dlala Nje
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About
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 0-100, max of 30 per group
Duration: 1h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
More
- Guide
- Start:
- 1 Lily Ave, Berea, Johannesburg, 2198, South AfricaEntrance to the tower is at the end of lily avenue, it looks like a dead end but the black entrance gate is on the left. Tell security you are here from Dlala Nje and they will point you to the welcome centre
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point. - Wheelchair accessible
- Pushchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 240263P2- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for pregnant travellers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travellers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travellers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 240263P2
From
AU$43.35
per adult
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Itinerary
- 1 Lily Ave, Berea, Johannesburg, 2198, South AfricaEntrance to the tower is at the end of lily avenue, it looks like a dead end but the black entrance gate is on the left. Tell security you are here from Dlala Nje and they will point you to the welcome centre
- 1Ponte Tower held the title of the Tallest Residential Building in Africa from 1975 - 2017. At 173m tall with a hallow core, it is a brutalist architectural sight to behold.
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
- daniellegD8546DS0 contributionsBest things to do in JoburgI loved this experience of such an Afro cosmopolitan neighbourhood, with very attentive and knowledgeable guides, all while tasting delicious food !Written 6 September 2024
- Wazza800 contributionsAwesome ExperienceBrilliant tour led by passionate and knowledge guides of Ponte City building and surrounding Hillbrow and Berea districts. Great to get a local insight into an often misunderstood neighbourhood, and to see the positive impact the Dlala Nje organisation is having in improving the future for this community. Alvaro & Delight were extremely professional and provided an enjoyable and safe environment whilst walking the area and also upon leaving. Highly recommend and thanks again for also teaching me some local sayings and the witchcraft stories!Written 26 August 2024
- matthewwN4060TP0 contributionsAwesomeWould highly recommend. Great experience with extremely knowledgeable, personable and friendly guides, shout out to Alvero and Julian. 100% must do when visiting JohannesburgWritten 15 August 2024
- Ke-jobesa-1230 contributionsDlala Nje!I admire Dlala Nje for what they are doing for the community in Ponte City. These tours are very well organised and educational. We walked, had a very good lunch and enjoyed the amazing view from the 51st floor. I genuinely enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and talking to you guys. Highly recommend joining one of their tours and supporting their work by doing so!Written 6 August 2024
- Meander601279027140 contributionsUnexpected and Amazing tour of the city.I really enjoyed the tour, unexpected and surprising as I didn't think I would learn as much as I did about the city and myself! I'm from Mamelodi, I grew up in the townships and have worked in Pretoria and Joburg so I have seen quite a lot. But this amazed me. Met incredible people from South Africa and abroad. Learnt about their experiences. Most of all what made the tour what it was were our guides Musa & Alvaro. Appreciate them both for their knowledge, warmth, and interaction. They made us feel safe and were open to questions. Really would recommend it not only to tourists but locals as well. Learn about your city, it's history and it's complexities.Written 6 August 2024
- ndumisom20240 contributionsImmersiveGreat experience on the Hillbrow tour. Very immersive experience with views, food, and incredible guides. Highly recommend to see the other side of the country that many really witnessWritten 1 August 2024
- W9003JUterryh0 contributionsAn excellent way to experience community life in Johannesberg.This tour allows you to observe the life of this community, how it changes from street to street, and see how people go about their lives. With the commentary of the guides, filling in historical and contemporary information you are not just passing through, you feel the heartbeat of the ordinary people of Johannesberg, and all the immigrants who have flocked here. It's colourful and beautiful and feels real and full of meaning. Because you are with well known community members, you are almost blending into the community too. We also went on to do the 'Taste of Yeoville' tour, but in the afternoon not the night - it was fantastic! there is not much overlap as the vibe in the two places are quite different. the food was fantastic esp the Carapau fish at the Cameroonian restaurant, and the succulent fried chicken and pap with cabbage, kale and beans. YUM!!! One thing I noticed was the young guides looking out for you in the most unobtrusive way. Also the delightful banter between these young men, bursting into laughter at themselves and their own opinions was so disarming. This is the future of the country, and it looks bright!Written 12 July 2024
- 51fariham0 contributionsThe most amazing food experience!We were so amazed by everything Yeoville had to offer (the area we went for the food), the tour is led by amazing people and a must do to learn more about the Joburg that regular tourists might not seeWritten 24 June 2024
- backpacker0190230 contributionsBrilliant tour of Yeoville eateries with Cynthia and Delight!Brilliant tour of Yeoville eateries with Cynthia and Delight! This was an amazing experience which really highlighted the diverse nature of Yeoville and the different culinary experiences on offer.Written 6 June 2024
- Pioneer076775774780 contributionsWonderful trip at HillbrowThe trip is amazing and we have a chance to get familiar with the history of Hillbrow. I would like to pay gratitude to tour guide Delight who provides us an in-depth explanation about the culture and history of Hillbrow. If you would opt for direct pick-up service at your hotel, you could also approach the tour directly for details.Written 15 May 2024
- H6644WIliams0 contributionsA definite must do if in Joburg!We coupled this tour with the taste of Yeoville tour. These are a definite must do if in Joburg. An amazing experience walking the streets gaining an insightful and eye-opening look into these misunderstood areas of the city. Was quite the experience! Both our guides, Delight and Alvaro were also incredible and amazing people. Was great to literally hang out with them all day. all proceeds also go towards funding the community school run within the Ponte Tower.Written 6 May 2024
- H6644WIliams0 contributionsA definite must do if in Joburg!We coupled this tour with the Hillbrow tour. These are a definite must do if in Joburg. An amazing experience walking the streets gaining an insightful and eye-opening look into these misunderstood areas of the city. Was quite the experience! Both our guides, Delight and Alvaro were also incredible and amazing people. Was great to literally hang out with them all day. all proceeds also go towards funding the community school run within the Ponte Tower.Written 6 May 2024
- Pascal P0 contributionsOutstanding tour and learning experienceThis is an amazing project and tour. Our guides Alvaro, Julian and Stepfather were insightful, patient, and made us feel welcome and safe. We learned so much about this misunderstood neighborhood. 5 stars 🤩 well- deserved and thank you so much for your great tour and hospitality, the food was delicious and the views from Ponte tour are amazing 🇿🇦❤️.Written 26 April 2024
- ndumisom20240 contributionsImmersiveGreat experience on the Yeoville food tour. Very immersive experience with great food and incredible guides. Fully recommend for those who wish to see more of JohannesburgWritten 31 March 2024
- MahoI0 contributionsA great tour for a great causeI loved this tour and the tour guides, they're really warm and friendly people with a lot of knowledge of Ponte City and the surrounding areas, really recommended!Written 7 March 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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5.0
151 reviews
Excellent
142
Very good
8
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Esmé TD
Johannesburg, South Africa14 contributions
Situated in Berea, between the other famous neighbourhoods Yeoville & Berea: Ponte city or the ‘Vodacom tower’ is a staple of the skyline…and yet as a local it always felt shrouded, sometimes sinisterly, in mystery. Dlala Nje is an incredible community organisation running a free educational crèche for kids and teenagers both in the building and nearby. This tour assists in funding them. The tour, which is about an hour & costs R350 pp, will be guided by friendly & knowledgable Dlala Nje volunteers/ residents of Ponte City. You go right through the building from its movie-set rocky foundations to its top floors while following the story of the buildings tumultuous history, from luxury to gang takeovers to failed contracts and renovation efforts. I cannot recommend it enough!
Written 20 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mike g
5 contributions
Feb 2020
I am an architecture grad student and I traveled to Johannesburg with my university. We were taken around the city by multiple tour guides and staff from the universities in the city and the people at Dlala Nje were by far the best and had the most nuanced takes of the city and history. Not to mention they seem to be running productive programs with the money from these tours. I would recommend this to anybody traveling to see Johannesburg!
Written 17 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks Mike!
We appreciate your kind words - we have been trying to show people the different side of Johannesburg and it sounds like we are still doing a good job! Hope to see you back here again soon...
Written 29 February 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Claire GW
2 contributions
Jan 2022
I enjoyed every single minute of this tour. As a Joburg girl now living in London exploring Ponte was both nostalgic and eye opening. My tour guide Wayne was excellent - so warm and knowledgeable with a real passion for the area and its history. He's also clearly loved amongst the community as many people stopped to greet us, making me feel even more welcome. Dlala Nje is such a vital organisation and I'm proud to support their efforts to keep the conversation around Joburg's history alive.
Written 29 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dominic W
1 contribution
July 2023 • Friends
An excellent tour with a very knowledgeable guide. The Ponte City tower itself is very cool to see from the inside and provides a fantastic view of the Joburg skyline. The history of the building is really worth hearing about even if you are a local who might know the basic outline. The full account of events is even more interesting! The ticket price mostly goes towards the running of the a daycare centre for local children which provides a valuable service. Overall by far the best thing I have done in Joburg and I would highly recommend.
Written 15 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Shaunagh M
Dublin, Ireland2 contributions
Mar 2020
This is my second time attending the challenge. Myself and a few ladies from gym came together for the experience. The DlalaNje team is amazing, organised, helpful, informative and punctual. The entire set-up is great; from entering the parking to enjoying your breakfast with views from the top floor! Participating in this challenge has certainly altered my view of JHB inner city and I am not nearly as afraid as I was before attending!
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for coming to visit!
Its so important the negative myths about our city and this building become a thing of the past :)
See you soon!
Written 9 September 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stefan N
Boulder, CO35 contributions
Mar 2022
I couldn't have asked for better experience with my Ponte City Tour, which I did with Sifiso on 12 March before then joining for the Hillbrow and Yeoville tour!! This tour takes you to the very top of the building - on the 51st floor, where Ponte and Dlala Nje have a lounge and office. Sifiso provided a beautiful history of the building, gave me a tour of the skyline (Hillbrow, Rosebank, Sandton, and more) and importantly summarized many of Ponte's key moments historically from the 1970s through to the present day. Some of my favorite parts of that brilliant historical frame were the connections between late-1980s redlining and the building and neighborhoods' subsequent disinvestment, and 2008-era boom and busts for the building. And of course, the place is photogenic, and the photos are amazing from the base of the building and up top.
The best thing about everything Dlala Nje does is that the organization is embedded within the Ponte community and proceeds support a youth community center. If you do any tours in Hillbrow, Yeoville, or Ponte, do it with Dlala Nje and their awesome team!!
The best thing about everything Dlala Nje does is that the organization is embedded within the Ponte community and proceeds support a youth community center. If you do any tours in Hillbrow, Yeoville, or Ponte, do it with Dlala Nje and their awesome team!!
Written 12 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Skhaftin
4 contributions
Sept 2021
I have been on this tour several times, I brought clients here and this time I brought my team. Most of them grew up very close by in Bertrams and surrounding. Yet none of them had ever set foot into Ponte. It was such a wonderful experience for them. You could watch how their perceptions and narratives started to shift.
I think everyone, especially here in Jo burg, should try it out.
Thank you Dlala Nje team for the amazing work you do!
You conversation at a time!
I think everyone, especially here in Jo burg, should try it out.
Thank you Dlala Nje team for the amazing work you do!
You conversation at a time!
Written 9 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are so happy you enjoyed your experience with Dlala Nje! We can't wait to see you back in Hillbrow
for some more #PonteLove :)
Written 2 February 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Julian Daniels
Randburg, South Africa9 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
Being a born & bread ‘Johannesburger’ I’ve never been up the Ponte building, always seen it from a distance as a very distinguishing part of the Hillbrow skyline. Thanks to our friends Wayne & Alistair for exposing my wife and I to another rooftop gem in and around our city. They hosted a get together on the 52nd floor with the help of the team from Ndlala Nje. The views of the Johannesburg skyline are fantastic during the day and become surreal at night time, this was the highlight of my experience.The Ndlala Nje project with its attached library on the ground floor offer hope to the local children and is worthy of supporting. Books are the key to life; my hope is that the project continues to grow and prosper and of course help to raise leaders that our world so desperately needs!
Written 1 November 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are so happy you enjoyed your experience with Dlala Nje! Even more so as a thoroughbred Joburger!!!!
We can't wait to see you back in Hillbrow
for some more #PonteLove :)
Written 2 February 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Karl J
Greater Johannesburg, South Africa2 contributions
Dec 2020
We did the Ponte Experience as an end-of-year work function, it was an excellent experience enjoyed by everyone that attended.
The event organization was seamless (including transport in a 'taxi' to/from Ponte). The views were spectacular and the experience is something different that I believe anyone (local or visitor to Johannesburg) would enjoy, its a genuine 'experience' of city life and a piece of history.
The event organization was seamless (including transport in a 'taxi' to/from Ponte). The views were spectacular and the experience is something different that I believe anyone (local or visitor to Johannesburg) would enjoy, its a genuine 'experience' of city life and a piece of history.
Written 7 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for the beautiful review! Optimism is infectious and Dlala Nje prides itself on leaving people feeling positive about Johannesburg. We truly hope to see you back soon at Dlala Nje for some more #PonteLove :)
Written 26 September 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Leigh-Anne D
57 contributions
Nov 2022
This is an hour-long tour, you look at Ponte from the top and from the base, and then get a very informative chat about the building and its history in their event space which used to be one of the apartments. Our guide who grew up and still lives in the area was incredibly knowledgeable (with a great sense of humour!). On arrival we met in the kid's centre at the bottom of the building, there we got a glimpse of the incredible work Dlala Nje is doing with kids in the area, it's really quite extraordinary. The profits from the tours go into the programme for the kids, so a great tour for a great cause, you can't go wrong!
Written 24 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience