Robben Island: The Cell That Changed a Country

Nelson Mandela was held here for 18 of his 27 years in a cell measuring 2.4 by 2.1 meters. Tours are led by former political prisoners. Standing in the doorway while a guide who was imprisoned in the next cell tells you what the days were like produces a feeling no museum can replicate.

The ferry from the V&A Waterfront takes 30 minutes. Book well ahead — tours sell out. The island is evidence that moral imagination can survive physical confinement, and that a prison can produce a president. Bring a jacket for the boat crossing. The return view of Table Mountain from the water is the view Mandela couldn't see for eighteen years.