Should you visit Soweto or Pretoria?
Which city should you visit? Read on to compare the prices of travel for Soweto and Pretoria. We’ll break down costs for accommodation, food, transportation and more to help you learn more about these two destinations. Then, you can figure out if either of these two places are accessible based on your travel budget. So, let's dig into it.
Soweto
The name Soweto is an acronym for South Western Townships, first used in 1963 to describe the groups of townships to the south west of Johannesburg. It is a city of contrasts, featuring anything from tin shanties to luxurious mansions, and is probably best known for being the home of two Nobel Prize winners.
Pretoria
Located in Gauteng Province, Pretoria is the administrative capital city of South Africa, making it home to many government buildings and three universities. It is actually one of three capital cities, being home to the executive branch, with Cape Town as the legislative capital and Bloemfontein as the judicial capital. Within South Africa, Pretoria is also known as the "Jacaranda City" due to the thousands of jacaranda trees lining its streets, parks, and gardens.
Which city is cheaper, Pretoria or Soweto?
These are the overall average travel costs for the two destinations.
The average daily cost (per person) in Soweto is $62, while the average daily cost in Pretoria is $49. These costs include accommodation (assuming double occupancy, so the traveler is sharing the room), food, transportation, and entertainment. While every person is different, these costs are an average of past travelers in each city. Below is a breakdown of travel costs for Soweto and Pretoria in more detail.
Accommodation
For a normal double-occupancy room in Soweto, $64 is the average cost for a hotel room. Also in Soweto, the typical price for a place to stay for one person is $32, such as in a hostel.
An average hotel room with basic furnishings costs about $50 in Pretoria For the most convenient locations and nicer amenities you can expect to pay a bit more.
Food
Soweto food costs typically run travelers around $20 per day. Eating every meal in a nicer restaurant will drive the cost up, and grabbing fast food or casual meals will help you save money.
On average, meal and food prices in Pretoria cost around $15 per person, per day. While this price can vary widely by location, the type of restaurant, and the amount of food ordered, a typical meal often costs around $6.00.
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Food
Meals for one day
Soweto $20
Pretoria $15
Local Transportation
To get around in Soweto, the average visitor spends $12 per day, per person. This includes the costs of taxi rides and private drivers as well as public transportation, which tends to be much more affordable.
To get around in Pretoria, the average visitor spends $12 per day, per person. This includes the costs of taxi rides and private drivers as well as public transportation, which tends to be much more affordable.
Is it cheaper to fly into Soweto or Pretoria?
Prices for flights to both Pretoria and Soweto change regularly based on dates and travel demand. We suggest you find the best prices for your next trip on Kayak, because you can compare the cost of flights across multiple airlines for your prefered dates.
Entertainment
In Soweto, the costs for things to do, activities, admission tickets, and other sightseeing expenses are on average $16 per person, per day.
In Pretoria, the costs for things to do, activities, admission tickets, and other sightseeing expenses are on average $14 per person, per day.
Tours and Activities in Soweto
For Soweto, here are a few prices for actual activities, tours, and tickets provided by various companies:
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Cradle Of Humankind Tour:
$135
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Half Day Soweto Tour:
$57
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Platteklip Gorge Guided Hike Experience from Cape Town:
$59
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Soweto Bicycle Tour:
$47
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Soweto Pub-Crawl Tour:
$55
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Soweto by Bike | Half-Day Johannesburg Cycle Tour:
$65
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Soweto half day tour:
$55
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Virtual Tour Of Soweto:
$20
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Walking Tours, Bicycle Tours:
$34
Tours and Activities in Pretoria
For Pretoria, here are a few prices for actual activities, tours, and tickets provided by various companies:
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13-Day Kruger Swazi and Drakensberg Adventure Accommodated Tour from Pretoria:
$2,399
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13-Day Kruger Swaziland and Drakensberg Adventure Camping Tour from Pretoria:
$1,833
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14-Day Mozambique and Zim Explorer Adventure Camping Tour from Pretoria:
$2,597
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20-Day Kruger to Cape Town Adventure Accommodated Tour from Pretoria:
$2,866
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20-Day Kruger to Cape Town Adventure Camping Tour from Pretoria:
$2,031
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23-Day Kruger, Vic Falls and Zanzibar Adventure Accommodated Tour from Pretoria:
$4,521
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23-Day Kruger, Vic Falls and Zanzibar Adventure Camping Tour from Pretoria:
$3,184
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3 Days/2 Nights package Tour -Kruger National Park:
$359
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4-Day Kruger Safari Adventure Accommodated Tour from Pretoria:
$708
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4-Day Kruger Safari Adventure Camping Tour from Pretoria:
$552
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6-Hour Johannesburg Guided Tour from Pretoria:
$154
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7-Day African Insight Adventure Accommodated Tour from Pretoria:
$1,635
Alcohol
Typically, people visiting Soweto spend on average $8.21 on alcoholic beverages per person, per day.
Typically, people visiting Pretoria spend on average $31 on alcoholic beverages per person, per day.
When we compare the travel costs of actual travelers between Soweto and Pretoria, we can see that Soweto is more expensive. And not only is Pretoria much less expensive, but it is actually a significantly cheaper destination. So, traveling to Pretoria would let you spend less money overall. Or, you could decide to spend more money in Pretoria and be able to afford a more luxurious travel style by staying in nicer hotels, eating at more expensive restaurants, taking tours, and experiencing more activities. The same level of travel in Soweto would naturally cost you much more money, so you would probably want to keep your budget a little tighter in Soweto than you might in Pretoria.
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