Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
Show more

The Heart of Cape Town Museum Admission Ticket

icon 2 hours Mobile ticket Free Cancellation
Tickets from € 16.15

Select your date

November 2024
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30

You can select up to 15 travellers in total

0

Adult (18 - 99)

Minimum: 1, Maximun: 15
+
-
0

Child (4 - 17)

Maximun: 15
+
-
0

Infant (0 - 3)

Maximun: 15
+
-
Celebrate one of the greatest moments in medical history at the Heart of Cape Town Museum – a museum dedicated to the world’s first successful heart transplant. Visitors experience the drama of that moment in the fully restored, original operating rooms laid out as they were on the day of the operation. Highlights • Museum dedicated to the world’s first successful heart transplant • Fully restored, original operating rooms laid out as they were on the day of the operation • Trained and certified tour guide
  • Guided tour
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
Departure Point

Heart of Cape Town Museum, Cape Town Central, South Africa

  • Heart of Cape Town Museum, Cape Town Central, South Africa
    Celebrate one of the greatest moments in medical history at the Heart of Cape Town Museum – a museum dedicated to the world’s first successful heart transplant. Visitors experience the drama of that moment in the fully restored, original operating rooms laid out as they were on the day of the operation. The medical museum also includes a timeline of events that led up to the operation and exhibitions on the donor Denise Darvall, and the surgeon Christiaan Barnard. A trained and certified tour guide will describe the electrifying events of the day with the help of silicone models and reenacting important scenes. History After being declared braindead, Denise Darvall was brought to Theatre B at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on 3 December 1967. She was prepared for surgery, and at 03:00 her heart was harvested for transplantation. Professor Christiaan Barnard, assisted by Rodney Hewitson, proceeded to sew the donor heart into the recipients’ chest. The operation lasted four and three quarter hours, and at 06:13, the heart began beating in its new home. The Heart of Cape Town Museum honours the skill and wisdom of the transplant team, the courage of the recipient, the generosity of the donor’s father and the memory of the donor herself. Did you know There were several important milestones that led up to the first human heart transplant. The first of these was an operation performed on a dog on 22 July 1958. Norman Shumway and Dick Lower succeeded in bringing a dog’s heart back to life after it had stopped and been stored in saline for one hour. Six days later, Chris Barnard performed his first open heart surgery on 15-year-old Joan Pick. Advice for visitors At the time of this surgery, Christiaan Barnard received a lot of criticism, particularly with regard to ethics. At the Heart of Cape Town Museum, the exhibition covers Barnard’s struggle and the ethical backlash and international attention the surgery received. Another fascinating feature to take note of is the recreation of the donor recipient’s recovery. Ask the guides as much as you can about it – they are knowledgeable and some have even worked with Barnard! The tour lasts roughly two hours, and although it is a fantastic learning experience for children, pre-school age children and youngsters are not recommended as guests.
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Service animals allowed
  • Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
  • All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • The tour lasts roughly two hours, and although it is a fantastic learning experience for children, pre-school age children and youngsters are not recommended as guests.
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
Elisabeth N
23 Feb 2023
Absolut sehenswert! Sehr professionelle und packende Führung! Gibt Einblick in das Leben einer sehr charismatischen Persönlichkeit.
Katrin G
06 Feb 2023
Sehr sehr tolles Museum, ganz liebevoll gemacht. Len hat uns die Geschichte um Christian Barnard ganz emotional geschildert. Es erleichtert wenn man bereits vorher ein bisschen Bescheid weiß über die erste erfolgreiche Herztransplantation der Welt aber notwendig ist es nicht. Im Rahmen der Führung erfährt man wirklich viele Details über Christian Barnard als Arzt, als Forscher und als Mensch. Unbedingt zu empfehlen!!! Englischkenntnisse notwendig.
Lynne_L
17 Jan 2023
The heart of cape town museum is an amazing experience, a must see. However DO NOT TRUST VIATOR to do the booking for you. They reserved a day when the museum was closed and did not inform the facility of our booking. This is the second time Viator was irresponsible for our bookings. I will not use them again. However, please go to the Heart of Capetown museum. It was fantastic as was Cindy the direct.
This tour in Cape Town is organized by SA City Pass

The tickets have been added to your basket

Tickets in your cart: 0

Current total (incl. VAT): € 0.00


Continue shopping Go to checkout

We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
How great that you want to share your experience! Your feedback helps other travelers to make a better choice.

New review

Bad Disappointing Average Good Very good
0 / 120
0 / 255