Orlando West is the neighbourhood in Soweto that most visitors come to see. It is a quiet, leafy residential area of brick houses, small gardens, and wide unpaved streets — nothing like the densely packed informal settlements often associated with the word "township." The concentration of historic sites here is remarkable: Mandela House, the Tutu House, and the Hector Pieterson Museum are all within easy walking distance of each other.
The neighbourhood was established in the 1930s as one of the first planned housing areas for black Sowetans, and many of the houses date from that era. The streets are safe to walk during the day, and the area has enough restaurants and craft shops along Vilakazi Street to make it a self-contained half-day excursion.