Walk into the caves where the human story began

Johannesburg: Cradle of Humankind Guided Tour with Transfers

The best-reviewed dedicated Cradle tour on GetYourGuide. A guide collects you in Johannesburg, drives you out to the World Heritage Site and walks you through the story of human origins at Maropeng and, when tours are running, down into the Sterkfontein Caves. Back in the city by early afternoon.

• Hotel pickup and drop-off in Johannesburg
• Maropeng exhibition and underground boat ride
• Sterkfontein Caves when open to visitors

Pretoria/Sandton: Cradle of Humankind & Sterkfontein Caves

A flexible small-group tour that picks up in both Sandton and Pretoria — handy because few Cradle tours start from the capital. You visit the UNESCO-listed fossil sites with a guide who explains what was found where, with time for the cave tour and the visitor centre depending on the option chosen.

• Pickup from Sandton, Johannesburg or Pretoria
• Small group with a local guide
• Half-day or longer options

From Johannesburg: Cradle of Humankind and Lion Safari

The classic two-in-one day west of Johannesburg: human origins in the morning, big cats in the afternoon. After the Cradle of Humankind you carry on to a nearby wildlife park for a guided drive past lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and plains game. A perfect 5.0 guest score at the time of writing.

• Fossil sites in the morning
• Game drive among lions and other predators
• One driver-guide for the whole day

From Johannesburg: Rhino & Lion Safari and Wonder Cave Tour

A full day inside the Cradle’s own private game reserve at Kromdraai. You drive among white rhino, buffalo and antelope, visit the predator camps and then go underground into Wonder Cave, a vast dripstone chamber with some of the best formations in Gauteng.

• Game drive in the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve
• Descent into the huge single chamber of Wonder Cave
• Rhino, buffalo, lion, cheetah and antelope

From Johannesburg: Lion & Safari Park Half-Day Tour

The most-booked wildlife outing in the area. A guide drives you from Johannesburg to the Lion & Safari Park on the edge of the Cradle, where a caged vehicle takes you through enclosures of lions, white lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and hyenas, with free-roaming giraffe and antelope elsewhere in the park.

• Hotel transfers from Johannesburg
• Guided drive through the predator camps
• Giraffe, zebra and antelope in the antelope area

Johannesburg: Hot Air Balloon Flight along Magalies Valley

Lift off at dawn from the Magalies River valley, just north of the Cradle, and drift over farmland, bush and the ancient ridge of the Magaliesberg. Flights last about an hour and finish with the traditional toast and a cooked breakfast. Flying is weather dependent, so keep a spare morning.

• About an hour in the air at sunrise
• Views of the Magaliesberg and the Cradle
• Sparkling wine and breakfast after landing

Hartbeespoort: Lion and Safari Park Guided Tour

If you have your own car, this is the cheapest good way to do the Lion & Safari Park. You meet at the park and join a ranger-led drive through the predator camps and the antelope area. Easy to combine with Maropeng in the morning or Hartbeespoort Dam afterwards.

• Guided drive in a park vehicle
• Lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and hyenas
• No transfer — meet at the park

Johannesburg: Soweto & Apartheid Museum Half-Day Tour

The essential Johannesburg companion to a Cradle visit: from the deep past to the recent one. A guide takes you through Soweto — Vilakazi Street, the Hector Pieterson Memorial, the Orlando Towers — and on to the Apartheid Museum, with pickup from your hotel.

• Vilakazi Street and Mandela House
• Hector Pieterson Memorial
• Time inside the Apartheid Museum

Sterkfontein Caves

Home of Mrs Ples and Little Foot

The most productive early-hominin site on Earth. Dolomite caves near Krugersdorp where Mrs Ples was blasted out of the rock in 1947 and where the near-complete skeleton of Little Foot lay hidden for millions of years. Guided tours take you underground; the caves reopened in 2025 after a long closure, so check current opening days.

Maropeng Visitor Centre

The official visitor centre of the Cradle

Maropeng means “returning to the place of origin” in Setswana. Its grass-covered Tumulus building holds an interactive exhibition on the origins of the Earth and of humankind, entered by an underground boat ride through the elements. The best single stop for families and for understanding the whole World Heritage Site.

Rising Star Cave & Homo naledi

The discovery that rewrote the textbooks

In 2013 two cavers squeezed into a hidden chamber of the Rising Star system and found the floor littered with bones. They belonged to Homo naledi, a previously unknown human relative, and the haul became the largest collection of hominin fossils ever found in Africa. The cave itself is a working research site, not a visitor attraction — here is how to experience the story.

Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and Wonder Cave

A game reserve inside the World Heritage Site

A privately owned reserve of about 1,600 hectares at Kromdraai, in the heart of the Cradle, now trading as the Bothongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve. Drive yourself or join a game drive among white rhino, buffalo and antelope, visit the predator camps, then descend into Wonder Cave, an enormous dripstone chamber.

Lion & Safari Park

Big cats on the edge of the Cradle

The successor to Johannesburg’s old Lion Park moved in 2016 to a much larger property near Hartbeespoort, on the R512 at the north-eastern edge of the Cradle. Guided and self-drive routes pass lions, white lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and hyenas, with giraffe and antelope roaming a separate area.

Hartbeespoort Dam

Cableway, cruises and weekend markets

“Harties” is Gauteng’s favourite weekend escape, a reservoir pressed against the Magaliesberg about half an hour north of Maropeng. Ride the aerial cableway to the crest of the range, cruise the dam, browse craft markets and visit the elephant and monkey sanctuaries.