Deep beneath the Gauteng grasslands, a dolomite cave system has given up some of the most important fossils ever found — Mrs Ples, Little Foot, and millions of years of human ancestry. Sterkfontein is the richest early-hominin site on Earth, and part of the UNESCO-listed Cradle of Humankind.
See ticket optionsOne adult (19+) · guided cave tour, museum and fossil prep lab, your chosen hour
€22
One child, aged 6–18 · guided cave tour, museum and fossil prep lab, your chosen hour
€18
One pensioner (60+) · guided cave tour, museum and fossil prep lab, with valid ID
€14
“Standing where Mrs Ples was actually found is something else — our guide made the timescale feel real rather than abstract. The tour was well paced for a mixed group of ages, and booking our exact hour ahead of time meant we weren't turned away like the couple next to us in the queue.”
“We'd read about Little Foot before visiting and seeing the actual excavation site inside the cave brought it to life. The fossil lab was a highlight too — you can watch real preparators working on new finds. Ticket arrived by email within minutes.”
“Booked our slot from the US before the trip and it made planning the whole Cradle of Humankind day much easier — no wondering if we'd get a tour on arrival. The caves are genuinely impressive, cool and echoey, worth the drive from Johannesburg.”
5-minute audio guide
A short, calm narrative — what this cave system is, how Mrs Ples and Little Foot were found, what to look for on the guided tour, and why the Cradle of Humankind matters to the whole story of human origins. Listen on the drive out from Johannesburg.
Recorded for Sterkfontein Caves Tickets concierge. Free to download.
Sterkfontein Caves sits about 40 km northwest of Johannesburg, near Krugersdorp in South Africa's Gauteng province, at the heart of the Cradle of Humankind — inscribed by UNESCO in 1999 as part of the Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa. Excavations here since the 1930s have made it the single richest early-hominin fossil site on the planet, yielding more than 700 hominin fossil specimens — more early-hominin material than any other single site.
Two discoveries define Sterkfontein's fame. In 1947, palaeontologist Robert Broom and his assistant John T. Robinson uncovered "Mrs Ples" (specimen Sts 5), a remarkably complete Australopithecus africanus skull that became one of the most famous fossil finds in Africa. Decades later, Ronald Clarke identified the first bones of "Little Foot" in 1994 and located the skeleton in situ in the cave in 1997; freeing it from the surrounding rock took roughly another twenty years, and the reconstructed skeleton — designated StW 573 and dated to around 3.67 million years old — was unveiled at Wits in December 2017. It is the most complete Australopithecus skeleton ever found. Both fossils were found within the same cave system visitors walk through today.
Sterkfontein reopened to the public on 15 April 2025 after a two-year closure following flood damage in 2022, now under full management by the University of the Witwatersrand. A visit combines a guided walk through the dolomite caverns where these fossils were found, a museum and Timeline Walk tracing human origins, and the working fossil preparation laboratory where new discoveries are still being cleaned and studied. We handle the ticketing so your guided tour hour is confirmed before you arrive — one less thing to plan on your Cradle of Humankind day out.
Sterkfontein Caves Tickets is an independent concierge service that helps international visitors reserve and receive their guided tour ticket in English. We are not the site and we are not an official vendor — we obtain a genuine admission ticket on your behalf from the site's ticketing system, and our service fee is included in the price you see. If you prefer to buy directly, the site runs its own ticket desk and its own online ticketing platform.
Plan your visit
Which hour, which day, and which season — a concierge timing guide to the cave that produced Mrs Ples and Little Foot.
Roughly an hour's drive north-west of Johannesburg into the Cradle of Humankind — here is how to reach Sterkfontein Caves by car, transfer or organised tour.
Real fossils, a real cave system and the story of Little Foot — Sterkfontein makes human origins tangible for children. Here is how to make the most of it as a family.
Yes — the guided cave tour departs on the hour with a strict 30-person capacity per group, so your ticket is for a specific tour time.
Your tour slot is reserved and confirmed before you arrive, so you go straight to your guided group rather than queuing at the ticket desk. Just arrive a little before your tour time.
The full experience: a guided walk through the Sterkfontein cave system, full access to the museum and Timeline Walk, and the working fossil preparation laboratory. Helmets for the cave are provided.
We send your ticket to your email as a mobile ticket with a QR code once your booking is confirmed. There's nothing to print — show it on your phone at the entrance.
It's about 40 km northwest of the city centre (roughly 50 km by road), around an hour's drive via the N14, then the R563 and Kromdraai Road. The site publishes driving directions only, so most visitors come by rental car, private transfer or organised tour.
Plan for two to three hours in total — the guided cave tour itself runs 60–90 minutes, plus time in the museum, Timeline Walk and fossil preparation laboratory.
The operator's child ticket covers ages 6 to 18, and children in that range generally enjoy the cave tour and the fossil displays. Under-6s are admitted free with a paying adult; no minimum age is published for the cave tour itself, but the cave's stairs, low passages and darkness make it better suited to slightly older children.
Visitors aged 60 and over, with valid ID shown at the gate.
Yes — children under 6 enter free when accompanied by a paying adult. Our child ticket covers ages 6 to 18.
No — the cave system involves stairs, uneven surfaces and tight passages and is not step-free. The museum, Timeline Walk and fossil lab are wheelchair-accessible.
Yes, personal photography is welcome throughout the caves, museum and laboratory. Visitors are asked not to touch the stalactites, stalagmites or other formations, and helmets are required in the cave system.
The site is closed every Monday year-round. Public holidays can affect opening hours, and we'll flag it if a closure affects the date you've chosen.
The Cradle of Humankind is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1999) covering a cluster of fossil-bearing caves in Gauteng, South Africa, of which Sterkfontein is the most extensively excavated and the richest in early-hominin fossils.
Mrs Ples (specimen Sts 5) is an Australopithecus africanus skull found at Sterkfontein in 1947. It was long dated to roughly 2.1–2.5 million years old; cosmogenic re-dating of the deposit published in 2022 pushed Sterkfontein's Australopithecus material back to around 3.4–3.7 million years, and Wits now cites about 3.3 million years for Mrs Ples. Little Foot (StW 573) is a near-complete Australopithecus skeleton around 3.67 million years old, identified in 1994 and excavated in situ from 1997 — the most complete Australopithecus skeleton ever found.
The cave system holds a constant, cool temperature of about 20°C (68°F) year-round, so a light layer is worth bringing even on a hot Gauteng day outside.
Because admission is tied to a specific tour time and group capacity, please choose your date and time with care when you book. All sales are final once confirmed; the only exception is a full refund if the operator cancels your visit. See our terms for the full policy.
No. We're an independent concierge service for international visitors. We obtain a genuine admission ticket on your behalf and handle the booking in your own language. Our service fee is included in the price shown, and you can always buy directly from the site if you prefer.