World Heritage Sites in South Africa

Explore one of South Africa's 8 unique World Heritage Sites on Heritage Day

There are great events taking place over the Heritage long weekend. Read more on Heritage Day Events and South African Public Holidays .

The Cradle of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind is situated about 50km northwest of Johannesburg and is the fossil hominid site of Sterkfontein, Kromdraai and the Klasies River Caves.

Sterkfontein is home to “Mrs Ples” (Australopithecus Africanus) a fossil over 2.3 million years old found in 1947.


The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
The St. Lucia Wetland Park is South Africa’s third largest protected area situated on the East Coast of Kwazulu Natal.

The area has a uniquely varied wildlife, reflecting the collection of its five different eco-systems.

The Park has the world’s largest forested sand dunes and is home to about 1200 Nile Crocodiles and 800 Hippopotami.

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape

This is home to the indigenous Nama people - an African ethnic group of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The Richtersveld park is situated in the Northern Cape and is well known for its hot climate and very little (if any) rain.

The Nama people still continue to exist in this area and graze their livestock in this very merciless environment.


Robben Island
Robben Island is 12km off the coast of Cape Town and is approximately 1km in width.

From 1836 – 1931 the island was used as a Leper Colony.

Later it was used to isolate people from society and became a maximum security prison in 1959 for political prisoners.

By 1996 the last of the non-political prisoners were removed from the island and by 1997 it became a national museum and popular site for tourists to visit.


Drakensberg Park
The Drakensberg boasts with the highest peak in South Africa at Thabana Ntleyana, rising to 3,482m.

The most well known park in the Drakensberg is the Royal Natal National Park, and has the 2nd highest waterfall in the world (947m), the Tugela Falls.


Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape is situated in the Limpopo province and is known as South Africa’s lost city of gold.

In 1932 E. S. J. van Graan, and his son, stumbled upon a world of wealth finding many artefacts on top of the hill.

Over 1000 years ago it was the centre of the largest Kingdom in the subcontinent where high societal people traded in gold and ivory with China, India and Egypt.


Cape Floral Region Protected Areas
Indigenous Fynbos (Afrikaans for Fine Bush) grows in a 100 – 200km wide costal belt and is the pride of the Cape Floral Kingdom.

There is an astonishing 9000 plant species in this region, with over 6200 of the species being endemic.


Vredefort Dome
Vredefort, in the Free State Province, has the largest verified impact crater on earth.

The asteroid that hit Vredefort was one of the largest to ever hit earth: over 10km wide!

The estimated time of impact is more than 2 billion years ago and is the second oldest crater on earth.

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The culture & heritage section in things to do Cape Town section offers a great overview of museums in Cape Town.