The West Coast Fossil Park near Langebaan north of Cape Town has one of the world’s richest concentration of fossils dating back to the early Pliocene era 5 million years ago. Once sabre-toothed cats roamed this land, along with short-necked giraffes, four-tusked elephants and strange, three-toed horses. more

Interested in vehicles that move, shake, rattle and roll? Then visit the James Hall Museum of Transport in the south of Johannesburg. Check out the oldest car on display, early motorcycles, a penny-farthing, steam trains, electric cars, ox-wagons, a travelling library, a fire engine and much more. more

Museum Africa captures the bitter experience of the Rivonia Treason Trial, and the social effects of the migrant labour system on the gold mines. You can walk into a shebeen or hostel room of concrete bunks and discover many fascinting aspects of South Africa's history for yourself. more

Count your modern medical blessings when you encounter historic medical memorabilia at the Adler Museum of Medicine. From bleeding and cupping equipment and a 19th century amputation set to electrical apparatus favoured by Queen Victoria to ease her rheumatism, this quirky museum provides a fascinating peek into our unhealthy past. more

Among the earliest white settlers in the Cape’s colonial history, were French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Their arrival added yet another thread to the South African cultural tapestry. Their contribution is celebrated at the Huguenot Memorial Museum in Franschhoek, South Africa’s ‘French corner’. more

The Kimberley Mine Museum is a window back to a time when fortune seekers converged here to dig for diamonds. This mining museum recreates what the town must have looked like, while allowing visitors to admire a replica of the stone on which the country’s diamond wealth was founded. more

The Kliptown open air museum is where delegates to a people's parliament met in 1955 to adopt the Freedom Charter, now the cornerstone of the Bill of Rights and the South African Constitution. This historical museum in Soweto is dedicated to Walter Sisulu, a stalwart of the Freedom Struggle. more

If you like tales of naval battles and heroism on the high seas, rooting around all manner of naval memorabilia, and are curious about what the inside of a submarine looks like, then visit the South African Naval Museum in Simon’s Town and be amazed. more

The Maritime Museum in Mossel Bay is packed with maps, displays and dioramas depicting the age of sail and exploration along the Western Cape coastline. The centrepiece of the museum is the Bartolomeu Dias, a life-size replica of 1 of the feisty caravels used by the Portuguese discoverers of old. more

The various guest farms all over the Karoo are an exciting new form of country tourism – and their little museums are insights into the history and culture of those who lived on the land in the past. Some artefacts even go back more than 200-million years, when the Karoo was a different world. more

From huge whale skeletons that float in the air, an eccentric pipe collection, all manner of snakes and a cannon recovered from a famous shipwreck to an exciting outdoor dinosaur display where the exhibits ‘come alive’, the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld caters for a whole family’s tastes and preferences. more

Built on the site where Portuguese explorers first met the indigenous Khoi, the Dias Museum complex in Mossel Bay includes the Maritime Museum, which celebrates the early days of discovery. Star of the show here is a life-size replica of Bartolomeu Dias’ caravel, the ship he arrived in back in 1488. more

The Kimberley Africana Library houses one of the finest collections of Africana in South Africa. It specialises in the history of the diamond fields from the early 1870s, the history of Kimberley and the Northern Cape and the South African War, also known as the Anglo-Boer War. more

The McGregor Museum in Kimberley has records, research projects and displays going from the early history of humankind and the world to the heady diamond days of Kimberley and the tense siege that followed it during the South African War. It spans 8 venues with differing historical and cultural themes. more