Messel Pit (Grube Messel): UNESCO World Heritage near Darmstadt – tours, opening hours and how to get there

Why is Messel Pit a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Around 47 million years ago there was a maar lake here – a crater lake of volcanic origin, surrounded by tropical forest. Algal mud settled on its bed and over time became a 190-metre-thick layer of oil shale. Whatever ended up in the lake was preserved in exceptionally complete form: not just bones, but also feathers, hair, skin outlines and sometimes the last bite in the stomach. By comparison, most other fossil vertebrate sites yield little more than teeth or jaw fragments.

Tens of thousands of fossils from more than 1,000 animal and plant species have been found: plants with flowers and fruit, frogs with their spawn, turtles, crocodiles and snakes, bats, prosimians and anteaters, and birds ranging from hummingbird size to almost two metres. The stars are the early horses – including pregnant mares. The first find, in 1876, was an alligator skeleton.

From the late 19th century onwards, oil shale was mined here industrially. When mining ended in 1971, the pit was proposed as a landfill site. A citizens’ initiative protested, the state of Hesse bought the site in 1991, and it was added to the World Heritage List in 1995. Today the pit measures around one kilometre across and is about 60 metres deep. For a first impression, head to the freely accessible viewing platform on the rim – the view drops far down into the pit.

Opening hours, prices and tours: which tour suits you?

The visitor centre with museum, bistro and shop is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00 from 15 March to 15 November, and from Wednesday to Sunday at the same times from 16 November to 14 March. It is also open on public holidays, except from 24 to 26 December and from 31 December to 1 January (as of Oct 2026). The museum costs €7, reduced €5, and families pay €17. It shows original fossils and a film about the site. Until 7 February 2027, the special exhibition „MESSEL 30+ – Silber, Saurier und andere Steine“ (silver, dinosaurs and other stones) presents rocks, minerals and finds from within a 30-kilometre radius.

• Small Pit Tour (1 hour): €10, reduced €8, families €24. The introduction: around one kilometre and 30 metres of elevation. You hold oil shale in your hands and learn how a crater lake became a World Natural Heritage Site. Combined ticket with museum admission €14, reduced €11, families €35.
• Large Pit Tour (2 hours): €14, reduced €11, families €35. Around three kilometres and 60 metres of elevation down to the deepest point of the pit floor, where a research borehole was drilled in 2001 – there you can taste groundwater from the depths. During the excavation season you stop at an active dig site along the way.
• World Heritage Express (1 or 2 hours): €25 or €35 per person. The same content as the pit tours, but in an almost silent electric vehicle for a maximum of twelve guests. Includes museum admission and coffee and cake in the bistro (1 hour) or a picnic in the pit (2 hours). Blankets are provided on cool days; only getting in and out is not barrier-free.

In season, the Small Pit Tour starts several times a day. All current dates are listed in the Messel Pit calendar. Tickets are available on site subject to availability; booking online or calling 06159 71759-0 is safer. Travelling with international guests? The Small Pit Tour also runs in English on selected Fridays – in October 2026 still on the 9th and 23rd at 13:30.

Important for all tours: Under mining law, sturdy flat shoes with treaded soles are mandatory; loan shoes are only available in limited numbers. Money-saving tip: with the Darmstadt Card you get two regular admission tickets for the price of one.

Messel Pit with kids: early horses, fossils and the family tour

The Family Tour (2 hours, €14, reduced €11, family ticket €35) is designed especially for children aged 6 to 10: together with parents or grandparents, they discover in a playful way which animals and plants lived in the tropical rainforest around the lake 47 million years ago. It can only be booked by families with at least one child in this age group. Children under six go free for the museum and tours, and 6- to 17-year-olds pay the reduced price. One-hour tours also work with a pushchair; for the two-hour tours it should be suitable for rough terrain.

Even without a tour it won’t get boring: the outdoor area is freely accessible during opening hours, with themed play equipment, a sandpit for digging up fossils, art installations and beehives. At GRAB’MAL (45 minutes, €5, reduced €3.50), children aged six and over – and adults too – split real oil shale from the spoil of the research excavations under supervision. The finds are then identified under a microscope. Digging takes place until 18 October 2026 on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and also on Tuesdays during school holidays. On 10 October 2026, children aged 7 to 12 cast their own fossil at the Geowerkstatt (geo workshop; 2.5 hours, €9) – without parents, with the rangers of the Geo-Naturpark. For a break afterwards, the bistro at the museum serves Flammkuchen (Alsatian tarte flambée), cake and ice cream.

Each of our studios is set up for up to two people – just right for a grandparent with a grandchild or a parent with a child. In the evening, the bathtub in Studio 1 helps you forget the three kilometres of pit trail.

Getting to Messel Pit from Darmstadt: tram, bus FM or car

Without a car, you can reach the pit from the Orangerie stop with just one change:

1. Tram 3 to „Schloss“ – 7 minutes according to the HEAG timetable.
2. At „Schloss“ (stop 4), take bus FM towards Messel. It takes 14 minutes to the „Grube Messel Besucherzentrum Abzweig“ stop. Monday to Friday it runs every 30 minutes during the day, and once an hour on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays – according to HEAG, also during the autumn school holidays (as of Oct 2026).
3. From the stop, walk around 600 metres to the visitor centre.

At weekends it’s worth checking the return journey before your tour. Alternatively, the RB75 regional train (Rhein-Main-Bahn) runs from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof to Messel. From Messel station it’s around two kilometres on foot, or you can take bus FM from there too. Messel lies outside the city: the Darmstadt Card is valid on buses and trains within the extended city area (fare zone 40) – check in the RMV journey planner whether your ticket covers the trip to the pit.

By car: there is free parking at the museum, including reserved spaces for people with disabilities and spaces for coaches. Enter the address Roßdörfer Straße 108 in Messel into your sat nav, not the locality „Grube Messel“ – the operator explicitly warns against this.

Two World Heritage Sites in one weekend: Messel and the Mathildenhöhe

Darmstadt has a special feature that is made for a weekend: the Mathildenhöhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021, and Messel Pit are on the same bus line. On its way to Messel, bus FM stops at „Pützerstraße/Mathildenhöhe“ and „Lucasweg/Hochzeitsturm“. Here the artists’ colony, there 47 million years of Earth’s history – cultural and natural heritage, linked by a bus ride of just over ten minutes.

• Saturday: The Large Pit Tour in the morning, Flammkuchen in the bistro at lunchtime. On the way back, get off at the Hochzeitsturm (Wedding Tower). In October it is open Sunday to Thursday from 10:00 to 18:00 and Friday and Saturday until 19:00 (as of Oct 2026). After looking into the depths in the morning, you now get a view over the city from above.
• Sunday: Breakfast from your own kitchenette, then back up to the Mathildenhöhe. Until 31 January 2027, the Exhibition Building is showing the anniversary exhibition „A Step Ahead – 125 Jahre Mathildenhöhe“ (Tue–Sun 11:00–18:00, as of Oct 2026). The Mathildenhöhe Card for €15 includes the museum, Exhibition Building and Wedding Tower during the exhibition.

Read more about the plane-tree grove and the artists’ colony in our Art Nouveau tour of Darmstadt. The minimum stay at our studios is a perfect fit for two World Heritage days: two nights, self check-in and Wi-Fi – and in the evening you can sort your photos at the large wooden table in Studio 4. Ideas for the rest of the weekend are collected on our page about a short break in Darmstadt.

Fossils on a rainy day: the Messel finds at the Hessisches Landesmuseum

The pit tours take place in almost any weather; according to the operator, they are cancelled in case of black ice, storms or severe weather. If you’d rather marvel somewhere dry, take tram 3 to „Schloss“ and visit the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (Hessian State Museum). In the Messelbau, on the 1st floor, it shows its collection on the history of the Earth and life, with fossils from Messel. Highlights include the large „Hessian“ early horse (Propalaeotherium hassiacum), an early tapir, an anteater and a creodont. A nice coincidence: the museum building itself was designed by the architect Alfred Messel and opened in 1906.

The HLMD is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11:00 to 18:00, on Wednesdays until 20:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 18:00; it is closed on Mondays (as of Oct 2026). Admission costs €8, reduced €5; children and young people up to 18 go free, and you pay less with the Darmstadt Card. More ideas for grey days can be found in our guide Darmstadt on a rainy day. For more nature, see our day trips from Darmstadt. Science fans can combine the fossils with the GSI/FAIR particle accelerator.