Local Guides World
Top Museums in San José, Costa Rica
Top Rated Museums in San José
Top Reviewed Museums in San José
National Museum of Costa Rica
Pre-Columbian Gold Museum
Museum of Costa Rican Art
National Museum of Costa Rica
Museum of Costa Rican Art
Museo de Oro Precolombino
Natural Science Museum La Salle
Costa Rican Center of Science and Culture
Reviews
Beautiful location with a lot of history. There are a lot of things to see in this museum and has many different areas. Make sure to plan a few hours out of your day if you will visit here.
Staff were very friendly and very informative.
Staff were very friendly and very informative.
A lovely museum at San Jose. The most attractive show was the actors performance who mimic one of the costa rican president and his wife who have guided us on the tour.
This mesuem had more in it than I first realized. I would have definitely loved a collection 2-4x this size. The butterflies were a nice addition.
Great collection, laid out in an easy-to-follow arrangement. Descriptions are in Spanish and English. It takes just over an hour to move through the pre-Colombian exhibits and you have access to more modern displays, though I didn't visit those.
Sehr zu empfehlen. Hier bekommst du für 10 $ einen perfekten Überblick über die Landesgeschichte und die Kultur. Die Ausstellungen sind top gestaltet und sehr informativ aufbereitet. Gleich zu Beginn kann man einen schönen Schmetterlingsgarten durchlaufen, der im Preis enthalten ist.
Beautiful museum that has a great history of CR. We went around the afternoon until closing, recommendations were for 2-2.5hrs but we didn't finish in that time. This was one of our last stops in CR after exploring, learned a lot of history on CR that isn't so regularly found. Well worth the time and money if you're in San Jose and want to learn on CR history.
Beautiful museum, especially worth it considering it's free. We spent 45 mins looking around, enjoying the local artists. Worth a visit as an add onto your day.
Sehr informative Ausstellung über die Entstehung von Goldschmuck.
Wenn man in San José ist, dann lohnt sich der Besuch. Dafür lohnt es aber nicht nach San José zu fahren. Relativ hoher Eintritt von 16$ pro Person
Wenn man in San José ist, dann lohnt sich der Besuch. Dafür lohnt es aber nicht nach San José zu fahren. Relativ hoher Eintritt von 16$ pro Person
On Sundays the art gallery ( we discovered after paying and entering the building) is shut. It's then just for kids with interactive displays and play areas. Waste of time and money on our visit
Amazing museum! So much to see and learn. We were there two hours and I think we saw everything. Don't forget to look at the architecture itself! Beautiful building!🥰
👉Definitely bring water with you as there are no water fountains or cafés on site.
👉Definitely bring water with you as there are no water fountains or cafés on site.
Nice medium sized museum with some lovely artwork. There are nice sculptures on the lawn
Friendly staff . We totally enjoyed our visit. There is no admission fee.
Friendly staff . We totally enjoyed our visit. There is no admission fee.
Science Museum , Excellent to go with kids
Full of Costa Rican Rich history and explain a lot of the historical events in the country is a really good place for kids to learn about history through the years in the country and they have a lot of interactive places! They have temporary exibits as well. they have a beautiful butterfly garden and the view from the top building is amazing as well the whole tour didn't take more than an hour and a half you can take a little bit longer if you stop by and read through everything we just wanted to see the other museums they are around the area as well.
A large museum with a wide selection of history up to the modern day. I particularly liked the ancient 3-legged stool like stone sculptures. It really ties in with the ones in the Jade Museum. But I would like to give both museums some advice. There is a steady stream of visitors but no decent gift shops. They could really improve their revenue with some tasteful small reproductions. It would need to be able to fit in suitcases. Start small and see what sells. I'm thinking maybe some jade pendant necklaces or something on the theme of stone spheres. Not too expensive maybe 20 to 30 $. Maybe do a survey of visitors to ask what they would buy.
I recommend visiting this place when in San Jose. It is a lovely building. The former airport. A varied selection of art. Currently an exhibition of Flora Saenz Longlois, which is worth seeing. Also, go upstairs to see the gold room, which shows the history of Costa Rica. It is quite stunning. It's embossed or 3D plasterwork coated in gold leaf, perhaps. Difficult to describe. Outside the building is more artwork. This museum is also free, which is welcome as we have found it expensive to visit CR. After your visit, you can walk around La Sabana Park.
Our 3 (aged 6 and 8) children loved their visit in January 2024! The tickets were affordable, and they loved seeing beautiful displays on butterflies, mammals, dinosaurs, seashells, birds and more.
A nice and affordable museum for 12000 colones for the three of us. This place is getting old but still interesting and we learned a lot. Tons of stuff in formaldehyde which is a bit creepy and some stuffed animals are dating and falling apart. But at least price is decent and kids had fun.
Excellent displays that explain the history and culture of Costa Rica and attempt to respect the indigenous population Latin America. The butterfly conservatory and history of the barracks, abolition of the army and nice city views make it worth while visiting. The really should number the displays and provide a recommended path of touring the facility.
Worth the visit we went about an hour after opening on a Thursday and we were the first guest and only guest for most of our visit toward the end one mother and child did come in. So definitely recommend going early for a quiet experience. We spent a good hour and half to two hours slowly looking at everything. The exhibits were interesting and definitely extensive they made good use of hallways . The bug and jarred specimens were the coolest to look at in my opinion.
Great option for budget travellers looking for inexpensive activities when in San Jose. This museum has a very good selection of skulls, rocks, fossils, marine life, reptiles, animals and insects displayed. Good assortment of petrified wood, shells and the largest butterfly collection I have yet to see. Excellent value for the entrance cost to this museum (1800 colones for seniors 2500 colones for adults). Great family activity. Handicap accessibility.
A genuine and huge public collection of fossils from around the world is definitely worth visiting. The dinosaur skeletons are replicas but still impressive to see. Wide assortment of preserved birds, insects, butterflies, crustaceans, reptile, and mammals both locally found and around the world. Fun exhibit for both adults and children. Entrance of 2500 colons for adults. A must visit in San Jose. Displays are mostly in Spanish and some English. Allocate at least 2 to 3 hrs for this museum visit.
Compact museum with free admission and Wi-Fi. While the local art is fantastic, the labels lack information about the works. Overall, a nice spot for art lovers!
It's surprising to see a natural environment with butterflies as soon you enter.
It's located in an old barrack that is part of Costa Rica's history.
They have some stone pieces of pre- Columbian times and have a small, but interesting collection from colonial times to XX century.
It's located in an old barrack that is part of Costa Rica's history.
They have some stone pieces of pre- Columbian times and have a small, but interesting collection from colonial times to XX century.
Without a doubt one of the best museums in Latin America (trust me I’ve been to almost all of them). The national museum beautifully captures in modern exhibits and a state of the art museum the history and culture of the country. If you only have time for 1 museum this is it. It’s worth every dollar and includes a butterfly sanctuary (those with Lepidopterophobia beware!). The museum should take you about 1.5 hours to see it all.
8800 CRC well spent. Lots of fascinating history about the people who used to live in the region of what's now Costa Rica, many centuries ago. There's also some beautiful art on display by Faba, as well as the history of the Costa Rican currency, which predates what is currently in place.
The toilet facilities are clean and staff are friendly.
The toilet facilities are clean and staff are friendly.
Fun and interesting museum, and best of all, it’s free! They also have free parking. This is worth a visit in San José for all art lovers. We especially enjoyed the gold room.
Nice museum, worth a visit while you're in San Jose.
This place surpassed our expectations. The impressive collections of fossils and shells, as well as preserved crustaceans and butterflies from all over the world surprised us and were just super cool. Definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in San Jose with some time to kill. * There is convenient on-site parking (we didn’t realize that till after, so we parked a little ways away and walked, which worked out fine.)
Historical journey thru the beginning of metallurgy in Costa Rica. Beautiful exhibits. The entire museum is underground with state of the art security.
I really enjoyed the museum. The building has a very interesting history and there's a lot of respect for the story of the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica and the conquest by the conquistadors. Lots to learn and see, and really knowledgeable and friendly staff. The butterfly garden was a nice surprise as well.
A wonderful collection of artifacts as well as ornamental gold. Enjoyed the in depth presentation of The History of Money on the first floor before seeing the main exhibit on the lower level. We found all of the displays interesting!
A theater and cultural center where a jail used to be. Well managed and maintained, it's a good example of what can be done when you dream big
A high quality national museum representative of the various time periods of Costa Rican history including a great display of Pre-Colonization artifacts of stone and gold. A great place to spend a few hours with your family or even traveling solo. Added bonus was the Mariposa room / Butterfly enclosure. Disfrute todo!
Definitely worth a visit, start in the basement, and work up. Loads and loads of golden frogs which looked lovely plus mythical figures.
Explanations in Spanish and English.
Top floor was devoted to the currency introduced by Columbus then the Costa Rican journey
Shop for souvenirs was nice but very up market and none of the tshirts etc..
Explanations in Spanish and English.
Top floor was devoted to the currency introduced by Columbus then the Costa Rican journey
Shop for souvenirs was nice but very up market and none of the tshirts etc..
Beautiful Art, love the room where the history of Costa Rica is carved out of wood walls, very Beautiful
This place is so amazing and we learned so much about Costa Rican history. Little did we know Spaniards were so cruel towards the indigenous people back in the days. The museum also has butterfly garden with probably thousands of butterflies flying all over. Highly recommend it if you have children.
What a beautiful museum. Plenty of parking. Attendants are courteous. Great history in the upstairs display. What an amazing piece of history and beautiful art pieces. I would recommend someone to guide you thru and tell its history.
It was ok. We did find it more interesting than the jade museum.
I learned so much about the indigenous people trying to hangon to their culture.
Interesting museum to visit, particularly explaining the rich history behind Costa Rica. Would recommend visiting for at least a couple of hours to really get a good time to see everything.
Great museum. A lot about the indigenous people but the gold work was exceptional. Felt the lighting could have been better, lots of reflections in the pics which I found annoying.
Wonderful free museum with excellent art. Indoor galleries and a sculpture garden. Shaded seating inside and out and clean restrooms. Just outside of LA Sabana Park.
Beautiful facility. Staff was pleasant and helpful. Lots of vendors in the center courtyard on the day I was there with food and various items.
Awesome expo of contemporary art and pre-Colombian history… along with a view on the presence of indigenous tribes of Costa Rica.
It's a nice place to know about the history of Costa Rica. The cover fee is $10 . We love our visit
This was the 1st airport in Costa Rica. Beautifully restored building has been repurposed as a contemporary art museum. Very interesting exhibits and a scilpture garden. Must see the Gold Room. Formerly it was the executive lounge.
This museum is fantastic. The grounds surrounding it are spectacular (although sometimes the people in the park outside can seem sorta sketchy). You can see the Legislative Assembly building from the front door and there's a fantastic park across the street. I especially liked the statues and modern art out front-- even the bike rack is artistic. The inside of the museum is impressive as well.
Great experience for the kids and very cheap as well. We paid 8000 for three (two kids). You can explore for 4 hours at least and it's pretty interactive and interesting.
Super cool free museum (that doesn't even accept donations!) in the heart of San Jose. Walkable and situated in a park, the place used to be an airport for the city and the 'gold room' tells that history. Pictures do not do it justice.
Very nice, big, gallery, showing masterpieces from Costa Rican painters. One of them, Isidro Con Wong and his Magical World.
This museum has wonderful displays of gold artifacts and jewelry. Throughout the exhibit, there are touch screen displays that enhance the learning experience and explain the intricacies and really give you an appreciation of this fascinating culture. A must see while in San Jose Costa Rica.
A fabulous little museum located in the lovely Sabana Park. Some really interesting artworks, with the incredible gold mural upstairs, telling the story of Costa Rica down the centuries, being the undoubted highlight. We spent a long time in this room (with no other visitors there, which was nice).
A great find, and somewhere you must visit if you're in the park!
A great find, and somewhere you must visit if you're in the park!
This is a unique little museum, but worthwhile to see. Exhibits are notated in both Spanish and English. There are some videos of craftsman showing the different ways of working with gold and copper. There are also quite a few exhibits of ceramics.
Excellent museum. Audio art tour was not laid out easily & connection lost often. The higher prices for international students & adults was not appreciated.
There was so much more than we expected. My kids got tired before we finished it all! The virtual reality games were a big hit with them. Little unexpected hits around each corner.
I felt that while the museum was lovely, it was a little overpriced for tourists. There are three levels - the basement is the gold, the second level has a geography exhibit, and the main level currently has an exhibit about coins. I've been to other gold museums in Latin America and this one was relatively similar, though there were quite a lot of unique pieces that i admit i had never seen in other similar museums. The geographical exhibit was interesting but can be skipped through relatively quickly (i did appreciate all the signage in English). The coins exhibit will only be interesting to you if you're into the history of coins. Personally i liked it but did find it a little repetitive. Overall - good activity to do if you find yourself in downtown San Jose with some free time to kill but not necessarily a must see.
Great for children, games and exhibits! I enjoyed the art exhibition too. Also, It holds history on Costa Rica's jail system previously located there. Interesting place!
Pictures don't do this place any justice. On the outside, it doesn't look as big as it is on the inside, and it has a lot of information and curious details about the minerals, animals, and all kinds of curious things that can be admired there.
My husband and I took around 1 hour 40 minutes to finish looking at it, but could have definitely taken longer 😅 on the other hand, there are green areas and nice tables outside in case you want to have a quick brunch with family and friends.
Entrance to the museum for adults is ₡2.000, and for kids it is ₡1.500. If you decide to go there, hope you have as much fun as I did! 🤗
My husband and I took around 1 hour 40 minutes to finish looking at it, but could have definitely taken longer 😅 on the other hand, there are green areas and nice tables outside in case you want to have a quick brunch with family and friends.
Entrance to the museum for adults is ₡2.000, and for kids it is ₡1.500. If you decide to go there, hope you have as much fun as I did! 🤗
Schön gemachtes Naturkunde Museum mit einer gut ausgestellten Sammlung.
Die Muschel, Insekten und Präparate Ausstellung ist sehr schön und beeindruckend. Die Vogel und Tier Präparate sind hingegen leider teilweise etwas gruselig bis dann schon wieder lustig aber es gibt auch wirklich gute Präparate.
Für uns aber im gesamten etwas erschreckend.
Der Eintritts Preis war für uns 2 Personen mit 5000€ völlig in Ordnung. Insgesamt waren wir ca. 2 Stunden dort und haben uns die gesamte Ausstellung angeschaut, fachkundige Betrachter können sicher Stunden länger hier verbringen.
Kann man aber ruhig mal machen.
Es ist recht kühl in der Ausstellung und es gibt eine ordentliche Toilette.
Die Muschel, Insekten und Präparate Ausstellung ist sehr schön und beeindruckend. Die Vogel und Tier Präparate sind hingegen leider teilweise etwas gruselig bis dann schon wieder lustig aber es gibt auch wirklich gute Präparate.
Für uns aber im gesamten etwas erschreckend.
Der Eintritts Preis war für uns 2 Personen mit 5000€ völlig in Ordnung. Insgesamt waren wir ca. 2 Stunden dort und haben uns die gesamte Ausstellung angeschaut, fachkundige Betrachter können sicher Stunden länger hier verbringen.
Kann man aber ruhig mal machen.
Es ist recht kühl in der Ausstellung und es gibt eine ordentliche Toilette.
Really interesting, clean, lots of displays, and some modern interactive displays. Small enough to spend about three hours, and in a very central location in downtown around the corner from the National Theater. Enjoy!!!
My only complaint is the whole thing with charging foreigners more than the locals for attractions.
My only complaint is the whole thing with charging foreigners more than the locals for attractions.
Very nice place to share time with family and learn!!