Colchagua Museum
Colchagua Museum
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Duration: More than 3 hours
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles1,502 reviews
Excellent
1,228
Very good
231
Average
34
Poor
5
Terrible
4

Carl B
Carlisle, MA221 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Colchagua Museum is one of the best we experienced over the course of ten weeks in Chile. It covers all of Chilean history from fossils to modernity. Exhibits are well organized with impressive samples from it seems all of Chile’s indigenous cultures. Make sure you allow enough time to go through it; we spent three hours and could easily have stayed longer...even though the write ups are exclusively in Spanish and our Spanish is quite poor. The audio in English was helpful.
Written March 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael S
Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico58 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
I've been to the Colchagua Museum a few times, and each time I notice something different. It is very big, and one can easily spend a full day here. This museum is one reason why we keep coming back to Santa Cruz.
Written March 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Peter Whitaker
Tweed Heads, Australia62 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Had the Cochagua Museum been located in the capital of Chile it would automatically qualify as one of the best 'see and do's' in the city.Located adjacent to the Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel there's every reason to stay a night or two just to visit the museum at your liesure. And the Transport Museum in the nearby vinyards.Excellent.
Written February 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jcw43
Guelph, Canada15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
We were told it was a world-class museum but we were skeptical, since Santa Cruz is a rather sleepy little town. We were so impressed. We spent several hours there and used the English audio guide. The museum has been extremely well curated in the way it flows.
Written February 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David B
Toronto, Canada361 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022
We were blown away by this museum, is was astounding. There seems to be something (quite a bit actually) from every part of Chile's history here. So many artifacts, of fantastic variety and quality, you could spend a day or two and not see everything. But don't let the size put you off, you could go for an hour or two, and just do a couple exhibits. Incredible to find this calibre of museum in a town this size, what a surprise. I am running out of superlatives here. Relatively little English signage, but you can figure out much of the stuff or use a translation app on the mostly well lit signboards.

BONUS you should know. After about 2-3 hours, we had seen less than half the exhibits, but our heads were bursting with all the information we had absorbed. So, we went to a vineyard (MANY nearby) for a fantastic lunch and a glass or two of wine resolving to continue our visit afresh the next day. I thought it was strange when we first entered the museum, they said our tickets were valid for 24 hours and we could come back for free the following morning. Now I understand why, too much to see in 1 day.

More to know - Fair amount of free parking right on the grounds, OR, a big lot right across the street on the corner also was inexpensive. The gift shop as you exit, had an interesting hallway going out to the right, containing even more artifacts and leads to a lovely bar of a nice hotel, with a courtyard pool and upscale restaurant. Nice way to finish the visit, or start it if you are staying in the hotel. Loved the whole experience.
Written December 18, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sarah_e_wilson
Uckfield, UK127 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
An excellent museum, even for those, like me, who struggle with museums!
Very well done and the audio guide is included in the price.
I spent 2 hours but my museum-loving husband carried on whilst I sat in the shade reading my Kindle.
This museum is not just about Colchagua but Chilean history going back a long time.
Please make the effort to visit.
Written February 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cpjules
Phoenix, AZ549 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
We spent about 4 hrs looking at the may exhibits that were on display. I think of this place as more of a history museum as it did track life from millions of yrs ago up to modern time and tons of stuff in between.
The pre columbian textiles, the fossils section, the weaponry room, and the stagecoaches were some of my favs
Written March 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Brumbab
Southport, UK88 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Couples
What an incredible place! It would take days to do it justice, there is so much to see. In the end we focused on the pre-Columbian displays, which are beautifully and sensitively presented. We particularly appreciated the timeline plotting the items displayed against developments in the rest of the world - a salutary reminder of the predominantly Eurocentric approach often taught in schools in the UK, USA and Europe. We were not expecting such an amazingly comprehensive and fascinating museum in this small town. It's definitely worth a visit
Written October 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TexOze
Texan at large1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
We visited Santa Cruz last weekend and planned our visit to the Colchagua museum for an hour or so Sunday morning before leaving for more sightseeing in the Colchagua valley. What a mistake! Once inside, we couldn't bear to leave. We had been told they had "a very nice collection of amber" and "some railroad cars." That hardly describes it! Here's just a partial list of exhibits: invertebrate and vertebrate fossils throughout time, Dominican amber, pre-Columbian ceramics and textiles, the largest collection of Mapuche (indigenous Chilean) silver jewelry (Conquistador silver coins beaten into silver plate for jewelry), artifacts from the Catholic church in Chile, arms from WWII, articles from Chile's early governors and artists, a collection of completely restored carriages, an exhibit celebrating the world of the huaso (Chilean cowboy), his horse and lifestyle, a car museum with beautifully restored early automobiles and the first motorcycle, a life-size model of fossil Carcharodon megaladon shark jaws (complete with plenty of teeth), mastodon fossils, a baleen whale jaw, steam engines and railroad cars, typical early agricultural machinery used in the Colchagua valley, and on and on... This was the gift of one individual to the people of the area. The pre-Columbian museum in Santiago may have larger or showier pieces, but this museum provides a great, broad overview of indigenous cultures and their artifacts. The museum shop adjoins a small theater where you can ask to be shown a 20 minute film in either Spanish or English on the museum's collection. A FANTASTIC find tucked away amid the valley's more famous vineyards. Don't miss it.
Written February 2, 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Susan Dunlap
25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
This museum of history & regional artifacts is a must to understand the evolution of the culture & civilization in the Colchagua region! At once informative & well-presented, the museum offers visitors an in-depth knowledge of the indigenous of Chile, in general, as well. Highly recommended!
Written February 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Colchagua Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Frequently Asked Questions about Colchagua Museum