Pre-Columbian Gold Museum

Pre-Columbian Gold Museum

Pre-Columbian Gold Museum
4.5
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A large collection of indigenous gold art.
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  • Charles H
    Vancouver, Canada51 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    1/2 day Museum tour
    The building itself is very interesting. The temporary exhibits were local artists, which was informatively presented and very interesting. The gold exhibit and Indigenous presentations were very well done. If your interests are pre-Colombian, this is for you. It’s a good morning trip and it’s located in a great spot to walk around town as well.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written November 16, 2023
  • G C
    Anchorage, Alaska999 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing displays of gold and other pre-Columbian artifacts
    Located down in lower level below the main central plaza in downtown San Jose, this museum houses a treasure trove of gold and other artifacts dating back to before the arrival of European explorers. It’s popular with both visitors and Ticos, and we enjoyed seeing lots of school pupils learning about their history. Definitely recommend this place!
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written December 24, 2023
  • ColleenBadger
    Nanaimo, Canada83 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great educational experience
    The excellent museum has The pre Columbian Museo, The Museo de Oro and an art exhibit all under one roof. It is a very interesting building as well as museums. The Pre Columbian and Museo de Oro were very educational . All information is given in Spanish and English. It has hands on sections, audio exhibits and video.
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written February 4, 2024
  • Greenlakereener
    Vancouver, Canada713 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very Interesting and Worth A Visit…
    We really enjoyed this museum. Besides having a good collection of gold objects and a huge gold nugget, there are displays about the history of Costa Rica and the development of their currency. It’s not a big museum and it only took about an hour to go through all the displays, but it is definitely worth a visit.
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written February 26, 2024
  • Lee L
    Valhalla, New York2,292 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good Gold museum
    This is a nice little Museum below the National Theatre. They have a very nice collection of gold artifacts from before the Spanish Conquest. They have some other artifacts as well along with a nice collection of Spanish and Costa Rican money. It was nice to see Spanish Doubloons.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled solo
    Written May 2, 2024
  • BPnSD
    San Diego, California22 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Artifacts of the Gold Variety, Artwork, Sculptures, and Plenty of History Intertwined
    There are some pretty amusing artifacts on display, various artwork, and sculptures that I found fascinating. If you're one who is intrigued by the history of any place you're in and how things came to be, this will give you a bit of insight. Enjoyable experience IMO.
    Visited April 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 4, 2024
  • gorskikat
    Katy, Texas49 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great museum!
    Very interesting history of metal work in Costa Rica! Appreciated the collection. There are 3 levels to the museum. At first we had trouble navigating…it’s all underground! The temporary exhibit by artist Faba was terrific too.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 26, 2024
  • Jean-Pierre G
    Nice, France4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Not cheap but highly recommended
    Very nice, spacious and didactic museum . One learns a lot on gold, art and social values in precolombian time. Like all museums in San José, it is not cheap (16US$). It is nevertheless highly recommended
    Visited June 2024
    Traveled solo
    Written June 5, 2024
  • may_genevieve
    Abingdon, United Kingdom8 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Unexpectedly impressed
    Didn't expect very much from this museum but had time to kill in San Jose. Turns out this is a fantastic museum! Very happy I went. Very interesting, excellent English translations, history not just of gold but Costa Rica/Central America in general. Architecture of building is very interesting too. 4 stars because the CR Bank part of the museum is currently closed.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled solo
    Written August 5, 2024
  • Simba
    Saint Louis, Missouri55 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place to appreciate the history and art
    This museum is a must see not only to learn history of Costa Rica, but appreciate the art and skill of indigenous people. Museum itself is an architectural wonder placed under ground. Lots of activities for kids. Thank you for creating such a great place to learn and enjoy!
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 14, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

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

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles2,494 reviews
Excellent
1,344
Very good
847
Average
255
Poor
37
Terrible
11

Traipserod
Kingston, Canada92 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
A quite new and very well designed museum experience. I was amazed at the amount of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts on display. I never expected that there would be, on my estimate, 500-600 pieces! From collections of small animals, such as frogs, about 1/2 inch (1 1/4 cm) to large chest ornaments and head pieces. There were large scale reproductions of crafts as well as dioramas of villages. A must see if you visit San Jose.
Written February 27, 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.

Melissa K
Winter Park, FL25 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
This small but very interesting museum is worth the 1-2 hours it takes to see. The film about the indigenous people and their efforts to maintain their language is excellent. I highly recommend spending a little time at this museum.
Written June 22, 2021
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.

Peggy H
Green Valley, AZ12 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Well worth your time when in San Jose, CR. This is an interesting museum to tour. The architecture of the underground museum and the combination of antiquities and art make this a delightful place to explore and learn.
Written March 1, 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.

Afoodie65
Cold Spring, NY1,249 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Unusual entrance, the museum is underneath a plaza.
There were no lines the day we visited; was with a group of Road Scholar travelers.
Museum has gold and pottery from pre-Columbian times plus dioramas.
One could spend a lot of time here studying each exhibit.
WORTH a visit.
Written February 17, 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.

LonnaDa
Asheville, NC457 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2022
With Greenway Nature Day Tours, we visited the “Pre-Columbian Gold Museum.” We learned, from our tour guide, Alberto (Beto) from Greenway Nature Day Tours, about the indigenous people from Costa Rica and how they made things out of gold. It was nice to see what the indigenous people made, I’m sure it took them along time to make these things that still exist today. I really enjoyed the video from the indigenous people and how some of the tribes have lost the indigenous language. This tour was very informative and let me know more about Costa Rica before Columbus/Spain had arrived.
Written September 10, 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.

feruzadenyc
New York City, NY53 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023 • Solo
The museum is nicely set up, well-maintained, displays are beautiful and decent amount of pre-historical artifacts. However, I might be biased coming from NYC and having a very different experience with museums. This one was too small and while it was interesting, I only did it because I needed something to do while in downtown. I walked and read through in 40 minutes.
The museum sells discounted tickets even to foreign students, which I find very generous!
Written March 9, 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.

Kimberlee K
Scottsdale, AZ152 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Couples
We had a couple days in San Jose so decided to visit the Gold Museum.it is not a large museum but I found it interesting. There are 3 floors and the second floor is for traveling exhibits and is only open on Fridays I believe so we we not able to look at it. It was worth a visit. There are several other museums in the area so very easy to see more than just this one in a day.
Written March 7, 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.

Alicia
29 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Solo
As someone who is mainly interested in pre-colonial history, it was really only the pre-columbian part (on the ground floor) that interested me. It goes into a lot of detail about the lives of the indigenous people and how they lived, the stories they told and of course how they molded gold. There was also a section about the animals before the ice age which was interesting.

The second floor had an art exhibition and Petrology (the study of rocks) and the first floor (where you enter in) was about the history of money/the colon. It is recommended that you start at the bottom and work your way up.

If you love all those things, then you will really enjoy this place. However, if you're like me then only the ground floor will peak your interest and you'd only need about 1 hour.

Entry price was CRC 8,400 per adult or $16.
Written February 11, 2024
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.

pammawd
Chattanooga, TN13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
I was shocked and amazed at the museum. I felt they did an awesome job of explaining the history of Costa Rica. The display of gold was astounding. I also appreciated the other items of their heritage, as well as the art display. Well done!
Written January 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.

Janet L
Saint Louis, MO571 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
We did not pre-book and on a mid-Sunday afternoon that was not a problem. Non-flash photography is permitted. The very best pieces are near the end. There are also pieces of pottery and information about daily life. At the very end you see the history of money in the country.
Written April 20, 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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Pre-Columbian Gold Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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