{"id":110,"date":"2018-02-12T15:55:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T21:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.vamosrentacar.com\/?p=110"},"modified":"2025-11-04T08:51:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T14:51:29","slug":"san-jose-museum-guide-downtown-treasures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/san-jose-museum-guide-downtown-treasures\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Museum Guide – Downtown Treasures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo courtesy of Andy Rusch.\u00a0 Some Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Waiting in San Jose for your flight or tour connections? \u00a0Well, if you have a few hours to spare, don’t despair. \u00a0Choose a museum from the guide below to learn more about Costa Rica, and have fun doing so!<\/p>\n

Gold Museum: \u00a0<\/b>Located underneath the Plaza de la Cultura (Culture Square) in the center of bustling San Jose, this museum protects a large collection of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts. \u00a0The mostly tiny ornaments were worn by indigenous people in the centuries before Columbus arrived in Costa Rica; namely between 500 BC to 1500 AD, and represent the culture and beliefs of these ancient tribes. \u00a0The pieces are mainly figural with both animal and human features — symbolizing the idea that humans were attributed with animal characteristics. \u00a0The religion, akin to that of native Americans, was very much in harmony with their natural surroundings.<\/p>\n

The museum also houses exhibits which show the history of the country’s currency, the Colon, and other regular, rotating art shows.<\/p>\n

Opening hours: \u00a0<\/b>9:15am – 5:00pm Monday through Sunday.<\/p>\n

Price: \u00a0<\/b>$11 for adults and children.<\/p>\n

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Jade Museum: \u00a0<\/b>Since 2014, this small museum has been situated across from the Plaza de la Democracia (Democracy Square) and not<\/i><\/b> in the INS building as many websites and guidebooks still incorrectly state. \u00a0The name of the museum is a little misleading since there are also ancient pottery, bone and other Pre-Columbian artifacts, in addition to the namesake jade exhibits. \u00a0The newly constructed, five-floor interior boasts bilingual, interactive screens and activities to help the story of this country come alive. \u00a0This museum appeals to the twenty-first century visitor through the use of such technology as holograms — depicting the daily life long ago.<\/p>\n

Opening hours: \u00a0<\/b>8:30am – 3:30pm Monday through Friday; 8:30am – 2:30pm on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

Price: \u00a0<\/b>$15 for adults and children.<\/p>\n

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National Museum: \u00a0<\/b>This museum is located within the walls of the Bellavista Fortress, with its bullet-scarred walls, a testament to its role in the country’s brief civil war. \u00a0Overlooking the Plaza de la Democracia, the building and square are symbols of Costa Rica’s decision to be a nation of peace.<\/p>\n

The museum has a delightful butterfly room, where visitors can view the full spectrum of native butterflies that may be found throughout the country. \u00a0Other highlights include a gold room, some of the mysterious stone spheres from the Osa Peninsula and preserved rooms where time stands still to show the building’s past as an army barracks.<\/p>\n

Opening hours: \u00a0<\/b>8:30am – 4:30pm Monday through Saturday; 9:00am – 4:30pm on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Price: \u00a0<\/b>$8 for adults and children.<\/p>\n

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Children’s Museum: \u00a0<\/b>Housed in an old prison, this museum is surprisingly welcoming and, from the outside, resembles a fairy tale castle rather than a jail. \u00a0Inside, a few cells have been preserved as a grim reminder of the building’s past, but otherwise, the interior is kid-friendly and a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

High points are the earthquake simulator where kids stand to experience how tremors feel, interactive games with body parts, and the “Walk through History” rooms.<\/p>\n

During school vacations, there are numerous arranged activities in addition to the normal displays.<\/p>\n

Opening hours:<\/b>\u00a0 8:00am – 4:30pm Tuesday through Friday; 9:30am – 5:00pm on Saturdays.\u00a0 Closed Mondays.\u00a0 Please note that this museum will be open on Mondays during school vacations.<\/p>\n

Price:<\/b>\u00a0 $4 for children, $5 for those 15 years and older.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spare Time in San Jos\u00e9? Instead of watching the same airport monitors, go out and see some achievements in civilization, fun science or beautiful butterflies while you wait. Select a museum from our guide and have mucho fun doing so!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-bucket-list"],"modified_by":"Zachary","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2785,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions\/2785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vamosrentacar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}