THINGS TO DO IN KOTA KINABALU: Visit the Sabah State Museum

I always belive that for you to learn more about a new place you're visiting, you should visit its museum. That is why, whenever there's time and a chance, we always visit museums - especially in our travels abroad.

In our recent Kota Kinabalu trip, we visited the Sabah State Museum (Malay: Muzium Sabah). This huge museum complex is composed of several buildings showcasing different exhibits such as the Main Building, Locomotive Gallery, Heritage Village, Science and Technology Centre, Ethno-Botanical Garden, and the Islamic Civilization Museum.

The Main Building

The Sabah Museum's main building is easily recognizable with its architecture inspired by traditional Rungus Longhouse.

The main building houses the History Gallery, Archaeology Gallery, Natural History Gallery, Ceramics, Textiles, and Ethnography exhibits, among many other exhibits.

One of the most interesting items inside the main building is the enormous skeletal remains of a 50-foot Bryde Whale that will greet you upon entering the museum. The textile gallery and the Ethnography exhibits are also quite interesting and are my favorites.

Locomotive Gallery

Nest to the main building is the Locomotive Gallery where you'll find several displays of old trains and some memorabilia of the railway system of Kota Kinabalu and Northern Borneo. You can go inside the trains and have photos taken.

Science and Technology Centre

The Science and Technology Centre houses the oil and gas exhibition, the broadcasting exhibition, and some interactive displays that kids and "kids at heart" will surely enjoy.

Islamic Civilization Museum

The Islamic Civilization Museum is an interesting museum that educates visitors about Islam. On display are collection of brass wear, swords and weapons, old Qurans, miniature mosques, and many more.

Heritage Village

A short walk from the main building and by passing through a hanging bridge, you'll see the Heritage Village. It has different kinds of traditional houses that gives every visitor a feel of what the old villages are like. You can enter into the houses, just be careful as some of them are quite old.

What I love most about Sabah State Museum is that there are interactive areas where you could touch and feel some of the displays. There are also sections where you could try playing the traditional musical instruments, hold an old stone, go inside a traditional house, fix a broken ceramic vase, and many more. It only shows that visiting a museum should be fun, educational, and not boring.

I am so happy that we visited the Sabah State Museum. This museum is definitely a must-visit when in Kota Kinabalu. Don't miss it if you have time and if you like to learn about the culture, traditions, history, and the religion practiced in Kota Kinabalu. It's really worthy of the 15 MYR entrance fee you pay.

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Sabah State Museum

• Address: Sabah Museum Complex, Jalan Muzium, 88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
• Telephone: Tel: (+6088) 225033
• Email: Muzium.Sabah@sabah.gov.my
• Website: www.museum.sabah.gov.my

How to get to Sabah State Museum?

From Kota Kinabalu city center, take a taxi or Grab car for 5 MYR. If you want to take the bus, take Bus No. 13 and tell the driver to drop you at Jalan Kebajikan off Jalan Penampang, opposite the Secretariat Building. Then you could just walk towards Sabah State Museum. Bus fare is 1 MYR.

OPENING HOURS: Open daily from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM

ADMISSION FEES:

• Malaysian Guests - 2.00 MYR
• Non-Malaysian Guests - 15.00 MYR

For Malaysians:

• Students in uniform, disabled (PWD) guests, senior citizens and taxi drivers are free admission.

Cheap Flights to Kota Kinabalu

From Manila, Cebu Pacific Air and Air Asia Philippines have direct flights to Kota Kinabalu. Other airlines such as Malaysia Airlines also has flights from Manila to Kota Kinabalu with transit in Kuala Lumpur.

To search for cheap flights to Kota Kinabalu, I highly recommend booking via Traveloka.com - one of Southeast Asia's leading travel booking sites. I've been using it in my travels for more than 2 years now and I can assure you that you'll always get the best deals, promos and discounts on flights! Best of all, you could get more discounts by using their weekly promo codes. Always check the "On-Going Promos" tab on their website or in the app.

For other amazing guided tours and exciting day trips in and from Kota Kinabalu, PLEASE CLICK HERE!