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In 1963, Malaysia opened a long-planned National Museum (Muzium Negara) to replace the earlier Selangor Museum that sadly was destroyed in WWII.

Designed by architect Ho Kok Hoe to "reflect local traditional values," the National Museum of Malaysia building itself is beautiful. The architect drew inspiration from Malay royal palaces, specifically Balai Besar in the Malaysian state of Kedah in addition to "Melaka, Bugis and Trengganu roof forms" to establish a distinctive "Malay-style design."

Unfortunately, because of poor urban planning starting in the 1970s, this iconic Malaysian building was isolated to a sliver of land literally surrounded by freeways — Jalan Damansara and Jalan Travers — like a castle on an island battered by a rough sea of cars. In fact, when travelgasm.com first visited Kuala Lumpur years ago, we planned to go to the museum, but it clearly was impossible to reach on foot despite its relative proximity to KL Sentral station. We decided to go back another day and ended up not going to the museum at all.

Thankfully, in 2017, Kuala Lumpur finished the connecting portion of its glorious underground MRT and the National Museum of Malaysia was given its own station — Muzium Negara (SBK15) — as it rightly deserves. This station is connected to KL Sentral by a series of enclosed and air-conditioned walkways, also. The museum now is easy — even pleasant — to reach on foot and definitely is a must see.

What to See & When to Go to the National Museum

The National Museum of Malaysia provides four galleries with impressive artifacts and written explanations in both Malay and English that cover ancient history, the Malay kingdoms, the colonial era, and modern times. It is open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM with the exception of some national holidays, and costs an entirely reasonable 5 RM (US$1.05) for non-Malaysian adults, 2 RM (US$0.20) for non-Malaysian children under 12, and is free for children under 6.

Because there is a free tour available, the best time for English speakers to go to the museum is at 10 AM on weekdays or Saturdays (tours are not available on Sundays). Free tours are offered at 10 AM on select days in French, Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean, as well. If you are on foot from KL Sentral Station, be sure to give yourself about 15 minutes for a leisurely walk through the connecting passages to arrive by 10 AM.

Where to Eat Nearby

Although there is slight mention of it on the official website, the National Museum of Malaysia does have its own cafe that serves basic Malaysian meals and coffee, but there are far more options in the NU Sentral Mall attached to KL Sentral Station.

There are many restaurants as well as a food court in NU Sentral, but on one visit, we enjoyed the Nyonya Colors chain for Malaysian food and you might, too.

Below, we have mapped out the location of the NU Sentral Mall and the National Museum of Malaysia.

How to Get Here: Take MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (Line 9, Dark Green) to Muzium Negara (SBK15). The museum is immediately outside Entrance B. You also can walk from KL Sentral Station through a 240-metre (790-foot) connection to Muzium Negara Station. To go from Entrance C of Muzium Negara (which connects to KL Sentral) to Entrance B requires you to pay a fare of RM$0.80 (US$0.17), but this small price is well worth it to not have to deal with the horrible freeways outside.

travelgasm.com's National Museum of Malaysia Map (Full Screen)

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