Jakarta, with hundreds of years of history, has preserved its most precious stories and belongings in the museums you can find around the city. Visiting and exploring the museums will be a great alternative you can take to spend your weekend. Here are 5 best museums in Jakarta you can visit with your kids.

National monument or MONAS, perhaps, is the most popular monument in Indonesia that also acts as a museum. As a symbol of Jakarta, the museum has attracted a lot of tourists to come to the destination, especially on holidays. The museum is divided into 3 main parts. The first part is the basement where the visitors can see interesting dioramas that tell about Indonesia’s history. The second part of the museum is the mezzanine. It has a large podium where you can see all over Monas Square while the part of the museum is an observation tower. You need to use an elevator with a capacity of 11 people to take you to the tower.

The next most popular museum in Jakarta is Museum Fatahillah which is also popular as the Jakarta History Museum. The museum plays an important role in the history of Jakarta since it has been around since the Dutch Colonial era. Museum Fatahillash was formerly a city hall of Batavia, the name of Jakarta during the colonial era. It was built in 1710 and located in Jakarta’s old town, not far from Batavia Square. You can find objects from the city’s prehistory period as well as the Dutch colonization period until the proclamation of Indonesia’s Independence. 

Being located just next to Museum Fatahillah (Jakarta History Museum) in the Old Town, the Wayang Museum is another destination you should visit. The museum is built and dedicated to iconic Javanese puppetry. The puppets now are included in the Unesco’s cultural heritage and mainly used in Javanese traditional form of theater. Not only displays a large collection of Javanese traditional puppets, but the museum also holds “wayang performances” occasionally using traditional instruments such as gamelan. 

One of the best museums in Jakarta you should not skip from your agenda is the Satria Mandala Museum. This is the main museum that specially designed for the Indonesian Armed Forces. Being opened for the first time on 5 October 1972, the museum is the home of numerous vehicles, weapons, and artifacts of Indonesian Army. Exploring the museum, the visitors will be able to learn about the military history of Indonesia. Going down to the museum ground, there will be several war machines that you can find dating from the 1940s that you can find. The museum also has 75 dioramas of the pre-independence rebellions that later led the proclamation of Indonesia’s independence.

Museum Bank Indonesia is one of the must-visit museums in Jakarta. The museum especially established to showcase the journey of the national bank of Indonesia. This bank plays an important role in Indonesia’s financial system and it is the only bank in the country which is allowed to control money circulation.