National Museum

Once the pride of Kuwait, this museum is still under restoration. The centrepiece of the museum, the Al-Sabah collection, was one of the most important collections of Islamic art in the world. During the Iraqi occupation, however, the exhibition halls were systematically looted, damaged or set fire to.

Following intense pressure from the UN, the majority of the museum's collection was eventually returned, but many pieces had been broken in transit, poorly stored and, some suggest, deliberately spoiled. Nonetheless, this beleaguered collection has since been displayed in London's British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York while waiting to be restored in its entirety to Kuwait's National Museum. Over 2000 items are now on display, covering various aspects of Kuwait's national heritage and a newly opened hall displays ancient treasures from Failaka Island including stamps and seals from the Bronze Age, axe heads and a wonderful Hellenistic limestone dolphin. The dhow in the courtyard (a replica of Muhallab II that was destroyed by the Iraqis) makes a good photo opportunity at sunset. The quaint Popular Traditional Museum - variously described as Heritage Museum and Culture Museum - is in Building 2, in the rear of the museum complex. Buses 12 and 16 (departing from the main bus station) stop a couple of blocks from the museum.