Like other ancient places, Hanoi possesses the top 5 must-visit museums. The capital city of Vietnam is famous for its long history and diverse culture. There are countless places to see here. But we would recommend some places for some quality quiet time, with 5 fascinating museums in Hanoi. This is a good way to get to know great stories about Hanoi and Vietnam.
Vietnam National Museum of History
- Address: 214 Tran Quang Khai Str. and No. 1 Trang Tien Str., Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Opening time: 8:00 – 12:00; 13:30 – 17:00, all the days of the week except first Monday of the month
- Ticket price: VND 40,000
Visiting this museum is like walking through Vietnamese history from prehistoric times to the present.
Vietnam National Museum of History is home to nearly 200,000 objects and materials of Vietnamese cultural history, with 110,000 antiques and 19 National Treasures from prehistory to 1945. From archaeological artifacts of the Metal Age, Dong Son drum to Vietnamese traditional glazed ceramics; bronze items of the Lê – Nguyễn dynasties; Champa stone sculptures; a collection of foreign ceramics originating from China, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia.
Dong Son Drums – one of Vietnam National Treasures
In the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, there are more than 80,000 documents and artifacts relating to the Revolutionary history, the Communist Party of Vietnam, leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The artifacts and documents of these two historical periods are displayed at 1 Trang Tien and No. 214 Tran Quang Khai respectively.
Arriving at the museum, you will experience outstanding representations about the history and culture of Vietnam and the heroic traditions of the Vietnamese.
Vietnam Fine Art Museum
- Address: 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi
- Opening time: 8:30 – 17:00 all days of the week
- Ticket price: VND 40,000 (USD 1.7)
Vietnam Fine Art Museum
If you are looking for a combination of modern and colonial architecture, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum is the place to go.
Vietnam Fine Arts Museum was established in 1966, is a museum with a large area, many art galleries, and campuses. The museum is built by the French. The architecture is quite beautiful and impressive. Currently, this museum is managing nearly 20,000 artifacts and typical artworks of Vietnamese from prehistoric and primitive days until today, which includes 9 national treasures.
Marvel at the thousand-eyed, thousand-armed image of Guan Yin, a 17th-century Hindu-style stone sculpture, at Fine Arts Museum (Bao Tang My Thuat). The country’s primary art museum tells a comprehensive story of the fine arts in Vietnam across three levels. Ranging from ancient antiques to modern art and folk paintings, the collection’s pieces include early sandstone sculpture and an elegantly carved Buddha image dated 1057. Housed in two 1930s colonial French ministry buildings, the museum gives you insight into the range of Vietnamese art-from prehistoric times to modern patriotic epics and soul-searching abstract compositions.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
- Address: Nguyen Van Huy Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi
- Opening time: 8:30 – 17:30 from Tuesday to Sunday
- Ticket price: VND 40,000 (USD 1.7)
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology was established in 1997. The museum stores and displays many cultural artifacts of all 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups including 15,000 artifacts, 42,000 films (with color photos), 2190 positive films, 273 tapes of interviews, music, 373 videotape, and 25 CD-ROM discs.
In order to fully serve visitors, all the information on the display, the articles as well as the annotations are written in 3 languages: Vietnamese, English and French. The museum also possesses many brochures with contents written in Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese, German, Japanese …, which are free of charge for visitors.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Source: Allison Yates
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organize many interesting events on the weekend such as watching the traditional puppet show, enjoy entertaining activities, experience cultural festivals. Besides, visitors can pick up some lovely souvenirs, gifts for their friends and family.
Vietnam Women’s Museum
- Address: 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Opening time: 8:00 – 17:00 all days of the week
- Ticket price: VND 30,000 (USD 1.3)
Vietnam Women’s Museum
The Vietnam Women’s Museum was established in 1987. This is a place to store items from ancient times including costumes and jewelry omit “of the people” with full and clear notes. This is also the center for the cultural preservation of Vietnamese women and international women for equality purposes.
Traditional “Ao dai” in Vietnam Women’s Museum
Hanoi Museum
- Address: Pham Hung Street, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi
- Opening time: 8:00 – 11:30; 13:30 – 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday
- Ticket price: Free
Hanoi Museum
This is a very familiar place for visitors when coming to Hanoi with a large campus and a building consists of 4 floors and 2 underground floors. This museum is architecturally impressive with the shape of an inverted pyramid.
Founded in 1982, the number of artifacts in Hanoi museum is up to ten thousand, in which the treasures of precious and rare objects account for more than 7000. The museum’s collection includes stoneware, bronze, ceramics of the Ly, Tran, Le, Nguyen dynasties as well as Chinese and Japanese ceramics and Japanese ceramics.
Now, there are 5 museums for you to experience Hanoi in a knowledgeable and memorable way.
