Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. It is also a political – economic – cultural – scientific and technological center of the entire country. When visiting Hanoi, the museum is one of the most interesting places to visit.
Let us bring you some brief information about the top 10 museums in Hanoi.
1. Hoa Lo Prison Museum (Hanoi Hilton)
Hoa Lo Prison was a prison used by the French in French Indochina for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for American prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.
The name Hoa Lo, commonly translated as “fiery furnace” or “hell hole”, also means “stove”. The name originates from the street name phố Hỏa Lò, due to the concentration of shops selling wood stoves and coal stoves along the street in pre-colonial times.
The prison was built in Hanoi by the French, on dates ranging from 1886-1889 to 1898 to 1901, when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina.
It was intended to hold Vietnamese prisoners, particularly political prisoners campaigning for independence who were often subjected to torture and execution. A 1913 renovation increased its capacity from 460 inmates to 600. It was nonetheless often overcrowded, holding some 730 prisoners on any given day in 1916, a figure that would rise to 895 in 1922 and 1,430 in 1933. By 1954 it held more than 2,000 detainees who were held in inhumane conditions.
After the defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords of 1954, the French left Hanoi and the prison came under the authority of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Subsequently, the prison served as an educational center for revolutionary doctrine and activity, and it was preserved after the French left to mark its historical importance to the North Vietnamese.
During the Vietnam War, it was known to American prisoners of war as the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was demolished in the 1990s, although the gatehouse remains a museum.
There is now a Hilton hotel in Hanoi, called the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel, which opened in 1999. It was built decades after the end of the Vietnam War, but Hilton carefully avoided reusing the dreaded name Hanoi Hilton.
• Address: No. 1, Hoa Lo Street, Tran Hung Dao Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
• Opening hours: daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (including festivals and public holidays)
• Entrance fee: 30,000 VND/person
2. Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology
Located on a 43,799 square meter property in Cau Giay district, about 8 km from the city center, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology – known as the best informative and ingenious museum in the city – offers visitors a overview of 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam with the aim of preserving cultural heritage and promoting socio-cultural diversity in the country.
The outdoor exhibition area displays a variety of Vietnamese houses as full-scale replicas, with great attention paid to the different architectural styles set within the authentic and tranquil gardens.
You can occasionally watch a water puppet show here. This will undoubtedly be one of the most fascinating experiences in Hanoi.
• Address: Nguyen Van Huyen Road, Cau Giay District, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi
• Opening hours: every day except Monday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Entrance fee: 40,000 VND / person
3. Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts
Located in the National Museum System of Vietnam, the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts was established in 1966 with the mission of being a place for research, collection, conservation and exhibition of documents, artifacts and of works of art representing and presenting the quintessence of the culture and art of Vietnam.
Like many French architectural works in Hanoi that appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this house was built and inaugurated in 1937 and was the residence of the daughters of French officials who came from all over Indochina to study in Hanoi . During the period 1957 – 1960, this place was used as the headquarters of the Polish delegation in the Vietnam Armistice Monitoring Committee. From 1960 to 1962 it was the workplace of Soviet specialists.
In 1962, the new building was renovated into a museum of fine arts, becoming a venue for exhibiting Vietnamese paintings. From a building with pure European architecture, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum now has a combination with traditional Vietnamese architecture to better meet its function as a Vietnamese fine arts museum.
When you come to the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, you will not be bored because besides the usual exhibition space, there is also a thematic exhibition space, a creative space for children and a culinary space … promising to provide you with extremely interesting experiences.
• Address: 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
• Opening hours: every day except Monday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (from May 25, 2020)
• Entrance fee: 40,000 VND / person
4. Vietnamese Women’s Museum
The Vietnamese Women’s Museum was established in 1987 and managed by the Vietnam Women’s Union, which is recognized as one of the most powerful movements in the country.
In 1991, the Vietnam Women’s Museum began construction and officially opened to the public in 1995 and was renovated between 2006 and 2010.
More than 1,000 materials, photos and objects displayed in the permanent exhibition show the role that Vietnamese women have played in history and currently play in the arts and family life. The museum also organizes thematic exhibitions to show the changes and developments in contemporary society.
• Address: 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Str, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
• Opening hours: Daily from 8am to 5pm
• Entrance fee: VND40,000/person
5. Vietnam National Museum of History
The National Museum of History is the name after the merger with the Vietnam Museum of History and the Vietnam Revolution Museum. The National Museum of History currently holds a heritage block of more than 20,000 documents and artifacts recreating the entire historical flow of the nation from prehistoric times to the present. In particular, the museum also has many national treasures, a collection of rarer antiquities compared to other museums with the same theme.
It is also the first museum in Vietnam to apply technology to exhibition and education activities. With the 3D virtual interactive technology introduced on the National Museum of History website, you can visit and see the complete collection more easily without having to go in person.
• Address: No. 1, Trang Tien – No. 216 Tran Quang Khai, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
• Opening hours: Every day except the 1st Monday of each month,
Morning: 8am to 12pm
• Afternoon: 1:30pm to 5pm
• Entrance fee: 40,000 VND / person
6. Vietnamese People’s Air Force Museum
The Vietnamese People’s Air Force Museum in Hanoi is located on Truong Chinh Street in Bach Mai District in Hanoi. The museum is located on the edge of the disused Bach Mai airfield.
The museum tells the history of the Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) from its formation in 1954 to the present. Emphasis is placed on its role in the Second Indochina War (1955-1975) and the Cambodian-Vietnamese War (1978-1989). The museum includes a main building with exhibits on the history of the VPAF, biographies of VPAF aces, uniforms and flight suits, aircraft weapons and engines, artifacts from downed American aircraft, and the Front fuselage of a MiG-21.
Outside is a static park with aircraft from the VPAF and the Republic of Vietnam Air Force.
• Address: No.173C Truong Chinh Road, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi.
• Opening hours: Every day except Friday,
• Morning: from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• Afternoon: From 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Entrance fee: 20,000VND / person
7. Vietnam Military History Museum
The Vietnam Military History Museum, established on July 17, 1956, is one of the seven national museums of Vietnam.
The museum consists of various buildings. Eras of Vietnamese military history are presented in different buildings of the complex. The Hanoi Flag Tower is also within the complex’s boundaries. It is possible for visitors to enter the first two levels of the tower, however, the spire is inaccessible.
The museum also includes a display of decommissioned, captured or destroyed military equipment and vehicles used by the French, Viet Minh, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the United States during the First and Second World Wars. ‘Indochina.
This exhibit, located right next to Hanoi’s Flag Tower, became known as “The Garden of Toys.”
• Address: 28A Dien Bien Phu, Ba Dinh district Hanoi, Vietnam
• Opening hours: Every day except Monday and Friday.
• Morning: from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Afternoon: from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Entrance: 40,000VND / person
8. Ho Chi Minh Museum
The Ho Chi Minh Museum does exactly what, given its name, you would expect it to do. Opened in 1990 on the anniversary of Ho Chi Minh’s birth, the Soviet-style museum is a bizarre hagiography brought to life.
It is also one of the most informative museums in Hanoi, undoubtedly in the country, the Ho Chi Minh Museum is conveniently located within the Ho Chi Minh Complex.
The entire museum is an elaborate depiction of Ho Chi Minh’s life. The museum is a collection of various artifacts, miniatures and gifts collected nationally and internationally. There is also a description written in English and French, as well as guided tours on request.
• Address: 19 Ngoc Ha Street, Doi Can Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi
• Opening hours: every day except Monday and Friday.
• Morning: from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Afternoon: from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Entrance: 10,000VND / person
9. Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum
A throwback to the 1980s, Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum, about 13 km southwest of old quarter of Hanoi, is dedicated to the famous supply route from Vietnam’s communist north to the occupied south.
The exhibits, including an abundance of American munitions and weapons as well as powerful photographs, document the horrors of the American war all too clearly, from a distinctly Vietnamese perspective.
A short film gives you the details and the English captions are good, while the recreated tunnels are worth exploring.
• Address: Yen Nghia, Ha Dong, Hanoi
• Opening hours: Every day except Sunday.
• Morning: from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Afternoon: from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Entrance: 20,000VND / person
10. Hanoi Police Museum
The Hanoi Police Museum (Vietnamese: Bảo tàng Công An Hanoi) is a unique museum that takes you through the periodic history of Vietnam’s much-loved police force. The exhibits are lined with numerous photographs, newspaper clippings, artifacts, brochures and everything else that tells the story of Vietnam’s great police force.
The beauty of the museum is enhanced by the various displays of uniforms, weapons, motorcycles, station dioramas and numerous photographs and documents taking the visitor through a chronological history of the police. From their efforts to deport the French in 1946 to today as they fight drugs and cybercrime, everything is on public display.
• Address: 67 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
• Opening hours: every day except Monday and Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Entrance fees: free
