TOP MUSEUMS WHICH YOU SHOULDN’T MISS IN HANOI

          Hanoi has many museums such as Vietnam museum of ethnology, women museum, Vietnamese history museum, etc. Visiting museums around Hanoi to know more not only about the rich history of Vietnam but also the beauty of Vietnamese people and the culture. Vietnam Eco Travel will introduce to you top museums which you should visit in Hanoi.

1. Vietnam Museum Of  Ethnology

         This is the most recent yet probably the largest and undoubtedly the most interesting Museums in Hanoi and Vietnam.  Vietnam Museum Of  Ethnology focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam. It is located on a 3.27-acre (13,200 m²) property in the Cầu Giấy District, about 8 km from the city center. This fabulous collection relating to Vietnam's ethnic minorities features well-presented tribal art, artefacts and everyday objects gathered from across the nation, and examples of traditional village houses.

The museum is packed full of information detailing traditional Vietnamese ways of life, from religious events to the symbolic rituals of all the Vietnamese ethnic groups, providing a rich tapestry of the culture melting pot existing in Vietnam. The exhibition hall features everyday objects representing each group, a research centre, library and auditorium. The outdoor display area exhibits a variety of Vietnamese homes as full-scale replicas, with great attention paid to the varying architectural styles set within the authentic and tranquil gardens. In addition, there are also leisure pursuits on display including traditional water puppet theatre and calligraphy. The future aim of the museum is to also showcase the many cultural

practices and civilizations across southeast Asia.

One of the main features of the museum is to present the artefacts in a simple manner so that visitors can enjoy them without being overwhelmed by detail.

It opens from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM every day except monday
2. Ho Chi Minh museum

        One of the most resourceful museums in Hanoi and undoubtedly in the country, Ho Chi Minh museum is conveniently located in the Ho Chi Minh complex. The museum displays many artifacts and documents about the life and personality of President Ho Chi Minh. Inaugurated on 2nd September, 1990, the Museum has five extensive floors.

The showing space is nearly 4000m2 of area with 2000 data, exhibits, and images that reflect Ho Chi Minh life and career. There are exhibition ground, store, library, and hall for studying, visiting and culture activating. From the opening day, the museum welcomed million of local and foreign visitors.

The statue of Ho Chi Minh was put on the exhibition ground where many formal rituals are taken place. More than 2000 data, exhibits, documentations, and works of art are shown to introduce Ho Chi Minh life and directing process to taking back the liberty for Vietnam. The right of the biography is the combination of images which describe the country of Vietnam, the period of fighting and taking back the freedom of Vietnamese people with the leading of Ho Chi Minh president. The left of the biography are the thematic about some world history points from the end of 20^th century up to now, they are also the factors influence on Vietnamese people fighting periods.

For safety reasons, visitors can not bring bags or cameras inside the museum. From Tuesday to Thursday and also on weekends, the opening hours of the museum are from 8 A.M to 11 A.M and 1:30 to 4:00 P.M.

3. Hoa Lo Prison

         The Hoa Lo Prison, later known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton", was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.

Located in downtown Hanoi, the infamous Hoa Lo Prison or the Hanoi Hilton was built by the French administration in 1896 when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. The French called the prison Maison Centrale - a traditional euphemism to denote prisons in France. Most exhibits relate to the prison’s use up to the mid-1950s, focusing on the Vietnamese struggle for independence from France. A gruesome relic is the ominous French guillotine, used to behead Vietnamese revolutionaries. There are also displays focusing on the American pilots who were incarcerated at Hoa Lo during the American War.

The majority of the exhibits here include a horrifying array of shackles, whips, and other instruments of torture, as well as tiny solitary confinement cells, which date from the French-colonial period. Also on display is part of the old, narrow more than 100 prisoners escaped in August 1945. A smaller section of the museum is devoted to the American period and, predictably enough, contrives to show how well US prisoners fared in contrast to the brutality shown to the Vietnamese by the French. At the back of the museum is the guillotine. A surprisingly small, simple yet terrifyingly.

It opens from 7:30am to 11:30am and  1:30pm to 4:30pm. Closed on Monday

4. Hanoi Museum

        

  The museum displays artifacts from Hanoi's 1000-year history and the history, culture, heritage, and architecture of Vietnam. It showcases over 50,000 artifacts in a total area of nearly 54,000 square meters.

The museum has 6 floors, the floor area scaled down from top to bottom. Hanoi museum give to visitors impression by modern design and convenience. Tourists can go to other floors by elevator or stairs that are designed into a spiral round inside the museum.

Coming to Hanoi museum, visitors will have opportunity to admire the antiques that are collected from around the country.

It opens from 8:00 am to 11:30 am and from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm everyday.

5. Vietnamese Women’s Museum

          Despite being a patriarchal society, Viet Nam still reserves a special, if not sacred, place to honour Vietnamese women. Not only is October 20th is made Vietnam’s Women day but there also exists a museum dedicated to women.

The museum has three main galleries and these present three main themes: Women in Family, Women in History and Women’s Fashion. Visitors have the opportunity to learn and understand traditional culture, marriage customs, childbirth and family life, traditional women’s clothing and the role of women in the defense of the nation.

Inside the museum there is lots of narrative as women of the rice paddy fields, service workers, street vendors, female business leaders, academics and mothers are all well represented. Additionally there is plenty of information on everyday life including marriage, family life, fashion and life changing rituals. Interestingly, there are also exhibits on the part women played in Vietnam’s wars. Displays are very well presented in a storytelling format with signs also in English and French. Historic documentation including Taoist books of the Dao people and wedding cards from the Kinh community will give visitors an in-depth insight into better understanding the women of Vietnam. Photographs and film footage documenting the life of heroic mothers during wartime are moving exhibits that shouldn’t be missed. The Vietnam Women’s Museum is definitely worth a few hour visit, especially for those keen on learning about culture and gender.

It opens from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm everyday.

6. National Museum of Vietnamese History

         The National Museum of Vietnamese History is housed in a magnificent example of Indochinese architecture, which was, until 1910, the French consulate and residence of the governor general. Although the museum is only 2,000m2 in total, it provides a great overview of the history of Vietnam thanks to chronological sequence. The site has two floors, among which Vietnam’s history is divided into 10 different sections, from the prehistoric era to the day when President Ho Chi Minh read out the Declaration of Independence giving birth to Vietnam.

In here preserving more than 7,000 precious objects, some aged thousand years old which represent the cultural diversity of the country. Historic objects exhibited here are not only Vietnamese origin but also consists other culture like China, Japan, Thailand and especially Champ with more than 50 stone-engraved back to 7th-13th centuries.

Significantly, the Vietnam National Museum of History is one of the few national

museums of Vietnam that has achieved resounding success in its exhibitions abroad, promoting the country and the people of Vietnam through national heritage, helping the international community have better, more complete understanding of the history and culture of Vietnam.

National Museum of Vietnamese History is a good place to learn about history and relax. Besides, tourists can find picture books about Vietnam, antiques, traditional handicrafts in the gallery or souvenir shop located within the museum's precinct.

It opens from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm everyday

7.Vietnam Fine Arts Museum

     

The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, a museum in the system of Vietnam's national museums, is considered as a museum that occupies the most important position in maintaining and promoting the treasures of Vietnamese cultural and artistic heritage. Visitors to the Museum can appreciate and understand the entire history of Vietnamese fine arts through the collections and exhibitions on display. The presentation of our permanent collections of important works of Vietnamese art offer the public unique insights into the culture and history of the Vietnam's ethnic communities. Unfortunately, many of the art work found here are replicate, for the original has by and large been destroyed during Viet Nam war.

It opens from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm everyday

8. Museum of History of Vietnamese Military

        This is one of the oldest museums in Hanoi. It is particularly interesting to see and important for those wishing to learn about Vietnam, because most of the country’s history is about war and fighting for independence.  There are both indoors and outdoors sections with display of military-related artifacts. Its exhibition dated back to as early as Hung Vuong Era, which is considered the start of Vietnam as a country. The first thousand year of being colonized by Chinese is elaborately depicted, as well as the century struggle against French colony. 

The museum content covers the six following periods:

• The history of the Vietnamese nation and the birth of the Vietnam People’s Army
• The Vietnamese struggle against French colonialism
• The Vietnamese struggle against American imperialists
• The Vietnam People’s Army on the path to a regular modern army
• The People and the Army are oneness, and will be invicible
• Piece of weaponry displayed in the museum courtyard (such as airplanes, tanks, heavy artilleries, rockets, mortars, bombs, and so forth).

Visiting the museum, tourists can see thousands of exhibits, photographs, maps, scale models of the past Vietnam war. Thanks to this, visitors will have a good general knowledge of the process of the birth, growth and victories of the Vietnamese people's armed forces for the cause of peace, independence and freedom.

It opens from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm every day except monday and friday.