Hoa Lo Prison Museum

Location: 1 Hoa Lo Street, Hai Ba Trung Distric, Hanoi

Characteristic: The French colonialists used Hoa Lo to imprison manay patriots and communist prisoners. After peace was established in 1954, this site was used by the Vietnamese Government as a jail for criminal prisoners.

It was also a place to keep American Pilots during the anti US war in the North. The Museum is open daily, from 8.00 am to 11.30 am and 1.30 pm to 4.30pm. Entry fee is 10,000 VND (for Vietnamese and foreigners).

History of Military Museum

Location: Military History Museum is located at No. 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Characteristic: It was formerly the French expeditionary barracks and covers 10,000 m² divided into 30 showrooms. It was founded on December 22nd, 1958.

The content of the museum covers 6 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 - they will be invincible.
• Piece of weaponry displayed in the museum courtyard (airplanes, tanks, heavy artilleries, rockets, mortars, bombs, etc.

The Military History Museum is the concentrated embodiment of the spirit of the Vietnamese people "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom". Entry price is 5,000 VND (for Vietnamese) and 20,000 VND (for foreigners).

Visiting hours

From 8:00 to 11:30 and from 13:30 to 16:00 all days, except Monday and Friday.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Location: Ho Chi Minh Museum is located at 3 Ngoc Ha Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi; near Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

Characteristic: The museum is a four-story building covering a total area of 100ha and designed in the shape of a lotus flower as a symbol of President Ho's noble character.

This museum was completed on 9 May 1990 for the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday. The main showroom displays 117,274 documents, articles, pictures and exhibits illustrating the historical events that took place during President Ho Chi Minh's life, as well as important events that occurred in the rest of the world since the end of the 19th century.

The museum contains other rooms such as a library, a large hall, meeting rooms and research rooms. Since its opening, the museum has welcomed millions of domestic and foreign visitors. It is open from 8 am to 11 am and 1.30pm to 4.30 pm daily except Monday and Friday. Photography is forbidden. Cameras and bags must be left at the reception. Entrance ticket costs 15,000 VND for foreigners and free for Vietnamese.

Visiting hours

From 8:00 to 11:00 and from 13:30 to 16:30 daily except Monday afternoon and Friday afternoon.

Revolution Museum

Location: Revolution Museum is situated at 216 Tran Quang Khai Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Characteristic: It established in August 1959, It has been designed into 29 showrooms, containing more than thousands of historical exhibits.

The museum introduces Vietnam-the land and the people from the middle 20th century up to now. The exhibition is divided into:

• National liberation movements of the Vietnamese from 1858 to 1945 (from the 1st to the 9th showroom).
• 30 years of struggle against the invaders and protecting the National independence and unifying the country from 1945 to 1975 (from the 10th to the 24th showroom).
• Developing the economy from 1976 up to now. The collections of Vietnam Economy from 1975 to 2000 are displayed in the room No. 26, No. 27.
• The present collections of the Vietnamese people and of the people in the world offered President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam Communist Party (room No. 28 and No. 29).

 
Especially, the Revolution Museum has a store with thousand of precious objects and documents of the Vietnamese revolution from 1858 up to now. Entrance fee is 10,000 VND for foreigners.

Visiting hours

From 8:00 to 11:45 and from13:30 to 16:15 all days, festivals.

Vietnam Fine-Arts Museum

Location: Vietnam Fine-Arts Museumis located at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

Characteristic: Vietnam Fine-Arts Museum is a lively historical treasure depicting the origins and evolution of Vietnamese fine arts.

In June 1966, house No. 66 on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Ba Dinh District was transformed into the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. Two-storey building displays the art works.

The exhibition system is divided into 5 parts:

• Fine arts of Prehistory: Consist of the objects from the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
• Ancient fine arts from the 11th to the 19th centuries: Consists of the objects of Ly, Tran, Le, Mac, Tay Son, and Nguyen Dynasties.
• Fine arts in the 20th century: Contemplate times fine arts (1925-1945) and modern fine arts (1945 up to now)
• Folk painting
• Traditional pottery and ceramics

It is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 8 to 11.30am and 1.30 to 4.30pm. Admission cost for foreigners is 20, 000VND.

Visiting hours

8:30 - 17:00 all days.

8:30 - 21:00 on Wednesday and Saturday.

Contact for guided visit: in Vietnamese, English and French.

Vietnam History Museum

Location: Vietnam History Museum is located at No. 1 Pham Ngu Lao Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi; behind the Hanoi Opera House.

Characteristic: Vietnam History Museum was founded in September 1958 and it contains a great deal of valuable objects, which reflect all the periods of Vietnamese history.

The museum is a beautiful architectural work. It provides an area of 2,000m2 for exhibition. On the ground floor are theme rooms: Prehistory, Vietnam from the Time of National Building to the Tran Dynasty. The second floor features Vietnam from the Ho Dynasty to the Nguyen Dynasty and contains a section on Cham Culture.

Nearly 7,000 objects and documents depict vividly the long process of development of the Vietnamese community, its undaunted and heroic struggle for thousand years, from its early history up to the August Revolution in 1945. The system of computers installed on the second floor is intended for visitors to search for information effectively.

The exhibits provide systematic, scientific and reliable information for those who want to understand and research on the history of Vietnam. The museum is a tourist attraction for people inside and outside Vietnam. Entrance fee is 20, 000VND for both Vietnamese and foreigners.

Visiting hours

From 8:00 to 11:30 and from 13:30 to 16:30 all days.

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

Location: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is located on Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi.

Characteristic: It contains more than 10,000 objects, 15,000 black and white photos and hundreds of video tapes and cassettes which depict all aspects of life, activities, customs, and habits of the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam.

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology opened at the end of 1997. Since then, it has attracted the attention of visitors as well as ethnographers and researchers from all over the world.

The museum has successfully recreated the daily life together with the religious rituals and the symbolic festivals of each ethnic group in Vietnam. Visitors have the opportunity to admire costumes, embroidery as well as outside stilt houses and habitats from the different groups.

All displayed objects mingle and supplement one another to create a colourful and diversified picture of Vietnamese culture. An open-air exhibition in the museum's spacious and peaceful ground features ethnic houses from all over Vietnam.

The displayed object area is divided into 9 parts:

• Introduction.
• Introduction of Viet (Kinh).
• Introduction of Muong, Tho, Chut ethnic groups.
• The ethnic groups belong to the Tay, Thai, and Kadai groups.

The outdoor exhibition area is only large enough for the most popular architectural styles to be presented. Already presented are the E De long house, the Tay stilt house, the Dao house half on stilts and half on earth, the H' Mong house whose roof is made of Pomu wood, the Viet house with tile roof, the Gia Rai tomb, the Ba Na communal house, the Cham traditional houae, the Ha Nhi house made with earth-beaten walls.

There are future plans to present the Co Tu tomb and the surrounding completion of the Viet house. Between the houses, there are trees indigenous to the area of each house, zigzagging paths and a meandering stream crossed by small bridges. The outdoor museum is being realized step by step. Entrance fee is 25,000 VND for Vietnamese and foreign tourists.

Visiting hours

8:00 - 17:00 all days; except Mon and holidays, Tet in a year

Free Admission: Children under 6 years of age and to Vietnam's ethnic minority members.

Vietnam Women’s Museum

Location: Vietnam Women’s Museum is located in the centre of Hanoi at No.36 Ly Thuong Kiet St, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Characteristic: The Vietnam Women’s Museum covers a 4,500m² area planted with beautiful trees. It was open on the 20th October 1995 on the 65th anniversary of the Vietnamese Women’s Association’s establishment.

Documents and objects are displayed and carefully preserved and maintained in this place, expressing the role of women in the process of the development of the Vietnamese nation. The museum is also a place for cultural exchange for Vietnamese and international women with the goal of creating "equality, development, and peace".

The exhibits are displayed on an area of 1,200m² on two-storey building; the museum organized around five main themes:

• Vietnamese women in Vietnamese community.
• The involvement of Vietnamese women in the fight for national independence and national construction.
• The Vietnamese Women’s Association and its struggle to liberate women.
• The culture of Vietnamese women expresses through traditional handicraft products.
• Women costumes of the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups.

The museum is open daily, from 8 am to 4 pm. The entrance fee is 2, 000 VND for Vietnamese and 10,000 VND for foreigners.

(Source: vietnamtourism.com)