Museums Vietnam - Attractions

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar pagoda and Tran Quoc pagoda are popular visits. The water puppet show is recommended.There are many trishaw (cyclo) tours around the Old quarter for a very low fee.

Directly opposite a park featuring a large stone statue of Lenin is the Army Museum. Outside the museum sits Russian, American and Vietnamese weaponry left behind from the French and American wars. The museum itself mostly displays models, photos and information about battles. You will also see personal possessions of people involved on all sides of the disputes. Though the Russian jet fighter at the entrance will be what immediately catches your attention, the whole museum is worth a peek.

This museum contains a somewhat disjointed collection of items that pulls together artifacts from the Bronze Age to the French colonial era. Of particular interest is the hall of seventh and eighth century Cham sculpture. Cham was one of the independent kingdoms in central Vietnam dating from the second century. The resistance against foreign invaders is not just recent, the museum highlights this struggle from as early as the first century. The museum is on the same site as the Botanical Gardens and City Zoo.

Housed in a former United States administration building, The War Remnants Museum is one of the most popular and sobering museums in the city. It highlights the suffering of the Vietnamese people at the hands of the French and American forces up to 1975. The photographs of the injured and dead are both haunting and sickening. This is not a politically balanced exhibition, but when you consider the statistics of American versus Vietnamese casualties, that is hardly surprising. This museum is probably too disturbing for children to view.

A short taxi or motorbike ride outside of Hanoi's center brings you to the Museum of Ethnology. The French-designed building and surrounding grounds, which simulate life in the provinces, warrant the trip even before you step inside. The museum displays a dizzying array of artifacts from all over Vietnam. Brief descriptions in French, English and Vietnamese of tools, clothing and recreated homes provide a sketch of several Vietnamese ethnic minorities. A craft shop sells books, bags and other items from various ethnic communities at reasonable prices.

Photographs of women participating in the social and political ceremonies that mark Vietnam's historical path fill the walls of the first few floors of the Women's Museum. Images show prominent women in the context of wars, fighting social evils and promoting Party programs. The top floor of the four-story museum boasts a colorful array of women's textiles and fashion. The collection spans various ethnic groups and eras, from traditional attire to its modern interpretation.

Housed inside a stately French building constructed at the beginning of the 20th century, the Geological Museum displays thousands of rocks and minerals. Sketchy blurbs provide basic information for the geo-novice. Multicolored maps, which look like works of art, offer a visual glimpse of Vietnam's complex geological history and resource makeup. Samplings of fossils, ores and gemstones provide students and researchers with an extensive array of practical material. Rubies, Vietnam's most abundant gem stone, can be bought for a small price at a shop next door to the museum.

It was from this old customs house, known as the “dragon house,” in 1911 that Ho Chi Minh set sail for 30 years in exile. Now a museum, the eclectic collection features many of the leader's possessions including the Uncle's sandals and his beloved Zenith radio (ironically made in the United States). Most of the signs are in Vietnamese. The museum can be reached by taking a ferry across the Saigon River from the pier at the end of Ham Nghi Avenue or using the bridge on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street.

This museum is a bit grisly and Americans might find it a little uncomfortable as it really emphasises there involvement in the war through horrible images depicting the effects of napalm and agent orange on civilians. It can be confronting but I certainly came away realizing how brutal war is, besides it's interesting to hear the stories of the Vietnamese. US armoured vehicles, artillery, bombs and infantry weapons are on display and there is a model of French colonial prisons on the grounds.

For the closest look at Uncle Ho, the city’s famed revolutionary, you will have to come to this museum that houses his personal effects. Ho left Vietnam from here in 1911 to begin his 30-year period in exile before returning to lead the Viet Cong. There are things like his clothing, sandals, a US-made Zenith radio and other memorabilia.

The rustic Museum of Vietnamese Revolution houses mostly photos that document the country's various struggles for independence and the history of the Communist Party. Aside from capturing revolutionary moments, the images, which date from 1858 to the present, provide a glimpse of the changing rhythm of Vietnamese streets spanning across three centuries. The objects on display offer a creative and multi-dimensional insight. Some of the more original artifacts include a 1920s jar that stored revolutionary documents, a Japanese Buddhist drum used to rally support for the Party in the 1960s and Vietnam's first sewing machine.

From prehistoric tools to dynastic thrones to a bust of Uncle Ho, the Vietnam History Museum showcases items that mark the country's historical developments. The second floor displays more than 50 sets of remains from the Champa Kingdom, which flourished in central Vietnam between the 2nd and 15th centuries. A hall packed with detailed seals, stone tablets and sculptures of mythical creatures provides a glimpse of dynastic life. As descriptions of exhibits are brief, a local escort is recommended.

Previously, the French had used this building as the Ministry of Information, but now this large building opposite the Temple of Literature houses samples from Vietnam's finest artists. Although some works are modern, the majority of art is traditional lacquer, oil or ceramics. For people interested in Asian art and design, this is a good place to see the development of Vietnam's artistic culture.

A ten-day Vietnam introduction to northern Vietnam. It's a busy tour, taking in the three main attractions – Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh.

If you want to delve deeper into the villages, forests and the local lifestyles, you might consider adding a day to explore Hanoi's unique craft villages, or visit the serene Ba Ba Lake. We're on hand to make as many modifications as you wish – there's no free for making changes.

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)
Enter Vietnam at Noi Bai airport, you’ll be met and driven to your hotel. You will have time to relax before we present you with Vietnam daily life in the past and now with one or two hour cylo tour around the Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple and Old Quarter of Hanoi. You will then enjoy a Water Puppet Show and a welcome dinner at a restaurant with Vietnamese cuisines. You will spend the night in Hanoi.

Day 2: Hanoi City Tour (B/L)
You will have the whole day to explore Vietnam’s capital city. Your guide will take you to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century, and a popular attraction, as is Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, his simple stilt house where he lived and worked, and the museum dedicated to his memory. After lunch, you will call in at the serene Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi and the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam’s 54 distinct ethnic groups. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi Handicraft villages – overnight train to Lao Cai (B/L)
In the morning, you’ll be picked up to drive to Bat Trang. On arrival, you’ll be able to stroll in the small alleys of this old village to watch local people producing their fine products and visit some of the houses used as workshops and showrooms. You’ll then drive to Dong Ho village - famous for its traditional paintings. After a picnic lunch, your vehicle will take to Dong Ky village where most of the local families produce furniture inlaid with mother of pearl. It’s a good example of how the villagers work co-operatively on different stages of the manufacturing process. After that, you’ll drive to Tam Tao village to enjoy its traditional Quan Ho music performed by villagers in the commune house. The singers have recently been officially designated as part of Vietnam’s ‘living heritage’. In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi. In the evening, you’ll take an overnight train to Sapa.

Day 4: Lao Cai – Ethnic Market – Sapa (B/L)
Arriving in the Lao Cai Railway station at 5am, you will have breakfast and then start to explore one of the colourful markets in Sapa or nearby Bac Ha. In afternoon, you will return to Lao Cai for overnigh train back to Hanoi. Your overnight will be on the train. The schedule of the local markets as below: Tuesday: Coc Ly Market Wednesday: Cao Son Market Thursday: Lung Khau Nhin Market. Saturday: Can Cau Market Sunday: Muong Hum or Bac Ha Market

Day 5: Sapa – Lao Chai – Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai - Overnight on the train (B/L)
After breafast, you will follow your guide to walk around the town, visit the town centre market before being driven to the Lao Chai, a village of the Black H’Mong ethnic minority people. Trek around the village and then along the path to Tan Van of Dzay people. Pick lunch on at Tan Van village then continue trekking to Giang Ta Chai. Trek to main road and our car will pick you up back to Sapa. In the evening, you’ll return to Lao Cai to board the train to return to Hanoi. You’ll spend overnight on the train.

Day 6: Hanoi (B)
Arriving in Hanoi at around 5am in the morning, you will be picked up to your hotel for breakfast and re-freshment. You will be free for the day to do shopping in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.

Day 7: Hanoi – Ha Long (B)
After an early breakfast, you will leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Areas and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board your boat, a wooden junk built from the model of the old Vietnamese court vessels with sails, a wide transom and rectangular superstructure, that will take you first to the busy World Heritage area and then to some of the less well-known grottoes and caves. Weather permitting, you will be able to swim, fish, climb a hill for an overview of the Bay’s remarkable seascape, or venture into some of the sea level caves in a small sampan. All your meals will be provided on board, usually based on fresh seafood. Your overnight will be aboard.

Day 8: Ha Long - Hanoi (B/L)
You will spend the morning cruising Ha Long Bay, followed by lunch just before docking around noon and leaving for Hanoi. Your overnight will be in Hanoi.

Day 9: Hanoi – Tam Coc – Hoa Lu (B)
After breakfast at the hotel, you will drive to Ninh Binh Province. Our first visit is the former capital - Hoa Lu and the remains of Dinh and Le Kings’ temples. Proceed to Tam Coc tourist center for lunch. After lunch we get on small rowing boats to travel along the canals with local villages, passing the green fields and enjoying the so called 'Ha Long bay On Land', go through 3 caves and then row back to boat quay. You will then Visit Bich Dong cave, the king conferred on Bich Dong the title "The second most beautiful grotto in Vietnam”, climb up the Ngu Hanh Son Mountain range, charmed by the marvelous scenery offered by the mountains, rivers and pagodas. You will drive back to Hanoi in the late afternoon for overnight.

Day 10: Hanoi departure (B)
After breakfast, you will be free until your driver arrives to take you to Noi Bai airport for your departure flight.

More information:
Littlevietnamtours Co.,Ltd
Website: www.littlevietnamtours.com.vn
Email: info@littlevietnamtours.com.vn

The tank sitting in the grounds really sets the scene here, still pointing towards the palace where it burst through the gates here in 1975 to claim victory for the communist north. This was once the presidential palace of South Vietnam and now a museum that has been preserved in the state it was left. Everything is reminiscent of the 60s and 70s with classic furniture, movie chambers, card rooms, conference rooms and the war command centre in the basement.