It is no coincidence that tourists from all over the world come to Vietnam and choose museums as their destination. This is where they can gain a comprehensive understanding of the history and people of the land, and where many priceless artifacts are kept that cannot be found anywhere else.
For each locality, the museum is a source of pride and a destination that satisfies all the needs of exploration and discovery of tourists. The museum inspires visitors with certain understanding of nature, history, culture, and the origin of an ethnic group, a region, or a country.
Through the artifacts and stories about the artifacts at the museum, the public will see the views on the world, beauty, life, …, about the indigenous knowledge of each ethnic group through historical periods. That feeling will help them have more pride, awareness and motivation to preserve and promote their own cultural identity and their ethnicity. This is the soft power, the difference to attract and entice tourists to the museum when traveling in different regions and countries.
Vietnam has a diverse museum system divided into many sectors and fields, distributed in all provinces and cities to serve the protection and promotion of cultural heritage values; activities are organized to promote cultural heritage values to serve society and visitors.
TOP 10 VIETNAMESE MUSEUMS THAT ATTRACTE MANY VISITORS
1. National Museum of History (Hanoi)
The National Museum of History, the most famous museum in Hanoi, preserves a part of the heroic history of the nation. Coming to the museum, visitors seem to go back in time, witness and learn about the history of the nation. This is a large-scale museum and is at the top of the list of historical-social museums in Vietnam today. In addition to the function of storing and preserving, the museum also has the function of archaeological excavation, scientific research, inventory, display, introduction, and promotion of the value of artifacts and documents about the historical process of Vietnam.
Currently, the museum preserves and maintains more than 200,000 documents and artifacts of Vietnamese cultural history from prehistoric times to 1945, of which about 20 artifacts and documents are considered national treasures.
2. Museum of Ethnology (Hanoi)
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is a place to collect, preserve, restore, display and introduce the historical and cultural values of the Vietnamese ethnic groups. Inaugurated in November 1997, the Museum of Ethnology attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.
The museum preserves and displays many cultural artifacts of all 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, including 15,000 artifacts, 42,000 documentary films, color photos and thousands of other documents. The artifacts are classified and displayed according to different contents in the Bronze Drum building, where visitors can learn about the lives of ethnic people through their daily objects. In the outdoor area, there are also 10 unique folk architectural works such as the Bana communal house, the Dao half-earth stilt house, the Giarai mass grave, etc.
3. Quang Ninh Museum (Quang Ninh)
Quang Ninh Museum was inaugurated and opened to visitors in mid-October 2013. This place is considered a mysterious, precious, and valuable black pearl on the beautiful Ha Long Bay.
Not only unique in architecture, Quang Ninh Museum also attracts visitors with its unique exhibits. The museum has tens of thousands of artifacts and documents, including 8 national treasures. This is also the only provincial-level museum in the country and is one of 3 museums in the country that are financially independent thanks to ticket sales.
4. Hue Royal Antiquities Museum (Thua Thien Hue)
The Hue Royal Antiquities Museum was established in 1923 with the original name of Musée Khai Dinh (Khai Dinh Museum) – one of the first museums in Vietnam. Long An Palace, the main exhibition place of the Museum, is one of the most beautiful royal architectures in Vietnam today and is one of the monuments recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1993.
This place displays more than 300 artifacts (out of a total of 9,000 artifacts managed by the museum) with nearly 20 collections, typically: Nguyen Dynasty-style porcelain, 14th-19th century Vietnamese ceramics, Chinese ceramics from the Yuan-Ming-Qing dynasties, 19th-20th century European porcelain, Nguyen Dynasty wooden furniture, Nguyen Dynasty bronze, Hue enamel, Nguyen Dynasty royal costumes, Nguyen Dynasty seals, Nguyen Dynasty musical instruments, cannons, Hue royal mirror paintings, Champa antiques,…
5. Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture (Da Nang)
Built in 1915 and inaugurated in 1919, the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture preserves and displays the rarest collections of Cham sculpture. Among them, there are 4 national treasures of Vietnam.
The museum has galleries of Tra Kieu – My Son – Dong Duong – Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue – Da Nang – Quang Nam – Thap Mam – Binh Dinh – Van Khac. On the 2nd floor, there is also a gallery of Sa Huynh – Champa pottery and a room of Cham culture and traditional crafts. In addition, there are 2 galleries of paintings and 1 thematic gallery.
6. Oceanographic Museum (Khanh Hoa)
The Oceanographic Museum is a trusted place for sightseeing, discovery, and scientific research in Vietnam and Southeast Asia with a collection of tens of thousands of specimens and specimens of more than 6,000 marine species and thousands of living marine creatures of 400 species being nurtured and displayed at the Museum.
The Institute is divided into four main exhibition and sightseeing areas, including a marine life exhibition area, a miniature aquarium, a fossil bone exhibition area, an exhibition area on biological resources of the Hoang Sa – Truong Sa archipelago, and an exhibition area for unique specimens.
7. Ao Dai Museum (Ho Chi Minh City)
As a place to preserve and honor the cultural values and the soul of Vietnamese Ao Dai throughout history, the Ao Dai Museum (located in Long Phuoc Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists to listen to stories about the Ao Dai that has been closely associated with the lives of Vietnamese people.
At the exhibition area displaying historical documents about Ao Dai costumes through the ages and Ao Dai relics of famous people who made great contributions to the political and social fields around the 20th century, visitors can hear stories about the four-panel Ao Dai from the 17th century (around 1645), the five-panel Ao Dai (around 1884), the Ao Dai of the Nguyen Dynasty to the modern Ao Dai, the modern Ao Dai today… Besides, coming to the Ao Dai Museum is not only to listen to stories about Ao Dai through the ages, visitors can also experience the work of Ao Dai tailoring, try on Ao Dai, especially the images of Ao Dai associated with the activities of unique intangible cultural heritages of Vietnam that have been honored by UNESCO as representatives of humanity such as: Quan Ho, Vi Dam, Don Ca Tai Tu, Hue royal court music and dance…
8. Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Ho Chi Minh City)
Ho Chi Minh City Museum has an area of nearly 1700m2, built in the late 19th century and took 5 years to build. It is designed like a large mansion in the neoclassical French architectural style with sculptures and arched door frames that are both modern and ancient in a spacious, airy flower garden.
Not only unique and eye-catching architecture, Ho Chi Minh City Museum also displays valuable artifacts and brings you many interesting experiences. With 9 permanent content galleries, each room will take you to a separate historical period and help you fully understand the development of the city. In addition to 9 permanent galleries, Ho Chi Minh City Museum also has a thematic gallery with many special topics, a city exhibition hall as well as an outdoor display area with many types of aircraft and weapons, …
9. Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts (Ho Chi Minh City)
The Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum is one of the famous museums in Ho Chi Minh City. It was established in 1987 and officially opened in 1989. The museum has a diverse collection of works by famous artists in the history of Vietnamese art, including paintings, sculptures, and traditional artworks. It is one of the largest art centers in the country.
The Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum focuses on preserving and displaying traditional and contemporary Vietnamese paintings and sculptures. Currently, the museum has more than 22,000 artifacts divided into many valuable collections.
10. War Remnants Museum (Ho Chi Minh City)
As part of the system of museums for world peace and a member of the World Council of Museums (ICOM), the War Remnants Museum collects, stores, preserves and displays documents, images and artifacts about the evidence of crimes and consequences of wars that invading forces have caused to Vietnam. These are also heroic evidences of our people in the struggle for national independence and protection of the Fatherland.
Currently, more than 20,000 documents, artifacts and films are kept here. Every year, about 500,000 tourists come to visit. The War Remnants Museum is a cultural and tourist destination with great appeal because of its precious content values that last over time.