Legacy 50: 6 museums to visit this April 30
Km 6+500 Thang Long Avenue, Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi
Open since the late autumn of 2024, the new Vietnam Military History Museum is a striking, contemporary project that manages to retain its profound historical resonance. It is a place where the nation's wartime past is preserved through objects, light and architectural space.
Situated on Thang Long Avenue, the museum becomes an especially moving destination during the April 30 holiday. More than 150,000 artifacts are housed within—from the legendary MiG-21 fighter jet to the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Determination map—each one offering a vivid glimpse into the nation's defining moments, while also capturing the quiet resilience of life during conflict.
A key feature of the museum is its chronological exhibition design, blending directional sound with state-of-the-art interactive installations. The experience draws visitors in, encouraging a quiet, deeply personal engagement with history.
In a Hanoi that evolves by the day, this museum stands as a firm spiritual anchor, inviting visitors to reconnect with their heritage and reflect on the enduring cost of independence. Whether you're discovering it for the first time or returning after many April seasons, a morning spent here, bathed in natural light and surrounded by artefacts once carried through war, will leave you contemplative and quietly moved. Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts
97A Pho Duc Chinh, District 1, HCMC
A journey that doesn't require leaving the city, yet manages to open the heart. Tucked away within an old French villa in the centre of District 1, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts is an essential stop for those with an eye for beauty. The creaking wooden staircase, sun-dappled tiled floors and coloured glass windows evoke memories of a bygone Saigon—elegant, expressive and full of artistic grace.
Above The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts is an essential stop for those with an eye for beauty (Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts)
The galleries here guide visitors across the many eras of Vietnamese art—from the days of Indochinese influences to contemporary expressions, from traditional lacquer work to modern installations and video pieces. The paintings hold traces of history, infused with a quiet national pride. They're never overbearing—simple in form, yet stirring in spirit, with a gentle ability to move the viewer.
Above Welcome to Vietnam's total victory (Composed: 1975. Author: Tong Ngoc Phong. Material: Lacquer)
The museum welcomes visitors this April 30. To walk its halls on a holiday such as this is to find beauty not only in colours and brushwork, but in the cultural weight and memory that art so often carries. Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History
2 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1, HCMC
Tucked beside the city's Zoo in a calm, tree-lined enclave, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History offers a quiet retreat—a stillness in the midst of a bustling metropolis. The building itself is a graceful fusion of East and West: curved tiled roofs, wooden pillars, and traditional motifs lend it the charm of a storybook world gently waiting to be explored.
Above From stone statues and regal crowns to time-worn woodblocks and delicate ceramics, the museum becomes a gentle stream of memory (Photo: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism)
Inside, Vietnam's history unfolds through understated and poignant artefacts—from the ancient Van Lang and Au Lac periods to the later feudal dynasties. From stone statues and regal crowns to time-worn woodblocks and delicate ceramics, the museum becomes a gentle stream of memory, carrying its visitors through layers of time with quiet reverence.
To pause here on April 30 is to reflect on the nation's long road—not through loud declarations, but through what has been preserved: fragments of once-great cultures and the imprints of their evolution. A morning meandering through cicada song and soft sunlight, among these artefacts, has a way of stilling the heart; a stillness born of remembrance, of heritage, and of a country that has weathered many storms to reach this moment. Vietnam Fine Arts Museum
66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
In Hanoi, few places carry the same artistic gravitas as the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. Home to some of the nation's most treasured works, its stately French colonial façade blends seamlessly with the deep red tiles and bricks, giving it a presence that is both timeworn and unmistakably Vietnamese.
On April 30, the museum's resistance art galleries—portraying the strength of soldiers, the majesty of mountains, and the familiar tones of a not-so-distant past—take on a heightened resonance. Through these works, the national spirit reveals itself not through grandeur, but in quiet resilience, and in the human warmth that so often defines our shared stories.
Above As one lingers before each canvas, the act of viewing becomes something more. Photo: Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts
As one lingers before each canvas, the act of viewing becomes something more—a quiet dialogue with history, conveyed in the hushed, expressive language of painting.
Above The underground struggle (Author: Huynh Phuong Dong. Medium: Watercolor, charcoal, pen and ink.)
Spend a little longer here, and you'll notice the museum is not only speaking of the past. Woven between historical epochs is the subtle unfolding of Vietnam's modern artistic voice. Emerging talents continue this narrative, seeking their own place in a shifting world. Some works are rooted in folk traditions, others in bold abstraction—together, they speak of an evolving identity, where personal vision meets collective soul in a delicate yet resonant harmony. Ton Duc Thang Museum
5 Ton Duc Thang, Ben Nghe, District 1, HCMC
In central District 1, the Ton Duc Thang Museum offers a quiet, poignant retreat—a space that traces the life of a steadfast, humble figure whose loyalty and depth left a lasting mark. The building itself, with its modern and understated design, allows the artefacts within to tell their story without distraction.
Above Here, ideals and integrity speak softly—needing no embellishment, only their sincerity to resonate (Photo: Ton Duc Thang Museum)
During the April 30 holiday, the museum's rooms dedicated to the resistance war take on a solemn tone, reflecting the spirit of solidarity and complete commitment that defined President Ton Duc Thang. Black-and-white photographs, an indigo worker's shirt, a simple wooden chair—these modest objects bring history to life not through grandeur, but through quiet conviction, mirroring the man himself.
As visitors follow this path of memory, it feels as if time folds back. Here, ideals and integrity speak softly—needing no embellishment, only their sincerity to resonate.
Read more: Legacy 50: April 30 legacy through the memoirs of diplomat Nguyen Thi Binh Ho Chi Minh City Museum
65 Ly Tu Trong, Ben Nghe, District 1, HCMC
Set within an historic French colonial building, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum is a space that exudes time. Its lofty ceilings, grand wooden doors, arched corridors and light-drenched windows create an atmosphere of both elegance and quiet reflection. It feels less like a museum and more like a pause in the city's own timeline—capturing Saigon's transition from its colonial past to the dynamic city it is today.
Above Set within an historic French colonial building, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum is a space that exudes time. Photo: Ho Chi Minh City Museum
Around April 30, the museum's thematic exhibitions come into sharper focus. Displays on resistance movements, urban life in decades past, and the city during its liberation feel more intimate, more immediate. Alongside iconic visuals like vintage Lam cars or old street signs, one finds handwritten letters, worn maps, and objects soaked in memory.
To wander through these galleries is to feel Saigon's layered soul. More than just observing its evolution, visitors begin to sense the undercurrent of remembrance—woven into every floorboard, every pane of glass, every fragment of history held within.
READ MORE
Legacy 50: Saigon - City of 'firsts'
Legacy 50: Architects who have 'shaped' Saigon's memories
Legacy 50: People's Artist Kim Cuong - A life, a life on stage
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