Hanoi is packed with interesting and well-maintained museums. I’ve visited many museums in Hanoi and around Vietnam, and I think that the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is one of the top museums to visit in Hanoi for history buffs and art lovers.
The museum is located in a historic building with French colonial and traditional Vietnamese architecture. It displays a collection of thousands of objects and artifacts of Vietnamese arts from prehistoric period to present day. It’s an excellent place to learn Vietnamese history and culture through the arts.
In this article, I will share with you my opinion whether the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is worth visiting or not. I’ll also show you the museum’s location, how to get to the museum, things to see at the museum, and how to explore the museum in the best direction.
Is it worth visiting the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi?
In my opinion, it’s definitely worth visiting the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. After visiting many museums, cultural and historical sites in Hanoi, I vote for this museum as one of the top places to visit in Hanoi for those who are interested in art, history, and culture of Vietnam.
If you enjoy visiting places such as Hoa Lo Prison relic museum, Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, or Temple Of Literature, you should put the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in your list of places to visit in Hanoi.
The museum housed thousands of art works representing different periods of Vietnam’s history from ancient times to the present. You’ll see various art forms such as Buddhist sculptures, ceramic, folk art, lacquer paintings, silk paintings, and contemporary art works.
Additionally, the museum is in the central location of Hanoi, making it easily accessible on foot and a short taxi ride from the Old Quarter where most visitors stay.
It’s just 1.5km from west of Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart of Hanoi, so you can walk for 30 minutes, or take a 5-10 minutes Grab/ Green SM taxi/ motorbike ride from your location in the Old Quarter.
The Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is located opposite the Temple Of Literature (the first national university of Vietnam), so you can easily combine a visit to these two beautiful and historic places within a single trip.
The colorful Hanoi train street is also within a short walking distance from the Fine Arts Museum, so you can go for a coffee and watch the train run through the narrow street next to the local houses after visiting the museum.
Another reason to consider visiting the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is that it has reasonable entrance tickets. The entrance ticket is only 40k VND for adults and 10k VND for children aged 6 to 16 years old, which is a good price for both locals and foreign tourists.
The museum also has a pretty good conditioning system, so it’s a good stop after and before exploring the outside sites nearby such as the Temple Of Literature to avoid the heat from the hot days.
Finally, the museum’s building has a historic atmosphere with beautiful architecture of both Vietnamese and French colonial style, making it a good place to take photos too.
Location of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum
The museum is located in Ba Dinh district, around 1.5-2km from Hoan Kiem lake and Hanoi Old Quarter. The exact location is at 66 P. Nguyễn Thái Học, Ba Dinh district. It’s opposite within the famous Temple Of Literature, which is considered the first national University of Vietnam.
How to get to the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum?
If you stay in the Hanoi Old Quarter or French Quarter, you can walk for 20-40 minutes to reach the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. You can have a time seeing different neighborhoods of Hanoi.
If you don’t like walking or want to avoid the heat, you can take a short taxi or motorbike ride for 5-10 minutes. I recommend using ride share services such as Grab and GreenSM. They both have motorbike and taxi options. GreenSM is usually cheaper than Grab during peak hour.
Opening Hour and entrance ticket
The Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday (Closed on Monday) from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. It has indoor exhibits and air conditioning, so you can visit the museum at any time of the day.
There is an audio guide option, but I enjoyed just seeing the art object and reading the information board next to it.
The entrance ticket is 40k for adults and 10k for children. You can buy a ticket directly at the ticket counter right at the gate.
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How long does it take to spend at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum?
I would say 2-3 hours is usually enough to go through all the rooms and art galleries at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum and read the information it provided at each point. It could take longer depending on how long you want to look at the art.
If you are short on time and just want to have a quick walk at the museum to see how it looks, 1 hour is enough for you.
How to explore the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum
The museum has two 3-floor buildings interconnected to each other, built from the French colonial period. I recommend starting exploring the main entrance of the museum, following the room order from number 1 to 30-something for the flow of art and history.
It’s best to walk through art galleries from floor 1 to floor 3 in the main building, then floor 3 to floor 1 in the next building. They’re connected to each other by a walkway. The main building is located opposite the ticket counter, there is a clear sign to help you to navigate to the main building after purchasing the ticket.
I made a mistake exploring the side building first with the ceramic exhibit, then the contemporary art floor on the 3rd floor, then I moved to the main building. It was okay but it’s not the best way to explore the museum, so I strongly recommend starting from room number first then following its room’s order.
The history and architecture of the Fine Arts Museum
The Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum was built in 1937 during the French colonial era to be used as a school and residence for the daughters of French authorities in Indochina.
In 1962, the Vietnamese government used this building to display and store the fine arts collection of the country. The building was renovated with a combination of European and Vietnamese architecture style.
In 1966, The museum was opened to the public. The ground of the museum covers an area of 4.737 square meters including an exhibition area of over 3,000 square meters.
1. Room 1: Prehistoric and Early History Fine Arts
In the 1st room, you will see a collection of artifacts such as tools, everyday life items, weapons, musical instruments, and jewellery from prehistoric and early history periods (before 2nd century CE).
These objects are mainly from the northern and northern central region of Vietnam. The carvings of human and animal faces in the Dong Noi cave in Hoa Binh, from 10000 years ago, are often known as the earliest art work of Vietnam.
2. Room 2,3,4: Fine Arts of the 11th – 14th Century (Ly & Tran dynasties)
From room 2 to 4, you will see a collection of art works from the Ly – Tran Dynasty from 11th to 14th century. This period has a strong influence of Buddhism in the artworks.
The Ly dynasty existed from 1009 to 1225, and was known for their beautifully decorated temples, palaces, and ceramic products.
The Tran Dynasty existed from 1226 to 1400. Their art was initially inherited from the Ly Dynasty with softly detailed balanced artworks, but later became bolder after facing the invasions of the Mongol Empire.
3. Room 5,6: Fine Arts from 15th-17th century
Room 5 and 6 display artworks from Early Le Dynasty to Mac Dynasty and Restored Le Dynasty from 15th to 17th century.
The Early Le was established by King Le Thai To after he defeated the Ming Chianese invaders. The Early Le existed from 1428 to 1527. If you visit the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, you can visit the remains of the dragon steps and dragon statues from this period on the foundation of Kinh Thien Palace. The Early Le Dynasty valued Confucianism, so Buddhism influenced art was less developed.
The Mac Dynasty (1527-1592) developed three religious Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The Buddha Kwan Yin statue is one of the National Treasures displayed at the museum. It is 314 cm high, and has 42 hands seated on a lotus pedestal.
In the Restored Le period from 1533 to 1789, Buddhist art continued to develop. There are two national treasure displays in the museum from the Resorted Le era which include dragon pairs and the Statue of Queen Trinh Thi Ngoc Truc.
4. Room 7,8: Fine Arts from 18th-19th century
In room 7, you can see the collection of 11 buddha sculptures. In the 18th and 19th century, Vietnam was under the rule of the Restored Le Dynasty (1533-1789), Tay Son Dynasty (1778-1802), and Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). The art still has a strong influence of Buddhism. Many pagodas and temples were renovated and newly built.
Room 8 displays artworks from the Nguyen Dynasty era. During the Nguyen Dynasty, Royal Court Art was developed with magnificent palaces and imperial tombs. Folk art and portraiture also flourished from this period.
5. Room 9,10,11: Fine Art Before 1954
Vietnam was under the colonial rule of France from the late 19th century to 1954. Oil painting and lacquer was developed from this period. The Indochina College of Fine Arts was founded in 1925. Fine art witnessed changes in all forms, from paintings to sculptures, with the combination of traditional Vietnamese and with modern Western styles.
In Room 9, and 10, you will see three National Treasures from this time, which include “Em Thúy” by Tran Van Can, “Hai thiếu nữ và em bé” by To Ngoc Van, and “Bình phong” by Nguyen Gia Tri.
In room 11, you will see art works of famous artists in the history of the modern fine arts of Vietnam, To Ngoc Van. The famous street in the middle expat neighborhood in Tay Ho district was named after him.
6. Room 12 to 17, Vietnamese lacquer painting
Vietnamese lacquer painting (tranh sơn mài) is one of the famous art forms of Vietnam. It combines traditional lacquer techniques with fine-art painting, creating works known for their deep colors, luminous surfaces, and layered visual effects.
The lacquer painting is built through many layers, which include natural lacquer resin. The next layer is the pigments, gold leaf, silver leaf, or eggshell. Multiple layers are covered, dried, and polished. The final image is gradually revealed by sanding and polishing through the layers.
These galleries house three National treasures which include “Gióng” by Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm, “Party Admission Ceremony on the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield” by Nguyễn Sáng, and “Uncle Ho in the Viet Bac War Zone” by Dương Bích Liên.
7. Room 18 to 20: Vietnamese Silk Paintings
Silk Paintings are one of the most distinctive artforms of Vietnam. It appeared in ancient Vietnamese paintings through portraits of historical figures and ancestral portraits of aristocratic families.
Modern silk paintings have been developed since the Indochina College of Fine Arts in Hanoi was founded. Nguyen Phan Chanh is a well-known Vietnamese artist for silk painting.
8. Room 21 to 23: Graphic Arts and Paper Paintings
In the rooms 21, 22, and 23, you will see Graphic Arts and Paper Paintings in the posters, prints and draw-ings. Vietnamese graphic arts include techniques such as Woodblock printing, Lithography, Etching, and Silkscreen printing.
One of the most famous traditional forms is the folk woodblock print tradition of Dong Ho Painting Village. These colorful prints depict everyday life, festivals, animals, and moral stories using hand-carved woodblocks and natural pigments.
9. Room E2: Fork Art and Applied art
There are two main art forms of Vietnamese Fork Art which include: painting and sculpture. Folk art became popular from the 16th to 20th century. It’s passed down from generation to generation in families and villages. Famous folk paintings are the Dong Ho paintings (Bac Ninh) and Hang Trong paintings (Hanoi).
9. Room 25 to 30, Contemporary Arts
There is the whole 3rd floor on the side building of the museum displaying the Vietnamese Contemporary Arts. There are art works including Lacquerware, silk, oil paint, graphic art, sculpture. You can view them in 6 rooms from room 25 to 30.
10. Vietnamese Ceramic Art
This is an interesting section of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. It displays ceramic products of Vietnam from the 11th century to the 20th Century. This exhibition has a lot of detail of historic and art works from ceramics from Ly, Tran, Le, Mac, Nguyen dynasties, and contemporary ceramic in the 20th century.
Facilities at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum
Good air conditioning system
The Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum has indoor exhibits, and has a great air conditioning system, making it a great place to visit on both hot and rainy days.
I felt alive visiting this museum after walking outside under the temperature of 36 celsius in summer time in June. There are benches around the museum and inside each gallery for you to sit and admire the art works.
Clean Toilets
There are clean toilets with toilet paper at multiple locations in the museum, so you’ll have easy access to restroom facilities during your visit.
Cafes
There are two cafes within the grounds of the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum , so you can take a break and enjoy a drink or a light snack during your visit. You can check out either Lê Art Cafe Wine Bistro or the Starbucks Fine Art Museum.
Museum souvenir shops
The museum has two souvenir shops where you can buy traditional Vietnamese gifts. The rooftop area has some good views of the city, so I recommend having a look at it while visiting the museum. You will find some beautiful local handcrafted items at the shop.
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Overall, it’s worth it visiting the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi. It’s a really good place to escape from the heat on the summer days or if you’re looking for indoor activities on a rainy day. You can easily combine your visit to the Fine Arts museum with the nearby Temple Of Literature.