Top Museums in Ho Chi Minh City to Visit

Vietnam War remnants, history, arts, and unique cultural heritage are all presented in museums, and Ho Chi Minh City is an ideal place to visit the top museums in Vietnam. Visiting museums might not be of interest to everyone, but for those who love them, they do not fail to disappoint in Ho Chi Minh City. 

War Remnants Museum

Address: 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7:30 AM - 6 PM
Ticket price: VND 40,000/person

Established in 1975, War Remnants Museum has conserved and displayed precious documents to narrate the heroic strengths of the Vietnamese, the atrocities of the invaders and especially, the confronting remnants of the Vietnam War. There are souvenir counters and 7 exhibition rooms with 7 different war themes with images taken by war-time photographers, drawings, propaganda, films, and recovered artifacts.

An airplane on displayed at the War Remnants Museum's yard

The museum attracts a large number of foreign visitors intrigued to learn from the Vietnamese side of the war. As a word of precaution, standing in front of the pictures of the Agent Orange victims or wounded soldiers can be graphic and confronting and it will definitely trigger your deep emotions. The museum, for the most part, was set up to raise people’s awareness against war and promote peace in the world, just like the meaning of the white dove room.

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Fine Arts Museum

Address: 97A Pho Duc Chinh, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 9 AM - 6 PM
Ticket price: VND 30,000/person 

Once owned by one of the wealthiest men called Hua Bon Hoa, the Fine Arts Museum is a unique art-deco architecture designed by Rivera, a French architect. The domed entrance is the highlight of the building with the solid supporting pillars, two stairs on the sides, and the iron patterns. The museum is large and there is even a big oculus in the middle of the architecture.

Fine Arts Museum's entrance and the masterwork Vuon Xuan Bac Trung Nam

The museum displays sculpture works, contemporary arts, potteries, a collection of ancient arts, modern arts, and traditional craftworks. You will be impressed by aesthetic works portraying Vietnamese life, including the national lacquer masterwork called Vuon Xuan Bac Trung Nam by the lacquer artist Nguyen Gia Tri. This is arguably the second most popular museum in Ho Chi Minh City, after the War Remnants.

Vietnam History Museum

Address: 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 8 AM - 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM - 5 PM
Ticket price: VND 30,000/person

Established in 1929, Vietnam History Museum displays ancient artworks and history of Vietnam before the Vietnam War and some ancient art pieces of other Asian countries. It is located next to the Botanical Gardens, right inside Saigon's Zoo entrance on Nguyen Binh Khiem, so you can take a stroll around the area with many greens in the surrounding. It was designed in the Indochine style greatly impacted by the Chinese and French structure.

The outside architecture and some special works displayed in Vietnam History Museum

There are 2 main exhibitions at the museum, and the first one shows Vietnam's history from the Bronze Age to the Nguyen Dynasty, right before the birth of the Vietnam Communist Party. The second part exhibits some art collections featuring the culture and history of neighboring countries. The most impressive works may be artifacts of the Cham, Khmer, Buddha statues in Asian countries, cannon in the 18th, 19th century, and selected sculptures, pottery works in Vietnam and neighboring countries as a whole. If you are into the prehistoric period, this could be one of the top museums in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Address: 1 Nguyen Tat Thanh, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM - 5 PM
Ticket price: Free

Ho Chi Minh Museum in Ho Chi Minh City was once the headquarter of a French Imperial Shipping Company. However, the architecture of the building was built with influence by both European and Vietnamese style with 2 dragons sculptures on the roof, which gave the museum another name, the Dragon House.

Ho Chi Minh Museum with the statue of Ho Chi Minh at his young age and his preferable footwear: sandals

The museum is also a historical landmark to the Vietnamese as it is where President Ho Chi Minh left for Europe in 1911, starting his journey to liberate the nation from the French. Now, the museum mostly displays documentaries, images, and artifacts from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary life. 

Ton Duc Thang Museum

Address: 5 Ton Duc Thang, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM - 5 PM (closed on Monday)
Ticket price: Free

Ton Duc Thang Museum is dedicated to the life and work of Ton Duc Thang, the first president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He is honored and loved for his devotion to the country's revolution. There are many articles, pictures, and medals that show different stages of his like including when he was put in Con Dao Prison, then broke out of the place and became the Vietnamese state president.

Statue of Ton Duc Thang at the museum

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

Address: 65 Ly Tu Trong, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7:30 AM - 6 PM
Ticket price: VND 30,000/person

Designed by a French architect, the architecture of the museum is a mix of a Gothic style, ancient Roman architecture, and Southern Vietnam inspiration. Specifically, the Spirit of Commerce wearing the diadem at the entrance, the big parallelling pillars, and the Gothic staircase will bring impressions.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum is famous for its aesthetic architecture

Regarding the exhibiting values, the museum preserves and displays artifacts and materials featuring old Saigon and the Southern region as well. And it seems like the growth of the city was perfectly recorded, in the aspects of beliefs, commerce or traditional customs. In total, there are 10 rooms with 133 collections, and the most noticeable ones are Saigon Pottery and Money in the Nguyen Dynasty. In short, it is reserved for anyone who wants to discover Southern Vietnam.

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Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum

Address: 2 Le Duan, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM and 1:30 - 4:30 PM from Monday to Friday (Saturday for advanced booking)
Ticket price: Free

Located in the center of the city, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum depicts the campaign to liberate the South and it is considered as a symbol of the Vietnamese victory against the American military in 1975. The museum includes 2 areas consisting of the outdoor exhibition area and the indoor one. Outside of the building, different weapons and means of transportation used in the war, such as tanks, cannons are on display, and some specific artifacts are the M-46 130mm cannon, T-54 tank, and the 57 mm AZP S-60 anti-aircraft gun.

A helicopter on display at the museum’s outdoor exhibition area

As for the exhibition house, the highlighted part is the maquette of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign and its modern electrical facilities. Generally, the house is divided into 5 exhibition rooms on topics and periods prior to the final victory of the South.

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Ao Dai Museum

Address: 206/19/30 Long Thuan, Long Phuoc Ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Ticket price: VND 100,000/person

Ao Dai Museum exists thanks to the idea and the efforts of an Ao Dai Designer named Sy Hoang. With open space, the museum's design is built based on Southern Vietnam's inspiration for traditional houses connected with nature. The main showcase is Ao Dai, Vietnamese traditional and national fashion identity, whose story over the time and history of the nation is presented in the museum. You can have a look at Ao Dai through different periods in Vietnam and see its changes from the 1600s until the present day.

Two old Ao Dai on display in Ao Dai Museum

Also, on display are Ao Dai worn by important Vietnamese women in the past and Ao Dai sewed with designs of other countries in the world as a way to present the integration. Besides, there are exhibitions of the Vietnamese conical hats, turbans, and old wooden clogs. The museum showcases the soul of Vietnamese women and Vietnam as a whole via the displays of Ao Dai.

Southern Women’s Museum

Address: 202 Vo Thi Sau, Ward 7, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 8 AM - 4:30 PM
Ticket price: Free

Southern Women’s Museum was officially inaugurated in 1985, on the occasion of the celebration of 10 years of the Southern liberation. Ever since, the Museum has played an essential role in honoring Southern Women’s accomplishments and contributions, especially of the Vietnam War, and appreciating women’s values in general. Entering the museum campus, you will be deeply impressed by the bronze statue of a warm-hearted Southern Mother wearing a Vietnamese loose-fitting blouse. Below the statue is 4 gold words that Ho Chi Minh gave to Vietnamese women in the war period, and they translate to “heroic, resilient, faithful, and resourceful” in English.

Southern Women through different reigns and their daily lives depicted in sculptures at the Southern Women's Museum

Inside the museum, paintings and artifacts associated with women’s devotion during the Vietnam War are on display, and there are 2 rooms depicting the activities of influential women, such as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Vo Thi Sau, and Nguyen Thi Dinh, etc. Besides, the museum organizes other useful activities like hosting mobile exhibitions all over the country, showcasing exhibitions overseas, publishing books on Southern Vietnamese women, organizing meetings with great mothers and supporting their lives. Overall, the paintings of Vietnamese Mothers, statues of heroic figures, or the pictures of female martyrs dying in prison depicts more than words about Vietnam women’s values.

Fito Museum of Traditional Medicines

Address: 41 Hoang Du Khuong, Ward 12, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 8:30 AM - 5 PM
Ticket price: VND 120,000/person

With 18 rooms in the area of roughly 600 meters square, the Fito Museum was mostly built by wood and the architecture is inspired by Vietnam's traditional style. The museum is a great source of documentaries, tools and patterns of Vietnam folk medicine dating from the Stone Age. Specifically, there are collections of tools of traditional medicine like ancient pestles, mortars, old scales, knives, potteries, and teapots.

The ancient atmosphere and folk medicine is displayed in Fito Museum

There is also the altar worshipping 2 Vietnamese medicine saints named Tue Tinh and Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac, who had great merits to the medicine and became idols for all medical practitioners later on. As a one-of-a-kind unique museum, this is one of the top museums in Ho Chi Minh City to visit.

3D Art Museum

Address: 02-04, Street No. 9, Tan Hung Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: 9 AM - 10 PM
Ticket price: VND 150,000/person from Monday to Friday or VND 200,000/person on weekends and holidays

Built in 2015, the 3D Art Museum seems to be the youngest but one of the most entertaining art museums in Ho Chi Minh City. It possesses numerous 3D paintings designed by skilled Korean artists who master in 3D techniques and optical illusions. Being a part of the thrilling scenes, you will surely have a lot of fun when taking photos with friends or looking at the different paintings. There are a total of 9 themes to explore: ocean, animal, masterpiece, love, Egypt, fairy, giant, and strange house. If you are seeking a place to have a chill time out of the city's heart, this is a great place to be with kids. We recommend you bring a camera, tripod, and spend around 2 hours here.

A 3D painting of the museum

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Summary on Top Museums in Ho Chi Minh City to Visit

The best museums in Ho Chi Minh make up the symbols of tradition, history and entertaining aspects of the city. They are blessed with unique architectures, the countless values inside, and their preservation efforts. It is advisable to put the museums on your must-to-do list when visiting Ho Chi Minh City as they will show you another exceptional dimension of the city.

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