Ho Chi Minh Museum

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A white lotus-shaped block behind the mausoleum, telling Ho Chi Minh's life against the century he lived through.

The museum opened in 1990, on the hundredth anniversary of Ho Chi Minh's birth, and stands directly behind the mausoleum — so almost everyone who visits one continues to the other. The building is a squared white concrete mass raised on piers, meant to read as an opening lotus; Soviet architects designed it, and the heaviness is very much of its moment. Inside it is stranger than a biographical museum usually is: objects from his life are set among installation-style rooms staging the twentieth-century upheavals he passed through — Paris in the 1920s, the Russian revolution, the wars. That approach makes it worth an hour even for visitors with no interest in the politics.

Visitor information

When is the best time to visit Ho Chi Minh Museum?

Morning, straight after the mausoleum

How much does it cost to visit Ho Chi Minh Museum?

40,000d (indicative — check at the counter)

How long do you need at Ho Chi Minh Museum?

1 hour 30 minutes

What are the opening hours of Ho Chi Minh Museum?

08:00 - 12:00, 14:00 - 16:30

Did you know

The museum opened on 19 May 1990, the centenary of Ho Chi Minh's birth.
The raised white cube was designed to evoke an opening lotus flower.
It sits in the Ba Dinh complex alongside the mausoleum, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Presidential Palace.
Displays mix biographical objects with staged rooms about the wider twentieth-century world.

Travel tips

Do it in the same visit as the mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda — all three are a few minutes' walk apart.
The museum closes on Monday and Friday afternoons; check before you go.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_Museum

Updated: 2026-08-16