Hanoi, VietnamVietnam's national fine arts museum, housed in a French colonial building with three floors of paintings, sculpture, and lacquerware tracing Vietnamese art from prehistoric times to the present. Underrated and rarely crowded.
Price range
$
Category
🏛️ Culture
City
Hanoi
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The spiritual and geographic heart of Hanoi. The lake (meaning "Lake of the Returned Sword") is steeped in legend. The red Huc Bridge leads to Ngoc Son Temple on a small island. The morning tai chi sessions around the lake are unmissable.
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Vietnam's first national university, founded in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius. The Temple of Literature is a superb example of traditional Vietnamese architecture - five walled courtyards with lakes, gardens, and stone steles honoring doctoral graduates.
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The preserved body of Ho Chi Minh lies in state in this imposing Soviet-built granite mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square - where he declared Vietnamese independence in 1945. A deeply significant site for Vietnamese people; visitors must dress conservatively and maintain silence.