Vietnam's premiere art museum is housed inside a beautiful colonial-era building near the Temple of Literature in Hanoi. The three floors of the Museum of Fine Arts take visitors on a journey through the country's artistic history, with a special focus on lacquer painting and war-time themes.
Established by the Lý Dynasty in the 11th century, and used as a command base throughout the American War of the 1970s, the Citadel of Hanoi was the seat of Vietnamese power for nearly a thousand years. Visiting the citadel provides glimpses into various periods of the country's complex history.
Ironically referred to as the "Hanoi Hilton" by its American guests, the Hỏa Lò Prison complex is located in the center of Vietnam's capital. Today, the prison has been mostly demolished, though the guard house has been left intact and converted into a museum.
Hanoi has been conquered, occupied, liberated and renamed more times than any other city we've visited. In fact, upheaval seems to be the only constant in Hà Nội... or is that Long Biên? Or Đại La? Thăng Long, Đông Đô, Đông Quan, or Tonkin? Here's a concise rundown of the most important moments in this schizophrenic city's history. 2879 BC - Human presence in Northern Vietnam dates back to at least 6000 BC, but the first significant…
Nothing in the arsenal of the American military was as deadly to the people of Hanoi as the B-52. During one operation, charmingly nicknamed the "Christmas Bombings", 15,000 tons were dropped on the city, resulting in the deaths of 1624 civilians. But Hanoi was not without its defenses. Today, the B-52 Victory Museum celebrates the Vietnamese skill at shooting the hated American planes out of the sky.
