Located near Hoan Kiem Lake in Central Hanoi is the fascinating Vietnamese Women’s Museum. The museum is dedicated to studying, collecting and displaying the lives and experiences of ordinary Vietnamese women. One of only a handful of women’s museums in the world, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum is a must-visit destination for feminists visiting the city!

The entrance to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum including outside gallery space.

Housed in a lovely, airy building with a circular atrium and three main galleries spread over three floors, the museum sits behind a peaceful square the ideal place for a rest on a hot, sweaty afternoon in Hanoi.

A grand entrance to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Hanoi. A celebration of women around Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum really is a museum for everybody with an awesome-looking Discovery Room for children, a great little shop selling handicrafts and a few interactive exhibits. Nearly all exhibits have English language captions. There is a lift for disabled/ stroller access. Unfortunately, I’d brought Zizi along in the sling that day so rather than breezing around pushing a stroller, we were both sweating profusely tied to each other chests!

Funded by the UNESCO Malala Fund for Girls’ Right to Education, the Discovery Room is a must-visit destination for families visiting Hanoi. Toys, books, videos and photos are put together in this fun, colourful and interactive space that promotes children’s education on gender-based issues. Most resources are available in English and Vietnamese.

Interested in visiting Hanoi with a toddler or young children. Check out our honest post: Hanoi with a Toddler: 15 Ways to Make a Visit Less Stressful

Hear the life stories of Vietnamese women from all walks of life

In the main part of the museum, the three permanent exhibitions are Women in Family, Women in History and Women in Fashion. There are also temporary exhibitions and small break out areas with audio-visual records of Vietnamese women’s lives. The museum is definitely worth a whole morning or afternoon!

Women in Family Exhibit

Traditional handicraft and woven baskets at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum

This gallery explores marriage and childbirth traditions throughout Vietnam focusing on several of the different ethnic groups from Northern Vietnam. The informative displays present a picture of everyday life for Vietnamese women showing sewing, weaving and cooking equipment as well as many agricultural artefacts. Daily life for Vietnamese women in the countryside wasn’t easy and that resourceful and hardworking women have been running small businesses alongside their homes since time began.

Women in History

Communist artwork about Vietnamese women and their essential role in society

For me, this was by far and away the most powerful exhibition (secret history buff that I am!). Using a mixture of visual and textual exhibits, this moving gallery retold the stories of Vietnamese women in a country at war. During both the French and American Wars, women played a wide variety of essential roles from the domestic to combat and revolutionary.

If you are interested in how women fought for Hanoi but haven’t got the chance to visit the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, grab a cuppa and read this fascinating New York Times article.

Women in Fashion

On the top floor, you’ll find this gorgeous collection of Vietnamese fashions and outfits. Colourful and eye-catching, there are explanations in English detailing the various techniques and motifs used by different ethnic groups.

The fashion gallery at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum showcases a colourful array of tradition costumes

I was fascinated by one of the hill tribe’s famous beauty rituals: teeth lacquering. Today in Western culture, we’re obsessed with teeth whitening and the perfect smile so this tribal tradition from Vietnam made me laugh at how arbituary and fleeting fashion and trends can be!

Description of teeth lacquering in the gallery

Practical Details for Visiting the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi

Address: 36 Lý Thường Kiệt, Hàng Bài, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Visit the Vietnamese Women’s Museum’s English language website for up-to-date details on visiting hours and entry fees.

Is the Vietnamese Women’s Museum suitable for young children? Yes, definitely. I had a great afternoon there with my two-year-old daughter (in a sling) exploring the different aspects of womanhood in Vietnam.

If you don’t have the chance to visit the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in person, check out their great online exhibitions on their website (click here).

Love the idea of visiting a museum dedicated to women’s rights and women’s issues, read our review of the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum in Seoul, South Korea. A fantastic museum that tells the little-known history of South Korean ‘comfort women’ who were enslaved by the Japanese Military during the Second World War.

I love this honest feminist quote!

If you are interested in Vietnamese women’s history and culture, you may enjoy some further reading.

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Thank you for visiting World for a Girl. Have you visited the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi? Do you have any tips or advice to pass on to families visiting? Please leave a comment below.