Nicely laid out museum with a lot on display regarding the history of Vietnam and the ethnic groups that have inhabited the country over the years. There is also a large outdoor area that displays the types of lodgings used over the last few centuries and why they were set out the way they were. There is a couple of little souvenir shops near the exit which sell your normal bits and bobs.

This museum is outside of the main city and is worth a trip if you are in the city for a few days. To me, I think the coolest part was seeing all the traditional houses. If you are not in the city for more than 3 days, I would skip this museum, and spend your time at other attractions in old town Hanoi.

For us, it was the highlight attraction of Hanoi. Visited lakes, temples, outside of churches, but this topped them all. Very informative about the human migration patterns and the types of housing each ethnicity adopts. There is even a few replica housing that you are able to (climb and) enter. Would highly recommend first time visitors to gain an insight into Vietnam.

Although quite small, you can easily spend a few hours here, perhaps a whole day if you wanted to read all the information. Both outside and the two main indoor buildings are very interesting and all presented very clearly. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in the Hill Tribes and cultures of Vietnam. I have loads of photos so will upload some when I get a moment.

This museum experience was one of my favorite ever, and I tend to go to museums. I thought that the outdoor exhibitions were fabulous. It’s amazing to be able to actually enter a house that has been moved there in its entirety. I wish we had been able to spend more time there. However, we had a packed day— people to see, places to go. I would go back here in a heartbeat, and spend a lot more time. The indoor exhibits were also fabulous. A truly comprehensive museum experience showcasing many objects of art and utility from the 54 different Indigenous peoples of Vietnam.

One of the top things we did during our stay in Hanoi, this excellent museum really gives you a great sense of the many many tribes of Vietnam, their distinct histories and how they still live to this day. This is an aspect of Vietnam we knew nothing about before we arrived and it was fascinating to learn about the over 50 different ethnic groups, their cultural practices, customs and attire. There are three parts to the museum, an indoor exhibit on Vietnam tribes, an outdoor exhibit with recreations of the different types of houses built by the tribes, and a separate indoor exhibit which was broader, covering artefacts from other parts of Asia (this last bit is skippable if you are short on time).

This very large museum is worth a long,calm visit if you are interested in Vietnam, its various cultural people, traditions, languages and cultures. The main building will take about 2 hours: there's plenty of very interesting comments about rituals,origins, language, domestic objects, costumes ( you will learn so much about colour dyes, fibers, conical hats making, pottery, jewellery for each ethnic groups) etc..on 3 floors. Have a delicious lunch break in the restaurant: freshly cooked Vietnamese cuisine, and rest your legs and brain. The garden displays a real, functioning water puppets theatre ( photo) and some houses on stilts, palm roofs houses over a large area. Fascinating and well maintained. The second building is more about exhibitions of textiles and private collectors donations,varied and still interesting.

Along with the womens museum, the ethnolgy museum is one of my absolute favourites in Hanoi. As a textiles enthusiast, it is a wonderful day out that offers information not just about Vietnams ethnic groups, but minority peoples throughout South East Asia. The model village gives a real sense of scale that is second only to actually staying with communities in Sapa, Ha Giang or elsewhere in Vietnam.

This place roxks..!.It is well presented and very comprehensive. We spent the whole day there with a break between features indoors in the cafe, whch also has artful features with amazing tree boles overlaid with glass for tables. We then meandered outdoors which displayed different building styles. It was the highlight of our visit in Hanoi.

Turns out, Vietnam is way more than just pho and those cool hats! The Museum of Ethnology does an awesome job of showing how many different cultures and lifestyles exist here. We wandered past traditional houses, saw musical instruments we'd never even imagined, and loved the colorful costumes. The outdoor space is really cool too, with replicas of houses from different ethnic groups. It's interesting to see how people lived back in the day. Best part? There's air-conditioning inside, which was a huge plus on a hot Hanoi day. Even if you're not a huge museum person, this one's worth a visit to understand just how diverse Vietnam truly is.