The Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum sits at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1, a short walk south of Ben Thanh Market. The museum's own page says the city founded it on 5 September 1987 and it opened to visitors at the end of May 1989. It now holds more than 22,000 objects in two broad groups: ancient to early modern art, and modern art, including painters from the Indochina and Gia Dinh art schools such as Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Sang and Diep Minh Chau.
Wikipedia adds that the main building is a villa a French architect named Rivera built between 1929 and 1934 for the Hua family (Hui Bon Hoa), and that the collection covers sculpture, oil, silk and lacquer painting, woodcut prints in the Hang Trong, Dong Ho and Kim Hoang styles, ceramics and Buddhist art. Champa and Oc Eo pieces are on the third floor.
Getting there
Measured in a straight line on map coordinates, the museum is about 0.4 km from Ben Thanh Market, about 0.7 km from the Ho Chi Minh City Museum and about 1 km from Independence Palace. Saigon railway station is about 2.9 km away and Tan Son Nhat International Airport about 7.6 km, both in a straight line; the roads are longer.
Hours and fees
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Standard, from 1 October 2026 | VND 60,000 |
| Children and students | Free under the city resolution; the museum's own list still says half price from age 6 |
Tuoi Tre reported that a Ho Chi Minh City People's Council resolution set the fee at the city's museums, this one named among them, at VND 60,000 per person from 1 October 2026, the same for Vietnamese and foreign visitors, with children and students free. The museum's own ticket page now shows VND 60,000 too, but its discount list is the older one: free only under 6, and half price for children from 6 to 15 and for students. The Ho Chi Minh City Museum and the History Museum, under the same resolution, list children and students as free, so bring a student card and expect either at the counter. The city's tourism site lists the museum as open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day.
Our take
It's the closest of the city's museums to Ben Thanh Market, and the villa itself is half the reason we'd go. The fee changed recently, so have the higher amount ready.
Nearby
- Ben Thanh Market: about 0.4 km in a straight line.
- Ho Chi Minh City Museum: about 0.7 km in a straight line.
- Independence Palace: about 1 km in a straight line.
Questions travelers ask
Which museums are worth it in Saigon? One traveler in a thread asking that picked this one:
"I liked the fine arts museum, lovely old building too."
u/PrincessMagDump on r/VietNam
