Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

From 1 November to 31 March the Mausoleum opens on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings and is closed on Monday and Friday. Hours are 08:00 to 11:00 from Tuesday to Thursday, and 08:00 to 11:30 on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. If 19 May, 2 September or the first day of Tet falls on a Monday or Friday, the Mausoleum still opens.

From 1 April to 31 October the morning window runs at different hours, and reports disagree on the exact times and on whether the shorter schedule applies to every opening day. Treat the summer times as unconfirmed and check the board's notice at the entrance before you queue. The hall does not open in the afternoon in any season.

The Mausoleum closes every year for periodic maintenance, usually between September and November, and the dates change each year. In 2026 the Mausoleum Command's own document set the closure from 4 September to 2 November, and the hall reopened to the public on 3 November. State media carried the announcement. Because the dates are fixed again each year, a guide that gives you a closure window is only a guess for your travel month.

Tour listings disagree about it. One city-tour listing says the hall is closed from about 15 June to 15 August, with the grounds still open, and another says it closes for maintenance at the end of the year. Neither matches the 2026 dates, so do not plan around a listing. If you will be in Hanoi between September and early November, ask your hotel to check the Mausoleum notice, and treat the hall as closed until they confirm. The square and the grounds stay open during a closure according to the listing, and the rest of the complex is covered in the section below.

The hall is open for a few morning hours only, and the Mausoleum Command publishes the schedule without giving a reason. That means the useful answer is practical, not historical. Come for the opening, since the window is only three hours or three and a half on weekends and holidays, and build the rest of the day around it. Put the Mausoleum first, then the One Pillar Pagoda and the stilt house if the grounds are open, and spend the afternoon at sights that stay open until 17:00, such as the Confucian temple of Van Mieu and the French-built prison museum.

It is worth going if you can fit a morning slot and accept a silent, quick walk-through. The Mausoleum is the resting place of Ho Chi Minh, who died on 2 September 1969. It was built between 2 September 1973 and 29 August 1975 and stands in Ba Dinh Square, where he read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945. For many Vietnamese visitors it is a pilgrimage, and the mood in the line and the hall reflects that.

It is a poor choice if you want to take your time, take photographs inside or avoid a line. It also fails if your dates fall in the autumn closure, so check that first. If the hall is shut or the morning is gone, Ba Dinh Square, the One Pillar Pagoda and the stilt house still make a good short visit, and the Temple of Literature and Hoa Lo Prison fill the afternoon.

What is special about it?

The building is a square block of grey granite, 21.6 m high and 41.2 m wide, with a portico inscribed with the words President Ho Chi Minh. It was inspired by Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, with a Vietnamese sloping roof line. Inside, the embalmed body lies in a glass case in a cool central chamber under a military honour guard, and the guards change every hour.

Around it, 79 cycads stand for the 79 years of his life. The setting matters as much as the hall, because Ba Dinh Square is where the independence declaration was read.

No sourced rule names shorts, but the only dress rule published is neat clothing and silence, and the guards decide at the door. The safe choice is long trousers or a knee-length skirt, covered shoulders and closed shoes. Keep your voice down and follow the guards' signals.

Cameras, phones and bags are the other question. Sources differ on what is allowed in, and on the minimum age for small children, so the only reliable rule is to follow the signs and the guards and leave bags and cameras at the deposit point. Expect no photography inside the hall.

Ba Dinh Square

Ba Dinh Square is the open lawn and paved ground around the Mausoleum, and it is where Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945 and where the Mausoleum now stands. From the edge of the square you get the view most visitors photograph, with the Mausoleum at the far end of the lawn rectangles and the national flag on its pole. If the hall is closed, this view is still the reason to come.

One Pillar Pagoda

The One Pillar Pagoda was first built in 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong, and it was renovated in 1105. It stands on a single stone pillar in a pond, shaped like a lotus, and the building seen today was rebuilt in 1955 after being dynamited the year before. No official source gives its entry fee or hours, so do not assume it is free and ask at the gate.

It sits next to the Mausoleum complex in Ba Dinh and takes about ten minutes to see, our estimate.

Stilt House and Presidential Palace

Ho Chi Minh's stilt house is a simple wooden house on stilts set in a garden, and the Presidential Palace is the French colonial building beside it. A small entrance fee applies and sources quote different amounts, so pay at the gate and carry small cash. Hours are not confirmed from an official page, and you should not assume the hall's Monday and Friday closure applies or does not apply to the grounds.

Check the opening hours at the gate before you walk across.

Put the Mausoleum first, arrive for the opening and plan the afternoon at sights open until 17:00. If your day is Monday or Friday, the hall is shut, so use it for the Temple of Literature, the old prison museum and the Imperial Citadel and keep the square for a quick look. If you are in the autumn closure, treat the grounds as a short stop and use the day for the same sights.

Getting there needs no ticket and no booking. The Mausoleum stands in the middle of Ba Dinh Square, and the simplest way is a taxi or ride-hailing car from the Old Quarter to the edge of the square. No official transport figure is published, so ask your hotel for a fare estimate. The Hanoi Old Quarter is where most visitors base themselves, and Hanoi hotel areas has the areas compared. For a guided day around the hall, compare Hanoi tours.