Som museum highlights include artefacts from central Vietnam's Cham kingdom, a collection of Dong Son drums,  as well as costumes and other pieces from Vietnam's last royal dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty. 

The Bronze Age Dong Son civilisation flourished around Thanh Hoa province for 1000 years from around 1200BC and their stunning drums depict life and nature of the time using advanced casting techniques. The Dong Son drum is used as a contemporary symbol of Vietnamese culture and civilisation.
The Cham kingdom existed across central and southern Vietnam until its last territories were annexed by the Vietnamese at the beginning of the 19th century. The Malay Polynesian Chams created a vast kingdom rich in culture. Vietnam's history museum contains a good collection of Cham artefacts. Specially, a good many of these are outside in the elements in what appears to be a car park for the city's well connected.

The museum also contains pieces from Vietnam's royal dynasties which is the most extensive being from the final Nguyen Dynasty which ended in 1945.

The Museum's collection is very impressive but a good guide is essential if tourists in Vietnam travel want to make full sense of it since the English language descriptions are disappointingly limited.