It was the French who introduced the concept of the museum into Việt Nam, constructing the first such institution in Hà Nội in 1910 to showcase a range of archaeological and ethnological artefacts, along with items of royal regalia belonging to the Nguyễn kings.

However, preparation for the development of an Indochina museums network had begun as early as 1898 with the founding of the Mission archéologique d'Indochine in Sài Gòn; in 1901 this institution moved to Hà Nội to become the École Française d’extrême-orient (EFEO), with a mission to explore the archaeology of French Indochina, conserve its monuments, collect its manuscripts and undertake research into the region's linguistic heritage. It was the scholarly work of the EFEO which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Chăm Sculpture Museum (1915-16) in Ðà Nẵng, the Musée Louis Finôt (1926, now the Việt Nam History Museum) in Hà Nội, and the the Musée Blanchard de la Brosse (1927, now the Việt Nam History Museum, Hồ Chí Minh City) in Sài Gòn. The French colonial authorities also founded the Geological Museum (1914) in Hà Nội and the Oceanographic Museum (1923) in Nha Trang, whilst in Huế King Khải Định was sufficiently encouraged by these developments to turn his Điện Long An Royal Palace into a dynastic museum (now the Huế Royal Fine Art Museum) in 1923.

After 1954 the Musée Blanchard de la Brosse in Sài Gòn became the National Museum of South Việt Nam, but prior to 1975 no other museums were constructed by the South Vietnamese authorities.

During this same period in the north the Musée Louis Finôt became the Việt Nam History Museum and a number of new museums were established – the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution (Bảo tàng Cách mạng Việt Nam, 1959), the Việt Nam Military History Museum (Bảo tàng Quân Đội, 1959), the Việt Nam Fine Art Museum (Bảo tàng Mỹ thuật Việt Nam, 1966), the Museum of the Việt Bắc Autonomous Region (Bảo tàng Khu Việt Bắc Tự Trị, 1959) - now the Museum of the Cultures of Việt Nam's Ethnic Groups, Thái Nguyên (Bảo tàng Văn hóa các Dân tộc Việt Nam, 1959) - and the Hải Phòng City Museum (Bảo tàng Thành Phố Hải Phòng, 1959).

Since Reunification in 1975 numerous other national museums have been founded by various government ministries and agencies and a concerted effort has been made by the Vietnamese authorities to establish a museum for every province of Việt Nam.

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