The natural history museum at Hanoi University of Science is one of those places that has been largely bypassed by the modernization of Vietnamese cultural institutions. The collection of taxidermy specimens, skeletal mounts, and wet jars of preserved animals was assembled during the French colonial period and has changed relatively little since. Display cases of faded labels, hand-lettered in French and Latin, hold birds, mammals, reptiles, and marine creatures from across Indochina. The taxidermy has the particular stiffness of early-20th-century technique; the specimens are mounted in positions that tell you more about colonial aesthetics than animal behavior.
It's not for everyone, but for visitors interested in natural history, colonial science, or simply buildings and collections that have been allowed to age without renovation, it is genuinely interesting. The university campus itself — on Nguyen Trai Street — is a pleasant French colonial compound with shade trees and a calm academic atmosphere. The museum is small and rarely crowded. Check opening hours before visiting as they can be irregular; it is sometimes closed to visitors when the university is in session.