Hà Nội has kicked off construction on Ba Vì Safari Park, a 299-hectare wildlife and entertainment complex roughly 60km west of the city centre. It's the headline act in a batch of 14 tourism projects the capital launched on October 9, marking the 72nd anniversary of the city's Liberation Day.
The scale is serious. The site is 2.4 times the size of Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Reserve and about half the area of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Crucially, it sits entirely outside Ba Vì National Park, so no protected forest is being built over. Developer Sun Group says green space and water will cover nearly 82 per cent of the site, with ecological corridors connecting animal enclosures to visitor facilities. US design firm PGAV Destinations, known for theme park and zoo work, is advising on the plans.
Visitors can expect drive-through-style animal habitats modelled on natural environments, international-standard animal shows, and an amusement zone with rides and interactive exhibits — the classic formula for convincing families to make a full day (or weekend) of it. Conservation and environmental education are baked into the pitch, in line with the government's framing of tourism as a key economic sector.
Money and timeline: preliminary investment is pegged at VNĐ7.48 trillion (around US$290 million), with construction running from late 2026 to mid-2030. The city is targeting six million visitors a year once it's up and running.
The safari park isn't the only big-ticket item. Sóc Sơn, north of the city, is getting a $420 million, 125-hectare entertainment complex centred on a horse-racing track with seats for 30,000 spectators. The project — first approved in principle back in 2019 — will also include an international hotel, shopping and conference centre, resort villas and a 22.5-hectare lake. Together, the two projects signal Hà Nội's ambition to keep visitors in the capital longer rather than using it purely as a stepping stone to Hạ Long Bay or Hội An.
So who should care? Families with kids, obviously — a safari park plus an amusement zone is a proven crowd-pleaser. But the real takeaway for travellers is that Hà Nội's outlying districts are about to become destinations in their own right. Ba Vì already draws weekenders for its national park, hot springs and the eerie French-era church on the mountain, and the new park will give you one more reason to overnight there instead of day-tripping. Just note the dates: nothing opens before the late 2020s, so pencil it in for a future trip rather than next year's itinerary.
