The hills of 1954
A1 Hill, Him Lam, the De Castries bunker, and the half day at Mường Phăng.
Đồi A1 watches the basin. The French name is Eliane 2. The local names are Pú Lạng Chượng and Đồi Đồn Tây. The fighting lasted 39 days and nights and more than 2,500 soldiers died. On the crest are a tank of 18 tons, the French bunker, the trench system, and a blast crater of 960 kg, restored in 2004 for the 50th anniversary. Day hours shut from 11:00 to 13:30. A1 also opens at night, 19:30–21:30 on Friday, Saturday, and official holidays. The lighting was finished in December 2024 and the night opening started 1 January 2025.
The De Castries bunker is the heart of the French command. The flag went on the roof at 17:30 on 7 May 1954. The 15:00 order on 7 May is the assault order at the forest headquarters, not this flag minute. From this stop you can also see the Mường Thanh bridge, burned-out tanks left in place, and French 105 mm and 155 mm gun positions. Those guns are not separate stops. The bunker is one of the four electronic-receipt points, at 20,000 VND if it is charged as its own point. The bridge the French called Bailey crosses the Nậm Rốm, 40 m long and 5 m wide. Soldiers crossed it on the afternoon of 7 May 1954.
Him Lam, Béatrice, is the outer strongpoint on the old road 41, now đường Võ Nguyên Giáp, the northeast gate toward Tuần Giáo. The assault started at 17:00 on 13 March 1954 and the position fell at 23:30 the same day. Phan Đình Giót is named there. The phase-two conservation project was inaugurated on 9 March 2026. The 13 March date is the 1954 battle, not a festival calendar. Him Lam is not in the four-point list.
Hill E is the veterans’ center on the eastern Dominique hills, built for the 50th anniversary in 2004 as a Thái stilt-house gallery with 106 gifts. People come to offer incense for Hồ Chí Minh and the dead. Hill F, Mont Fictif, is immediately east of A1. The memorial was started on 13 March 2021 on 4.95 ha, with a wooden temple, a still court, and a pool, then expected to open in 2022, and also expected on 7 May 2022. On 4 May 2026 Đồi F and the memorial were among the points receiving visitors. The 4 May 2026 list is a holiday staffing plan, not a new clock. The special national relic has 45 component points. Độc Lập is in that catalog at xã Thanh Nưa, huyện Điện Biên, with no kilometre. It is not a stop from the basin.
Mường Phăng is the forest command used from 31 January 1954 to 15 May 1954. More than 20 huts and shelters have been rebuilt, including Võ Nguyên Giáp’s hut and the tunnel through the hill. The tunnel is 69 m and the forest area about 90 km². The general attack order went out at 15:00 on 7 May 1954. The parade ground at Phiêng Tá Lét, on 13 May 1954, has a later monument of 25 figures and six flags. Use 40 km by road from the city center, about 10 km from Highway 6, and 17 km only as the straight line. From 1 July 2025, xã Mường Phăng is the merged commune of Nà Nhạn, Pá Khoang, and Mường Phăng, not a ward of the basin. The lookout on Pú Tó Cọ is 1,700 m, and the visit there is a footpath of more than 4 km from bản Khá, not a drive to the hut. The headquarters is one of the four receipt points, at the relic’s 20,000 VND point rate. Hồ Pá Khoang is the lake near Mường Phăng, with cherry blossom in spring and Thái houses beside the relic. The cannon-pull road at Nà Nhạn is the short stop about 14 km toward Mường Phăng. Tô Vĩnh Diện is named there. Do not confuse that 14 km stop with Pha Đin.
A1 Hill The hill that watched the basin, Eliane 2, with the bunker on the crest. 
De Castries bunker The French command bunker, and the flag on the roof at 17:30 on 7 May 1954. 
Victory museum The museum on its own ticket, beside the story of the basin. 
Muong Thanh bridge The Bailey span over the Nậm Rốm, 40 m by 5 m. The bridge is not in the four receipt points.