Historic

Let me start off by saying Reunification Palace  formerly known as Independence Palace is probably the most significant piece of real estate in the history of the country of Vietnam.   When you think that the Vietnam war ended when the tanks of the communist north crashed through the gates you get chills down your spine.

Reunification Palace is located in the heart of Saigon.  I can remember at least 5 times we drove by it in a taxi while on the way to other locations.  The palace sits behind a big grass field with the actual tanks that crashed through the gates sitting on each side.

One of Many Conference Rooms

Touring Reunification Palace

After you pay for your ticket and walk in you have the choice to start wandering around the palace by yourself or picking up an English speaking guide for a small group tour.  Our guide happened to be a middle aged Vietnamese woman who was quite funny as well as informative.

The group basically walks around and looks in the different rooms which were all decorated a little differently.  The guide enlightened us with the story of each room and the contents of them.  This was pretty much the entire tour.  Towards the end was a room full of pictures with stories that were pretty interesting for people not well versed in the history of the Vietnam war.

Tips

There is no air conditioning or air flow in most of the building.  It feels like a sauna in the palace for most of the tour so if you don’t like profusely sweating you should come prepared by wearing light clothes.  There is a snack bar on the roof selling refreshments but it may be a good idea for most people to bring a bottle of water to avoid letting thirst detract from the tour.  After the tour is completed you can view an optional video in a room with fans.

Historic Significance does Not Equal Most Exciting

The Reunification Palace tour was cheap and the guided tour only took about an hour to complete.  While the Reunification Palace was not drop dead boring it wasn’t something that you will be raving about to all your family and friends.

Anyone from outside of Vietnam who finds themselves in Saigon should definitely visit Reunification Palace if not for the sight seeing, to soak in the history of the long Vietnamese struggle and victory.

50 Tons of Steel Victory for North Vietnam

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