Probably the most popular stop for tourists with a short time in Ho Chi Minh City, the Reunification Palace was the official ending point of the Vietnam War. On April 30, 1975 North Vietnamese forces smashed through the gate – with photographers waiting – and captured the compound.
The Reunification Palace, also called Independence Palace, served as the home of the president of South Vietnam and as the command center for operations against communist forces. The building itself is stark and depressing, however the command bunker in the basement is a time capsule of war history.
Tourists must enter the Reunification Palace through the gate on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street on the eastern side of the compound.
