War Remnants Museum and Independence Palace: Seeing Saigon's Main Sights in One Morning
4 min read
The short answer
You can see the War Remnants Museum and the Independence Palace in about two hours with a guide, or add Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office and a coffee stop in three. Both sights are in the centre, so a short walking tour is easier than organising it yourself if you want the history explained. For most visitors the two-hour War Remnants Museum and Independence Palace walking tour is enough: €6.86 per person, 4.7 / 5 from 341 reviews, and its page says entrance fees are part of the tour.
What the two main sights are
The War Remnants Museum covers the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese side. The two-hour tour’s page describes the exhibits as deeply moving and grisly, so go in expecting a heavy hour. The Independence Palace, also called the Reunification Palace, is a government building tied to the fall of Saigon in 1975; the same page promises its interiors.
According to their own websites, the War Remnants Museum is open daily from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM and the Independence Palace daily from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, so a morning works for both; the palace says it also opens on public holidays and at Tet. On dinhdoclap.gov.vn the palace lists adult tickets at 80,000 VND, students and seniors at 40,000 VND and children aged 6 to 17 at 20,000 VND. The museum changed its admission fees on 1 October 2026 and publishes them on its website; it says tickets are sold only at its entrance and on its own ticketing site, not by third-party websites.
Two walking tours compared
| Tour | Route | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| War Remnants Museum and Independence Palace walking tour | Starts at a café on Alexandre de Rhodes street; one hour in the museum, one hour in the palace; ends at the museum | 2 hours | €6.86 |
| City highlights guided walking tour | Starts at the museum (1 hour), then the palace, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, a coffee tasting; ends at the City Book Street | 3 hours | €34.99 |
The shorter tour’s description promises a small group of no more than 10, while the group-size box on the same page lists up to 15 for the standard option and up to 9 for a private group. Its page names who it does not suit: children under 7, pregnant women, people with mobility impairments and wheelchair users. Meals are not part of the shorter tour. The three-hour tour lists entry tickets to the War Remnants Museum, but its page says you go into the museum alone, so the guide does not take you through the exhibits; ask the operator whether you also go inside the palace.
Other ways to see the centre
- The downtown walking tour with a local guide (€12.72, 3 hours) is a general introduction to the landmarks and street life; its page lists the Opera House, Nguyen Hue walking street, the Ho Chi Minh statue, the Central Post Office, Book Street, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Independence Palace, with an optional coffee break, but not the War Remnants Museum.
- The 45-minute panoramic bus tour (€6.28) is a round trip past the Independence Palace, the Central Post Office and Ben Thanh Market.
- The Saigon Skydeck fast-track ticket (€8.97) goes to the 49th floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower for the skyline.
Our recommendation
If you want the two big historical sights with a guide and nothing else, take the two-hour tour. If you also want the colonial buildings and a coffee, take the three-hour tour, knowing that you see the museum on your own and should ask about the palace ticket. Go in the morning for the heavy part and leave the afternoon free. For food in the evening, read about Saigon street food tours, or see all 139 Saigon city tours, from €6.28.
