31-07-2025
8 war memorial sites everybody should visit on a trip to Vietnam
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
This year marks half a century since the end of the Vietnam War, or the American War, as it's known in Vietnam. The conflict dragged on for almost 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, with the US army supporting the anti-communist South Vietnam against pro-communist North Vietnam, which was in turn supported by international communist allies. It was a period of civil war that had a profound impact on Vietnam. Today, the people of this fast-growing Southeast Asian country have taken great strides to put the war behind them, but they honour Vietnam's past with a number of monuments and museums nationwide. Many of these sites have become incredibly popular with history buffs — and visiting them can be a profound, moving and eye-opening experience. Ho Chi Minh City
War Remnants Museum
Vietnam's most poignant war museum is this one in Ho Chi Minh City, which documents many of the worst atrocities inflicted by US soldiers on the Vietnamese people — such as the My Lai Massacre, when 500 unarmed villagers in Southern Vietnam were murdered by US Army infantrymen. Other exhibits highlight the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide used by the Americans to destroy the jungle being used as cover by North Vietnamese forces. Also interesting is the museum's huge collection of aircraft and weaponry from the war, including unexploded ordnance and experimental explosives.
Reunification Palace
This vast modernist monolith is where the war officially ended in 1975, when South Vietnamese authorities surrendered to the North. Built in 1966, the building — originally called the Independence Palace but now known as the Reunification Palace — is open to the public on guided tours. Its interiors are a testament to its 1960s heyday, with plush chaises longues and flamboyant, mid-century furnishings in the former living quarters. Downstairs, the tour visits the bunker war rooms, with vintage radio equipment, telephones and wood-panelled walls. Take a tour with an English-speaking guide. The Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City is where the Vietnam War officially ended in 1975. Photograph by Quang Ngoc Nguyen, Alamy Cu Chi District
Cu Chi Tunnels
The Viet Cong — the Communist guerilla army tasked with resisting the US-backed forces in the south of Vietnam — made extensive use of subterranean tunnels and rooms, which allowed them to move across the country undetected. A stretch of the tunnels has been preserved at Cu Chi, 19 miles north west of Ho Chi Minh City. Guides lead you through hidden trapdoors, camouflaged with earth and leaves, into the dark, dank tunnels, which average just over 3ft in height. Thankfully, the venomous centipedes and spiders, as well as the rampant malaria that soldiers had to contend with, are no longer found here. The Viet Cong made extensive use of subterranean tunnels and rooms, which allowed them to move across the country undetected. Photograph by Alamy Quang Ngai Province
Son My Memorial
Both moving and harrowing, this memorial stands on the site of the My Lai Massacre in Son My village in Southern Vietnam. The memorial takes the form of a sculpture representing the villagers who lost their lives, including an elderly woman holding the body of a dead child, her fist raised in defiance. Despite the horrors that took place here, this is now a peaceful spot, with the statue surrounded by gardens lined with rose beds. There's also a small museum documenting the massacre. It's worth lingering for a while; Son My is now a thriving town where travellers can take river boat tours and feast on seafood by the long, sandy beach. Quang Tri
Demilitarised Zone
The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) marked the dividing line between North and South Vietnam from 21 July 1954 to 2 July 1976. This was the site of some of the most strategically important places during the Vietnam War, including the Khe Sanh Combat Base, a US Marine Corps outpost that can now be visited as a museum, and the nearby Ta Con Airport, where the remains of planes, tanks and missile launchers are rusting into the surrounding grassy landscape — although some sit on tarmac and are fairly well preserved. The DMZ sits in hilly, rural Quang Tri province, which can be reached in around 2.5 hours by car from Hue.
Vinh Moc Tunnels
Like the Cu Chi Tunnels, those at Vinh Moc have been preserved and can be visited. But these differ from Cu Chi in that ordinary Vietnamese people, not just soldiers, lived in them — 90 families from nearby villages took permanent refuge underground between 1966 and 1972 when this area began being heavily bombed by South Vietnamese and US forces. Tours take you inside the tunnels, showing you areas carved out for use as kitchens, wells and even maternity rooms — 17 people are believed to have been born down here. The Vinh Moc Tunnels are close to the DMZ, and day visits to both areas can be taken from Hue. The people of Vietnam have taken great strides to put the war behind them, but they honour the past with a number of monuments and museums nationwide. Photograph by Jui-Chi Chan, Getty Images Hanoi
Vietnam Military History Museum
Hanoi's war museum moved in late 2024 from its old spot near the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to a striking fan-shaped brutalist building in the west of the city. Inside, hangar-like rooms contain a vast range of military hardware left over from the Vietnam War — there's a Soviet-made MiG-21 fighter jet and a tank that crashed through the gates of the Reunification Palace during the North's capture of Saigon in 1975. There are also rooms containing moving exhibitions with personal items — photographs, clothing, letters and so on — that belonged to soldiers and villagers who were affected by the war.
Hoa Lo Prison
Many US prisoners of war were incarcerated here — ironically nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton' — by North Vietnamese forces. Conditions were grim; inmates suffered atrocities later described as war crimes. The prison pre-dates the Vietnam-US War, however; it was built by the French in the late 19th century. Most of it was demolished in the 1990s, but the remaining portion was converted into this museum. Exhibits include the personal effects of famous former inmates, such as the flight suit of former US presidential candidate John McCain, who was imprisoned here after his plane was shot down over Hanoi in 1967. Most of Hoa La prison was demolished in the 1990s, but the remaining portion was converted into a museum. Photograph by Getty Images This story was created with the support of InsideAsia and Vietnam Airlines. Published in the July/August 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
