Ho Chi Minh Travel Guide

Steamy, crowded and polluted, the southern hub of Vietnam is strung out along the Saigon River and home to more than eight million residents. As the commercial heart of a nation on the rise, Ho Chi Minh is quickly replacing its pristine colonial buildings with steel and glass high-rises, yet it’s still a fascinating destination boasting leafy boulevards and parks which help to subdue the big city feel.

Once known as Saigon, the seaport metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City is interlaced with canals and small waterways. This forms part of its unique character, but also contributes to the unforgettable traffic jams which clog the streets. The riverside city center, creatively named District 1, is where you’ll find many of the attractions, hotels and shopping spots spreading outwards from the busy port area.

The adjacent District 3 is the quiet home of some great French colonial architecture and most of the city’s scenic pagodas. District 5 is not only the center of the Chinese community, but also Ho Chi Minh’s massively mind-boggling market. Yet these central districts only account for 10 percent of the city’s land mass. Travel outwards and you’re quickly immersed in a more tranquil rural land of rice paddies and farmers.

Ho Chi Minh Attractions

Ben Thanh Market: this quintessential market begins under its iconic clock tower, and is packed to the gills with frenetic vendors, hawkers and pickpockets.

Cholon: the city’s massive Chinatown district, once the hub of opium dens and brothels, is now a fascinatingly exotic maze of temples, old shops and restaurants.

Cu Chi Tunnels: an easy drive from the city takes you to these infamous tunnels which became a symbol of Vietnamese pride and resistance during the war, and can now be safely explored.

Emperor Jade Pagoda: incense smoke wafts around the intricately carved religious figures of this important Vietnamese temple, which is buzzing round the clock with worshippers.

Vietnam History Museum: although the south of the country is the focus here, this highly informative museum paints a clear picture of the entire history of Vietnam through dozens of different exhibits chronicling its heritage.

War Remnants Museum: anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War will want to check out this comprehensive museum full of war machinery, weaponry, photos and provocative, notoriously biased exhibitions.