Ho Chi Minh City
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Ho Chi Minh City - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Ao Dai Museum
District 9Honoring Vietnam's national dress, this private museum is set on stunningly picturesque grounds that are a very long way from downtown. Once you pay the admission fee, a guide will take you to the two beautiful wooden exhibition houses, which showcase ao dais from the 17th century to the modern day. Smaller kids will like feeding the fish and playing ao dai quoits (and generally letting off steam on the verdant lawns if they're all city-ed out). This place is—amazingly—still off the tourist radar.
206/19/30 Long Thuan, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam0914-726–948Sight Details
Rate Includes: 50,000d, Closed Mon. -
2. Central Post Office
District 1Be sure to go inside to check out the huge map of old Indochina in this classic French-colonial building, designed by French architect Alfred Foulhoux (and not Gustave Eiffel as some sources claim) and completed in 1891. In addition to the usual mail services, there are phones, fax machines, and a small gift shop.
2 Cong Xa Paris, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
3. FITO Museum
District 10The outside of this museum showcasing the history of traditional Vietnamese medicine might be plain, but inside it's a fabulous carved wooden wonderland, with the interior of an authentic antique house on the third floor and a re-created Cham-style gazebo on the rooftop. Displays, enhanced by audiovisuals and drawing on nearly 3,000 items in the collection, range from Stone Age pots to 3rd-century coins (for coin-rubbing therapy), ancient texts, bronze kettles, and a range of cutting, chopping, and storing utensils. The concluding part of the introductory film (subtitled in English) and the shop at the exit are a reminder that this is a private museum, set up by Fito Pharma. It's well worth a visit for the insight into traditional Vietnamese daily life through the ages.
View Tours and Activities41 Hoang Du Khuong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3864–2430Sight Details
Rate Includes: 120,000d -
4. Reunification Palace
District 1This is one of the more potent symbols of the Vietnam War. On April 30, 1975, a North Vietnamese Army tank smashed through the main gate of what was then known as the Independence Palace, ending one of the bloodiest conflicts in living memory. The current boxy building replaced the elegant French colonial–style Norodom Palace, which was bombed by fighter jets in 1962 in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. The jet, along with the tanks that ended the war, is on display on the grounds. Free guides are available inside the palace, which remains as it was on that fateful day in 1975, albeit slightly more worn. The time-capsule nature of the palace offers a fascinating insight into the high life of 1960s Saigon, when bigwigs would enjoy tea and movie screenings in plush rooms upstairs, while the war effort was directed from the spartan concrete warren in the basement. The gardens cover 44 acres of lush lawn and shady trees, and a large fountain in front of the palace redirects the bad luck that could flow into the palace from the broad boulevard of Le Duan Street, according to the principles of feng shui.
135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3829–4117Sight Details
Rate Includes: 40,000d -
5. Tao Dan Park
District 1This huge park, a block behind the Reunification Palace, has a little something for everyone: walking paths for strolling or jogging; tall trees for shade; open areas where exercise classes are held in the mornings and evenings; a miniature Cham tower; a replica Hung King Temple; and an extensive children's playground. There's also a coffee stand, known as the bird café, at the Cach Mang Thang Tam entrance, and every morning bird fanciers bring their feathered friends here for singing practice. Do pull up a plastic chair and enjoy the ruckus and the theater of finicky owners trying to position their birds in order to generate the loudest birdsong. The birds are usually taken home by 9 am—by motorbike, which is a spectacle in itself. Leading up to Tet, the lunar new year, a spring festival is held in the park, with live entertainment and food and handicrafts stalls.
View Tours and ActivitiesEntrances on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Trung Dinh and Cach Mang Thang Tam Sts., Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Van Thanh Park
Binh Thanh DistrictA large government-owned tourist park, Van Thanh is a lovely escape from Ho Chi Minh City's urban chaos, with its artificial lake, restaurants, swimming pool, and small children's playground. The food isn't brilliant but dining in a little hut over the lake is fun, and the grounds and buildings are picturesque "ancient Vietnam" style. Entry to the pool, which gets very crowded on weekends, is 70,000d.
48/10 Dien Bien Phu, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam28-3512–3026 -
7. Ben Thanh Market
District 1This bustling market, which is more than a century old, has a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, and if you are unlucky enough to encounter pushy vendors, scammers, and pickpockets it won't exactly be an enjoyable experience. Stay alert, though, and you can have a lovely time exploring the 3,000 stalls. The most interesting section is the wet market at the back. Cheap T-shirts and other tourist goods are for sale in the front section, fabric and haberdasheries in the middle, and some great food stalls spring up beside the market at night.
Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
8. Binh Tay Market
District 6This wholesale market, in a colonial-era Chinese-style building about a half-hour drive from downtown, is not so much a shopping destination (unless you want to buy spices, herbal medicine, or textiles) as a spectacle to behold, particularly if you get here before 8 am to savor the frenetic atmosphere at its peak. With more than 2,000 stalls, Binh Tay can get pretty chaotic. In the central courtyard a small shrine honors the market's founder, Quach Dam (1863–1927), a disabled Chinese immigrant who started out collecting scrap before making his fortune. The food court inside serves a wide variety of Vietnamese street food and Chinese-influenced dishes—great for a replenishing brunch after an early arrival.
View Tours and Activities57A Thap Muoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
9. Bitexco Financial Tower
District 1A symbol of contemporary Ho Chi Minh City, the 68-floor Bitexco Financial Tower is the city's second tallest building, and you can enjoy high-altitude views from the Saigon Skydeck on the 49th floor. This deck features interactive screens that provide information about a selection of streets and sights below.
View Tours and Activities36 Ho Tung Mau, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3915--6156Sight Details
Rate Includes: 200,000d -
10. Book Street
District 1This leafy 150-meter-long pedestrian-only street lined with bookshops and cafés is very close to the post office and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Some new and secondhand English-language books are available, but the real prizes here are the adult coloring books featuring Vietnamese scenes.
Nguyen Van Binh, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
11. Caravelle Hotel
District 1Opened on Christmas Eve 1959, the Caravelle is one of the city's most iconic hotels, accommodating many foreign correspondents during the Vietnam War, with journalists chronicling the 1968 Tet Offensive from the hotel's rooftop bar. Extensive renovations in 2019 updated some of the rooms and event spaces while the 9th floor Saigon Saigon Bar still draws a crowd for its live music and city views.
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12. Cholon Mosque
District 5Built in 1932 by Tamil Muslims, the Cholon Mosque now serves the city's Indonesian and Malaysian Muslim community. Notice how much simpler the mosque is than the pagodas in the area, which are characterized by exuberant ornamentation and bright colors.
639 Nguyen Trai, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
13. Dai Nam
First opened in 2008, Dai Nam is a massive entertainment complex that includes Dai Nam Wonderland theme park, a sumptuous golden temple, a zoo, an artificial beach, 60-hectare racecourse, and a hotel. You'll probably need to rent a bicycle or golf cart to get around this sprawling complex, which has a recurring Buddhist theme, both peaceful and frightening. An example of the over-the-top-ness of Dai Nam: the racecourse has a 2,200-meter track for motorcycle and go-kart racing, a 1,600-meter track for greyhounds and horses, and a pool for Jet Ski performances. Dai Nam is about 40 km (25 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City, about 1 hour by car or 1½ hours by local bus 616 from Ben Thanh Market.
1765A Binh Duong Blvd., Thu Dau Mot, Binh Duong, Vietnam0650-3896–389Sight Details
Rate Includes: Entrance to The Golden Temple free. Entrance to racecourse and amusement park 200,000d. Individual rides from 20,000d; beach 200,000d; zoo 200,000d. Combo tickets available. -
14. Dam Sen Cultural Park
District 11Next door to Dam Sen Water Park, this attraction has an amusement park as well as its cultural aspects, which makes it a good choice for a family outing. You can enjoy traditional Vietnamese handicrafts, games, and folk song performances and then view a range of cultural reproductions, which include an ancient Roman square and a Japanese teahouse and peach blossom garden. If the kids get restless, head for the roller coaster, bumper cars, Ferris wheel, and other rides. Tamer activities include swan boats to pedal, an extensive aquarium, animal enclosures, a bowling alley, and a movie theater. There are food and drink outlets throughout the park. Trying to visit both the cultural and the water park in one day is not recommended.
3 Hoa Binh, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3963–2483Sight Details
Rate Includes: 120,000d for entrance only. Combo tickets including rides available. -
15. Dam Sen Water Park
District 11For a rollicking day out for kids of all ages, this park has a variety of slides and pools (one with a wave machine), a zipline, and a lazy river ride. Compared to water parks in more developed countries, Dam Sen is a little rough around the edges, but that doesn't prevent it from being an exhilarating day out. Children have to be taller than 4 feet 6 inches to go on the larger slides, but there's a range of medium slides for smaller kids and a toddler play area. On weekdays there are usually no lines for the rides. Lockers are available (15,000d) and you're given a small waterproof tube to hold your money, valuables, and the locker key. There are also several food kiosks within the park. It can take up to an hour to get here from District 1 when traffic is heavy, or about 40 minutes in light traffic.
3 Hoa Bien, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3858–8418Sight Details
Rate Includes: Tickets from 190,000d before 4 pm, 150,000d after 4 pm; smaller people are 150,000d and 110,000d -
16. Giac Lam Pagoda
Tan Binh DistrictOne of the oldest pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City, Giac Lam Pagoda was built in 1744 in the jungle outside of the city of Gia Dinh. Outside the walls of the pagoda now lies the urban sprawl of Ho Chi Minh City. Inside, however, are peaceful gardens containing a bodhi tree imported from Sri Lanka in 1953, a seven-story stupa, and the pagoda itself. Prayers are held every evening at 6 pm.
View Tours and Activities -
17. Ha Chuong Hoi Quan Pagoda
District 5Like many other pagodas built by Fujian congregations, this one is dedicated to Thien Hau, goddess of the sea and protector of fisherfolk and sailors. It has four stone pillars encircled by painted dragons, brought from China when the pagoda was constructed in the 19th century. Also note the scenes in ceramic relief on the roof and the murals next to the main altar.
802 Nguyen Trai, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -
18. Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
District 1Spread over three floors in a reportedly haunted French-colonial villa known as Chu Hoa's mansion, the city's Fine Arts Museum offers a comprehensive run through the main stages of Vietnamese art. Strolling around is a pleasant experience as the building itself is architecturally beautiful. While there could be more information to enlighten visitors, the examples of wartime propaganda art and lacquer art are superb.
97A Pho Duc Chinh, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3829–4441Sight Details
Rate Includes: 30,000d, Closed Mon. -
19. Ho Chi Minh City Museum
District 1Completed in 1890, the building has been the residence for the French governor of Cochin China, the Japanese governor during Vietnam's brief Japanese occupation, and the envoy of Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, and also served as the Supreme Court. Since 1975, it's been a museum (formerly known as the Museum of the Revolution) with a strong focus on the Vietnamese struggle against the French and Americans. Displays focus on famous marches, military battles, and anti-French and anti-American activists. Exhibits include photos of historical events, uprisings, student demonstrations, and the self-immolation of the monk Thich Quang Duc as a protest against the war. The building itself is as interesting as many of the exhibits inside: a neoclassic design, it has huge columns outside and 19th-century ballrooms with lofty ceilings inside. Beneath the building are concrete bunkers and tunnels connecting to the Reunification Palace. It was here that President Ngo Dinh Diem (1901–63) and his notorious brother Ngo Dinh Nhu hid before being caught and eventually executed in 1963. Outside on the grounds are Soviet tanks, an American helicopter, and antiaircraft guns.
65 Ly Tu Trong, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam028-3829–9741Sight Details
Rate Includes: 30,000d -
20. Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Building
District 1Built by the French between 1901 and 1908 to be Saigon's Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), this elaborate yellow-and-white colonial building now houses the city's main governing body. The building is not open to the public, so you can't get a peek at its ornate interior, but it remains one of the most photogenic buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, especially at night when it's floodlit.
86 Le Thanh Ton, at Nguyen Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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