Things to Do in Ho Chi Minh City
Prices, opening hours, best times to visit and the stuff nobody tells you, everything you need for a first trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, plus one pigeon's opinions on all of it.
Right, Ho Chi Minh City. Still called Saigon by plenty of locals, motorbikes outnumber people, roughly, Vietnam's largest, most energetic city, and a genuinely sobering set of wartime history sites sit alongside a fast-moving modern metropolis. This is the proper, no-nonsense guide to things to do in Ho Chi Minh City: what things actually cost, when to go, what to skip, and which bits are worth the day trip. Five main stops below, plus a quiz elsewhere on this site to see if you were paying attention.
Saigon vs. Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City is still widely referred to by its former name, Saigon, used for much of its history, renamed after reunification in 1976, but the old name never really disappeared from everyday use, worth knowing both names are used interchangeably by locals and visitors alike, 'Saigon' still appears on countless shopfronts, menus, and colloquial references throughout the city.
This dual identity reflects the city's layered, complicated 20th-century history, worth keeping in mind as you visit the various historical sites, this is a city that's genuinely still working through what its name and history mean.
War Remnants Museum
Ho Chi Minh City's War Remnants Museum focuses primarily on the Vietnam War, a sobering and widely visited museum documenting a defining chapter of the country's modern history, military vehicles and aircraft displayed outside, and genuinely difficult photographic exhibits inside covering the war's impact on Vietnamese civilians, including the lasting effects of Agent Orange.
It's a heavy, essential visit, worth allowing real emotional space rather than rushing through, and worth approaching with an open mind given the museum presents this history primarily from the Vietnamese perspective, a valuable counterpoint to accounts more commonly encountered elsewhere.
Hours Daily, roughly 7.30am–6pm
Address 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Cu Chi Tunnels
Ho Chi Minh City is famous for an enormous network of tunnels used during wartime, located nearby at Cu Chi, a sprawling underground tunnel system, now a popular if slightly claustrophobic tourist site, originally dug to allow guerrilla fighters to move, hide, and live largely undetected during the war, a genuinely extraordinary feat of improvised engineering under extreme conditions.
Guided tours let you crawl through sections of the (widened, for tourist access) tunnels, worth knowing even the widened sections are genuinely tight and low, a real consideration if claustrophobia is a concern.
Getting there About 1.5–2 hours from central Ho Chi Minh City
Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica & the Central Post Office
Ho Chi Minh City retains genuine French colonial architecture from its history as part of French Indochina, the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica (built with materials imported directly from France) and the ornate Central Post Office, designed in part by Gustave Eiffel's firm, both sit close together and are worth a proper look.
The cathedral has been undergoing restoration in recent years, worth checking current access, and the post office remains a genuinely working building, letters and postcards can still be sent from inside this historic space.
Address Central Ho Chi Minh City
Ben Thanh Market & Street Food
Ho Chi Minh City's central market, a genuinely lively, chaotic mix of textiles, souvenirs, and food stalls, a proper landmark and a good introduction to the city's energy, though prices here often run higher than the surrounding street stalls given its tourist popularity, worth bargaining or exploring beyond the market's edges for better value.
The wider city's street food scene, banh mi, pho, and com tam (broken rice) among the essentials, is genuinely excellent, worth seeking out busy local stalls over restaurants aimed purely at tourists.
Hours Daily, busiest mornings
Address Ben Thanh Market, District 1
Best time to visit Ho Chi Minh City
December through April is the dry season and genuinely the most comfortable window, less rain than the rest of the year for the amount of walking and day-tripping this list involves.
The wet season (roughly May through November) brings heavy, if often brief, afternoon downpours, still workable if you plan around them, though the dry season makes the Cu Chi Tunnels day trip considerably more pleasant.
Getting around Ho Chi Minh City
Crossing streets amid the city's genuinely overwhelming motorbike traffic takes some getting used to, walk steadily and predictably rather than stopping or dodging. Motorbike taxis (via ride-hailing apps like Grab) are the practical, cheap way to cover longer distances.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Ho Chi Minh City worth visiting?
- Yes, easily, the War Remnants Museum and Cu Chi Tunnels offer genuinely essential context on Vietnam's modern history, and the city's colonial architecture and street food scene add real energy beyond it.
- How many days do you need in Ho Chi Minh City?
- Three days covers the War Remnants Museum, the colonial centre, and a Cu Chi Tunnels day trip comfortably.
- Is Ho Chi Minh City expensive?
- No, genuinely affordable, street food, museum entry, and motorbike taxis all remain cheap by international standards.
- What is Ho Chi Minh City famous for?
- Being widely still called Saigon despite its official renaming, the War Remnants Museum documenting the Vietnam War, and the nearby Cu Chi Tunnels used during wartime.
That's everything I've got.
A note before you plan around this: prices, opening hours, booking requirements and admission details in this guide were correct at the time of writing, but venues change these often and sometimes without notice. Always check directly with the attraction or its official website before you travel or build a schedule around a specific time or price.
Before travelling to any destination featured on this site, please also check your government's latest travel advice, as safety situations, entry requirements and travel warnings can change.
