Last Updated on March 31, 2025
Ho Chi Minh City at night during the Saigon River cruise
Highlights
Helpful information for planning a visit to Ho Chi Minh City.
Time of Visit: Early December 2024
Duration of Visit: Two Nights
Description
Here we describe where to get local currency, how to move around (transportation), where to stay, where to eat and activities to help you plan your own trip to this bustling metropolis. We also list other useful information such as price haggling, street crossing and the weather we experienced.
How to Get There
Ho Chi Minh City has an international airport, code SGN.
How To Get Around
We used Grab (rideshare app in Asia) to take us from the airport to the city and around the city. There is an airport toll that will be added to the bill but it does not matter as the ride is cheap. It cost us around $6 total for our ride from the almost one hour ride from the airport to the French Quarter..
Finding the Grab pick up point as we stepped out of the airport arrival area was easy. We just followed the signs that said “Rideshare”.
Cash Needs
Hotel cost should be known beforehand if you book ahead of time. The unknown cash needs would be from activities (tours, etc), food, transportation and souvenir shopping. Transportation cash cost is hard to estimate unless you already know where you want to go. Travel by airplane and Grab rideshare are paid online by credit card just like Uber and Lyft in the US. The immediate cash needs would then be from food as activities, transportation, and souvenirs would be later in the visit.
Unless it is a high end restaurant, food is inexpensive. One hundred fifty thousand Vietnamese Dong (VND) (about $6 US) can get you a meal and a drink in most restaurants. It is even cheaper if you eat street food or in the market.
The maximum ATM withdrawal amount we found after trying four banks was 3M VND (about $120 US). This was sufficient for our first day.
ATM Fee
You can either exchange currency at the airport or withdraw from an ATM. We always do the latter as our experience in the past on airport currency exchanges was unfavorable exchange rates plus high fees such that it is better to pay the ATM fee.
Regarding ATMs, we tried AgriBank, BIDV, HSBC and VietcomBank, AgriBank had the lowest ATM fee at 22K VND and we were able to withdraw 3M VND at a time. BIDV had the highest ATM fee at 84K VND, was the only ATM we found at the airport and maximum withdrawal was only 2M VND. HSBC’s fee was 50K and maximum withdrawal of 2M VND. VietcomBank ATM fee was 45K VND and the ATM screen had an option of up to 10M VND withdrawal. However, we could only get 3M VND at a time as anything higher would not go through with our card.
So, if you do not need cash yet when you arrive at the airport, find an AgriBank near where you will be staying to save on ATM fees.
Where We Stayed
There are literally hundreds of places to stay in Ho Chi Minh City. This makes picking a place to stay time consuming. We looked at at least a dozen hotels, read their online reviews before settling on Song Anh Hotel in District 1. It is right in front of Ben Than Market.
The hotel’s location is very convenient. Lots of restaurants around as well as other hotels. There were also five tour companies just around the corner. It is walking distance to the Notre Dame Cathedral, post office and Nguyen Hue Street.
We were on the hotel’s 4th floor. The hotel has central AC and good Wi-Fi. No road noise. Our room was clean but small with just a queen bed, one small stool, a tiny TV that only had local channels and a dorm refrigerator. It had adequate lighting.
There is an open closet to store luggage and hang clothes too. No table to do any work except on the bed.
Bathroom was adequate in size except that the door swings to the inside towards the sink which makes accessing the toilet a pain (you have to partially close the door first before you can step towards the toilet). Other than the bathroom, nothing else aggravated us. No crawling or flying insects.
We think their price was fair. Their prices for different rooms were clearly shown at the front desk which is a little under Booking.com’s rate. Staff were nice too and approachable. Only the front desk people spoke English that were good enough to get recommendations on what to do and where to eat.
What We Did
First Day
We walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral, post office, Nguyen Hue Street and Ben Thanh Market in the afternoon of our first day. The cathedral towers were under construction and covered with scaffolding. Entry to the cathedral was closed.
The post office is just a stone throw away from the cathedral. People come to the post office to admire the interior architecture. The post office is mostly filled with shops selling souvenirs but there is a window to send mail.
We thought that Nguyen Hue is a pedestrian only street. Yes and no. What it is, is a wide island bordered by streets on both sides. The island is pedestrian only but you are not far from the street noise. We did not see any shops or restaurants on the island. So we just walked a couple of hundred meters, called it good before heading to Ben Thanh Market.
Ben Thanh Market is mostly dry goods like apparel, bags, textiles and souvenirs. There are street foods, produce and meat stalls also.
Ben Thanh is a busy place. Expect elbow to elbow in some places. Vendors are eager to sell but they will quote you upscale department store prices. They expect you to haggle. We did. I bought a pair of knockoff quick drying sport shorts by haggling from 500K VND to 200K VND and a baseball cap from 250K VND to 80K VND. In our opinion, the street vendors in Hanoi provide a better shopping experience.
Second Day
We checked with four tour agencies for pricing on a four hour night tour that included a cycle tour, water puppet show and dinner buffet on a cruise boat on the Saigon River. The prices were basically all the same at around 1.5M VND or 60 USD. So it was just a matter of haggling with the agent. We went with an agency that only had one agent. She was nice and personable. It was quite a different interaction in a larger tour agency that had multiple agents. They had no smile and all business attitude.
Having an evening activity booked, we walked to the Saigon Cao Dai Temple and Tue Thanh Assembly Hall from our hotel. Ho Chi Minh is not pedestrian friendly as motorbikes are often parked on the sidewalk which blocks access. Still we had a nice time getting our exercise and discovered Bui Vien Walking Street along the way. Bu Vien is supposed to be colorfully lit at night according to our hotel host.
Saigon Cao Dai Temple is a colorful three level temple. We observed three women praying. The temple is free to enter and they appreciate any donation. They even provided a long skirt for my wife before entering the temple.
Tue Thanh Assembly Hall is a normal stop for tour companies. The assembly hall is only one level and has several altars. Unfortunately we don’t know what each altar is except for a couple that we overheard from one of the tour guides. One was the God of Money and the other was the God of Love.
By then, we had to return to our hotel (hailed a Grab) so that we could be ready for the 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM tour. We started with the cyclo tour that was about 30 minutes. We were on a pedaled rickshaw and were taken to the Rong Vang theater for the water puppet show.
The show was narrated in Vietnamese but we could follow the storyline based on the puppet actions. There were multiple puppets such that it was not boring. We were perplexed by how they were able to make the puppets move without strings. The 45 minute show went fast.
Our dinner buffet cruise was on the Indochina Queen (the boat). The food was OK and there were singers and dancers for entertainment. Drinks were not included and had to be purchased on the boat. The drink prices were reasonable unless you ordered bottles of wine or spirits. We spent 100K VND on a beer and a bottled water.
Our Favorite Restaurant
We ate once at Hoang’s kitchen and twice at Hoa Don Than. Hoang’s had 5 stars on Google but we found it was mainly tourists that ate there and their prices were on the high side.
Hoa Don Than was recommended by our host and had a 3.9 rating on Google. Our host said not to pay attention to the rating. We were pleasantly surprised that the food was good and much cheaper than Hoangs.
Vietnamese dishes are Vietnamese size, meaning it is a small serving like the pair of shorts I bought were XL when I normally wear an M in the US. Do not be surprised if your bowl or plate is smaller than what you expected.
Use Of Credit Cards
Most businesses charge an additional fee for paying with a credit card. There are some that do not have additional fee like Hoa Don Than (hence our favorite).
So before you pull out that plastic, you may want to ask first if they will tack on a credit card fee.
Weather
It was warm and humid and that was with cloud cover. We worked up a sweat during our walk but not drenched. December was not stifling hot but not great either, weather-wise.
Environment
Ho Chi Minh is a dense city. With lots of motorbikes, traffic movement is slow. You may want to use a mask if you are sensitive to exhaust fumes.
Crossing Streets
Major intersections have pedestiran crossing lights. Still you need to keep your eyes open as there may be a motorcyclist that would not stop because he or she made a right at the intersection.
It becomes a challenge if there is no crossing light. In this case, it is a free for all with vehicles coming and going in all directions. What we did is to raise our hand towards the oncoming traffic to signal our intent to cross.
The expectation is that you do not stop moving (crossing) when you are already on the street. The motorbikes and cars went around us as they anticipated we would continue to move. Some would slow down but most would just zip around us.
It takes a lot of nerves to cross a street but we got the hang of it and felt more comfortable on succeeding crossings. We still looked at oncoming traffic to make sure they see us instead of blindly crossing.
What We Would Do Different
We should have booked at least three nights instead of two so we could have seen what we planned on seeing. Two nights would have been fine if we did not do the night tour.
We were not able to do the Ho Thi Ky Street Foods and other attractions in Ho Chi Minh City,
Summary
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is a vibrant metropolis in southern Vietnam that offers a mix of historical landmarks, cultural attractions, and modern entertainment. The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and the Saigon Central Post Office, both architectural marvels from the French colonial period, are popular stops. Visitors can explore the bustling Ben Thanh Market for souvenirs, street food, and local crafts. And there are several temples to visit as well.
The city’s nightlife is vibrant, with lively bars and rooftop lounges in District 1. Bui Vien Street is famous for its energetic backpacker scene. Tour agencies offer many options like the Mekong Delta Tour or the Cu Chi Tunnels where tourists can crawl through underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war. We chose the City Night Tour and had a great time.
Food lovers should try authentic Vietnamese dishes like pho and banh mi from street vendors. Just ask your host which place they recommend and you won’t be sorry.
Whether you enjoy history, culture, nightlife or shopping, Ho Chi Minh City has something for every traveler.