Ho Chi Minh City Travel Guide

Reference WW40221

Ho Chi Minh City Travel Guides

Ho Chi Minh City, better known by its former name of Saigon, is an industrious and dense metropolis, the largest city in Vietnam and the business capital of the country. With a population of roughly seven million, it is crowded and noisy, yet also exciting, a historic city that encompasses the essence of the nation.

Today Ho Chi Minh City has a cosmopolitan atmosphere and having actively welcomed capitalism as its citizens are clearly business-minded. Although relatively modern, it has still managed to hold onto its historical character, and fine restaurants, chic hotels and bars line the sidewalks. The buzzing of motorbikes and scooters merges with the calls of street vendors and the urgent business of stall owners, selling a range of delectable street food and exotic delicacies.

Sightseeing in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City stands out as Vietnam's premier commercial metropolitan and is without a doubt the embodiment of big city life in the country. As such, its major attractions include massive markets in the city's Chinese district, the famous nightlife of District One, various museums, French colonial buildings and older remnants of past emperors.

As with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City offers a blend of traditional, colonial and modern sites to see. War museums and history museums tell of the recent American invasion and earlier conflicts with European powers, while the Reunification Palace celebrates Vietnam as a nation.

Hidden within this hectic metropolis are temples, secluded gardens and cloisters that offer a brief reprieve from the whirr of activity. Rural Vietnam is also never too far away, so it's easy to leave the city for some fresh air among rice paddies, to visit a small village or retreat to a tiny temple in the surrounding country before plunging into the city once more.

The frantic construction of modern skyscrapers and office blocks is apparent everywhere you go, and the Saigon Skydeck Tower with its 360° viewing deck is the perfect lens through which to view this sprawling city in its entirety. It is this mixture of youthful flair, old-world charm and the ease of escaping to the tranquillity of rural life that makes this space so unique as a meeting place of history and modernity.

Shopping in Ho Chi Minh City

Travellers in Ho Chi Minh City will at first be overwhelmed with the amount of stalls and roadside vendors that cram the sidewalks and street corners, but there are plenty of bargains to be found among the usual tourist wares and counterfeit handbags.

Best buys include silk clothing and other hand-woven fabrics, bamboo goods, ceramics, boxes and vases made from lacquer ware, while traditional Vietnamese hats can be found just about anywhere. Tailor-made clothing is also popular.

Most of Ho Chi Minh City's shopping can be done from the local markets and street vendors where polite haggling is expected, especially at the Anh Dong Market in District 5 or the Ban Thanh indoor market in downtown Saigon.