Travel Tips

The Best Things to Do in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City, still Saigon to almost everyone who lives here, is the fast, warm, restless heart of southern Vietnam. Motorbikes pour through the streets, French-era buildings sit beside glass towers, and the smell of grilling pork and strong coffee follows you everywhere. For most travellers it is either the first or the last stop on a Vietnam trip, and a couple of well-planned days here go a long way.

Below is our honest guide to the things worth your time, from the Cu Chi Tunnels and the war-history landmarks to a day on the Mekong Delta and the city's brilliant night-time food scene. If you would rather have the arranging done for you, our Ho Chi Minh City tours cover each of these as a private, guided day.

Crawl the Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels are the single most visited thing to do from the city, and with good reason. This vast network of hand-dug tunnels, about an hour and a half north-west of the centre, tells the story of the war from ground level in a way no museum can. You can duck into a widened section, see the hidden trapdoors and kitchens, and come up with a real sense of how people lived and moved underground for years.

There are two easy ways to do it. A guided Cu Chi Tunnels tour keeps things small and unhurried, with a local guide who can explain the history properly rather than rushing you through with a crowd. If you want the trip itself to be part of the fun, a Cu Chi Tunnels tour by vintage army jeep runs you out through the countryside in an open-top jeep, which children and photographers tend to love. Go in the morning to beat both the heat and the tour buses.

Understand the war history in the city

Back in the centre, the city's twentieth-century history is told across a handful of landmarks that sit within a short drive of each other. The War Remnants Museum is sobering and important, and worth setting aside a quiet hour or two for. The Reunification Palace, frozen in place since 1975, is a strange and fascinating time capsule of maps, war rooms and period furniture.

Around them cluster the elegant survivors of French Saigon: the Central Post Office, still a working post office under a soaring iron roof, and the Notre-Dame Cathedral opposite, which has been under careful restoration and is best admired from the square. A Ho Chi Minh City history tour threads these together with the context that makes them land, so you are not just ticking off buildings but understanding how the city became what it is.

Take a day trip to the Mekong Delta

If you have a spare day, the Mekong Delta is the classic escape from the city and a genuine change of pace. This is Vietnam's rice bowl, a green maze of rivers and canals where life happens on the water. A typical day takes you down to My Tho or Ben Tre, onto a boat through the palm-lined channels, and into the small workshops that make coconut candy and rice paper, usually with a bowl of fresh fruit and some folk music along the way.

It is touristy in parts, but the delta scenery and the slow boat rides more than earn their place, especially for families. Our Mekong Delta day tour runs it privately so you set the pace, skip the biggest group stops and spend the time on the water rather than in a car park.

Escape to the Can Gio mangroves

Far fewer visitors know about Can Gio, a UNESCO-listed mangrove biosphere on the coast south of the city. It is a wilder, quieter half or full day than the delta: boat rides through the mangrove channels, a bat lagoon, and the well-known Monkey Island, where cheeky long-tailed macaques will happily relieve you of anything not zipped away. It makes a lovely contrast to the city's noise, and the drive out crosses the river by ferry, which is half the adventure. A Can Gio mangrove tour is the easiest way to reach it, as public transport out here is slow and awkward.

Eat your way through Saigon after dark

Ho Chi Minh City truly comes alive in the evening, and the best way to see it is on the back of a scooter. A local rider weaves you through the traffic to the places you would never find alone: a grandmother's banh xeo stall, a Chinatown noodle house in Cholon, a riverside spot for grilled seafood, all rounded off with an egg coffee or a cold beer on a plastic stool. It is exhilarating, delicious and completely safe with a good guide.

Our Saigon night street-food tour by scooter is consistently the trip guests rave about most, and it is a brilliant way to spend a first or last evening in the city. If you would rather stay on foot, the backpacker energy of Bui Vien and the food courts around Ben Thanh Market give you a gentler version of the same idea.

Wander the markets, coffee shops and old quarter

With whatever time is left, the city rewards a slow wander. Ben Thanh Market is the obvious central landmark for souvenirs and lunch, while Binh Tay Market in Cholon, the city's sprawling Chinatown, feels more local and less polished. Vietnamese coffee culture is reason enough to keep stopping: order a ca phe sua da, an iced coffee with condensed milk, and watch Saigon go by. Rooftop bars along the river give you the skyline at sunset, and the Bitexco tower's viewing deck puts the whole delta-edge city at your feet.

So how long do you need in Ho Chi Minh City?

Two nights is the comfortable minimum: one day for the city itself, its history and its food, and one day for either the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta. Three nights lets you do both day trips without rushing, and still leaves an evening for the street-food scene. Beyond three nights, most travellers are better off carrying on to the delta proper, to the beaches of Phu Quoc, or north to Hoi An and Ha Long Bay.

How Ho Chi Minh City fits a wider Vietnam trip

Because it sits at the southern end of the country, Saigon usually bookends a Vietnam itinerary, either as the arrival city before you work north or as the final few days before flying home. We plan trips the other way round from most sellers: we start with how you want to feel and what you want to see, then choose the tours, hotels and transfers to match, and we run the whole thing from arrival to departure so there is one team to call if anything changes.

We are planners rather than resellers, we are rated five-star on Tripadvisor, and we never take commission from the places we recommend, so the day trips above are the ones we think are genuinely worth your time in the south. If you are shaping a longer route, our private Vietnam itinerary planning ties Ho Chi Minh City into the rest of your trip, and our south Vietnam tours page shows what else pairs well down here.

Common questions about Ho Chi Minh City

Is Ho Chi Minh City worth visiting?

Yes. Saigon is energetic, friendly and full of history, with the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta both within a day trip. Two or three days here is enough to see the highlights and eat extremely well, and it sits naturally at the start or end of a wider Vietnam trip.

How many days do you need in Ho Chi Minh City?

Two nights covers the city and one day trip; three nights lets you do both the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta without rushing, plus an evening street-food tour. Longer than that and most travellers are better moving on to the delta, Phu Quoc or the centre and north of the country.

What is the best thing to do in Ho Chi Minh City?

The Cu Chi Tunnels are the standout, either as a small-group guided tour or by vintage army jeep. In the city itself, the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace tell the twentieth-century story, and an evening street-food tour by scooter is the trip guests most often rave about.

Is a Mekong Delta day trip worth it from Ho Chi Minh City?

For most people, yes, especially families. The delta scenery, the slow boat rides through the canals and the small riverside workshops are a real change of pace from the city. A private day trip lets you set the pace and avoid the biggest group stops so you spend the time on the water.

Is it easy to get around Ho Chi Minh City?

The centre is compact enough to walk, and ride-hailing apps like Grab make short hops cheap and simple, by car or by motorbike taxi. The traffic looks chaotic but flows steadily; for day trips out to Cu Chi, the delta or Can Gio, a private car and guide is far easier than public transport.

When is the best time to visit Ho Chi Minh City?

The dry season, from around December to April, is the most comfortable, with warm days and little rain. The wet season, from May to November, brings short, heavy afternoon downpours that rarely spoil a day. The city is warm all year, so light clothing and a hat are sensible whenever you come.