Here are our top 10 things to do in Saigon, after our most recent visit in 2026. We loved being in Saigon and this was our 4th visit. Let us tell you a bit about Saigon, things to do, food, hotels, where to stay, and more. I visited with my son, flying there from Australia, before continuing to Da Lat, then on to Laos.
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Things To Do in Saigon
First, a quick overview of things to know about visiting Saigon, Vietnam.
When is the best time to visit Saigon? Winter, Saigon can be incredibly hot. Winter is also hot, but not quite as bad. We last visited in January and February and it was hot but dry. Avoid the wet season, May-November, if you can. Because of this heat, you will go through a lot of clothes, so we recommend finding hotels with free or self-service laundry.
Where should you stay in Saigon? I think District 1 is your best option. Most tourist attractions, museums, shops, markets and the infamous walking street are here, but it’s also home to up-market hotels; it’s not just for budget backpackers. On a moderate budget, try the Lantern Hotel, (cross-check prices on Agoda, here) opposite HCM Central Park and the new underground market, its free daily laundry is an excellent addition. For a more luxury stay, see La Siesta Premium Saigon Central. A modern mid-range hotel that we liked very much was The Signature Hotel, it had a gym and good laundry facilities. It’s also on Agoda.
How to book the must-do things in Saigon? You can book a Cu Chi Tunnels & Mekong Delta tour here. We also highly recommend this food tour, with excellent guides and a smaller company than most others. It’s a good way to see more of the city and try real local foods. The good food is hard to find in the touristy parts of Saigon City, local knowledge is a real help. I’ll write a full review of this tour, with lots of photos, very soon, we loved it.
Is Saigon Expensive? No, it’s incredibly cheap. You’ll be amazed at how cheap tours and hotels can be here. We think Vietnam is a strong contender for the cheapest country in Southeast Asia. We’ll write another post about costs.
How long should you spend in Saigon? I’ve written a 4-day, 3-night Saigon itinerary for you here. If you take a look, you’ll get a good idea of how long you will want to be in Saigon.
Saigon Vietnam, is a popular arrival point for tourists in the south of Vietnam. Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) has its own international airport and good train connection and there are things to see and do, plus important places near Saigon to visit.
If you need to get to Saigon, we use the company below to book all of our transport in Vietnam and have never had any problems with them.
We have visited Saigon as a young couple, as a family with smaller kids, and as an older female traveller with an older teen, so we’ll mention the things that we all enjoyed along the way. We’re in Vietnam often to keep our travel blog up to date and because it’s one of our favourite countries. Our 2026 visit was part of a 3 week Southeast Asia itinerary booked around a motorbike tour in Vietnam, but we have previously spent close to a year total in Vietnam, mostly based in Hoi An.
About Saigon – Things You Need To Know
Saigon is a large city and heavily developed in places, but it has a lot of history, and plenty of the older buildings and traditional ways of life remain. Saigon is split into districts. District 1 is probably the best area for tourists to stay, with most places a walk or Grab ride away. If you can, talk to the locals to get their insights. The food tour we booked was perfect for this.
Take a look at the night market or walking street, and then leave, unless you like that sort of thing. It’s changed a lot over the last 20+ years.
We found the hotels in Saigon were cheap and of a good standard.
There are markets plus large modern shopping malls. It’s a great city for shopping.
Visit Saigon’s War Remnants Museum
I already mentioned the War Remnants Museum and told you that we have a post all about it. The narrative we’re taught about Vietnamese history probably won’t agree with what you’ll see here, and the truth is likely to be something entirely different.
It’s a good place to learn, and as my son studied Vietnamese history for his GCSEs it was a valuable visit for him. This was our third visit and we still enjoyed it. Although I’m not sure enjoyed is the correct word. It was worth visiting.
The museum is in District 3, on the edge of District 1. You can walk, use the Hop on Hop off bus, catch a Grab car, or book a Saigon tour that includes the museum. The ticket queues were long when we arrived, so those skip the line tickets may be a good idea. This tour takes you to all of the “must see” places in Saigon, plus Cu Chi Tunnels in one day. If time is short, do this.
This museum is on the next block to the Independence Palace (District 1), so maybe plan to do both in one day.
Tour Saigon’s Many Markets
Ben Thanh Market is the famous market that most toursts visit in District 1 of Saigon. It’s near the cathedral and old post office.
It’s a pretty nice market, but we were warned not to buy anything there by our food tour guide, as the prices are “for tourist”.
Just around the corner there is a nice Hindu Temple, take a look at that if you can.
The Flower Market is interesting, particularly if you’re not used to tropical flowers. It’s in District 10, so you’ll need a vehicle or tour. We went there on our food tour.
There is a new underground market at Central Park in District 1. It has a slide which your kids may enjoy, but it looks a bit dangerous. It also has a huge subterranean food court that seems popular with locals.
We really enjoyed the street markets between Central Park and the Walking Street. The walking street is not a night market as you would expect in Chiang Mai for instance, it’s just about drinking and dining.
Explore The Independence Palace
It was our first time visiting the Independence Palace, Saigon. It’s exterior looked uninteresting to us, so we’d never paid the few dollars to enter. It’s incredibly cheap. Make sure you buy the top tier tickets that include the ride in the electric buggy and admission to the museum on the left of the main palace building, it’s good.
I’m going to write a full post about this place because it deserves it. Make sure you include it in your itinerary if you want to learn a lot about Vietnam. It’s in District 1, adjacent to the War Museum.
Take a Look at Notre Dame Cathedral & The French Post Office
Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon was under repair on our 2026 visit. You couldn’t see it for scaffolding. The Post Office, which dates back to 1863 is right next to it..
The cathedral & PO are in a busy part of District 1 of the city, flanked by main roads and high rises. It’s a bit disappointing after the cathedral in the lovely old French Quarter in Hanoi.
If you take a tour in Saigon you will probably drive past Notre Dame and the Central PO, that’s enough. You can go inside but I’m from Europe, I’ve seen plenty of cathedrals and old buildings.
See Cu Chi Tunnels From Saigon
Cu Chi Tunnels are a must-do in Vietnam, so if you’re in Saigon, be sure to go. There are plenty of very inexpensive tours to Cu Chi from Saigon mostly half day trips. We recommend that you add a visit to a Cau Dai temple, it’s an incredible experience. We wrote about our last time taking a tour like this here.
In 2026, we visited Cu Chi for the third time. It’s changed, but it’s still good. My son was keen to fire guns here, as his mother did over 20 years ago. You can still do this, but it costs extra and the charge is per bullet. It will get expensive very quickly so he opted out.If you want to book a Cu Chi Tunnels tour with the firing range included, you can do that here.
Explore Saigon’s Food, Coffee & Restaurant Scene
Michelin guide dining in Saigon is interesting. We love our Michelin guide street food tours and took a great one in Hanoi, but Saigon has a Michelin guide restaurant featuring British cuisine. We watched the YouTuber below, Deano, go there recently. It’s worth a watch. Deano has a lot of recent videos from Vietnam, and he’s very entertaining. He hasn’t paid me to add this!
We love a good restaurant, but in Vietnam, the street food is where it’s at. These tiny restaurants specialise in just one dish, perfectly executed. If the food wasn’t good they wouldn’t survive because the locals wouldn’t go there. By choosing to use them you know your money is going to a small local business rather than a huge corporation. The street food stall below was on our food tour, I’ll write about it soon.
We have a beginner’s guide to Vietnamese food here.
While Saigon isn’t as famous as places such as Hoi An as a foodie destination, there are a lot of Saigon food tours available. We took this one rather than one of the scooter tours run by bigger companies, it was excellent and we chose to take the tour at lunch time.
Our Restaurant and Coffee Shop Recommendations For Saigon
Theree are a few places that we found and loved in Saigon. We weren’t there long enough on this trip to give you a restaurant guide, but we thought these places were good and worth visiting. We’ll create a map and short list of places to eat or drink very soon. We can also include some tips that our food guides gave us. Sign up, it will come to your inbox.
Take A Look at Saigon’s Famous Walking Street, Bui Vien
On our last trip to Saigon, back in 2012, we stayed near the Bui Vien walking street in District 1, and ate there at night. It was pretty low key back then. Today it is unrecognisable.
We love Bangkok’s Kao San Rd and the walking streets of Chiang Mai are fabulous, just weeks ago we were at the walking street in Malacca. So what did we think of Saigon’s walking street? It was an experience. We walked up and down and left, never to return.
If you’re looking for a party or nightlife, it’s probably here. The neon lights, go go dancers and booming music aren’t what we visit Saigon for. We did eat in a street not far away and the food was terrible. So just be careful with tourist dining in this area. There are various bar crawl tours available here.
Visit The Mekong Delta From Saigon
I haven’t taken a Mekong Delta tour since 2001 so I can’t tell you what these are like today, but Mekong Delta tours are a popular “thing to do” from Saigon.
You can combine a half day in the Delta with a visit to Cu Chi, like this tour, or spend a full day discovering life on The Mekong, as in this tour.
See a Show
The Bamboo Circus shows in Vietnam are pretty special, and you can see one in Saigon at the Opera House. We thought it was really worth doing when we saw one of these shows in Hoi An. Find out more and book tickets here.
Experience The Saigon Sky Deck
I don’t like heights, so no, we didn’t do this, but the travellers we met were raving about this experience, so I’m including it. It’s cheap, about $10 per person. You can book it here.
The Bitexco Financial Tower Skydeck is in District 1. It’s 262 m tall with 68 floors. Supposedly, the tower represents a bud from Vietnam’s National Flower, the lotus.
It’s worth noting that the air pollution over Saigon was pretty bad while we were there, I’m not sure if that will affect your view from the tower.
Saigon or Hanoi?
I prefer Hanoi, but Saigon is also a great city to explore in Vietnam. The bulk of incoming international flights to Vietnam will go to one of these major cities. You can catch internal flights, buses and trains to anywhere else in Vietnam. If you need any help with these travel arrangements, reach out. I can help.
I think Hanoi is more scenic and has more to see and do than Saigon, for typical tourists. Hanoi has its central lake, Train Street, and Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, plus its own French cathedral in a very beautiful part of town. Hanoi has UNESCO sites, Saigon does not. I love old buildings, history and traditions, so Hanoi wins for me.
Saigon is much more of a busy, sprawling city, but it’s 100% worth seeing, and Cu Chi Tunnels are an essential visit in my mind, particularly if you are worldschooling.
How Long Should You Spend in Saigon?
If you haven’t been to Saigon before and you’re interested in all of the things to see and do, and want to take some tours, allow at least 4 days in the city. I have written an itinerary for you here. Reach out in the comments.If you only have one day to see the sights and visit Cu Chi Tunnels, you can book a tour like this. You’ll see most of the things, but you won’t really experience exploring Saigon.
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Hi Alison I love your content! Thank you so much for all you share for free.
I’m planning on going with my 2 older teen boys and hubby (all history and war buffs) to Vietnam.
I’ll follow you advice for visiting Saigon for about 4 days as you recommend. Then we will go to Hanoi. What’s the best way to get between Saigon and Hanoi? Is there a train? We prefer rail but not sure what it’s like over there.
Any other recommendations? Or links to your blogs as I know you’ve written extensively on the country.
Also – did you get any vaccines? We’re coming from Aus.
What about food poising? Anything to look out for apart from the usual water ice/salads etc
Thank youuuu 🫶🏼
Kylie you have made my morning. I love getting questions like this. First up, no travel vacs, we’ve had them all before and if you’re only going to big cities I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. Search for “The Travel Vaccination Drama” on this site for a bit of clarity. Do what I do, check online, I like to use the NHS travel health info because doctors charge. We got most of ours free in the UK and then got more in Kuala Lumpur, much cheaper than in Au. Just be careful with mozzies, Dengue worries me. You can check for major outbreaks online. None of us has ever had tummy trouble in Vietnam. But we’ve spent years of our lives in Asia and are probably immune to most things. We don’t worry at all about water ice or salads. Most Vietnamese dishes come with leaves and herbs, we tuck in. Homes have reverse osmosis water filters etc now. Just don’t drink tap water. I’ll write you a 4 day itinerary. When are you going? Will you be arriving early or late at the airport? What sort of standard of hotel would you prefer and will that be a room for 4 people? You can fly or take the train. No stops along the way? There’s Khe San, the DMZ, another set of tunnels, bang slap in the middle. I wrote about Khe San, search for that. I’ll add more. The train will be a sleeper train. If any of you are over 6 foot you may find the berths too short, but they are very clean and nice. I have a post on trains, buses etc. in Vietnam. Search for Hanoi to Hoi An, I think I have photos of both the trains and buses in that one and they’re recent. Saigon to Hoi An is overnight and so is Hoi An to Hanoi, so it may even be a 2 night train ride. If you want any info at all, ask and I’ll write just for you. Have a good one. And if you decide to fly, know that VietJet has a reputation for always being late, so allow for that. Our VietJet flight out of Laos was late, the one out of Australia was not, we like them, but Vietnamese people told us they were always delayed.
Oh, I’ll just add, watch out for card skimming. Don’t hand over your card in hotels, and they like you to do that in Vietnam. There are ways around that. I’ll tell more shortly.
Amaaazing! Appreciate this so much 🙏🏻 We are flex with times (not yet booked) I saw you said Jan/feb was best so may have to leave it till next year then (27) as we dont want it too hot or too wet. Or any other good times to go?
Happy for suggestions of stop overs on the train if you think that’s worthwhile. I quite like that idea, seems a waste to travel so much land and not see other places.
Good to know re the trains. Hubby is 6’3 but it can’t be worse than him trying to sleep on a plane right?! So he will just suck it up haha
Regarding flight times, I usually like to get in mid arvo so you can check into hotel and not have to walk around too much beforehand. But again depends on when we fly out of Sydney, early flights mean a crappy overnight stay near the airport so it’s pros and cons both ways. I’d rather spend more time in a foreign country than at the ibis in Sydney lol.
And do you think Hanoi to Saigon or vice versa?
I think through to May it stays dry but will be getting warmer. We went in Jan/Feb, not sure if that’s the official “best” time.Don’t forget that you’ll need to apply for a visa with an Au passport, we have UK, so we don’t need one. That’s how we were able to book Hanoi last year less than 24 hours in advance. I’m writing you that itinerary right now, it will be in the next email. You don’t want to stop half way and see Khe San etc? Overnight trains are great, it saves you paying for a hotel and keeps your days yours. Our flight was Melbs to Saigon, it left around 10pm, VietJet, we slept pretty well and it gave us a full day in Saigon after arriving around dawn I think. It worked well for us. I put the months of the wet season in that post but I don’t remember now. How long total have you got? Because there’s a lot more Vietnam to see.
P.s again flex with hotels. Mid range. Comfy, simple and clean doesn’t need to be too fancy.
Hi Kylie, I got that itinerary published for you, https://growth-logic.live/4-day-itinerary-for-saigon-hcm/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E