Ho Chi Minh City

Saigon, Whatever the Maps Say

The city was renamed in 1975 and almost everyone who lives here still calls the center Saigon. That small fact tells you most of what you need to know about the place: pragmatic, commercial, unsentimental and moving quickly. This is not a pretty city in the way Hanoi or Hoi An are pretty. It is Vietnam's economic engine, roughly nine million people and a great many more motorbikes, with construction cranes over everything and a restaurant and bar scene that has become genuinely serious in the last decade. Travelers who arrive expecting charm are sometimes disappointed. Travelers who arrive expecting energy rarely are.

The planning decision: two nights of city, then what

Two nights covers the center and the essential history. Three lets you add the Mekong Delta properly rather than at speed. Beyond that, this city is best understood as the southern gateway rather than the destination itself. The onward legs that make the trip are Con Dao, a quiet island group with a heavy prison history and very little development, and Phu Quoc, the larger and much more built resort island in the Gulf of Thailand. The Mekong Delta itself can be done as a long day or as an overnight, and the overnight is far better because the delta empties of visitors in the late afternoon.

Heat, humidity and a wet season you can plan around

The south is tropical and warm year round, generally between the mid seventies and mid nineties Fahrenheit with high humidity in every month. December through April is the dry season and the comfortable window, with December through February the mildest of it. May through November is the wet season, which in practice means bright mornings and a heavy, short downpour in the afternoon rather than continuous rain, and the countryside is far greener. September and October are the wettest. Tet, the Lunar New Year, effectively closes the commercial city for several days and moves between late January and February.

Where to base, and the two districts that matter

District 1 is the historic and commercial core, holding the Opera House, the Notre Dame Basilica, the Central Post Office, Ben Thanh Market and almost all the hotels a visitor would want. Stay here on a short trip; everything of consequence is within a short car ride. Thao Dien, in District 2 across the river, is the leafy expatriate quarter with independent cafés, galleries and a slower pace, and it suits a longer or repeat stay. District 3 sits between them and has the best of the surviving villa architecture. Tan Son Nhat International is unusually close to the center, often twenty to thirty minutes, though the airport is congested and the evening traffic is unpredictable enough that transfers should be padded.

Stay strategy in a city of towers and one old survivor

The Park Hyatt Saigon faces the Opera House and is the most consistently well judged hotel in the city, with a courtyard pool that makes the heat manageable. The Reverie Saigon is maximalist Italian design in a river facing tower and is either exactly your taste or firmly not. The Caravelle and the Hotel Continental carry the war correspondent history, the Continental being the older building. Hotel des Arts Saigon is smaller and more characterful with a good rooftop. In Thao Dien the stock is boutique and residential. Ask for high floors facing the river or the Opera House, because the difference between a city view and a construction view here is significant.

When to begin

Three months is comfortable for hotels. The pieces that need earlier attention are the onward legs: flights and the good properties on Con Dao are limited and fill for the December to March window, and Phu Quoc runs on a similar calendar. Private guides who handle the war history with care rather than as a tour script are a small group and should be secured early. Vietnamese entry rules have changed repeatedly and should be confirmed for your passport and dates.

Four experiences worth building the days around

• The War Remnants Museum at opening, with a guide, understood as one side of a contested history and no less worth your time for that.
• The Cu Chi tunnels early in the day, treated as a serious historical site rather than an attraction, using the quieter Ben Duoc section where possible.
• A night on the back of a motorbike with a street food guide, through District 4 and Binh Thanh, which is how this city actually eats.
• An overnight into the Mekong Delta, joining the floating markets at dawn when they are working rather than at ten when they are performing.

Who this trip suits

This city suits travelers with an interest in the twentieth century who want to stand in the places they have read about. It suits food travelers, because southern Vietnamese cooking is sweeter, herbier and more varied than the north. It suits business travelers and anyone with commercial interests in Vietnam. It suits nightlife, given the rooftop bars and the growing cocktail scene. And it suits anyone using it properly, as the door to the delta and the islands.

When another plan may fit better

If you want beauty, atmosphere and history you can walk through, Hoi An and Hanoi are the more rewarding Vietnamese stops and this city is a transit point between them. If you want an easy tropical holiday with no urban friction, the islands are the plan and the city should be a single night at most. Anyone sensitive to heat, traffic noise and air quality should keep the stay short.

Plan it with one accountable advisor

Tell us your dates, whether Con Dao, Phu Quoc or the delta follow and how directly you want the war history handled, and we will build the sequence, the guides and the transfers around it. Our luxury leisure travel planning covers the whole Vietnamese route, and our corporate travel management handles the commercial visits.