Saigon Attractions: 20 Essential Things to Do in Ho Chi Minh City

I’ll be honest. For me, one of the best things to do in Ho Chi Minh City is to eat. There is so much good food in Saigon. In my opinion, Hanoi is the more liveable city but Ho Chi Minh City has the best street food in Vietnam.

But as much fun as it is to eat street food, it isn’t the only thing to do in Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City is a bustling metropolis of about nine million people in south Vietnam. There are plenty of things in this massive city to keep you busy.

If it’s your first time visiting, then I’ve put together this list of twenty of the most fun things to do in Saigon to help you plan your trip.

It’s made up of a good mix of attractions, activities, day tours, and delicious food experiences to make your trip to Ho Chi Minh City as well-rounded as possible.

THINGS TO DO IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

1. Eat Pho

You can’t visit Vietnam without eating pho. It’s a Vietnamese national dish and one of the most recognizable foods in Vietnamese cuisine.

Variations exist between regions but at its core, pho is a noodle soup made with four basic ingredients – a clear stock, rice noodles, meat (typically beef or chicken), and herbs. The Vietnamese like to have it for breakfast but you can enjoy it at any time of the day.

I’ve had pho in many cities throughout Vietnam but the pho in Ho Chi Minh City is my favorite. I suggest trying it at Pho Le (Nguyen Trai branch | Vo Van Tan branch) or Pho Mien Ga Ky Dong.

2. Go on a City Tour

If it’s your first time in the city and want to do some sightseeing, then going on a city tour is one of the first things you should do in Saigon. I don’t find Ho Chi Minh City to be as walkable as Hanoi so it’s a little harder to tour the city on your own.

Grab Bike is a great and inexpensive way to visit one tourist attraction to the next like the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace (Independence Palace), and Notre Dame Cathedral. Pictured below is the stunning Saigon Central Post Office.

If you’d rather not do it on your own, then an easier way would be to book a guided tour. You won’t have to worry about getting from one place to the next and you’ll have the benefit of a guide explaining everything to you. You can book a Saigon city tour through Klook (Option 1 | Option 2) or Get Your Guide.

3. Explore Ben Thanh Market

Ben Thanh Market in District 1 is one of the top tourist attractions in Saigon. It’s the most famous market in Ho Chi Minh City and a great place to experience local Vietnamese culture. It’s one of the earliest surviving structures in Saigon and a key symbol of the city.

Being as popular as it is, Ben Thanh Market can get pretty crowded but it’s definitely worth a visit, especially if it’s your first time in Ho Chi Minh City. It has over 1,500 stalls selling everything from lacquerware, textiles, crafts, bags, spices, and shoes.

If you get hungry while exploring the market, then you may want to check out the Ben Thanh Street Food Market as well. It’s trendy food hall about a block away from Ben Thanh Market.

4. Feast on Snails at Vinh Khanh Street

This is one of my favorite things to do in Ho Chi Minh City. Oc or snails are a popular delicacy in Vietnam and Vinh Khanh Street may be the best place to have them.

Nicknamed “Seafood Street”, Vinh Khanh Street is a strip in District 4 with street food stalls on either side selling all kinds of fresh seafood. It’s a lively environment with loads of people enjoying seafood and beer by the side of a busy road. For me, a meal at Vinh Khanh Street is one of the best Asian food experiences you can have in Saigon.

There are many restaurants to choose from but we highly recommend Oc Oanh. It’s one of the best and most popular restaurants along Vinh Khanh Street.

5. Have Vietnamese Coffee at a Cafe Apartment

Cafe culture is strong in Vietnam. You can have great coffee all throughout the country, but only in Ho Chi Minh City will you find these quirky and super cool apartment block cafes.

Popularized by the Cafe Apartments on 42 Nguyen Hue Street, apartment block cafes are old and perhaps partially abandoned buildings that have been repurposed to house the most interesting cafes and boutiques.

I went to a few of these buildings and some of them don’t have any signs from the street clueing you in to what’s inside. It added to their appeal because it felt like you were privy to something secret in Saigon, almost like a speakeasy.

You can check out our Saigon coffee guide to learn where to find these apartment block cafes in Ho Chi Minh City. If you have a taste for coffee and adventure, then exploring these old buildings is one of the coolest things you can do in Saigon.

6. Crawl Through the Cu Chi Tunnels

A visit to Cu Chi District is perhaps the most popular day trip you can make from Ho Chi Minh City. You’ll find it on virtually every article listing the best things to do in Saigon. You’ll be taken on a tour of the Cu Chi jungle and be shown what life was like for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Having studied in the west, I always heard the American side of the story so it was nice to learn about it from a different perspective. It was fascinating to see the elaborate tunnel system the Viet Cong had built during the war. Crawling through the very tight Cu Chi Tunnels was definitely a highlight.

You can book a Cu Chi Tunnels tour through Klook or Get Your Guide.

7. Have a Banh Mi at “Lesbian Banh Mi”

Like pho, banh mi is a national dish and one of the most beloved foods in Vietnamese cuisine. You can find it pretty much anywhere in the country but the best banh mis I’ve had were in Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City.

Strictly speaking, “banh mi” refers to bread but people use it to describe the sandwich made with a personal-sized baguette filled with a variety of ingredients like liver pate, cold cuts, pickled vegetables, cucumber slices, and cilantro. I love it. For me, it’s one of the best sandwiches in the world.

Many shops serve great banh mi in Saigon but one of the best and most popular is Banh Mi Huynh Hoa. It’s owned by a lesbian couple and often referred to as Banh Mi O Moi, meaning “lesbian banh mi”.

They serve the fattest banh mis I’ve had anywhere in Vietnam. They put so many ingredients in there it almost feels like you’re eating a fully loaded hoagie.

8. Go on a Motorbike Tour

Motorbikes are a way of life in Vietnam. The Vietnamese learn to ride motorbikes at a young age so it’s second nature to them. They’re by far the best way of getting around Ho Chi Minh City.

Grab Bike is our preferred means of transport in Saigon but motorbikes are also great for tours. I went on this motorbike tour and was amazed by how deftly my driver and tour guide would give me his monologue while weaving through Ho Chi Minh City’s crazy traffic. It was insane!

Motorbikes are such an important part of Vietnamese life that I think going on a motorbike tour is one of the best and most fun things to do in Ho Chi Minh City. Klook and Get Your Guide offer a good range of motorbike tours to choose from.

9. Take a Day Trip to the Mekong Delta

Aside from the Cu Chi Tunnels, a Mekong Delta tour is one of the most popular day trips you can make from Ho Chi Minh City. Known as Vietnam’s “rice bowl”, it’s a fertile agricultural area that produces over a third of the country’s annual food crop.

I spent a few days exploring the various towns along the Mekong River but you can easily visit the area on a day tour. Most if not all will take you to Ben Tre which is one of the closest Mekong Delta cities from Saigon.

Klook and Get Your Guide offer a few Mekong Delta tours from Ho Chi Minh City. Highlights include a sampan boat ride through the river’s murky channels.

10. Take a Cooking Class

Food tours are a great way of experiencing the local food but if you really want to learn about Vietnamese cuisine, then there’s no better way to do that than by taking a cooking class. It’s like looking under the cuisine’s hood.

Cookly is a booking platform that offers hundreds of one-day cooking classes around the world. Follow the link to check out their list of cooking classes in Ho Chi Minh City.

11. Ride a Cyclo

If you aren’t comfortable going on a motorbike tour, then perhaps a cyclo tour is a good alternative. Cyclos are three-wheeled bicycle taxis that became popular in Vietnam during the French colonial period.

With the rise in popularity of motorbikes, cyclos have all but vanished as a viable means of transportation in Ho Chi Minh City. Today, they’re pretty much used only by tourists as a more relaxed way of seeing the city.

Check out Klook and Get Your Guide for a list of cyclo tours in Saigon.

12. Find the Snail Lady

There are snail street food stalls everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City. But if you’re a fan of Street Food on Netflix, then you’ll probably want to go to this one.

Affectionately called the “Snail Lady”, Mrs. Truoc was the street food vendor featured on the Vietnam episode of Street Food. In fact, she was the episode’s main storyline.

We enjoyed her story so much that we made it a point to find her stall on our most recent trip to Saigon. It wasn’t easy so you can refer to this map for the exact location.

We had a snail feast with about four or five different types of snail. It was delicious. You can check out our YouTube video on Saigon’s Snail Lady for more information.

Address: 169 Cô Bắc, Phường Cô Giang, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam (map)
Operating Hours: 10AM-2PM, Mon-Fri (closed Sat-Sun)
Expect to Spend: VND 25,000 per snail dish

13. Visit a Viet Cong Cafe

This was one of the coolest cafes I visited in Ho Chi Minh City. It was cool not because it was trendy or hip. It was cool because of its role in Vietnamese history.

To the casual observer, Ca Phe Do Phu just looks like an old cafe with vintage memorabilia but look closer and you’ll find something extraordinary.

I visited Ca Phe Do Phu as part of a motorbike tour and my guide explained that it used to be the home of a Viet Cong supporter. Through the trap door pictured below is a bunker with a cache of old weapons and uniforms. It’s the first of many secret hiding places in the cafe. Pretty interesting right? But it doesn’t end there.

My guide took me through ladders that opened under sinks and secret passageways that served as escape routes in case the Viet Cong’s meetings were discovered by the Americans. It’s a fascinating space that isn’t as well known to tourists visiting Saigon.

If you have a keen interest in the Vietnam War and want to do something unique in Saigon, then I highly recommend enjoying a cup of coffee at Ca Phe Do Phu. They’re known for their com tam suon nuong as well which is a dish of broken rice served with a grilled pork chop.

14. Eat Your Way Through Saigon in a Vintage Citroen 2CV

We’ve been on many food tours in different cities around the world but this was one of the coolest we’ve experienced so far. You’ll be driven from food stop to food stop in Ho Chi Minh City in an open-top vintage Citroen 2CV.

If you’d like a fun and unique way of experiencing Saigon, then we highly recommend booking this tour. You can check out my article and video on this Citroen 2CV food tour for more information.

You can also check out Klook for other food tour options in Ho Chi Minh City.

15. Have Breakfast in an Alley

This is also one of our favorite things to do in Ho Chi Minh City and something we look forward to on every return visit. Banh Mi Hoa Ma is a street food stall that serves breakfast in an alley.

Open daily from 6-11AM, Banh Mi Hoa Ma specializes in banh mi op la which is a breakfast dish consisting of a baguette, two fried eggs, liver pate, an assortment of meats, and a side of pickled vegetables. It’s a delicious plate of food that exemplifies the Vietnamese street food experience.

Here’s a shot of Ren eagerly digging into her banh mi. It’s such a terrific experience eating breakfast in an alley like this at eight in the morning.

Try getting here as early as you can because they’ve been known to run out of food. Banh Mi Hoa Ma is popular among locals so you’ll find plastic tables and stools all along either side of the alley.

16. Enjoy the View from Saigon Skydeck at Bitexco Financial Tower

Saigon Skydeck is literally one of the top attractions in Saigon. It’s an observations deck that offers 360° panoramic views of Ho Chi Minh City from the 49th floor of Bitexco Financial Tower.

Bitexco Financial Tower is a unique lotus-shaped skyscraper in District 1 that was once recognized as Vietnam’s tallest building. You can purchase tickets to the observation deck at the gate or in advance through Klook.

17. Watch a Show at Saigon Opera House

The Municipal Theatre is one of the top cultural attractions in Ho Chi Minh City. Also known as the Saigon Opera House, it’s a lovely 500-seat theater that hosts ballets, concerts, and other artistic performances.

You can purchase tickets to shows at the opera house on Klook.

18. Eat Waterfall Chicken

This is one of our favorite dishes to eat in Ho Chi Minh City and something we look forward to on every return visit. “Waterfall chicken” refers to a crispy fried chicken dish served at Com Ga Xoi Mo Su Su.

The owner of Com Ga Xoi Mo Su Su is some type of mad tinkering genius that built this machine himself. What it does is send a stream of hot oil (around 180°C) showering down onto poached chicken and into a pool below before being sent up again.

The chicken’s already cooked so it’s left under the waterfall of oil for just a few minutes to crisp up the skin.

The result is this supremely crispy chicken served with red rice and the most delicious secret dark sauce. It’s so damn good.

19. Go Bird Watching at Tao Dan Park

We learned about Tao Dan Park on the Ho Chi Minh City episode of Somebody Feed Phil. It’s a green space in District 1 with gardens, a Buddhist temple, and a bird cafe.

We learned on the show that bird keeping is a popular hobby among men in Saigon. They like to bring their pet birds to this cafe every morning to chat over Vietnamese coffee.

Even if you don’t have an interest in birds, it’s an interesting place to have coffee and mingle with the locals. You can go on your own or visit the bird cafe on a guided tour.

20. Try Elevated Vietnamese Food at Vietnam House Restaurant

We’re fans of Luke Nguyen. He’s a Vietnamese-Australian chef and restaurateur who had a television series called Street Food Asia. We learned about many of the places we visited in Ho Chi Minh City from him, including Banh Mi Huynh Hoa, Banh Mi Hoa Ma, and Com Ga Xoi Mo Su Su.

Vietnam House Restaurant is Luke’s upscale restaurant in District 1 which serves elevated interpretations of classic Vietnamese street food dishes like banh xeo, goi cuon, and cha gio. If you’re interested in having a special meal in Ho Chi Minh City, then Vietnam House Restaurant is a good place to go.

Pictured below is Luke’s version of banh xeo made with crab and Iberico pork.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THINGS TO DO IN SAIGON

Saigon is a big and exciting city with much to see and do. Personally, it isn’t my favorite city in Vietnam as I find it to be a little too hectic and fast-paced. Motorcycle traffic is insane and I find it harder to get around on foot.

But if you’re drawn to the excitement of big cities, then you’ll probably enjoy Ho Chi Minh City. You won’t run out of things to do and from what I’ve heard, the nightlife is pretty good as well. And you already know how I feel about the food.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this article on the best things to do in Saigon. If you have any questions or suggestions, then please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your time in Ho Chi Minh City!

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