We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as ‘Saigon’ until 1975) after a long journey from the sleepy town of ‘Kep’ in Cambodia. By contrast, as we arrived off our bus into Ho Chi Minh City we found that we had instantly stepped into a sea of scooters. Attempting to cross the road here made me feel like I had been eaten up by the chaos, I didn’t know how on earth to cross a road in this city (despite having already been in Asia for over 4 months) but the drivers seemed to have it all under control as they swerved in what was actually a sort of organised chaos around me.
It was dark when we arrived and the city at night had a buzz to it. We also noticed all the big fast food chain signs lit up – McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC and these easily urged us in after 2 months of being in Laos and Cambodia. Okay so I’m not saying eating in these places should be included in your ‘top things to do in Ho Chi Minh’- it was just a bonus for us! (Plus it’s pretty cheap). Instead, you could always try the local delicacy ‘Pho’ (Noodle Soup) like we did stupidly did not… We may have eaten a little too much fast food in Ho Chi Minh!
But there’s obviously far more to Saigon than meeting our fast food cravings. The city has more history than I could have imaged and we ended up extending our stay from 3 nights to 6 and our days were still packed full of things to do.
Here are our top 9 cheap things we recommend not to miss:
1. Learn about the brutality of the Vietnam War at the ‘War Remnants Museum’ previously known simply as: ‘Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes’. Entrance fee is just 50,000 Dong (50p).
2. Squeeze through the tiny ‘Cu Chi Tunnels’ to experience the claustrophobia that was gone through by many during the war. The price of this completely depends on if you do it as a tour or not, if you do it as a half or full day tour, who you book with, and of course your haggling skills. The entrance fee to the tunnels was about 110,000 Dong (£4) without a tour.
3. Learn all about Vietnamese life and culture at ‘The Vietnam History Museum’, it costs just 15,000 Dong (50p) and is located just inside the main gate to the city’s botanical gardens.
4. Stroll through the huge grand gates to enter the site of the end of the Vietnam war – The Independence Palace, otherwise known as the ‘Reunification Palace’. Have a stroll around the palace for just 30,000 Dong (£1).
5. If you’re brave enough, try some weird and daring food, local delicacy’s include deep-fried snake (and the still beating heart).
6. See some Grand French Architecture for free, such as the Central Post Office and then located just opposite; the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral.
7. Shopping! – Shop in the local markets and practice your haggling skills in the city’s big central market: ‘Ben Thanh Market’ in District 1. Or for a not so cheap option, you could even experience high-end shopping in the central business district. We didn’t buy anything here, but it was interesting to wander around these malls and see how the elite locals live.
8. Perch on a little plastic stool at the side of ‘Pham Ngu Lao Street’ drinking extremely cheap homemade beer with other travellers, then party the night away to cheesy music in one of the awesome clubs!
9. Finally, my favourite of all – Try the local Coffee. We became addicted to this very cheap, rich, sweet drink (like all the locals are too) and coffee stops were very often during our days sightseeing. The coffee is strong and served with sweet condensed milk often over ice. Buy from street vendors or in local markets for the best experience.
Where we slept:
Ho Chi Minh is an expensive city for accommodation for South East Asian standards, so we went for the option of a dorm room in a hostel in this city for £6 each – We stayed in the huge ‘Vietnam Inn Saigon‘. The location was great, it was really social with a roof top bar and a view of the city.
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View From the Hostel Rooftop One final Top Tip: I eventually learnt how to cross a road in Ho Chi Minh! The rule is generally to just walk slowly into the road, but don’t stop half way through! Stopping will confuse the drivers who will already have planned to swerve around you, so just keep walking and don’t panic 🙂
Have you been to Ho Chi Minh City? Did you find other cheap fun things to do there? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Zo Around The World 
Thanks for the info! Am about to go there will be very useful
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Hi George, I’m so glad you found my post useful 🙂 It’s such an exciting city, hope you have an amazing time!
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I think I’d have to give the deep fried snake with the beating heart a miss!! Sounds horrendous. I bet the Cu Chi Tunnels really make you think don’t they. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for the men using them during the war.
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Yeah, horrible isn’t it, I didn’t try it! And yes definitely makes you think, it was so claustrophobic I couldn’t believe it
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Hahaha your story about scooters happened to me in a kinda similar way in Katmandu ! I was with a friend who was used to it and made me cross a huge traffic road with him I thought I would die but of course it s totally normal for them and nothing bad happened to me! I like the way you write it was pretty informative and funny! I love to pin articles that I save for later (when I actually decide to go to the country!) so I ll do that with yours! Thanks for the tips!
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Haha! I can imagine Katmandu was similar with the traffic, it’s scary isn’t it! And yay, thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Ok so really feeling the deep-fried snake, so I’d try that! The tunnels though…I might freak out. Nice post!
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Haha you’re brave if you’d try it! I kinda freaked out in the tunnels, didn’t stay down there long before I had to get out!
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Great list! I love Vietnamese coffee and would die to drink it in Vietnam. I head crossing the road here is just crazy, I think one blogger even wrote an entire guide on just how to cross haha. I think I could handle deep fried snake, but can we skip the still beating heart… OMG. Did you try it??
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Thanks 🙂 Vietnamese coffee is the best ever! 🙂 Haha that’s funny, it was the craziest place ever to cross a road! I did not try a snake or a still beating heart, but I met a few very brave people that did, they couldn’t persuade me to try it!
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Oh my god… A still beating heart?! That isn’t going on my plate, that’s for sure. I like how everything is so cheap in Vietnam en Asia in general, beautiful places but instead of spending 20 euros at an entryticket it will cost you less than 1. Love it!
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It didn’t go on my plate either haha… no way! And yeah I agree, I love how cheap everything is in SE Asia 🙂
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I’m so bummed I only had like 1.5 days in HCMC when I was there… but I was able to squeeze in the War Museum (very strategically, on my last day). And I love the tip about crossing the road! After 4 years in Asia, I regularly confuse Boston drivers with my ‘wild’ street crossing tactics lol
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At least you managed to squeeze in one of the best attractions then! Wow 4 years in Asia, that’s amazing! Very jealous 🙂
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Looks like you saw some amazing places. I would love to explore the historical and architectural pleasing places that you have suggested here. I will probably skip out on the daring food though- just not that brave.
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Thanks 🙂 HCMC is such a great city for history and architecture! And I don’t blame you about the daring food, I wasn’t brave enough!
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I love HCM!!! I did the Motorbike trip across country and this article just takes me back!
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Wow that motorbike trip across the country must have been amazing! 🙂
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This is super helpful for budget travelers like me. I could never do the tunnel tour though, I feel claustrophobic just reading about it. 🙂
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Glad you found it helpful 🙂 yeah the tunnels probably aren’t a good idea for those who get easily claustrophobic!
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Wow, crossing the road seems incredibly dangerous. Good to know that you should just go for it and don’t stop. I’m planning on visiting the region in the next couple of months and these are really great tips. I just pinned this post for future reference as well. Cheers!
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Fun article to read. Always nice to read about people’s perspective of a city that I have visited too.
I actually just posted an article about Ho Chi Minh too.
xx
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Thanks for your comment 🙂 I’ll check out your post too!
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I traveled through the country for 4 months back in 1991. I loved it then but I’m afraid to go back and see the horrible changes and how touristy it has become. It breaks my heart to think this is what they are selling now a days.
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Wow I bet it was so different in 1991, I personally would be really interested to see how much it’s changed. Its a shame if its changed in negative ways though, although I didn’t find this city overly touristy though in comparison to other parts of Southeast Asia which are very overly touristy now. What is it that they are selling now that you don’t like?
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Greats photos. I can relate to your posts. I feel nostalgic.;)
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Thanks so much! I’m glad 🙂
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Arrived in HCMC today so will definitely check some of these out, thanks for the advice!
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Great! Hope you enjoyed HCMC 😀
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Thanks Zoe, Ho Chi Minh is our very first destination on our 12 month trip, arriving in November! I think the part I am most intimidated by is crossing the road!! On an unrelated note, I love your blog logo so much. Are you able to give some tips on how/where to get a logo designed (or maybe even who did yours, if i’m being cheeky!)? I just started playing around with our blog and a logo is next on my list!
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That’s so cool! Not long to go now, I bet you’re so excited!
Thanks for your comment about my blog logo 🙂 I had it designed by a designer on ‘Fiverr’ , just found one who’s style I liked and told them the kind of things I would like in my logo. Their username was b300b2. Good luck with yours! 🙂
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