A day in Ho Chi Minh City
Discussion
We're doing a cruise from Singapore to Yokohama this year and one stop is in Ho Chi Minh City so planning to have a walk around and see some of the key sights while we're there.
On our list so far is the Independence Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, War Remnants Museum and potentially the Saigon Skydeck. Is there anything else we should see and any decent places to get lunch? Also how safe is wandering around the city on our own, apart from the obvious situational awareness is there anything else we should be cautious about?
Looking forward to your thoughts.
On our list so far is the Independence Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, War Remnants Museum and potentially the Saigon Skydeck. Is there anything else we should see and any decent places to get lunch? Also how safe is wandering around the city on our own, apart from the obvious situational awareness is there anything else we should be cautious about?
Looking forward to your thoughts.
We were there in Jan '23.
The Independence Palace is really interesting - both in terms of the obvious historic perspective, but also as a timewarp from the 70s.
War Remnants Museum used to be called "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes", which gives you an idea of the perspective here. I didn't know much about Agent Orange before I went, and as noted above, I most definitely will never forget how horrific that was.
It's a nice city to wander around, you can feel the French influence on tree-lined boulevards which feel quite different from other Asian countries.
We mostly felt safe. We were there for Tet, and walking back late from celebrations, I did have a drunk local try to grab at me - they were drunk enough that a sharp shove got rid of them - but otherwise no issues.
Crossing the road is interesting - can recommend crossing with a local the first few times: it's all about confidence and maintaining your pace whilst traffic weaves round you!
The Independence Palace is really interesting - both in terms of the obvious historic perspective, but also as a timewarp from the 70s.
War Remnants Museum used to be called "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes", which gives you an idea of the perspective here. I didn't know much about Agent Orange before I went, and as noted above, I most definitely will never forget how horrific that was.
It's a nice city to wander around, you can feel the French influence on tree-lined boulevards which feel quite different from other Asian countries.
We mostly felt safe. We were there for Tet, and walking back late from celebrations, I did have a drunk local try to grab at me - they were drunk enough that a sharp shove got rid of them - but otherwise no issues.
Crossing the road is interesting - can recommend crossing with a local the first few times: it's all about confidence and maintaining your pace whilst traffic weaves round you!
Reunification Palace, War Remnants, Notre Dame as mentioned. Also just by the Cathedral is the old Central PO…great interior…built by Eiffel iirc. Saigon Saigon rooftop bar is in the Caravelle Hotel…pretend you’re a US war correspondent; or the nearby Majestic Hotel also has a roof bar for a colonial feel! Great city to wonder around, French influence everywhere…shame you’re only there for a day!
Thanks all, some good suggestions.
For those that asked, yes we're only there for a day but we test to use cruises as a way of sampling countries/cities to see what they're like and if we like it go back for a longer more in depth visit.
It will be an interesting trip so will let you know how we get on.
For those that asked, yes we're only there for a day but we test to use cruises as a way of sampling countries/cities to see what they're like and if we like it go back for a longer more in depth visit.
It will be an interesting trip so will let you know how we get on.
It's a bit touristy compared to a local only market but Ben Thanh market is in the area of the Reunification Palace, Opera House, Notre Dame, the Post Office and the War Remnants museum. We were there in October for one day during a cruise, the cruise port was about a 90 minute drive away. We found it very safe to walk around.
Sgt Joe Roberts said:
It's a bit touristy compared to a local only market but Ben Thanh market is in the area of the Reunification Palace, Opera House, Notre Dame, the Post Office and the War Remnants museum. We were there in October for one day during a cruise, the cruise port was about a 90 minute drive away. We found it very safe to walk around.
It's fine, but I would probably put Ben Thanh at the bottom of that list of places.Walking around is very safe, it's how we get around when we've been there. As mentioned above, the trick with the traffic is to step off the pavement and KEEP WALKING. The eleventy million scooters will find their way round you. It only becomes a problem if you stop, or try and run for it.
About the only "scam" we've ever had is the shoeshine boys tryng to claim your shoe is broken, and "fixing" it with some glue. Just keep walking and smiling.
shtu said:
Sgt Joe Roberts said:
It's a bit touristy compared to a local only market but Ben Thanh market is in the area of the Reunification Palace, Opera House, Notre Dame, the Post Office and the War Remnants museum. We were there in October for one day during a cruise, the cruise port was about a 90 minute drive away. We found it very safe to walk around.
It's fine, but I would probably put Ben Thanh at the bottom of that list of places.Walking around is very safe, it's how we get around when we've been there. As mentioned above, the trick with the traffic is to step off the pavement and KEEP WALKING. The eleventy million scooters will find their way round you. It only becomes a problem if you stop, or try and run for it.
About the only "scam" we've ever had is the shoeshine boys tryng to claim your shoe is broken, and "fixing" it with some glue. Just keep walking and smiling.
We were walking back from the Remnants Museum and a guy jumped up from the kerb and started pointing at my shoes and showing me a bottle.
Thankfully I just kept walking but the guy was persistent. The missus found it quite intimidating too.
Just keep your wits about you. These places can be savage when in the wrong areas.
Yep, thanks we're usually quite careful when wandering around cities and I've worked in some interesting places over the years so have some understanding of how different cultures work. I'm grateful for the insights and advice and we're really looking forwards to seeing it for ourselves.
GT4P said:
Anyone who’s been know of a good place to change money in district one?.
We used the hotel, although we did have to shop around as one quoted silly rates. There are money exchanges on most main streets.You will end up with massive dong!
Plus we also found a lot of shops take US dollars.
Vodoo Blue said.
“Yes we're only there for a day but we test to use cruises as a way of sampling countries/cities to see what they're like and if we like it go back for a longer more in depth visit.”
While it might give you a taster of the country, the North of the Country is very different to the South, Hanoi is much more laid back (traffic aside) than Ho Chi Min. While both cities are rapidly developing, Hanoi has a much more old world feel about it.
A days all you’ve got, enjoy it, fantastic city.
“Yes we're only there for a day but we test to use cruises as a way of sampling countries/cities to see what they're like and if we like it go back for a longer more in depth visit.”
While it might give you a taster of the country, the North of the Country is very different to the South, Hanoi is much more laid back (traffic aside) than Ho Chi Min. While both cities are rapidly developing, Hanoi has a much more old world feel about it.
A days all you’ve got, enjoy it, fantastic city.
We got back from our grand adventure last week so I thought I'd post up a brief review of our experience.
The ship docked at Phi My which was about a 90 minute drive from the city. The drive in was quite enjoyable as it gave us the chance to see a little bit of the country side on the way. One thing we did notice was there were an awful lot of places selling milk which I thought was a bit bizarre. Anyway, we arrived at about 9:30am and the coach dropped us off 2 blocks away from the Post Office so we decided that would be our first stop closely followed by the Cathedral.
Both buildings were clearly showing their colonial roots and we were pleasantly surprised that a lot of the scaffolding around the Cathedral had been removed allowing us to see the very clean and bright brickwork.
Next we walked down to the Independence Palace. Tickets were bought and we wandered around for an hour or so. It was interesting to see and while I understand the historical importance to the Vietnamese, I came away wondering if we could have used our limited time doing something more valuable.
From here we walked to the War Remnants Museum. This involved crossing several busy roads and as per the advice we, we just kept walking while the scooters and bikes wizzed past. Again, we spent about an hour or so wandering around. We were pre warned that some of the exhibits were quite explicit and they were but I think were needed in order to demonstrate the horrific nature of war and what human beings are capable of doing to one another in extreme circumstances.
Next on the list was Ben Thanh Market. On the way there we stoped at a cafe for a coffee and a bite to eat. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the day as the coffee was incredible, made with the yoke of an egg and delicious, accompanied by one of the best cheese cakes I've ever eaten.
The market wasn't very busy and we wandered around looking at all the fake bags and watches. At one point we saw a young western girl buying a fake Louis Vuitton bag which I think cost her $200 and she seemed pleased as punch to have saved so much money
The fake Rolexs did seem to be better made than the ones I remember seeing in the early 90's which had quartz movements and weighed next to nothing compared to the real thing.
In the end we didn't come across anything we wanted to buy and as it was getting close to our rendezvous time with our coach we decided to head back to the Cathedral and the 90 minute drive to the ship.
Overall, we both thought it was an interesting city and felt very safe (apart from crossing the roads). They have some fascinating history and culture but in the short time we were there we didn't really get a chance to experience it. That was partly due to the time constraint but also due to the key tourist sites focusing on the conflict in the 70s. This is understandable but on the coach back we both agreed that in some ways in felt like it was a missed opportunity even though we are glad we've been.
The ship docked at Phi My which was about a 90 minute drive from the city. The drive in was quite enjoyable as it gave us the chance to see a little bit of the country side on the way. One thing we did notice was there were an awful lot of places selling milk which I thought was a bit bizarre. Anyway, we arrived at about 9:30am and the coach dropped us off 2 blocks away from the Post Office so we decided that would be our first stop closely followed by the Cathedral.
Both buildings were clearly showing their colonial roots and we were pleasantly surprised that a lot of the scaffolding around the Cathedral had been removed allowing us to see the very clean and bright brickwork.
Next we walked down to the Independence Palace. Tickets were bought and we wandered around for an hour or so. It was interesting to see and while I understand the historical importance to the Vietnamese, I came away wondering if we could have used our limited time doing something more valuable.
From here we walked to the War Remnants Museum. This involved crossing several busy roads and as per the advice we, we just kept walking while the scooters and bikes wizzed past. Again, we spent about an hour or so wandering around. We were pre warned that some of the exhibits were quite explicit and they were but I think were needed in order to demonstrate the horrific nature of war and what human beings are capable of doing to one another in extreme circumstances.
Next on the list was Ben Thanh Market. On the way there we stoped at a cafe for a coffee and a bite to eat. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the day as the coffee was incredible, made with the yoke of an egg and delicious, accompanied by one of the best cheese cakes I've ever eaten.
The market wasn't very busy and we wandered around looking at all the fake bags and watches. At one point we saw a young western girl buying a fake Louis Vuitton bag which I think cost her $200 and she seemed pleased as punch to have saved so much money
The fake Rolexs did seem to be better made than the ones I remember seeing in the early 90's which had quartz movements and weighed next to nothing compared to the real thing.In the end we didn't come across anything we wanted to buy and as it was getting close to our rendezvous time with our coach we decided to head back to the Cathedral and the 90 minute drive to the ship.
Overall, we both thought it was an interesting city and felt very safe (apart from crossing the roads). They have some fascinating history and culture but in the short time we were there we didn't really get a chance to experience it. That was partly due to the time constraint but also due to the key tourist sites focusing on the conflict in the 70s. This is understandable but on the coach back we both agreed that in some ways in felt like it was a missed opportunity even though we are glad we've been.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff