7 Best Things to Do in Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon/HoChiMinh City, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, also still commonly referred to as Saigon, is the largest and most vibrant city in Vietnam. Once called “Paris of the Orient” during the days of French colonialisation and later named in honour of the late leader of north Vietnam himself the city has a very strong and diverse cultural history. Being the country’s largest metropolitan area and serving as a major hub for travellers it was also our first destination when we arrived in Vietnam.

We love the excitement and business of urban areas and were absolutely thrilled to discover what Saigon has to offer. From a dynamic food scene, beautiful colonial architecture and a modern skyline - the city definitely has a lot you could ask for. We put together a small list of our top-7 things to see and do in Ho Chi Minh City.

Eating is an integral component of Vietnamese culture. The food scene is incredibly large and diverse and we came to notice exactly this while walking around the streets of the city. From a huge array of restaurants to numerous places that offer street food - everywhere and any time you look you see people enjoying food. Our first mission was to get a nice traditional vietnamese soup and we found a great place not far from where we stayed that seemed very inviting. The restaurant is called Cơm niêu Sài Gòn and is a nice place to start your journey through vietnamese food. We enjoyed some delicious Bún bò and Phở Bò soup here and really absolutely loved it! Apart from the large array of restaurants you can also indulge in one of the many street food stalls. Food is being prepared and eaten constantly and you will see all of them serving freshly prepared food for you. Have a look at our review on Vietnamese food and discover some more delicacies! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).