Hotels in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City — still widely called Saigon — is Vietnam's largest city and its commercial engine, a place of nine million people and rather more motorbikes. The energy is the first thing visitors notice and the traffic is the second; crossing the road here is a skill acquired within a day or two.

District 1 holds the French colonial core — the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, the Opera House — alongside the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace, both essential for understanding the twentieth century here. Ben Thanh Market and the Cho Lon Chinatown district cover the commerce, while the street food, from banh mi to broken rice, is among the best in Southeast Asia.

The Cu Chi tunnels are a half-day trip northwest, and the waterways and floating markets of the Mekong Delta start about two hours south. A first metro line opened in 2024, though most short journeys are still made by Grab bike or taxi.