Field notesFebruary 2023 · 4 days / 3 nights first-hand (Saigon River dinner cruise, city walks, Mekong Delta with fireflies, Cu Chi Tunnels)
Prices & rules last checkedJuly 2026
Ho Chi Minh City is less a city of sights to visit than a city whose energy is itself the sight: the torrent of motorbikes, the sidewalk kitchens, French-colonial mansions standing shoulder to shoulder with glass towers. Add two day trips of completely different character — the Mekong River and the Cu Chi Tunnels — and four days fill up at just the right pace.
The short version — the 4-day shape (fly out on the late-night flight)
- Day 1 — an afternoon arrival still buys you the evening: many flights land in the early afternoon. Spend the first night on a Saigon River dinner cruise
- Day 2 — the city: colonial architecture and markets around Dong Khoi street, with the traditional water puppet theater as the classic early-evening close
- Day 3 — the Mekong: a tour to My Tho for the water-borne side of Southeast Asia (shared English-speaking tours cost very little). Choose an afternoon-to-evening version and the day ends with fireflies
- Day 4 — half a day at Cu Chi: walk the underground fortress in the morning, close with a massage, then catch a late-night flight around 11pm and sleep on the plane
Many nationalities can enter Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days (passport valid six months or more, onward ticket in hand — as of July 2026); check the rules for your passport. In the city, the ride-hailing app Grab is the only answer, and completing its SMS verification before you leave home is the one piece of preparation that matters.
Day 2: The city — colonial mansions and the motorbike torrent
The core of the city sights fits into the walkable blocks of District 1 around Dong Khoi street. Start from the colonial showpiece, the People’s Committee Hall (the former city hall — exterior viewing only) and the broad Nguyen Hue promenade stretching before it, then string together Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office and Ben Thanh Market at whim and you have a half-day route. What walking teaches you is that crossing the signal-less river of motorbikes is this city’s survival skill — walk slowly at a constant speed and the bikes flow around you. The first lesson you absorb on the ground: standing still is the more dangerous move. When your feet give out, there is the café culture — condensed-milk coffee, egg coffee whipped from yolks, and craft chocolate shops working Vietnamese cacao are the rest stops around Dong Khoi. In the early evening, the traditional water puppet theater is the classic next stop (performances run on set days and times, so check ahead).
Day 3: The Mekong — hand-rowed “water alleys,” then fireflies after dark
About two hours from the city by road, a day tour to My Tho, the gateway to the Mekong Delta, is the classic play (shared English-speaking tours are inexpensive; as of July 2026). A large wooden boat carries you across the brown breadth of the river; on the mid-river islands you tour coconut-candy workshops and orchards; and the highlight is the hand-rowed sampan threading the nipa-palm waterways. With palms arching overhead from both banks, these “water alleys” hold a stillness hard to reconcile with the motorbike din of the same country. Most tours include lunch built around elephant ear fish — one whole fried fish, wrapped in rice paper by everyone at the table. We picked an afternoon departure with firefly watching: after sunset, the trees along the river blink like strings of Christmas lights. If your schedule has the slack, the afternoon-to-evening version is the one to book.
Day 4: The Cu Chi Tunnels — go underground, then take the midnight flight
An hour and a half to two hours northwest of the city, the Cu Chi Tunnels are the roughly 250 km underground network built by guerrilla forces during the Vietnam War. A destroyed tank in the open, displays of pit traps and booby traps, dioramas of the field hospital and kitchens — and then the section where you actually go down into the tunnels. Pressing forward a few dozen meters through darkness narrow enough to catch your shoulders puts the weight of those years of war directly into your body. Half-day shared tours cost little, with admission generally included (as of July 2026); this is heavy history, and few places repay a guide’s commentary more. A morning tour has you back in the city by early afternoon — undo the trip’s knots with a massage, then head for the late-night flight. Having run the route ourselves, that is the closing sequence that fits best.
Your arrival evening: a dinner cruise on the Saigon River
On arrival night, board a dinner cruise on the Saigon River — the classic evening out, dinner and live music aboard as the boat runs the river and back, with Landmark 81 (Vietnam’s tallest building) and the lights of District 1 sliding past on the breeze. Seeing the city first from the water also turned out to be excellent reconnaissance for the walking days that followed. Back in District 1, rooftop bars dot the blocks, and the night can end with sidewalk pho or banh mi — that swing between tower lights and street food is, we think, the very core of Ho Chi Minh City’s appeal.
Practical notes for Ho Chi Minh City
- Entry — visa-free for up to 45 days for many nationalities (six months’ passport validity, onward ticket required). Tan Son Nhat airport began trialing an online pre-arrival declaration in April 2026 (currently optional and free) — check the latest official guidance before you fly
- Getting around — Grab, full stop. Airport to District 1 runs roughly 100,000–200,000 dong plus a 10,000–20,000 dong airport surcharge. Linking a card for payment is the safe route. If you must hail a cab on the street, stick to the established companies (Vinasun and the like)
- Money — the currency is the dong (VND). The zeros run long, so get comfortable reading prices in the hundreds of thousands before the sums start to look alarming
- Best season — the dry months, December to April. Our February gave us clear skies every day, over 30°C at midday and comfortable mornings and evenings
- Safety — guard against snatch theft: don’t hold your phone out on the road side of the pavement, and take extra care at motorbike-heavy intersections
Where to go from here
- Pair it with an Asian beach → Phuket Travel Guide
- Choose your destination through history → Destinations chosen by history
- Start from the full map → Choose a destination — compare 18 countries and regions by days, budget and access
The history here
Why the places, the food and the artworks in this article are where they are.
French Indochina is created
France bound Vietnam and Cambodia into a colonial federation. Saigon Central Post Office was finished in 1891, its iron roof and tiling like those of a Paris railway station. The baguette arrived in this period and, filled with Vietnamese ingredients, became bánh mì.
📍 If you go
