Rivers of motorbikes and alleyway coffee, streets that still wear their French colonial past, and a river as wide as a sea — southern Vietnam is a destination where Asia’s heat and a gentler, restorative side live together. Travelers Route put Ho Chi Minh City through its paces over four days and three nights in February 2023 — a Saigon River dinner cruise, the water puppet theater, fireflies on the Mekong, the Cu Chi tunnels — and this guide digs into the country, drawing on that record. All prices and entry rules have been re-checked as of 2026.
If you would rather start from what there is to see, Vietnam: 9 Top Attractions lays out the classics in the order you would actually walk them, with prices and timings.
If safety is on your mind, read Is Vietnam Safe? Four Common Methods and How to Break the Pattern first — it works through the official advisory, where incidents actually happen, and what to do about it.
How many days: choose by travel style
- 3 days — Ho Chi Minh City focus: walk the Independence Palace, the Central Post Office and Ben Thanh Market, then give the evening to egg coffee and the water puppet theater
- 4 days — add the great river: slot in a Mekong Delta cruise (depart in the afternoon and you get the sunset and the fireflies too) — the model we actually ran
- 5 days — take in the history: add a half day at the Cu Chi tunnels for the full works, and balance the pace with the city’s cafés and a massage in the afternoon
Essential prep before you go
Visa rules depend on your passport — Japanese citizens, for instance, are visa-exempt for stays of up to 45 days (in force through March 14, 2028; six months of passport validity and a booked onward flight required) — so check the current rules for your nationality before you book. From the airport, the iron rule is a ride-hailing app (Grab) or an official taxi; never go with the touts offering unlicensed cabs. The currency is the Vietnamese dong, and the notes carry a lot of zeros — settle on a quick mental conversion into your own currency before you go, and the price tags start to read themselves (as of July 2026).
Dig deeper by theme
- City walks and food — pho, banh mi and egg coffee, and a stroll through the colonial architecture of District 1
- The great river — by rowboat into the nipa-palm waterways, with sunset and fireflies you can see year-round
- History — the 250 km underground tunnel network of Cu Chi (entry about 110,000 VND, half a day)
- Culture after dark — the water puppet theater and a Saigon River dinner cruise
Best season and budget
For the south (Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong), the dry season from November to April is best. On our February trip it was sunny every day at around 30°C — walk the city in the morning and evening, and retreat to a café at midday. The rainy season (May–October) brings a one-to-two-hour squall most days rather than washing out the whole itinerary. Mind Tet (Lunar New Year, a movable holiday in January–February), when shops close and tours charge peak rates. Prices are among the most traveler-friendly in Southeast Asia — a bowl of pho is 50,000–100,000 VND (about ¥300–600; we quote benchmarks in Japanese yen), a coffee at a local café around ¥200, and even a guided day trip only a few thousand yen. That room to go cheap or pay for comfort is the appeal.
Onward around Asia — our coverage grows from here
From Ho Chi Minh City it is about 1.5 hours to Bangkok — combined with our Thailand guide, it makes a natural starting point for a Southeast Asian circuit. Hong Kong and Macau and the Philippines are also in our coverage. Our Vietnam guide starts in the south; Hanoi and Da Nang will follow as the first-hand material comes together.
Scenes from Vietnam
Photos taken on location by our editorial team.
Articles on Vietnam
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Is Vietnam Safe? Four Common Methods and How to Break the Pattern
Motorbike snatching, the unzipped bag, the manufactured moment away, and the approach that starts with a stranger. The shapes are almost fixed, which is why knowing them prevents most of it. Method, place and defence, set against our own record on the ground.
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Vietnam: 9 Top Attractions — a Four-Day Route from Ho Chi Minh City
Five colonial-era sights inside a 700 m radius of District 1, a river cruise and the water puppet theatre after dark, and two day trips in opposite directions: the Mekong sampans and the 250 km Cu Chi tunnel network. With prices, timings and how the route joins up.
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Thailand & Vietnam Itinerary — Two Countries in Eight Days
Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City are 90 minutes apart by air. Why Thailand comes first, the open-jaw flights, the 3-3 night split, and the entry rules that differ between them.
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Mekong Delta Tour Guide — Sampans, Islands and Fireflies
Two hours from Ho Chi Minh City: sampans through nipa-palm channels, coconut-candy islands, sunset on the main stream and year-round fireflies — how to pick your tour.
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Cu Chi Tunnels Guide — What the Visit Is Like and How to Get There
Visiting the Cu Chi tunnels from Ho Chi Minh City: what the half-day tour involves, Ben Dinh vs Ben Duoc, prices, and how to approach a place of war memory.
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Ho Chi Minh City Travel Guide — 4 Days with the Mekong and Cu Chi
A first-hand 4-day Ho Chi Minh City plan: colonial streets, a Mekong Delta day with fireflies, the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Saigon River dinner cruise.
About Travelers Route
Travelers Route is a travel publication that stays with you from choosing a destination to shaping the trip itself. Our Vietnam coverage is built on our own reporting from February 2023 — the experiences and the photographs — and on facts (prices, entry rules) re-checked as of 2026. See About and our editorial policy for how we work.
This country’s history, through places you can visit
A French colonial federation, and the tunnels of a war. Both left something on the table: the baguette became bánh mì.
French Indochina is created
