Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is Vietnam's high-energy southern metropolis, where motorbike rivers flow past French-colonial landmarks, war-history museums, and a relentless street-food culture. It's the natural launchpad for trips to the Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi tunnels.
✈️ Get deal alerts for Amsterdam → Ho Chi Minh City — free
- 🏠 Deals from your home airport, first
- 🆓 Free to start — no credit card needed
- ⚡ Plus & Pro unlock all deals & features
How FairFares works
Not search results — real price drops, verified before they reach you.
Scan daily
3,000+ routes checked multiple times a day
Compare history
Each fare measured against months of price data
Score & rank
Only genuine drops surface — no fake "deals"
Alert you
Instant notification when your route drops
Quick facts
Timezone
Asia/Ho Chi_Minh
Currency
₫ VND
Language
Vietnamese
City transfer
~30 min
Taxi / Grab / Bus
Best time to visit
best weatherdeals available
Don't miss
Eat bun bo hue (spicy Hue-style beef noodle soup) at a street stall on Nguyen Trai Street in District 5 before 9am — this is working-class breakfast in its purest form, under €1.50, and far more interesting than pho.
Book a motorbike street food tour for your first evening — local guides take you on the back of their bikes to 6-8 spots across the city that you'd never find alone. XO Tours and Xe Om Tours are reputable operators.
Visit Cu Chi Tunnels on a weekday morning (arrive before 9am) and skip the standard tour — hire a local guide privately at the site to access the extended tunnel section where you actually crawl through 70-metre passages.
Drink egg coffee at a Ca Phe Trung café in the backstreets of District 3 — the original version uses robusta coffee topped with whipped egg yolk and condensed milk, best sipped sitting on a low plastic stool at the pavement.
Weekend itinerary · 3 days
Day 1
Ben Thanh Market Morning
Arrive at Ben Thanh Market when it opens at 7am — the outer ring of street stalls serves the best banh mi and fresh spring rolls before the tourist crowds arrive around 9am. Prices double by mid-morning.
War Remnants Museum
Allow 2-3 hours for the War Remnants Museum in District 3 — unflinching and essential, the photography exhibitions on the third floor are the most powerful. Go mid-morning on a weekday to avoid school groups.
Reunification Palace
Walk 10 minutes from the museum to the Reunification Palace — the 1975 time-capsule interior (war rooms, radio equipment, presidential suite) is preserved exactly as the North Vietnamese army found it. Entry €1.50.
Nha Hang Ngon
An open-air colonial villa in District 1 with live cooking stations around the courtyard — each station serves a different regional Vietnamese dish, excellent for trying 4-5 dishes between two people.
Day 2
Cu Chi Tunnels Day Trip
Leave by 7am to beat the heat and tour groups — Ben Duoc site (30 minutes further than Ben Dinh) is less visited and the tunnel section longer. Hire a private guide at the gate rather than joining the group tour lecture.
Lunch in District 5 (Cholon)
On the way back from Cu Chi, stop in Cholon — HCMC's Chinatown and the city's best neighbourhood for roast duck, dim sum, and Vietnamese-Chinese fusion dishes. Binh Tay Market is photogenic but the food stalls outside are the draw.
Evening Rooftop Drinks
Chill Skybar at the AB Tower gives the best skyline view in the city — go at 6pm for happy hour prices (cocktails ~€5) and watch the city light up as dusk falls over the Saigon River.
Bun Bo Hue An Nam
A short Grab ride from District 1 — the definitive bowl of spicy Hue beef noodles in the city, always crowded with locals at lunch, order the mixed bowl with pork knuckle added.
Day 3
Notre-Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office
The French colonial post office designed by Gustave Eiffel is the more interesting of the two — the vaulted interior, vintage maps, and original wooden telephone booths are a genuine historical surprise. Still a working post office.
Street Food Breakfast Tour (Self-Guided)
Walk Pasteur Street and the alleys off Ly Tu Trong in District 1 between 7-9am — banh cuon (steamed rice rolls), banh xeo (sizzling crepes), and fresh sugarcane juice all within 500 metres.
The Mekong Delta Boat Trip (Half Day)
Book a half-day Mekong Delta tour departing 7am — My Tho is the closest access point, 70km south. The floating markets and water coconut groves are extraordinary, and you're back in HCMC by 1pm.
Quan Bui Garden Restaurant
Multi-storey garden restaurant in the heart of District 1 — excellent Vietnamese home cooking (clay pot fish, morning glory stir-fry, caramelised pork belly), moderate prices, beautiful setting.
Travel tips
- →Use Grab for cheap and metered rides on both car and motorbike
- →Cross busy streets at a steady pace — the traffic flows around you
- →Book War Remnants Museum early in the day to avoid heat and queues
More Weekend deals in Vietnam
Planning a trip to Ho Chi Minh City?
Ho Chi Minh City travel guide →