I didn’t know what to expect from Ho Chi Minh. When I gave the city any thought at all my mind pictured bowls of spicy noodle goodness, maze like streets of ramshackle huts along the Mekong Delta amid towering buildings of glass and steel. I thought of tourists timidly trying to cross roadways full of rampaging waves of scooters piled high with delivery boxes, food containers, or families. And you know what? I was right! Ho Chi Minh also delivers weather so sweltering hot that to move a step will induce profuse sweating. I’m a sucker for heat but the city tested even my limits. So without further ado here’s the Top Ten Things To Do in Ho Chi Minh.
1. Bread, Cake, Cookies, oh my!
Surprising to me but maybe not for you happened to be the exquisite business of baking that goes on in the city. Street after street I could find a little bakery with rows and rows of pastries displayed in the windows. Inside these shops a whole world of decadent sugary and buttery goodness awaits. The French presence lives on in the Vietnamese ovens as everything from croissants to macaroons and whatever you could think of in-between can be found. Don’t be left out.
Place: Saint Honore
Address: 17 Trần Ngọc Diện, Thảo Điền, Quận 2, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Phone: +84 8 3620 1817
2. Coffee Culture Codified
Whether hot or cold Vietnamese coffee offers up a surprisingly flavorful and strong tale for the taste buds. It’s not your typical cup of java. A little tin filter sits atop your cup. Pour in hot water so it can drip down through the ground beans into a cup with a small amount of condensed milk. Stir when when the water has finished dripping and voila! Not to be coy with one type of coffee the Vietnamese have skillfully concocted brews that use fruit, yogurt and even eggs. That’s too much for me! I like my coffee simple and strong.
Place: Mockingbird Cafe
Address: Tầng 4, 14, Đường Tôn Thất Đạm, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Phone: +84 98 809 80 10
Hours: 9AM–11PM
3. Get a Haircut in the Street
One of the things I loved about Ho Chi Minh was it’s juxtaposition between fading old traditions and modern hustle and bustle. For instance who would have known you could just walk the streets and stumble upon a barber doing his business right in the middle of the sidewalk. Fortuitous much? I say get a haircut when the hair cutting presents itself! Bonus Points if you, like me, think the guy in the chair looks just like an Asian Terrence Howard! Am I right?
4. Up, Up, & Away from the Masses
Ho Chi Minh is a city of Rooftops. From Cafes to Swimming Pools it can be found on the top of some building. With that in mind one of the things you must do is find a rooftop to enjoy any breezes, take in the view, and dine and drink the day away.
5. The One Sight Seeing Spot to Rule them All: Bitexco Sky Deck!
Have you ever wanted to do all your mundane sight seeing in one fell swoop so you can get on to other more fun things like boozing, flirting, and dancing? Me too! This is why the travel gods built the Bitexco Sky Deck! Just head over to the Sky Deck pay your 200,000 VND and rocket to the 49th floor. Whip out your Iphone or Samsung and start snapping away through the floor to ceiling glass windows at all the marvelous sights waiting below to be captured: Central Post Office? Check. War Remnants Museum? Check. Tao Dan Park? Check. Saigon Opera House? Check. Ho Chi Minh Square? Check. As an added bonus inside the Bitexco Building you can go shopping! What’s not to love about that?
6. This Street was Made for Walking!
Ho Chi Minh’s infamous walking street provides the drama. Here people congregate with friends to chat away the evening, shop, and most fun of all People Watch. The tourists, always a colorful group, as they push and shove toward the next store. The buskers try and earn a buck with a song or dance. The vendors hawk their wares with little demos or getting in your face for attention. So grab a delicious lemongrass iced tea, cop a squat and watch the show!
7. Cafes Every Which Way
Also on the Walking Street the Cafe Apartment consists of a former towering apartment building now converted into dozens and dozens of small cozy cafes. It’s the ideal spot to get your coffee on and it’s not to be missed. Can you take a photo on each balcony of each cafe? I tried but failed. The pull of the java overcame all ambition!
8. Do a Good Deed!
Phạm Ngũ Lão is the street in Ho chi Minh famous for backpackers and the hotels, hostels and motels that love them. Descend upon this long running road to encounter every possible nationality on walkabout, gap year, holiday, trek you’d ever think of. It’s like the Deep Space Nine of earth. Rub elbows, catch stories and hopefully nothing else, and meet new friends! you might even wind up taking one scraggly wretch home to your hotel, shaving and scrubbing him down, shoving him into a fresh fluffy robe and enjoying a night of wine and HBO or maybe not. It’s up to you!
9. Food Porn
I almost couldn’t put this on the list at all! My friend Jun kept throwing Western dishes at me that I forget I was even in Vietnam. Before I could even get my tastebuds on any Vietnamese dishes I jumped through the Western hoops of pasta, soups, and non Asian salads. Meh. Thankfully though he relented and the Vietnamese food began to flow!
10. Pool Runnings
This is a late edition to the list. I debated putting it on but after a day like today it’s a must! Stay cool, baby. Literally. That’s all I can say. This city is a freaking sauna! No need to go to the spa. No, no, no, simply step outside your hotel and experience the heat and humidity! Clothing optional is up to you but I doubt the police will appreciate your nudity unless your some kind of Supermodel which you actually may be so who am I to judge? Right? So book a hotel, Airbnb with a pool or make a friend of a local who lives in a building with a pool because you will sorely want one. Sorely.
So there you have it! Ten Things to keep you busy while in Ho Chi Minh. As a bonus I’ll throw in another because it’s so sublime you cannot not do it!
11. Treat Yourself!
When in Ho Chi Minh there’s nothing wrong with a little Pampering and Primping! Go luxuriate in what the city has to offer. There’s a plethora of places to relax get massages, manicures, pedicures, and make yourself pretty. Everyone can do with a little pretty now and then.
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Great list! The Vietnamese dishes looks interesting! One of the things I look forward when traveling is the local food. I think I can bear the sauna weather because it’s as hot as Philippines. Thanks for all these tips!
I sadly had to remove HCMC from my itinerary when traveling Vietnam (instead I went to Hanoi and Hoi An and then flew over to Cambodia). These all look like great things to do (some of which I did in the north!).
Your trip to HCM seems amazing!! The pastries and coffee shop culture reminds me of Korea. I never expected these staples to be such an integral part of the culture, but it’s a nice surprise! What were your 3 favorite things to do?
My three favorite activities were lounging in the pool, eating Vietnamese goodies, and the baked goods! If I could combine all three at the same time I’d be in heaven!
The cafe apartment is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, but what a clever idea! I wonder how they compete against each other. Or maybe the coffee culture is so huge, that they are always full of tourists or locals… Glad you got to try some Vietnamese food, because when you’re in Rome. Although I bet a large city like HCMC has plenty of tasty Western choices, but I bet you get plenty of that in Seoul. How long did you stay in HCMC to compile this list? 2 days for me was too long in the insane heat…
I was there for five days which was just about right for me. Thankfully I loved the heat but a pool is definitely a must if you’re going to be there a few days!
Sounds like the place is absolutely bustling! After the disappointment of western dishes in Korea I always prefer to go for local stuff. Asian food is a particular favorite though! Heat and humidity can make ‘touristing’ rather tough so sitting back with a cool drink and people watching seems the way to go. Did you master the ‘squat’ whilst in Korea? Vietnam is still on my list of countries to travel through!!
The squat is definitely not for me, but I read somewhere that it’s actually the healthiest position! lol go figure!
I’ve heard a lot of great things about the cafe culture and French fusion cuisine of Ho Chi Minh. I’m definitely intrigued by the reports! Extra great and humidity tend to put me out though, so winter would be my ideal time to visit. Thanks for sharing!
I love the heat but you’re right about the humidity! It can be a bit too much to endure.