Crescent

Ho Chi Minh City

　　A glitzy promenade of eating and shopping along a scooped-out section of canal in Saigon's upmarket District 7. ...

Saigon Cao Dai Temple

Ho Chi Minh City

　　The largest Cao Dai temple in HCMC, this fabulously colourful three-storey structure celebrates Vietnam’s home-grown religion of Cao Daism. Use separate stairs for men and women and ascend to the 2nd-floor main hall. Notice the pantheon of saints above the main altar, which includes both Eastern and Western figures as...

Southern Women's Museum

Ho Chi Minh City

　　This museum is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Vietnamese women. The first floor is the most accessible to foreign visitors, with excellent signage in English and French, and displays of traditional crafts and ao dai, Vietnam’s elegant national dress. The other two floors feature photos and stories of notable...

Chantaransey Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Founded in 1946, this Theravada Buddhist pagoda serves the Khmer community in HCMC. The peaceful grounds include living quarters for about 30 monks, a library and a Pali school. The main shrine has 14 Buddha statues and the shrine ceiling and walls are covered in vivid paintings of scenes from...

Saigon Saigon Bar

Ho Chi Minh City

　　For excellent views in the city centre, stop by Saigon Saigon for a drink around dusk. This fancy bar has live music, cool breezes and a casually upscale feel. ...

EON Heli Bar

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Secure a window seat and catch the sun going down from this snappy 52nd-floor vantage point over town. ...

Shri Restaurant & Lounge

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Atop an office block, romantic Shri has some of the best views in town. Book ahead for a terrace table or settle for the industrial-chic dining room. Look forward to international spins on steak and seafood – with international prices to match – or a cheaper pasta and paella menu....

Caravelle Hotel

Ho Chi Minh City

　　One of the first luxury hotels to reopen its doors in postwar Saigon, the five-star Caravelle remains a classic operation. Rooms in the modern 24-floor block are quietly elegant; the priciest rooms and suites are in the historic ‘signature’ wing. The rooftop Saigon Saigon Bar is a spectacular cocktail spot....

Oc Dao 2

Ho Chi Minh City

　　For fine seafood and snails in District 4 look no further. Specials include oc len (snails cooked in coconut milk) and grilled clams with fish sauce and onion (50,000d), and their crab dishes are also great. Chow down on street tables next to the road. ...

Bitexco Financial Tower

Ho Chi Minh City

　　This elegant 68-storey, 262m-high Carlos Zapata–designed skyscraper dwarfs all around it. It's reportedly shaped like a lotus bulb, but it also resembles a CD rack with a tambourine shoved into it. That tambourine is the 49th-floor Saigon Skydeck, its roof functioning as a helipad. Frankly, given the crowds and cost,...

People’s Committee Building

Ho Chi Minh City

　　One of the city’s most prominent landmarks is home to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. Built between 1901 and 1908, the former Hôtel de Ville decorates the northwestern end of ÐL Nguyen Hue, but unfortunately the ornate interior is not open to the public. 　　Road access around the...

Fine Arts Museum

Ho Chi Minh City

　　With its airy corridors and verandas, this elegant 1929 colonial-era, yellow-and-white building is stuffed with period details; it is exuberantly tiled throughout and home to some fine (albeit deteriorated) stained glass, as well as one of Saigon's oldest lifts. Hung from the walls is an impressive selection of art, including...

Municipal Theatre

Ho Chi Minh City

　　The landmark French-era Opera House is home to the HCMC Ballet and the Ballet & Symphony Orchestra (www.hbso.org.vn), and hosts performances by visiting artists. ...

Botanic Gardens

Ho Chi Minh City

　　One of the first projects undertaken by the French after establishing Cochin-China as a colony was founding these fantastic, lush gardens. Once one of the finest such gardens in Asia, they’re very agreeable for strolling beneath giant tropical trees. Skip the miserable zoo though. ...

Central Post Office

Ho Chi Minh City

　　The city's landmark French-era post office is a period classic, designed by Marie-Alfred Foulhoux (though often credited to Gustave Eiffel) and built between 1886 and 1891. Painted on the walls of its grand concourse are fascinating historical maps of South Vietnam, Saigon and Cholon, while a mosaic of Ho Chi...

History Museum

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Built in 1929, this notable Sino-French museum houses a rewarding collection of artefacts illustrating the evolution of the cultures of Vietnam, from the Bronze Age Dong Son civilisation (which emerged in 2000 BCE) and the Funan civilisation (1st to 6th centuries CE) to the Cham, Khmer and Vietnamese. Highlights include...

Oc Po

Ho Chi Minh City

　　A very simple snail restaurant on a back alley where a feast of a meal will set you back 100,000d or so. Little or no English is spoken and there are only a handful of tables. ...

Binh Tay Market

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Cholon’s main market has a great clock tower and a central courtyard with gardens. Much of the business here is wholesale but it’s popular with tour groups. The market was originally built by the French in the 1880s; Guangdong-born philanthropist Quach Dam paid for its rebuilding and was commemorated by...

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Delightfully fronted by greenery and opening to an interior blaze of red, gold, green and yellow, this is one of the most beautifully ornamented temples in town, dating from 1902. Of special interest are the elaborate brass ritual ornaments and weapons, and the fine woodcarvings on the altars, walls, columns,...

HCMC Museum

Ho Chi Minh City

　　A grand neoclassical structure built in 1885 and once known as Gia Long Palace (and later the Revolutionary Museum), HCMC’s city museum is a singularly beautiful and impressive building, telling the story of the city through archaeological artefacts, ceramics, old city maps and displays on the marriage traditions of its...

Reunification Palace

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Surrounded by royal palm trees, the dissonant 1960s architecture of this landmark government building and the eerie ambience of its deserted halls make it an intriguing spectacle. The first Communist tanks to arrive in Saigon rumbled here on 30 April 1975 and it’s as if time has stood still since...

Giac Lam Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Believed to be the oldest temple in HCMC (1744), Giac Lam is a fantastically atmospheric place set in peaceful, garden-like grounds. The Chinese characters that constitute the temple's name (覚林寺) mean 'Feel the Woods Temple' and the looming Bodhi tree (a native fig tree, sacred to Buddhists) in the front...

Notre Dame Cathedral

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Built between 1877 and 1883, Notre Dame Cathedral enlivens the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's government quarter, facing Ð Dong Khoi. A red-brick, neo-Romanesque church, it has twin bell towers that are both topped with spires and crosses that reach 60m. 　　This Catholic cathedral, named after the Virgin Mary,...

Jade Emperor Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh City

　　Built in 1909 in honour of the supreme Taoist god (the Jade Emperor or King of Heaven, Ngoc Hoang), this is one of the most atmospheric temples in Ho Chi Minh City, stuffed with statues of phantasmal divinities and grotesque heroes. 　　The pungent smoke of incense (huong) fills the air,...

War Remnants Museum

Ho Chi Minh City

　　To understand the US invasion of Vietnam, and contextualize its devastating impact on the country's civilians, this remarkable and deeply moving museum is an essential visit. Many of the atrocities documented here are already well publicized, but it's rare to visit a museum such as this, where the victims of...