Ho Chi Minh City
The old Saigon around Lam Son Square, six starred kitchens, a riverside skyline still climbing, and a runway half an hour from the Opera House.
- Arrival
- Tan Son Nhat International · SGN
- To the city
- About 30 minutes to District 1 by car
- Private jets
- Handled at SGN, around the clock
- Best time
- December to April
The city
French boulevards under the towers.
The French left a grid of boulevards, an opera house and a red-brick cathedral; the decades since have stacked towers along the Saigon River and filled every street with motorbikes. District 1 remains the centre of gravity, and within a few blocks of Lam Son Square sit the grand hotels, the basilica and the palace where the war ended.
The south has two seasons. From December to April the air is dry and the afternoons run at 31 to 34 °C; from May the monsoon brings short, heavy downpours most days until November.
Arriving
One airport now, a second on the way.
Tan Son Nhat sits inside the city, about 7 km north-west of the centre, with a 3,840 m runway and no night closure. Long Thanh, a new airport in Dong Nai, is due to start commercial flights on 1 December 2026, with long-haul routes moving there from late March 2027.
- Singapore 1 h 45
- Hong Kong 2 h 15
- Malé 5 h 10
- Johannesburg 12 h 25 long-range jet
- Nice 13 h 05 long-range jet
When to go
December to April.
The thermometer barely moves, from 31 °C in the wet months to 34 °C in April. Between December and April the sky stays mostly clear, and February sees barely 8 mm. From May to November the monsoon delivers 150 to 270 mm a month, mostly in afternoon bursts.
- 31° J 15
- 32° F 8
- 33° M 23
- 34° A 63
- 33° M 183
- 32° J 261
- 31° J 257
- 31° A 249
- 31° S 270
- 31° O 255
- 31° N 156
- 31° D 65
What to see and do
Days in and around Ho Chi Minh City.
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Landmark
Opera House and Lam Son Square
The colonial theatre at the head of Dong Khoi, with the Park Hyatt and the Caravelle on either side of the square.
-
Landmark
Notre-Dame Basilica
Red brick shipped from France, two spires, and the old post office across the square.
-
Landmark
Reunification Palace
The 1960s presidential palace, its rooms and war bunkers kept as they were in 1975.
-
Culture
War Remnants Museum
Opened in 1975 in District 3, the museum covers the Vietnam War through photography, Agent Orange exhibits, prison reconstructions and aircraft and tanks in its courtyard.
-
Culture
Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts
Housed in the Hui Bon Hoa family villa of 1929 to 1934, the collection runs from Cham relics and Buddhist art to lacquer, silk and oil painting.
-
Culture
Jade Emperor Pagoda
Built in 1909 by the Cantonese congregation in Da Kao, this Taoist temple, also called Ngoc Hoang, was visited by President Obama in 2016.
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Food & wine
Ben Thanh Market
Some 1,500 stalls fill the 1914 market hall, with fruit, coffee and fish sauce inside and a night market of food stalls outside after 6 pm.
-
Culture
Cu Chi Tunnels
Visitors crawl through restored sections of a wartime network of about 250 km, at Ben Dinh or at Ben Duoc with its memorial temple.
-
Nature
Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve
Listed by UNESCO in 2000, more than 75,000 hectares of restored mangrove forest line the river mouths south east of the city.
-
Golf
Vietnam Golf and Country Club
Two 18 hole courses at Long Thanh My: the West by Chen King Shih and the East by Lee Trevino, opened in 1997.
Where to stay
Around the Opera House and across the river.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Park Hyatt Saigon A colonnaded front facing the Opera House, opened in 2005, with 245 rooms and a MICHELIN Key.
- Hôtel des Arts Saigon – MGallery Opened in 2015 with 168 rooms, a 1930s French mood and the Social Club bar on the 24th floor.
- Caravelle Saigon A 335-room landmark beside the Opera House, its bar looking straight across at the theatre.
- Mai House Saigon Hotel French Indochinese rooms, 224 of them, a rooftop bar over the skyline, and a first MICHELIN Key in 2026.
- Hotel Majestic Saigon At the river end of Dong Khoi since 1925, with 175 rooms and M Bar on the roof.
- Sofitel Saigon Plaza On Le Duan Boulevard, with a pool on the roof and ST25 by KOTO among its kitchens.
- Rex Hotel Saigon Its Rooftop Garden Bar above Nguyen Hue was named by Newsweek in 1996 among the best bars in South East Asia.
- Vinpearl Landmark 81, Autograph Collection Inside the 81-storey Landmark 81 tower, with 223 rooms and an infinity pool on the 47th floor.
- Mia Saigon A boutique hotel east of the river in the old District 2, given its first MICHELIN Key in 2026.
- The Reverie Saigon Italian furniture by Visionnaire, Colombostile and Giorgetti in 286 rooms high in the Times Square tower.
Where to dine
Six one-star kitchens.
MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2026.
- Ănăn Saigon One Michelin star Vietnamese Ton That Dam, District 1
- Akuna One Michelin star Contemporary Le Méridien Saigon, District 1
- Long Trieu One Michelin star Cantonese The Reverie Saigon, District 1
- CoCo Dining One Michelin star Central Vietnamese Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Xuan Hoa
- CieL One Michelin star Tasting menu Thao Dien
- Upstairs One Michelin star Central Vietnamese Nguyen Ba Huan, An Khanh
Elsewhere in Vietnam
More reasons to come.
- Hanoi The Old Quarter, its lakes, and the French opera house.
- Ha Long Bay Thousands of karst islets in the bay, seen from a junk.
- Hoi An An old trading port of lanterns and tailors.
- Da Nang The airport for the central coast, and the beaches of its bay.
- Phu Quoc Pepper farms, fish-sauce houses and long west-facing beaches.
Flying to Ho Chi Minh City?
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A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.