How many days in Ho Chi Minh City? 1–6 days

Ho Chi Minh City – Saigon to most people who live there – is Vietnam's largest and busiest city: scooters fill every street, the colonial buildings of the French era stand between glass towers, and you can eat well on almost every corner. Most sights in the centre are within walking distance, while Chợ Lớn, the old Chinese quarter, the Củ Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta need a taxi or a tour. The short answer: 2 days for the centre and Chợ Lớn, 3 days are ideal with the tunnels, and with 4 to 5 days there is time for the Mekong Delta or a night at the coast.

How many days in Ho Chi Minh City? The overview

Worth knowing for planning: it is warm all year, with 30 to 35 °C by day, and from May to November heavy showers come most afternoons. Be outside in the morning and evening, and plan museums and cafés for the middle of the day. To cross the street, walk slowly and steadily and the scooters will flow around you. Since late 2024 the first metro line has run east from Bến Thành Market; for most other trips, taxis and ride-hailing apps are cheap, including rides on the back of a scooter. Direct flights from London take about 13 hours, and Vietnam is 7 hours ahead of the UK in winter and 6 in summer.

One day in Ho Chi Minh City: the colonial centre

One day is enough for the centre, all on foot. Start at the Notre-Dame Cathedral, built by the French in the late 19th century from red bricks shipped over from France. Directly opposite is the Central Post Office with its tall vaulted hall and painted historic maps on the walls. Through the park you reach the Independence Palace, the seat of the president of South Vietnam: on 30 April 1975 a tank broke through its gate and ended the war; the rooms and the bunker are preserved.

A short walk away is the War Remnants Museum, with photographs, weapons and aircraft from the Indochina and Vietnam wars – many images, for example on the effects of Agent Orange, are hard to look at. For lunch go to Bến Thành Market, whose hall with its clock tower is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city; inside, food stalls serve bánh xèo, noodle soups and fresh juices. In the evening stroll along Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard, now a wide pedestrian promenade with the colonial City Hall at its end.

Two days in Ho Chi Minh City: pagodas and Chợ Lớn

The second day shows the city's temples and its Chinese side. In the morning visit the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Taoist pagoda from the early 20th century full of incense and carved figures, and then the pink Tân Định Church. Continue by taxi to Chợ Lớn: in the Thiên Hậu Temple of the Cantonese community, large incense coils hang from the ceiling and burn for days. Nearby is Bình Tây Market, built around 1930 around a courtyard, which mostly serves traders.

In the afternoon, back in the centre, the Museum of Fine Arts shows Vietnamese art from old ceramics to lacquer painting in a grand colonial villa. At sunset go up the Bitexco Financial Tower, modelled on a lotus bud, to see the city and the river from the observation deck.

Three days in Ho Chi Minh City: the ideal length

Three days give you the city and the most important trip out without rushing. Our ready-made plan:

• Day 1 – colonial buildings and history: the cathedral, the Central Post Office, the Independence Palace, the War Remnants Museum, lunch at Bến Thành Market, Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard in the evening.
• Day 2 – pagodas, Chợ Lớn and a view: the Jade Emperor Pagoda, Tân Định Church, the Thiên Hậu Temple, Bình Tây Market, the Museum of Fine Arts, sunset at the Bitexco Tower.
• Day 3 – the Củ Chi tunnels and the river: a morning at the Củ Chi tunnels, then the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, the Mariamman Temple, Bạch Đằng Quay on the Saigon River and dinner around Bùi Viện Street.

The Củ Chi tunnels were a vast network used during the war as hiding place and supply route; parts have been widened for visitors but are still tight and dark. The Bến Đình site is 42 km and about 45 minutes of pure driving from the centre – leaving the city in traffic often takes much longer, so most people go with a half-day tour. Tours and tickets in Ho Chi Minh City^* are on Klook.

Four to five days: the Mekong Delta

With a fourth and fifth day, head south into the Mekong Delta, a landscape of rivers, canals, rice fields and orchards. Mỹ Tho on the Tiền River is 72 km and about an hour of pure driving away, Bến Tre with its coconut palms 85 km and a little over an hour – allow about a third more. From there boats take you into the narrow side canals, past fruit gardens and small workshops. Day tours from the city combine the drive, the boat and lunch.

If you want to see a floating market, plan a night in Cần Thơ, further south in the delta: the Cái Răng market is busiest early in the morning, when traders sell fruit and vegetables from their boats. Buses run to the delta from the city's western bus station; you can compare bus connections on 12Go^*, and two-day Mekong Delta tours are on Klook.

Six days or more: the coast and the rest of Vietnam

If you stay a week, the beach town of Vũng Tàu is 95 km and about 1.5 hours of pure driving to the south-east – good for a day by the sea. Many travellers use Ho Chi Minh City as the start or end of a longer trip: short flights reach the highland town of Đà Lạt and the island of Phú Quốc. How the south fits into a route through the whole country is in our Vietnam itinerary, and for the capital see how many days in Hanoi.

Where to stay in Ho Chi Minh City

Location matters, because the traffic is heavy. Three good bases:

• The centre (former District 1): around the cathedral and Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard, with large hotels, cafés and most sights within walking distance.
• Phạm Ngũ Lão: the backpacker district around Bùi Viện Street, with many small hotels and places to eat. Cheap and central, but noisy at night.
• Around Tân Định: north of the centre in the former District 3, with tree-lined streets, old villas and neighbourhood cafés. Quieter; the centre is a short taxi ride away.

Buses and taxis run from Tân Sơn Nhất Airport into the centre, which is only a few kilometres away; an airport transfer in Ho Chi Minh City^* can be booked with Kiwitaxi. For mobile data without roaming charges, get an eSIM for Vietnam^* from Airalo before you leave; our eSIM price index compares the prices per gigabyte.

Best time to visit Ho Chi Minh City

Averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded. The values describe a grid cell of about 25 km; in the streets of the centre it often feels hotter.

Ho Chi Minh City has two seasons rather than four. The dry season from December to April brings plenty of sun and hardly any rain: February has 13 mm and March 17 mm. December and January are the most pleasant, at around 31 °C by day and 23 °C at night; by March and April it reaches 34 to 35 °C. The rainy season from May to November peaks in September with 348 mm, but rain usually comes as a heavy afternoon shower and then it dries up again. Unlike Hanoi in the north, there is no cool winter. The whole country month by month: Best time to visit Vietnam.

How YesTrip helps you plan

YesTrip has a ready-made three-day plan for Ho Chi Minh City: the colonial centre, the pagodas and Chợ Lớn, and the Củ Chi tunnels with an evening by the river. Each day has times, the stops are in walking order, and the taxi legs are noted. With one tap you copy the plan into the app and add days for the Mekong Delta or the coast; for those the AI creates a day plan for you. The app shows the weather for your travel days, the packing list thinks of light rain gear in the rainy season and the right plug adapter, and with the offline package you have the map without a connection. YesTrip is free.

Ho Chi Minh City trip planDay by day, with map and tips

* Ad – Partner link: if you book there, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same.