Ho Chi Minh City.
The city that starts at 6am and negotiates with midnight.
Breakfast on a plastic stool, an afternoon in a French-colonial post office, dinner in an alley nobody photographs, and a cocktail forty floors up. Ho Chi Minh City does not ask you to choose.
Checked August 2026 ·
In brief.
Checked August 2026Vibe° Dense, fast, friendly, awake early More Less
The city is awake before six and does its best work early. Pavements largely belong to parked motorbikes, so you often walk in the road, everyone does, and the traffic expects it. People are direct and warm rather than effusive; strangers help without making a performance of it. It is loud, but the noise is activity rather than aggression.
Is this city for you?Food° Among the best street food anywhere More Less
Most of the best eating happens on plastic stools, at places that cook one dish and have done for thirty years. Quality tracks turnover rather than decor, so a crowded cart at noon is a safer bet than an empty restaurant at three. Ten dishes cover most of what makes the city worth the flight.
The ten dishesDaily cost Wide. A careful day and an extravagant one differ by 20x More Less
The gap between the careful end and the extravagant end is wider here than in almost any city you have visited, and both ends are legitimate. Accommodation drives most of the difference; food barely moves between them. The ranges are built from publicly advertised rates and deliberately widened, so an ordinary day sits inside the range rather than at its edge.
See the ranges and calculatorClimate Tropical. Dry season and wet season, not four seasons More Less
There are two seasons, not four. The dry months are hot and bright; the wet months are hot and punctuated by a heavy afternoon downpour that usually passes within the hour. Rain here reshapes an afternoon rather than ruining a trip, and almost nothing closes for it.
Know before you goGetting around Ride-hailing, one metro line, short walks More Less
Ride-hailing apps are the default, and they remove both the language problem and the argument about the fare. The metro covers one useful corridor rather than the city. Distances that look walkable on a map are often twenty-five minutes in real heat, so plan shorter hops than you would at home.
Every way to moveNightlife Rooftops, beer corners, late food, live music More Less
Evenings run late and split into distinct scenes that barely overlap: rooftop bars with a view and a price to match, street-corner beer at plastic tables, live music rooms, and the food that only appears after ten. You can spend a great deal or almost nothing on the same night.
A day here, hour by hourHow long to stay° 3 to 4 days for the city, longer if using it as a base More Less
Three days covers the centre, the markets, the museums and enough food to matter. A fourth buys you one neighbourhood properly instead of three superficially. If you are using the city as a base for the Mekong or the coast, add days rather than swapping them out, the day trips are long ones.
ItinerariesEnglish° Common in tourism, limited in local neighbourhoods More Less
English is common in hotels, tourist restaurants and central cafés, and much less so in markets and neighbourhood restaurants, which is where the good food is. Ten phrases and a translation app will take you considerably further than you expect, and attempting the language is received warmly even when it goes badly.
Phrases that get usedOur own judgement, not a measured score. The rest is description; the figures behind it sit under costs and before you go.
Quick answers
What most visitors ask first
Short answers here, the detail further down.
Is Ho Chi Minh City safe for visitors?
Broadly yes, with one persistent nuisance and one real risk. Phone and bag snatching from passing motorbikes is common enough to plan around. Traffic is the thing most likely to actually hurt you. Violent crime against visitors is rare.
Do I need cash, or will cards do?
Both. Hotels, malls, bigger restaurants and modern cafés take cards. Street food, markets, small family restaurants and most short taxi rides are cash. Carry small notes.
How many days do I need?
Three to four for the city itself. Longer if you are using it as a base for the Mekong Delta or the coast, or if you simply want to eat your way through it slowly.
Can I drink the tap water?
No. Bottled or filtered water only. Commercial ice in drinks is made for food service and is normal to use.
Is it still called Saigon?
Both names are in daily use. The official name is Ho Chi Minh City; "Saigon" is what a great many residents say, what the airport code SGN preserves, and what you will see on shopfronts.
Do districts still exist?
Not administratively. Vietnam abolished district-level administration on 1 July 2025 and Ho Chi Minh City is now organised into wards and communes. In everyday speech, in hotel listings and to a Grab driver, "District 1" and "District 3" still mean exactly what they always did.
Is it for you
Will Saigon suit you?
A straight answer helps more than a sales pitch. Some visitors love it from the first day. Others find it tiring, and that is a fair reaction, not a failing.
It will likely suit you if
- You would rather eat well than eat expensively
- Busy, dense cities energise you
- You like coffee taken seriously
- Evenings out matter to you
- You are happy being slightly outside your comfort zone
It may tire you if
- You need quiet streets and calm
- Heat and humidity genuinely wear you down
- Constant traffic noise stresses you
- You expect wide, unobstructed pavements everywhere
One city, several characters
The food city
Street carts, family restaurants that have cooked one dish for forty years, wet markets, modern Vietnamese kitchens and a serious coffee culture.
The night city
Rooftop bars, plastic-stool beer corners, live music, night markets and food that gets better after 10pm.
The history city
Colonial architecture, war history, temples, and Chợ Lớn, the Chinese quarter that predates most of the skyline.
The modern city
Towers, malls, a working metro line, design studios and a startup scene that has changed the riverfront.
The local city
Morning coffee on the pavement, alleyway kitchens, parks at 6am, and neighbourhoods most visitors never turn into.
The gateway city
A base for the Mekong Delta, the tunnels, and, since the 2025 merger, a coastline that is now technically the same city.
Costs
What a day really costs
A careful day and a lavish one sit further apart here than in most cities. Both are good ways to travel.
Each person, each day
- Accommodation 250,000–700,000₫
- Food and coffee 150,000–350,000₫
- Getting around 50,000–150,000₫
- Things to do 0–200,000₫
- Evenings out 0–200,000₫
The whole day 450,000–1,600,000₫
- Accommodation 900,000–2,500,000₫
- Food and coffee 400,000–900,000₫
- Getting around 150,000–400,000₫
- Things to do 150,000–500,000₫
- Evenings out 200,000–600,000₫
The whole day 1,800,000–4,900,000₫
- Accommodation 3,000,000–12,000,000₫
- Food and coffee 1,000,000–3,500,000₫
- Getting around 400,000–1,500,000₫
- Things to do 500,000–2,000,000₫
- Evenings out 600,000–2,500,000₫
The whole day 5,500,000–21,500,000₫
Estimator
Estimate your stay
Set travellers and days. We lay out each day: where to go, what to eat, how long it takes and what it costs.
Your estimate
Set travellers and days
For planning only, not a quote.
Your days, one by one
Where to stay
Choose the district, then the hotel
In a city this wide, the district shapes your stay more than the room. Tap one to see who it suits and who it does not.
Saigon's district names changed in 2025. We give both, so maps, hotels and drivers all agree.
Ho Chi Minh City abolished district-level administration on 1 July 2025. The expanded city is organised into 168 commune-level units: 113 wards, 54 communes and one special zone.
Hotels, drivers and residents still say "District 1". Both names are useful, so this guide carries both.
Why it matters when you book: one new ward can hold very different neighbourhoods. An Khánh Ward now joins Thủ Thiêm, An Lợi Đông, Thảo Điền, An Khánh and part of An Phú, yet a hotel in Thảo Điền makes a very different stay from one in Thủ Thiêm.
- Bến Thành Ward covers Bến Thành and Phạm Ngũ Lão & Bùi Viện, so we recommend by neighbourhood, never by ward.
- An Khánh Ward covers Thảo Điền and Thủ Thiêm, so we recommend by neighbourhood, never by ward.
Which is why a search for where to sleep for three days of sightseeing will never return Vũng Tàu or Côn Đảo here.
District finder
What is your Saigon stay about?
Choose all that apply. We rank the districts against your answers and show how.
What matters most? Tap in order; the first counts most.
Your best-matched districts will appear here.
The ranking weighs our published scores against your answers. Most scores are editorial judgement, not measurements; each says which it is, and every district below shows the reasoning.
Side by side
Every district in detail
Sixteen neighbourhoods, each with its current ward and the older name your hotel booking may still use.
An Phú Bình Trưng Ward · formerly District 2 / Thủ Đức Value on the eastern side
Next door to Thảo Điền and consistently cheaper for the same kind of apartment, with the metro and the malls close by.
Stay here if
- Long stays on a budget
- Families
- Serviced apartments
- Metro access
Reconsider if
- You are here for a short sightseeing trip.
- You want walkable evenings, this is a drive-or-metro kind of address.
- Includes
- An Phú · the Metro corridor · Song Hành
- Metro Line 1
- An Phú
- Best for a stay of
- 2 weeks to several months
An Đông & Chợ Quán An Đông Ward · formerly District 5 Value, markets and everyday life
East of Chợ Lớn and rarely written about: a big market, a lot of hotels aimed at Vietnamese travellers, and prices to match.
Stay here if
- Value
- Local life
- Food
- Longer budget stays
Reconsider if
- You want an international standard of hotel.
- You want to walk to the central sights.
- Includes
- An Đông Market · Chợ Quán
- Best for a stay of
- 3–7 nights
Bàn Cờ Bàn Cờ Ward · formerly District 3 Alleys and food
A dense grid of small streets and hẻm immediately west of the centre, with an eating culture that has nothing to do with tourism and prices that reflect that.
Stay here if
- Food
- Local life
- Value
- Photography
- Repeat visitors
Reconsider if
- You want hotel facilities. Supply here is small guesthouses and apartments, not resorts.
- You are arriving late with heavy luggage and have not checked whether your street takes a car.
- Includes
- the Bàn Cờ alleys · Nguyễn Đình Chiểu · Cao Thắng
- Best for a stay of
- 3–14 nights
On the street: Much of the accommodation is down alleys. That is the appeal and the logistics problem at the same time.
Bến Thành Bến Thành Ward · formerly District 1 First-timer convenience
The market, the metro terminus and Lê Lợi. If you want one base that makes a short first trip simple, the argument for this one is mostly that everything else is easy from it.
Stay here if
- First trip
- Short stay
- Getting around without thinking
- Mixed budgets
Reconsider if
- You sleep lightly and do not check the street. This ward also contains the backpacker quarter, and the difference between its ends is the difference between two holidays.
- You want quiet mornings. The market area starts early and loudly.
- Includes
- Bến Thành Market · Lê Lợi · Lê Thánh Tôn
- Metro Line 1
- Bến Thành
- Best for a stay of
- 2–4 nights
On the street: The single most important street check in the city: Bến Thành ward runs from the market to Bùi Viện.
Chợ Lớn Chợ Lớn Ward · formerly District 5 History, temples and markets
The historic Chinese quarter, and the part of the city with the strongest sense of being somewhere specific. Temples, wholesale markets, medicine shops and food you will not find in the centre.
Stay here if
- Culture
- Food
- Photography
- Repeat visitors
- Value
Reconsider if
- It is your first trip and your list is the central landmarks. You will spend a lot of the day travelling.
- You want nightlife or international dining.
- Includes
- Bình Tây Market · Thiên Hậu temple area · the medicine streets
- Best for a stay of
- 2–4 nights
Cầu Ông Lãnh Cầu Ông Lãnh Ward · formerly District 1 Value beside the centre
The western edge of the old District 1: markets, small hotels, a lot of good cheap food, and a short walk into everything without paying the central rate.
Stay here if
- Value
- Central walking
- Food
- Solo travellers
Reconsider if
- You want quiet and you book on a main road, several here carry heavy traffic well into the night.
- You want a pool and a gym.
- Includes
- Cô Giang · Cầu Kho · Nguyễn Cư Trinh
- Best for a stay of
- 2–5 nights
On the street: Quiet alleys and loud arterials sit within a block of each other here. Look at the map before you book.
Landmark 81 & Vinhomes Central Park Thạnh Mỹ Tây Ward · formerly Bình Thạnh Modern high-rise Saigon
Towers, a riverside park, a shopping mall underneath and apartments with a view over all of it. A completely different idea of the city from anything in the old centre.
Stay here if
- Families
- Modern comfort
- Longer stays
- Pools and gyms
- Riverside space
Reconsider if
- You came for old Saigon. You will be commuting to it.
- You want to walk out of the lobby into street life.
- Includes
- Vinhomes Central Park · the riverside park · Điện Biên Phủ corridor
- Metro Line 1
- Tân Cảng, Văn Thánh
- Best for a stay of
- 4 nights to a month
Phú Mỹ Hưng Tân Hưng Ward · formerly District 7 Planned, quiet and green
A planned township in the south: wide pavements, parks, lakes, international schools and a large resident international community. The most un-Saigon part of Saigon.
Stay here if
- Families
- Long stays
- Quiet
- Business and conventions
- Space
Reconsider if
- You have two nights and came to see the city.
- You want street life. This is deliberately not that.
- Includes
- Crescent Lake · Nguyễn Đức Cảnh · the school district
- Best for a stay of
- 1 week to several months
Phú Nhuận Phú Nhuận Ward · formerly Phú Nhuận The airport–centre compromise
Between the airport and the centre, ordinary, well fed and much cheaper than District 1 for the same standard of room.
Stay here if
- Value
- Food
- Longer stays
- Early flights
- Repeat visitors
Reconsider if
- You want to walk to the landmarks.
- You are only here two nights and want everything close.
- Includes
- Phan Xích Long · Cầu Kiều · the canal streets
- Best for a stay of
- 4 nights to a month
On the street: Phan Xích Long is the eating street and stays busy; the lanes off it are residential and calm.
Phạm Ngũ Lão & Bùi Viện Bến Thành Ward · formerly District 1 Social, cheap and awake
The backpacker quarter. Hostels, cheap beds, travel agents and a street that becomes a nightclub with no roof at about nine in the evening.
Stay here if
- Backpackers
- Meeting people
- Nightlife
- Cheap beds
- Solo travellers
Reconsider if
- You are a light sleeper. This is not a matter of degree, Bùi Viện itself is genuinely loud until very late.
- You are travelling with children.
- You want a calm base to come home to.
- Includes
- Bùi Viện walking street · Đề Thám · Phạm Ngũ Lão · the quieter alleys north of Cống Quỳnh
- Best for a stay of
- 1–3 nights
On the street: Fifty metres matters more here than anywhere else in this guide. The alleys a few streets back are ordinary residential lanes at a fraction of the noise.
Thảo Điền An Khánh Ward · formerly District 2 / Thủ Đức Cafés, expats and long stays
Low-rise, leafy and full of cafés, international restaurants and serviced apartments. The metro reaching it changed the arithmetic of staying here completely.
Stay here if
- Working remotely
- A month or more
- Families
- Cafés
- Repeat visitors
Reconsider if
- You have 36 hours and want to walk between historic sights. This is the wrong side of the river for that trip.
- You want to be surrounded by Vietnamese daily life, this is the most international address in the city.
- Includes
- Thảo Điền village · Xuân Thủy · the metro corridor · the riverside lanes
- Metro Line 1
- Thảo Điền
- Best for a stay of
- 1 week to several months
On the street: Some riverside lanes sit low. Ask about heavy-rain access if you are staying through the wet season.
Thủ Thiêm An Khánh Ward · formerly District 2 / Thủ Đức New Saigon across the water
The new financial district facing the old centre across the river: wide empty boulevards, new towers, big public spaces and the best view of Saigon there is, of the skyline you are not standing in.
Stay here if
- Modern luxury
- River views
- Business
- Quiet nights
Reconsider if
- You want to walk out to dinner. Restaurant density here is still thin and distances are long.
- You want atmosphere in the evening. It is calm to the point of empty.
- Includes
- the Thủ Thiêm riverfront · the new financial district · An Lợi Đông
- Best for a stay of
- 2–5 nights
On the street: Parts of the area are still a construction site. Check what is happening next door before booking a high floor.
Tân Sơn Nhất airport area Tân Sơn Hòa Ward · formerly Tân Bình For the flight, not for the trip
Hotels clustered around the airport, existing for one reason. The distance to the centre is short and the journey is not, on these roads that depends entirely on the hour you travel.
Stay here if
- Very late arrivals
- Very early departures
- Short layovers
Reconsider if
- This is your only base for a city holiday. An airport hotel solves a transfer problem, not a trip.
- You have a whole free day, you will spend a chunk of it getting in and out.
- Includes
- Bạch Đằng (Tân Bình) · Hoàng Văn Thụ · Trường Sơn
- Best for a stay of
- 1 night
Tân Định & Đa Kao Tân Định Ward · formerly District 1 Central, but people live here
North of the tourist core and immediately more ordinary: a pink church, a proper market, streets of houses and some of the best casual eating in the central city.
Stay here if
- Food
- Second visits
- Couples
- Boutique stays
- Central without the tourist core
Reconsider if
- It is your first trip and you want to walk to every landmark. You will be taking short rides.
- You want a wide choice of large international hotels.
- Includes
- Tân Định Market · Hai Bà Trưng · Đa Kao
- Best for a stay of
- 3–7 nights
On the street: Hai Bà Trưng is a busy arterial road; the streets either side of it are markedly calmer.
Xuân Hòa Xuân Hòa Ward · formerly District 3 Boutique and central-adjacent
Tree-lined streets, restored villas and a concentration of small design-led hotels, close enough to the centre to walk in and far enough out to sleep.
Stay here if
- Boutique hotels
- Couples
- Calmer central base
- Coffee
- Second visits
Reconsider if
- You are counting every minute of a two-night trip.
- You want nightlife on your doorstep.
- Includes
- Võ Văn Tần · the villa streets · War Remnants Museum area
- Best for a stay of
- 3–7 nights
Đồng Khởi & Nguyễn Huệ Sài Gòn Ward · formerly District 1 Historic central Saigon
The colonial-era core: the Opera House, the Post Office, the walking street and the riverfront, with the densest concentration of grand hotels in the country. You can see most of the first-time list without getting into anything.
Stay here if
- First trip
- Short stay
- Luxury
- Couples
- Business
- Architecture
Reconsider if
- You want somewhere that feels lived-in rather than visited, this is the most tourist-facing address in the city.
- You are on a tight budget. You pay a premium here for metres, not for quality.
- Includes
- Đồng Khởi · Nguyễn Huệ walking street · Bạch Đằng riverfront
- Metro Line 1
- Opera House, Ba Son
- Best for a stay of
- 1–4 nights
On the street: Nguyễn Huệ is a pedestrian street that stays busy and loud late at weekends. One block back is a different night.
Before you book
What guests wish they had checked
- Booking a district name instead of a street The single biggest one. Two hotels can both truthfully say "central Saigon" and give you completely different trips. Look at where the pin actually is.
- Not checking what is downstairs A bar, a wedding venue, a main road or a construction site changes a stay more than anything in the room description.
- Treating distance as time Four kilometres is twelve minutes at ten in the morning and forty at six in the evening. Plan around the hour, not the map.
- Basing a whole trip at the airport Sensible for one night around an awkward flight. A poor headquarters for four days of sightseeing.
- Not checking the window Cheap central rooms are frequently windowless or face a wall. It is usually in the listing if you look for it.
- Assuming the star rating means what it means at home An official Vietnamese classification and a booking-site category are two different claims. So is a hotel calling itself five-star.
- Ignoring the metro Line 1 changed which addresses are convenient. A lot of advice still written online predates it.
- Booking an apartment that cannot register you Check before you pay, not at eleven at night on arrival.
What is a hẻm?
A hẻm is an alley, and a very large amount of this city lives down one. A hotel in a hẻm is usually quieter, cheaper and surrounded by better food than the same room on the main road. The trade-offs are real but ordinary: a car may not reach the door, luggage may go the last fifty metres on foot, and finding it the first time in the dark takes a minute. None of that makes an alley unsafe, it makes it an alley.
Why the hotel asks for your passport
Accommodation in Vietnam is required to make a temporary-residence declaration for foreign guests, which is why a legitimate hotel asks to take your passport details at check-in.
Hand passport details to the property through its own check-in, not to a messaging app or a stranger. And if an apartment cannot do this at all, that is a reason to look elsewhere rather than a detail to work around.
Before booking an apartment or homestay, check it can actually register foreign guests. A beautiful view is not worth arriving to a building that cannot legally check you in.
Star ratings, explained
Only the Department of Tourism's classification list may sit behind the words "officially rated". A booking-platform category is a separate thing with separate criteria.
We do not restate a platform's star count as an official rating, and neither should anybody else.
Hotel numbers in context
Scope Scope: the WHOLE expanded municipality, every class of tourist accommodation. Not central Saigon, and not comparable to the figures below.
Scope Scope: properties carrying an official Vietnamese star classification. A booking site calling something five-star is a different claim with a different meaning.
Scope Scope: JLL's midscale-and-above market definition. This is a SUBSET of the 106,292 figure, not an addition to it.
Scope Scope: Savills' surveyed hotel stock only. Not a citywide average and not what you will pay in a hostel or a serviced apartment.
Three different organisations counting three different things. The Department of Tourism counts every tourist accommodation establishment in the expanded municipality; JLL counts midscale-and-above hotels in its own market definition; Savills reports on a surveyed sample. Adding them together produces a number that describes nothing.
Three things we leave out on purpose
Live room prices need a licensed booking or property feed, sampled across dates and days of the week, and reported as medians and percentiles rather than an average. We have not connected one, so this page shows no nightly price. An invented price is worse than no price: it is the number somebody budgets their trip around.
"Four kilometres" means nothing in this city, the same trip can be twelve minutes or forty depending on the hour. Honest travel times need a traffic-aware routing provider sampled at 08:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 23:00. Until we hold that, this page describes distance in words and refuses to print minutes.
"37 restaurants within a 15-minute walk" requires a licensed POI dataset and a real isochrone. Counting them by hand and calling it data would be a lie with a decimal point in it.
On the map
District 1 / central Saigon
Officially: Now organised as central wards including Saigon, Ben Thanh and Cau Ong Lanh
The postcard city. Colonial landmarks, the walking street, the big hotels and the highest concentration of English.
- Suits
- You can walk to most of the landmarks, and everything is signposted in English.
- Less so
- The most expensive beds in the city, and the food nearest the landmarks is the least interesting.
District 3
Officially: Now wards including Ban Co, Xuan Hoa and Nhieu Loc
Tree-lined streets, older villas, serious coffee and restaurants that locals actually book.
- Suits
- Ten minutes from the centre, noticeably calmer, and the food is better for the money.
- Less so
- Fewer late bars; you will be taking a Grab home.
Thảo Điền
Officially: Now part of the eastern wards, formerly Thu Duc City
Riverside, leafy, international. Brunch, gyms, co-working and a large expat community.
- Suits
- Quiet, green, easy with children, and the most reliable wifi in the city.
- Less so
- It is a long way from central Saigon, and it does not feel especially Vietnamese.
Bình Thạnh
Officially: Now wards including Binh Thanh, Gia Dinh and Thanh My Tay
Where the tallest tower meets ordinary neighbourhood life. Rapidly changing, still affordable.
- Suits
- Good value, real neighbourhood food, close enough to the centre to be practical.
- Less so
- Fewer signs in English and less obvious to navigate on a first visit.
Phạm Ngũ Lão / Bùi Viện
Officially: Within the central Cau Ong Lanh ward area
The backpacker street. Loud, cheap, sociable, and extremely loud again at 1am.
- Suits
- The cheapest central beds and the easiest place to meet other travellers.
- Less so
- Genuinely noisy until very late. Ask for a room at the back, or stay a street or two away.
Chợ Lớn
Officially: Now wards including Cho Lon, An Dong and Binh Tay
The Chinese quarter. Temples, herb shops, wholesale markets and the oldest street life in the city.
- Suits
- The most atmospheric daytime walking in the city, and almost no tour groups.
- Less so
- Far from the centre, hot, and very little English.
Phú Nhuận
Officially: Now wards including Phu Nhuan, Duc Nhuan and Cau Kieu
Residential, unglamorous, excellent to eat in. On the way to the airport.
- Suits
- Neighbourhood prices, neighbourhood food, and a short hop to the airport.
- Less so
- Not much to look at, and few landmarks.
Nguyễn Huệ & the riverfront
Officially: Central Saigon ward
The pedestrian boulevard and the river path. Where the whole city walks in the evening.
- Suits
- The single best free thing to do at 7pm. Cafés stacked vertically in old apartment blocks.
- Less so
- Expensive to stay on, and it empties in the daytime heat.
Getting around
Moving around the city
Ride-hailing apps
Ideal for: Almost everything
The default way to move. Price is fixed in the app before you accept, which removes the entire category of fare arguments.
Short central trips are typically the cheapest motorised option; a car costs roughly double a bike for the same route.
Match the plate number before getting in. At peak times and in rain, expect a wait and a surcharge.
Metro Line 1
Ideal for: The central–east corridor, avoiding traffic
Bến Thành to Suối Tiên. Fourteen stations, close to 20km, roughly 30 minutes end to end. Air-conditioned, and it does not sit in traffic.
Single trips run about 6,000–20,000₫ depending on distance and whether you pay cashless; a day pass and a monthly pass are also sold.
It is one line. It is excellent for the corridor it serves and irrelevant for everywhere else.
Walking
Ideal for: Short hops inside one neighbourhood
The centre is genuinely walkable. Beyond it, distances and heat both stack up faster than the map suggests.
Free.
Pavements are often parked on. You will walk in the road sometimes, stay predictable and keep to the edge.
Metered taxis
Ideal for: When your phone is dead
Established companies run honest meters. The app is still simpler because the price is agreed up front.
Use a company you recognise from the rank, and check the meter starts.
City buses
Ideal for: Cheap longer crossings, airport runs
Extensive, very cheap, and harder to use without Vietnamese or a mapping app that speaks bus.
Have small notes. Routes change.
Renting a motorbike
Ideal for: Confident riders on a longer stay
Cheap and liberating if you already ride. Saigon traffic is not where you learn.
Licence and insurance requirements are real and are checked. Confirm what your travel insurance actually covers before you ride.
Food
Eating in Saigon
The dishes that tell you most of what this city cooks, and when to order them.
Cơm tấm “kum tum”
Broken rice with grilled pork, pickles and a fried egg.
Breakfast and lunch, all over the city.
The most Saigon dish there is. Northern cities barely eat it.
Bánh mì “bun mee”
A baguette that went to Vietnam and improved: pâté, cold cuts, pickled vegetables, chilli, coriander.
Any time. Best from a cart with a queue.
Say "không cay" if you do not want chilli.
Phở “fuh”
Beef or chicken noodle soup, built on a long-simmered broth.
Traditionally breakfast.
Southern phở arrives with a plate of herbs and sauces. Adding them is expected, not sacrilege.
Bún thịt nướng “boon tit nuong”
Cold rice noodles, grilled pork, herbs, peanuts, fish sauce.
Lunch, especially when it is too hot for soup.
Ask for it without peanuts if you have an allergy, "không đậu phộng".
Bánh xèo “bun say-oh”
A big turmeric crêpe with pork and prawn, wrapped in herbs and lettuce by hand.
Late afternoon into evening.
Eaten with your hands. Watch the next table first.
Hủ tiếu “hoo tyoo”
Southern noodle soup with a clearer, sweeter broth. Order it dry and the soup arrives on the side.
Breakfast, or 2am.
The Chợ Lớn version is the one to seek out.
Gỏi cuốn “goy kuun”
Fresh rice-paper rolls with prawn, pork, herbs and noodles. Not fried.
Any time. A good first dish if you are cautious.
The peanut dipping sauce is the allergen, not the roll.
Cà phê sữa đá “ca fe sua da”
Strong drip coffee over condensed milk and ice.
Morning, and again at 3pm when the heat wins.
Robusta, not arabica. It is meant to be this strong.
Bạc xỉu “bak siu”
Much more milk, much less coffee. The gentle option.
When cà phê sữa đá would end your afternoon.
Originally from the Chinese community in Chợ Lớn.
Chè “chair”
A whole family of sweet cups, beans, jelly, fruit, coconut milk, crushed ice.
Late afternoon, or after dinner.
Point at what looks good. That is the accepted method.
Dietary needs
Tôi ăn chay “toy an chay”
Buddhist vegetarian food ("cơm chay") is widespread and genuinely good. Fish sauce is the thing to ask about.
Tôi ăn thuần chay “toy an twun chay”
Cơm chay restaurants are usually the easiest route. Eggs and condensed milk are the common surprises.
Tôi bị dị ứng đậu phộng “toy bee zee ung dow fong”
Peanuts are common in dressings and garnishes. Worth having this written down as well as spoken.
Không cay “khong kai”
Southern food is milder than people expect; chilli is usually added by you at the table.
Reading about cơm tấm is one thing. Being taken to the place somebody has eaten at since they were a child is another.
Explore Saigon food with a Local HostThe day
Hour by hour
With the practical side settled, this is how a day here feels.
-
06:30
The city is already up
Parks fill with exercise groups, pavement cafés put out stools, and breakfast is served on the street. This is the coolest and best hour of the day.
-
09:00
Landmarks before the heat
Colonial architecture and museums while it is still bearable to be outside.
-
12:00
Lunch, then hide
Cơm tấm, then get indoors. Locals do not spend midday in the sun and neither should you.
-
15:00
Coffee, or rain
In wet season the afternoon downpour arrives hard and leaves quickly. Sit it out with a coffee; it is rarely an all-day event.
-
17:30
The city changes shift
Traffic peaks, the light goes gold, and the riverfront and Nguyễn Huệ fill up with families.
-
19:00
Dinner properly
Bánh xèo, a beer corner, or a restaurant in District 3. This is when the food is at its best.
-
21:00
Choose your night
Rooftop, live music, plastic stools on the pavement, or a walk along the river. All of them are the real city.
-
00:00
Late food
Hủ tiếu carts, late bánh mì, and the quietest the streets ever get.
Visa & entry
Do you need a visa for Vietnam?
Choose your passport and describe the trip. The checker shows which entry routes apply, why, and the official source for each. The detail below is there whenever you want it.
Entry checker
Which passport will you travel on?
Choose a passport and your entry routes appear here.
A planning aid built from published rules. It is not legal advice and does not guarantee entry: admission is decided by the immigration authority at the border. Everything below reads fine without it.
Getting a visa
Three ways to enterExemption, e-visa, or a visa from an embassy.
Every visitor enters on one of three arrangements. Yours depends on nationality, passport type, purpose and length of stay.
- Visa exemption. Your nationality is named in a current exemption programme, so a qualifying short visit needs no visa.
- E-visa. Requested online before you travel. Every nationality may apply.
- A visa from an embassy or consulate, or one arranged by a sponsor in Vietnam. This covers long stays, work, study and anything the first two do not.
Viet Nam issues e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories. There is no nationality shortlist.
Opened to all nationalities in August 2023. Any list claiming only selected nationalities may apply predates that change.
The e-visaUp to 90 days, single or multiple entry, open to every nationality.
An e-visa is valid for a maximum of 90 days, single or multiple entry. You choose which when you apply.
Viet Nam issues e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories. There is no nationality shortlist.
Opened to all nationalities in August 2023. Any list claiming only selected nationalities may apply predates that change.
The e-visa opened to every country and territory in August 2023. Older eligibility lists still appear in search results, and they are wrong.
The self-service e-visa is for foreigners outside Viet Nam who wish to enter. The immigration FAQ states that after leaving Viet Nam a foreigner may request an e-visa.
This is the rule that governs visa-run planning, and the reason we will not tell anybody to apply for a fresh e-visa from their apartment in Saigon.
FeesUS$25 single entry, US$50 multiple entry.
The Ministry of Finance sets the state fee. It is the same for every nationality and is paid on the government portal.
| Category | Official fee |
|---|---|
| Single entry e-visa | US$25 |
| Multiple entry, valid under 90 days e-visa | US$50 |
| Multiple entry, 90 days to 180 days | US$95 |
| Multiple entry, over 180 days to 1 year | US$135 |
| Multiple entry, over 1 year to 2 years | US$145 |
| Multiple entry, 2 to 5 years | US$155 |
| Multiple entry, 5 to 10 years | US$165 |
| Visa for a person under 14, any validity | US$25 |
| Transfer of visa or residence validity to a new passport | US$5 |
| Certificate of visa exemption | US$10 |
| Temporary stay extension, per time | US$10 |
These figures come from the instrument named above but have not yet been checked line by line against its published text. Treat them as a planning guide and confirm anything you are relying on.
The fee buys the application, not the visa. It is not refunded if the visa is not granted.
An agency charges the state fee plus its own service fee. Paying someone to fill in the form is a fair choice, but it is never required, and no agency can influence the decision.
Government portal, agency or scamThree different things. Only two are legitimate.
Search for “Vietnam e-visa” and most of the first results are not the government. That is not wrong in itself, visa help is a lawful service, but know which site you are on before you type in your passport number.
Government portal
- Address
- evisa.gov.vn, a
.gov.vndomain - Run by
- Vietnam Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security
- Fee
- The state fee only: US$25 or US$50
- Decides your visa
- Yes
Visa help company
- Address
- A commercial domain, often with “vietnam”, “evisa” or “official” in it
- Run by
- A private business, normally named in the footer or terms
- Fee
- The state fee plus a service charge, which should be listed separately
- Decides your visa
- No. It submits an application, as you could
Warning signs
- Poses as the government or copies the state emblem
- No company name, address or registration anywhere
- Will not show which part of the price is the state fee
- Promises approval, or approval by a set date
- Wants payment by bank transfer, crypto or gift card
- No privacy policy for your passport scan
Viet Nam issues e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories. There is no nationality shortlist.
Opened to all nationalities in August 2023. Any list claiming only selected nationalities may apply predates that change.
A commercial site is not a fraudulent one, and we accuse no one. Judge a site by what it actually shows you.
The error behind most refusalsYour name, exactly as the machine-readable lines print it.
Enter surname, middle name and given name exactly as they appear in the machine-readable (ICAO) line of your passport, in uppercase.
The most common cause of a refused application, and the one entirely within the applicant's control.
Turn to the page with your photo. The two lines of capitals and chevrons along the bottom are the machine-readable zone. That spelling, in that order, is what the system expects.
How to read it
- Line one opens with the document type and the issuing state.
- The surname comes next.
- A double chevron
<<ends the surname. - Then the given names, with single chevrons between them. Any name after the first is your middle name.
On the form, then
- Surname: SPECIMEN
- Given name: ADAOBI
- Middle name: NGOZI
- Capitals only. No accents the passport lacks, no nickname, no shortened or everyday name.
Copy the zone exactly. Many refusals come from people “tidying” their own name into the shape they think the form wants.
Before you submitA failed application does not get its fee back.
- Name as on the machine-readable lines, in capitals, in order
- Passport number checked one character at a time (zero or letter O, one or letter I)
- Date of birth in the format the form requests
- Nationality as printed in the passport, not where you live
- Passport expiry entered, with plenty of time left
- Entry date matches your ticket
- Exit date falls after your entry date
- Single or multiple entry, chosen for your real route
- Entry point is the one you will actually arrive through
- Portrait and passport data page in the required format
- An email address you can open while travelling
- Every answer true
Applications must be complete, accurate and truthful. An application containing dishonest information may be refused.
Keep your application code: you need it to retrieve the visa, and it is not sent again. Print the visa as well as saving it on your phone.
Processing time and when to applyNo processing time is guaranteed. Plan with room to spare.
The immigration portal publishes no processing-time guarantee. Agencies advertise three to five working days; we will not print a number that would have somebody book a non-refundable flight around it. Apply early and treat approval as unscheduled.
Enter your arrival date in the checker and it suggests a latest day to apply, counted in Vietnamese working days. That margin is ours, not a government promise, which matters before you book a non-refundable flight.
- Working days run on Vietnam time, UTC+7. Applying at 11 pm in Lagos means applying the next day in Hanoi.
- Weekends and public holidays do not count.
- Tết and the Hùng Kings commemoration follow the lunar calendar and move every year, and Tết closes government offices for around a week. We do not compute them, so the timing calculator warns rather than pretending to have counted them.
- A correction request restarts the wait, so a form that is right the first time is also the quickest.
Passport validity: two different testsThere is no single “six months” rule.
E-visa validity must be at least 30 days shorter than your passport's remaining validity.
This is a different test from the six-month rule that applies to unilateral visa-free entry. Neither one is universal.
Visa-free entry granted by Vietnam alone is the stricter case: under Vietnam's entry law the passport must be valid for at least six months beyond entry. The two routes use different numbers, and an article that blends them into one rule will tell someone with five months left that they are fine.
Add your expiry date in the checker and it applies the test for the route you are using. If in doubt, travel on a passport with plenty of validity beyond the minimum and confirm the current official rule.
Who needs no visa
Visa-free staysTwo programmes, each with its own end date.
These are often reported as one list of countries with one end date. They are two resolutions with different windows, and merging them gives half the list the wrong end date.
Unilateral 45-day exemption
Resolution 44/NQ-CP, unilateral visa exemptionUp to 45 days · in force 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Norway
- Russia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
Applies to ordinary passports for qualifying short visits. It is not a work or study permission.
Tourism stimulus 45-day exemption
Resolution 229/NQ-CP, tourism stimulus visa exemptionUp to 45 days · in force 15 August 2025 to 14 August 2028
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Switzerland
A separate programme with its own end date: 14 August 2028.
These figures come from the instrument named above but have not yet been checked line by line against its published text. Treat them as a planning guide and confirm anything you are relying on. Confirm your nationality against the resolution, or with the Vietnamese embassy or consulate that serves you.
The old requirement to wait 30 days between visa-free entries was abolished by the 2019 amendments to the immigration law.
Removing the interval did not remove the conditions. Visa-free entry still depends on current eligibility and on the officer at the border.
The Consular Department publishes a list of visa-exemption agreements between Viet Nam and other countries, updated 10 April 2026. We have not ingested it. Until we have, every bilateral agreement in this engine reads NEEDS CHECK rather than "exempt", because most of these agreements cover diplomatic and official passports only, and reading one as a tourist exemption is the most damaging mistake available in this subject.
Phú QuốcUp to 30 days on the island, and nowhere else.
Foreign visitors travelling to Phú Quốc may qualify for a visa exemption of up to 30 days under the island's special regime.
The Phú Quốc exemption is for Phú Quốc. Travelling on to the mainland, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, requires the appropriate immigration status for the mainland.
If your itinerary includes the mainland at all, plan the mainland permission first and treat the island exemption as irrelevant to it.
If any part of the trip is on the mainland, arrange mainland permission first; the island rule does not help with it. Tick “Phú Quốc is my only stop” in the checker to see the island case on its own.
Vietnamese origin, spouses and childrenThe Certificate of Visa Exemption, which is not a five-year tourist visa.
Viet Nam issues a Certificate of Visa Exemption to Vietnamese people residing overseas and to eligible foreign spouses and children of Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese.
The certificate can be issued with validity of up to five years, and must be shorter than the holder's passport or travel document by the required margin.
A person entering on a visa-exemption certificate may be granted a temporary stay of up to six months per entry, subject to the certificate's remaining validity.
Five years is how long the certificate lasts. Six months is how long one entry may let you stay. They are not the same claim.
Five years is the longest the certificate can last. Six months is the longest one entry on it may let you stay. A “five-year visa” is the two run together.
Is there a visa on arrival?Not as a general counter for tourists, whatever older articles say.
Viet Nam does not run a general tourist visa-on-arrival counter. Visas at a border gate are limited to specific statutory circumstances, such as entering from a country with no Vietnamese visa-issuing mission, joining a tour run by a licensed Vietnamese international travel enterprise, certain crew, and emergency, funeral or medical cases.
For an ordinary tourist the planning route is visa-free eligibility or an approved e-visa, arranged BEFORE you fly.
The "visa approval letter, then stamp on arrival" process that fills older travel articles belonged to an earlier arrangement. Do not plan a trip around an article that does not say when it was written.
For an ordinary visitor the route is visa-free eligibility or an approved e-visa, arranged before departure. Airlines can, and do, refuse boarding without entry permission.
Where you arrive
Points of entryAn e-visa works only at a designated checkpoint.
An e-visa may only be used at a designated international border gate, and you name your intended entry point on the application.
The list of border gates accepting e-visas was expanded in December 2025, reportedly adding 41 gates for a total of 83.
Any article naming "about 30" or "about 40" e-visa checkpoints predates this expansion.
These figures come from the instrument named above but have not yet been checked line by line against its published text. Treat them as a planning guide and confirm anything you are relying on. The immigration portal's own list decides; check it before you book.
The entry points travellers use most:
- Tan Son Nhat International AirportHo Chi Minh City
- Noi Bai International AirportHanoi
- Da Nang International AirportDa Nang
- Cam Ranh International AirportNha Trang
- Phu Quoc International AirportPhu Quoc
- Can Tho International AirportCan Tho
- Cat Bi International AirportHai Phong
- Phu Bai International AirportHue
- Van Don International AirportQuang Ninh
- Mộc Bài land border gateTay Ninh
A shortlist to orient you, not the legal list. The designated list changed twice in two years, so read it on the portal before you fix your route.
Entry dates, midnight and delaysYour permission begins on a set date.
An e-visa is valid from the date you chose. Four cases are worth a thought before you book:
- Visa from 1 September, landing on 31 August. You would arrive before your permission begins.
- An overnight flight. What counts is the date you reach immigration in Vietnam, not the date you took off.
- A delay past midnight. Leave a margin at both ends instead of choosing the exact day of a tight connection.
- A land crossing late at night. The same risk, with fewer people around to help.
Choose the date you will really be at the desk, with room either side.
The pre-arrival formThe portal calls it recommended, so we do too.
The immigration portal recommends completing Viet Nam's pre-arrival form before you travel, to save time at the border.
If an official source says it is mandatory, that source outranks us, and we would like to see it. We will not change “recommended” to “mandatory” on our own.
Leaving and returning
Single or multiple entryThe choice that decides whether a side trip to Cambodia works.
Single entry
Made for one entry. Leaving Vietnam does not mean the unused days let you return; they do not, automatically.
Multiple entry
May allow more than one entry while the visa is valid, on its own terms. Choose it from the start if your route goes Vietnam, Cambodia, then Vietnam again.
Both are available for up to 90 days. Multiple entry costs US$50 against US$25, far less than a second application and a changed flight.
Leaving and re-entering, lawfullyPlanning an exit and a return. It resets nothing.
Leaving does not renew a permission, and no one can promise you will be allowed back in. What it really means: you leave lawfully before your stay ends, then return on a permission that is valid on that day.
-
Before your stay ends
Leave Vietnam lawfully, ahead of the last day. Never let the date pass while you decide.
-
Once you are outside Vietnam
This is when you may request a new e-visa if you need one. The online system is for people outside the country.
-
Wait for the decision
Do not head back to the border expecting approval. No processing time is published to plan around.
-
Return
Only with valid permission in hand. Entry is still the border officer's decision.
The self-service e-visa is for foreigners outside Viet Nam who wish to enter. The immigration FAQ states that after leaving Viet Nam a foreigner may request an e-visa.
This is the rule that governs visa-run planning, and the reason we will not tell anybody to apply for a fresh e-visa from their apartment in Saigon.
Neighbouring countries set their own rules
Runs an official e-visa system and publishes which border points accept which of its visa products, alongside an electronic arrival process. Check both before travelling to a land border.
The Lao Immigration Department states that visa requirements depend on nationality. There is no universal visa on arrival.
Operates a nationality-based checker and e-visa system that asks for passport country, travel-document country, length of stay and visa category.
Requirements differ by nationality, and Malaysia also operates a Digital Arrival Card process.
We give no answer by nationality for these: each is another country's immigration law, and only its own authority can say. Check yours before buying a ticket to a land border.
Applying again from inside VietnamA common question, answered plainly.
The self-service e-visa is for foreigners outside Viet Nam who wish to enter. The immigration FAQ states that after leaving Viet Nam a foreigner may request an e-visa.
This is the rule that governs visa-run planning, and the reason we will not tell anybody to apply for a fresh e-visa from their apartment in Saigon.
That advice is common online, and it is not what the immigration FAQ says.
Separately, a foreigner already in Viet Nam may be eligible for a new visa where an eligible authority, organisation or individual invites or sponsors them under Vietnamese immigration law.
That is a different process from applying for another e-visa yourself without leaving. Whether you qualify depends on your status, your sponsor and your purpose, so it needs individual advice.
If something goes wrong
Refused, delayed or incorrectWhat to check, and what no one can promise.
If it was refused
A refusal usually comes without a reason, and we will not guess at yours. Check these first:
- Name against the machine-readable lines: spelling, order, capitals
- Passport number, one character at a time
- Date of birth and nationality, character for character
- Document type: an emergency or temporary document is not an ordinary passport
- Photo and data-page scan in the required format
- Every field complete and consistent with the others
A service that promises a guaranteed result, an override, a same-day decision or a cleared immigration record is promising what it cannot do. The fee is not refunded after a refusal either.
If it is taking long
With no published processing time, “late” is hard to define. Contact the portal's own support with your application code, and do not start a second application before you know what it does to the first.
If an issued visa has a mistake
A wrong name, a missing middle name, a wrong passport number, date of birth, nationality, sex, entry date or entry point, a new passport since you applied, a changed flight: each has its own answer, and that answer comes from the portal's current support procedure, not from us.
If you have overstayedUrgent and fixable. Do not hide it.
An overstay breaks immigration law. It also happens to many people through a delayed flight or a misread date, and the answer is the same either way: deal with it at once, and openly.
- Act before your permission expires, not after.
- Do not conceal an overstay or hope it is not noticed at the gate.
- Do not treat "pay a fine at the airport" as a plan, it is an outcome somebody else got, not a procedure you can rely on.
- Contact Vietnam Immigration, or qualified immigration assistance, promptly. Bring your passport and every immigration document you hold.
- Resolve your status before booking complicated onward travel.
Current fines
Set by Decree 282/2025/ND-CP, administrative penalties, in force from 15 December 2025. It replaced Decree 144/2021/ND-CP, the table most travel articles still show.
| Length of overstay | Fine |
|---|---|
| Under 16 days | 500,000–2,000,000₫ |
| 16 to under 30 days | 5,000,000–10,000,000₫ |
| 30 to under 60 days | 10,000,000–15,000,000₫ |
| 60 to under 90 days | 15,000,000–20,000,000₫ |
| 180 days to under 1 year | 25,000,000–30,000,000₫ |
| More than 1 year | 30,000,000–40,000,000₫ |
These figures come from the instrument named above but have not yet been checked line by line against its published text. Treat them as a planning guide and confirm anything you are relying on. If this is your situation, act on the figure the authority gives you, not on this table.
Depending on the clause applied and the circumstances, expulsion may be imposed in addition to a fine for several categories of immigration violation.
The result can include a fine, immigration processing, an order to leave, expulsion in some cases, and effects on future travel. No one can promise the outcome in advance.
Extensions and longer staysDecided case by case. A blanket yes is a guess.
Vietnamese law provides for extending a temporary stay, and the current fee schedule lists a US$10 charge for it. That shows the process exists. It does not show that you qualify: that depends on your visa type, purpose, sponsor and circumstances.
Separately, a foreigner already in Viet Nam may be eligible for a new visa where an eligible authority, organisation or individual invites or sponsors them under Vietnamese immigration law.
So to “can I extend my tourist e-visa?” the honest answer is that it depends on your case, and Vietnam Immigration or a qualified immigration adviser can tell you once they see your status.
Every option is easier while your stay is still valid.
A lost or replaced passportYour visa belongs to a document, not to you.
Passport lost or stolen while in Vietnam
- Report the loss as local rules require.
- Ask your embassy or consulate for a replacement or an emergency travel document.
- Settle your Vietnamese immigration record: your permission was linked to the lost document.
- Arrange exit papers before you book a flight out.
If you received a new passport after the visa was issued
The current fee schedule lists a US$5 charge for moving a visa, temporary residence or remaining stay to a new passport in qualifying cases. Ask about that process rather than travelling on whichever passport seems simpler: arriving with a visa in a cancelled document is an avoidable problem.
Travellers from Africa
Vietnam visas for African passportsBegin here: much of what is written on this is wrong.
Vietnam issues e-visas to citizens of every country and territory. Pages claiming some African nationalities cannot apply date from before August 2023, and still rank in search.
Viet Nam issues e-visas to citizens of all countries and territories. There is no nationality shortlist.
Opened to all nationalities in August 2023. Any list claiming only selected nationalities may apply predates that change.
We will not print “Africans need a visa” as a blanket rule, because it is not one rule. It depends on your nationality, your passport type, any Vietnamese-origin or family status, and whether you are visiting only Phú Quốc. For an ordinary tourist passport with no mainland exemption, the e-visa is the usual online route, and it is open to you.
Check your passport
The checker above lists all 54 African states. Choose yours to see the routes, the fee and the reasoning.
Is a yellow fever certificate needed?For Vietnam itself, no. For your route, check every country on it.
Yellow fever vaccination is not required for entry to Viet Nam, and is not recommended simply because you are travelling to Viet Nam.
Your origin country, any transit country and your next destination may each impose their own yellow-fever requirements. Vietnam saying no does not mean your transit hub says no.
Your departure country, each transit country and your next destination may set their own yellow fever rules, some only for travellers coming from certain countries. Check every leg, not only the last.
Changing planes on the wayA Vietnam e-visa does not get you through a third country.
On many routes from Africa the harder question is the connecting airport, not the Vietnam visa. Whether you need a transit visa depends on:
- Your passport and that country's rules for it
- The airport, sometimes the terminal
- Whether you stay airside or pass immigration
- Whether your bags are checked through or collected
- Whether a terminal change takes you landside
- One booking or two separate tickets
- The length of the layover
Check with the transit country's own immigration authority for your nationality and route. Common connections between Africa and Vietnam include Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Istanbul, Cairo, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong, each with its own rules.
Separate tickets are the usual trap: if the first flight is late, the second airline owes you nothing, and rebooking can leave you landside in a country you had no permission to enter.
Good to know
Before you go
Staying safe
The one genuinely common crime against visitors, usually from a passing motorbike. Do not walk along the kerb holding your phone out. Bag on the far shoulder, strap across the body.
Far more likely to hurt you than crime. Cross predictably, never sprint, and be careful stepping off a kerb.
Do not drink the tap water. Commercial ice, the uniform cylinders with a hole through the middle, is produced for food service and is normal to use.
Cards work in hotels, malls and modern cafés. Street food, markets and small restaurants are cash. Carry small notes; nobody wants to break a 500,000₫ for a 25,000₫ coffee.
Keep the passport in the hotel safe and carry a photo of it. Have travel insurance that actually covers motorbikes if you intend to be on one.
Local courtesy
In homes, in many temples, and in some small shops. If there is a pile of shoes at the door, add yours to it.
Passing or receiving something, money, a card, a gift, with two hands reads as respect. It costs nothing and is noticed.
Shoulders and knees covered. Keep your voice down, and ask before photographing people at prayer.
Expected in markets, not in restaurants, cafés or shops with printed prices. Keep it friendly; it is not a contest.
Not traditionally expected and never demanded. It is welcome for good service, and increasingly common in tourist areas.
Ask. A gesture at the camera and a smile is enough, and the answer is usually yes, which makes a much better photo.
Common misconceptions
The whole city is walkable.
The centre is. Beyond that, distances that look short on a map are 25 minutes in 34°C heat.
Street food will make me ill.
A busy cart with high turnover is often safer than a quiet restaurant. Follow the queue, and the local lunch hour.
I'm a millionaire, look at these numbers.
The notes have a lot of zeros. Learn the colours, and check the number of digits before handing anything over.
Rainy season means the trip is ruined.
It usually means a heavy downpour in the afternoon that passes. You plan around an hour, not a fortnight.
Everyone speaks English.
In hotels and tourist cafés, largely. In the neighbourhood restaurant where the food is best, often not at all.
Phrases worth learning
Itineraries
How to spend your days
Choose how you travel and the plans below reorder to suit. No account needed.
24 hours
- Breakfast on the street
- Central landmarks on foot
- Lunch and an air-conditioned museum
- Riverfront at sunset
- Dinner and one rooftop
3 days
- Day 1: central Saigon and the riverfront
- Day 2: Chợ Lớn, markets and coffee
- Day 3: the tunnels or the Mekong, then a last dinner
5 days
- Two days central
- One day Chợ Lớn and District 3
- One day out of the city
- One day with no plan at all, the best one
Food-first weekend
- Cơm tấm breakfast
- A market lunch
- Coffee crawl through District 3
- Bánh xèo dinner
- A late hủ tiếu cart
With a Local Host
What no guide can show you.
The pages above get you oriented. The café up a staircase, the family kitchen with no sign and the district that makes sense at 6 am are best seen with someone who lives here.
Reading about cơm tấm is one thing. Being taken to the place somebody has eaten at since they were a child is another.
Explore Saigon food with a Local HostThe rooftops are easy to find. The beer corner where the neighbourhood actually drinks is not.
Find a Local Host for the eveningThe best cafés in this city are up unmarked staircases behind shopfronts.
Discover hidden cafés with a Local HostEverything here is easier the second time. A local makes the first time feel like the second.
Meet someone who knows the city