Ho Chi Minh City

Best Things To Do

Ho Chi Minh City offers plenty of places where you can take your children. One place to spend the day is the Saigon Zoo. With 133 years of operation, it’s is one the oldest zoos world. The wide variety of indigenous animals, the aquariums and the museum can keep children occupied for the entire day. Several temples are also found in its extensive grounds.

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City guide section

Top picks in Ho Chi Minh City

Showing 1–24 of 26 places

Browse the highlights below, then open any place for maps, area notes, and practical details.

What to do with Children in Tow

Ho Chi Minh City offers plenty of places where you can take your children. One place to spend the day is the Saigon Zoo. With 133 years of operation, it’s is one the oldest zoos world.

The Saigon Opera House

Also known as the Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theatre, the Opera House is a beautiful example of French Colonial architecture from 1897.

Buu Dien Truong Tam (Post Office)

This is the historic post office was built in the 19th century European style and features an enormous portrait of the former president Ho Chi Minh.

Saigon Square

This is a popular spot for both tourists and the younger crowd, where Russian Market stores can be found selling cheap watches, T-shirts, DVDs, clothes, slippers and the like.

City Hall

Formerly known as the Hotel de Ville and rebranded as the People’s Committee Hall, the City Hall is a strikingly beautiful French colonial building and an important monument to the Vietnamese.

Bink Quoi Tourist Village

The Bink Quoi Tourist Village was built in 1994 by the Saigon Tourist Corporation. It is the largest tourist attraction in all of Ho Chi Minh City, offering an evening dinner cruise with a cultural show.

Cong Vien Van Hoa Park

This club was once used by French colonists. It is shaded by trees and has a number of tennis courts, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and table tennis facilities.

The Fine Art Museum

The Fine Art Museum is widely known for its spectacular range of artifacts including contemporary paintings, some of which can be bought.

Mariamman Hindu Temple

The Mariamman Hindu Temple is approximately 3 blocks from the Ben Thanh Market and was built in the 19th century and dedicated to the Hindu goddess, Mariamman.

Ben Thanh Market

The Ben Thanh Market is the biggest attraction in Ho Chi Min City for all tourists as it is the main shopping centre and everyone visiting Vietnam comes here looking for bargains.

Thao Cam Vien (Zoo and Botanical Gardens)

The Botanical Gardens were established in 1864 by the French and were once the finest in all of Asia. Tropical plants and trees are a huge attraction here.

Vien Bao Tang Lich Su (Museum of Vietnamese History)

The historical museum built in 1929 consists of a wide collection of artifacts depicting over 2,000 years of Vietnamese history from ancient dynasties to independence.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

Formerly known as the Revolutionary Museum and housed in the former building of the Government of Cochinchina, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum contains valuable artifacts from the Communist period.

Reunification Palace

The Reunification Palace, once referred to as Norodom’s Palace and Independence Palace, is a monument of great historic importance to the Vietnamese and the site of many power transfers.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

This cathedral, with its two bell towers, was built between 1863 and 1880 and remains a famous landmark of Ho Chi Minh City.

Xa Loi Pagoda

The Xa Loi Pagoda is the largest in Ho Chi Minh City. It was built in 1956 and was said to contain ‘Xa Loi’ – sacred bones or rather fragments of them from The Buddha.

Chua Ngoc Hoang (Jade Emperor Pagoda)

The Jade Emperor Pagoda is one of the most elegantly decorated pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City and is dedicated to several Chinese-Vietnamese divinities.

Nha Trung Bay Toi Ac Chien Tranh Xam Luoc (War Remnants Museum)

Previously known as the Museum of American War Crimes, this museum houses instruments of torture and photographs of atrocities committed during the Vietnam War, explaining the use of napalm, Agent Orange and th

Giac Lam Pagoda

Despite being one of the oldest pagodas in the city, Giac Lam Pagoda, which has been remodeled a couple of times, is very well-maintained.

Binh Thay Market

This market is bustling with people from morning to night. It is always crammed with people and is one of the best places to see the locals in their daily routines.

Thien Hau Pagoda

The Thien Hau Pagoda is a must-visit in Cholon. It is dedicated to the Chinese goddess Thien Hau, who is known as the protector of seafarers.

Cholon (China Town)

Inhabited by the largest ethnic minority in the country, the Chinese of Vietnam, Cholon is a bustling commercial center and a distinctly different city from Saigon.

The Quoc Tu Pagoda

Built in 1962, this 7 story high pagoda is situated next to a children’s amusement park. It holds a beautiful shrine and statues of Buddha while gardens and lakes surround it.

Cao Dai Great Temple

60 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City is the Great Temple or Holy See of the Cao Dai religious sect, a uniquely Vietnamese religion that combines aspects of Buddihism, Taois, Confucianism and Catholicism and rega