Ho Chi Minh City

Haggle or stay out. The asking and the paying price are far apart here. The clock tower over the south gate went up in 1914, and each gate has its own trade, souvenirs south and food stalls north. When the market shuts at 6pm, stalls fill the streets outside.

You can still post a card here; the building went up in 1891 and works as a post office. Iron arches carry the roof, and two maps hand-painted in 1892 hang at either end, one of the telegraph lines of the south and one of Saigon itself.

The bricks came by ship from Marseille and were never rendered, so the walls are still bare red. It was finished in 1880 and the two spires added in 1895, but restoration has shut the inside to visitors since 2017 and is not due to finish before 2027.

The gate that tanks pushed through on 30 April 1975 is still there, two of them parked on the lawn. The building dates from 1966, and a run of command rooms downstairs keeps its radios and maps. On the roof helipad a red circle marks where a bomb fell.

Captured American aircraft and armour stand in the forecourt. Inside are a room of photographs by reporters killed in the war and a floor on Agent Orange, and nothing is softened, so warn children before going in and allow two hours.

Cantonese families built it in 1909, and the inside is dark with incense smoke. Ten carved panels on one wall show the punishments of hell, and turtles crowd the yard pond, names scratched on their shells. A notice asks people not to buy turtles to release.

The boulevard was closed to cars and given to walkers in 2015. At number 42 an old block of flats has filled floor by floor with cafes, a different sign on every balcony, and its one lift costs a small fee paid to the attendant. Evenings pack the square.

The observation floor is the 49th, at 178m. A helipad juts from the side at the 52nd and gives the tower an outline you can pick out from a distance. The bend of the Saigon river around the centre reads at a glance, and the ticket queue is longest near sunset.

It is 70km northwest, about two hours each way by road. The tunnel sections shown have been widened for visitors, with only a short stretch left at the original size, and a shooting range next door means gunfire runs under the whole visit.

The city's first metro line opened in December 2024. It covers 19.7km from Ben Thanh out to Suoi Tien, with three central stations underground and the rest on viaduct. Tickets come from an app or the station window. It is a rest after a day in the traffic.

Cholon's wholesale market in the former District 6, built and given to the city by merchant Quach Dam. His memorial fills the central courtyard, and aisles around it are piled by the carton with dried mushrooms, sweets and crockery. Retail is in bulk bundles.

Cholon's Cantonese raised this temple to Mazu, goddess of the sea. Its roof ridge carries ceramic figurines acting out village and opera scenes. Incense cones hung overhead smoulder for weeks, each tagged in red with the giver's name.

A French theatre finished in 1900, its facade squarely in view from the end of Dong Khoi street. Ballet and shows still run, so the inside means buying a ticket. At dusk the front steps belong to people taking photos.

Nguyen Van Binh street, beside the Central Post Office, turned car-free and lined with bookshops and book cafes. Its shade is deep, so even at midday many sit leafing through pages. A good place to rest after the post office and cathedral.

The museum occupies Gia Long Palace, built by the French in 1890. The building outshines the exhibits, and wedding shoots fill its central staircase and gardens almost daily. Beneath it runs a tunnel said to lead toward the Independence Palace.

A converted mansion of the wealthy Hui Bon Hoa family, three yellow-walled buildings in all. Stained glass and an old iron lift survive, so plenty of visitors come for the building more than the art. It is walkable from Ben Thanh Market.

A church on Hai Ba Trung street painted pink from top to bottom, impossible to miss. Inside, pillars and vaults carry on in pink and white, and sightseers are turned away during Mass. Shoot from the opposite pavement to fit the tower in.

At 461m it is Vietnam's tallest building, with an observation deck on the top floors. Below, the Saigon River swings through a great bend past the new Thu Thiem district. It stands in old Binh Thanh district, out past the downtown core, so a taxi is easiest.

The backpacker strip in the Pham Ngu Lao area of the former District 1, closed to traffic in the evening. Every bar aims its speakers at the street, drowning out conversation. Beer on low stools on the pavement is how the street works.

Coastal mangrove about two hours' drive southeast, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Long-tailed macaques on Monkey Island snatch glasses and plastic bags, so keep your bag zipped. Boats follow the channels in to an old guerrilla base.

A wholesale flower market in an alley off Ho Thi Ky street, old District 10, unloading overnight and trading till dawn. Next door, a food lane keeps grilled rice paper and Cambodian-style noodle stalls going late. Right before Tet, blooms block the alley.

A small plaza at the heart of a roundabout, built around a star-shaped concrete pool. In the evening students perch on its rim eating grilled rice paper and grilled quail eggs. Traffic circles nonstop, so cross at the zebra crossings.

Big shade trees west of the Independence Palace, where bird keepers bring their cages early each morning. At a corner cafe they hang them from branches and sip coffee while the songbirds compete. Everyone drifts off as the heat builds, so go before seven.

Founded in 1744 and counted as the oldest pagoda in the city. More than a hundred carved wooden statues fill the halls, and a recent seven-storey tower rises in the yard. It lies out in former Tan Binh district, a taxi ride of some 20 minutes.

Snail houses and seafood grills run for hundreds of metres down Vinh Khanh street in the old District 4. In the evening stools spill onto the pavement and you pick snails from basins and name the cooking style. It is one bridge from the centre, walkable.