How many days do you need in Ho Chi Minh City?

1. 1Colonial Saigon & the war museumsReunification Palace in the morning, War Remnants Museum after lunch1 day
2. 2Cu Chi Tunnels & Cholonleave by 7:30am; Vinh Khanh for dinner1 day
3. 3Mekong Delta day trip or a slow city dayMy Tho and Ben Tre, about two hours south1 day
4. 4Can Thooptional overnight for the dawn floating market, as on our route2 days

The short answer by trip length

• 1 day: the central landmarks only: Ben Thanh Market, the Central Post Office, the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, all within about a 20-minute walk of each other. You miss Cu Chi.

• 2 days: the core. Day one in the old District 1, day two at the Cu Chi Tunnels in the morning and Cholon in the afternoon. This is the plan in our Ho Chi Minh City guide.

• 3 days: add a Mekong Delta day trip to My Tho or Ben Tre, about two hours south, or a slow day of cafes, the Saigon River and street food.

• 4 to 6 days: what we had. Use Saigon as a base and spend two of the nights in Can Tho for the dawn floating market, as we did from 15 to 17 May.

Saigon is hot all year, so the real unit is half-days: outdoor sights before 11am, museums in the afternoon heat, food after dark. Plans that ignore this tend to fall apart by lunch.

Day by day: 3 days in Ho Chi Minh City

Day 1, colonial Saigon and the war museums. Breakfast com tam at a sidewalk stall, then Ben Thanh Market as the stalls open. Walk ten minutes north to the Saigon Central Post Office (built 1886 to 1891, still selling stamps) and the red-brick Notre-Dame Cathedral across the square. Do the Reunification Palace in the morning: it has traditionally closed for a midday break, and the basement war rooms deserve most of your time there. Spend the afternoon at the War Remnants Museum, which opens at 7:30am daily, charges about 40,000 VND (≈ $1.6), and stops selling tickets around 5pm. Two hours is the minimum. Finish on Nguyen Hue walking street and the riverfront at dusk.

Day 2, Cu Chi Tunnels and Cholon. Leave by 7:30am. The tunnels are about 1.5 to 2 hours northwest by road; Ben Dinh is the closer, busier site and Ben Duoc the quieter one, and both let you crawl a section widened for visitors. Back by early afternoon, take a Grab west to Cholon for the incense coils of Thien Hau Temple and the wholesale lanes around Binh Tay Market. Dinner on Vinh Khanh food street in the old District 4, a long row of grilled-seafood and snail places.

Day 3, the Mekong Delta or the slow city. A day trip to My Tho and Ben Tre (about two hours each way) gives you canal boats and coconut workshops. If you would rather stay in town, ride Metro Line 1 from the underground station at Ben Thanh, browse the cafes in the old apartment blocks on Nguyen Hue, and go up the Bitexco tower or Landmark 81 for sunset.

Our day trips from Ho Chi Minh City guide compares Cu Chi, the delta, Tay Ninh's Cao Dai Holy See (about 100 km northwest) and Vung Tau.

Can Tho: why the delta is better as an overnight

The famous floating markets trade at dawn, which a day trip from Saigon cannot reach. Buses from Mien Tay station take about 3 to 3.5 hours to Can Tho on the expressway, so stay at least one night, and two if you want a full day on the canals. That is what our route did: Ho Chi Minh City 13 to 15 May, Can Tho 15 to 17 May, then back to Saigon until 19 May.

If you only have three days in total, choose: either Cu Chi plus a My Tho day trip from Saigon, or Cu Chi plus one night in Can Tho. Our Can Tho guide covers the markets.

Where it fits in a Vietnam route

Most north-to-south routes end here. On ours, Saigon came after Da Lat (5 days) and Nha Trang (3 days), and from Saigon we went on to Seminyak in Bali. The full route, with every leg and its transport options, is in our 4-week Vietnam itinerary, and Vietnam in 2 weeks is the short cut.

Coming from the coast, overnight trains from Nha Trang take roughly 7 to 9 hours, or fly from Cam Ranh. From the highlands, see how many days in Da Lat. Book an open-jaw ticket, into Hanoi and out of Saigon or the reverse, so you never backtrack the length of the country, and check the Vietnam e-visa rules before you fix the dates.

When to go

• December to February: dry, the lowest humidity of the year, and highs around 31 to 32°C. The best weather. Tet, the Lunar New Year, falls in early February in 2027; Nguyen Hue turns into a flower street beforehand, but many family restaurants close for several days afterwards. See Tet 2027 in Vietnam.

• March and April: still dry but the hottest stretch, with afternoons near 34 to 35°C.

• May to November: the rainy season, usually a heavy 30 to 60 minute downpour in the mid-to-late afternoon. Our May visit fell at its start. Mornings stay usable, and September and October are the wettest months.

Common mistakes

• Treating Cu Chi as a quick half-day. With 1.5 to 2 hours each way in traffic, it takes the whole morning. Do not stack the War Remnants Museum on the same day.

• Doing the Reunification Palace at noon. Go in the morning and leave the museum, which stays open through lunch, for the afternoon.

• Booking a bed on Bui Vien. The backpacker strip is fun for one night out and loud every night. Stay in the old District 1 between Nguyen Hue and Ben Thanh Market for walking access to almost everything.

• Hailing street taxis. Use Grab, and cross the road at a slow, steady walk so the motorbikes can flow around you.

• Day-tripping Can Tho. You arrive after the floating market has finished.

Before you go, read is tipping expected in Vietnam and what's considered rude in Vietnam, and for the dishes, what to eat in Vietnam.

Frequently asked questions