Ho Chi Minh City Travel Forum

Hi am thinking of going to Hi Chi Minh for a short holiday with family and family is made up of 3 younger adults.

Wht is the ideal place to stay and where should I go that should not be a miss when going to HCM

Hi,

I'm a travel consultant. I hope I can help you with the following answer.

When is your month of travel? Remember that during May to late Sept, Ho Chi Minh is suffering rainny season. Let me know so that I can consult you properly
- The ideal place to stay is right in the downtown of district 1 - called Saigon
- The highlight landmarks not to be missed: One day with a city tour of Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office, Presidential Palace (walking distance), War Remnant Museum, Ben Thanh Market, China town and Thien Hau Pagoda. Another day with Cu Chi Tunnels and shopping. Then another day with Mekong exploration.
So, to cover all these highlights, 3 days will be fine.
Let me know if you have more time, then I will give you an ideal program accoridngly. If you need further information, please keep my personal email: gianghale78@yahoo.com

Thank you and have a nice trip,

KoolJ

I'd strongly recommend Bich Duyen Hotel, 283/4 Pham Ngu Lao Street. This is right in the middle of the backpacker area, but in a quiet little side-street away from all the noise. Their contact is +8488374588.
Be careful when you arrive at any hotel. Touts from other hotels will run up and guide you to their establishments without you even realising you've been intercepted!
Many sights are within walking distance of Bich Duyen. Things to see are Cholon (China Town), Cha Tam Church, the pagodas (Phuoc An Hoi Quan, Quan Am, Thie Hau, Son Hoi Quan etc.), Ben Thanh Market, People Committee Building (Hotel de Ville), Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office (inside), War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace, and Mariamman Hindu Temple.
Don't miss dinner at Quan An Ngon, 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia (tel 825 7179) - the best restaurant we visited. Be sure and make a booking before you go!
If you have the time, visit Cu Chi Tunnels and the Great Temple of Coa Dai (usually a day-trip). You can also do a day or two on the Mekong Delta. We visited both these areas with Sinh Cafe, which is almost spitting distance from Bich Duyen. Their's photos of the hotel on my homepage (tips), if you'd like to see the room/area.

Hi We found the hotels to be more expensive than we expected. In February we stayed in 4 hotels from the Rex down to a Vietnamese hotel. The Viet hotels are much cheaper, but the best of the hotelsprice wise was the Metropole, a very nice pool and bar, gym and only 17,000 dong ( Aust $1.40) by taxi to city centre. You can walk from Metropole to city if you wish approx 10 to 15 minutes, 5 minutes walk to Ben Than markets. Recommend you check out the hotels on my pages.

Good Luck,
Mike