Ho Chi Minh City Travel Forum

Hi guys ...
any recommendation of itinery for 4 days in HCM city ?
with 2 elderly parents, they do like shopping though !

Thks...

4 days will be enough to cover most of the must-sees in HCMC. The city tour including famous Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, Reunification Palace, City Hall, Ben Tanh Market can be done in 1 day. For shopping I suggest Ben Tanh Market and Saigon Square which are quite close to each other. War Remnants Museum deserves at least half a day. For a day outside Saigon, I suggest Caodai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. Mekong Delta Tour for a day is a good option too. You can find more details on these on my HCMC tips. Enjoy your visit :)

Thanks ! do you think these wud be too much walking for elderly folks ?

what are the bargains in the saigon square and Ben Thanh mkt ?
they like shopping, so these wud be good !

I don't know how old your elderly couple is but here's a word of caution. Streets and sidewalks have sudden changes and missing bricks. Just walk slowly and learn to watch your step. Stairways can be the trickiest to negotiate. Each step can be a different height. Usually the bottom or top step is adjusted in height to meet the landing. More as an after-thought in construction methods. Especially when descending you can lose your balance at the sudden change in expected step height. I'd say that's fairly common except in the 5 star hotels and expensive shopping malls. Even curbs are at disproportionate levels. Walk slow and pay attention and things will be fine. This is probably par for the course in many third world countries. Makes many of us in the developed countries appreciate building codes that much more.

Mikes right, don't think I have actually walked anywhere in this city for years, basically because you have to spend most of the time walking in the road. That said, the walk from War remnants - Reunification Palace - Notre Dame - Dong Khoi has good sidewalks.
One thing with elderly parents, and I know this from experience, if you do lots of walking, remember lots of water, it's very easy to dehydrate here without noticing. Afternoon down SOS with a passed out father is not much fun.

Jonny

Also - take care crossing the busy streets.

Ahh yes, Betska, its the crossing busy streets that is extremely scary the first few times you do it, but after that, you just do as the locals do!

Just stop and watch people as they cross first. You will notice that it doesnt usually matter if they have a green light or a crossing on the road, cars will not usually stop for you! Just take off from the sidewalk, walk arm in arm, slowly but NEVER stopping, and in a straight line - sounds crazy eh??!! But, amazingly, the traffic generally going very slowly and they will actually go around you. I never saw one accident with car/motorbike and pedestrian the whole time we were in Vietnam!

Thank you so much folks !

Everything you guys talked about is what we hv experienced today in HCMC !
we hv just arrived today ... and the side walks and crossing the road certainly need extra care, not to mention for older folks like my parents.

Tomorrow we shall explore the main tourist attractions around the area ..Notre Dame Cathedral ... City Hall ... Reunification Palace etc etc ...all by the side walks and many adventurous road crossing ... once again... with some good rest tonite .. hoepfully my parents are ready for them tomorrow ...
cheers !

I stayed in AVA hotel. It's about 50 mets from Ben Thanh market. The owner is very kind and he could help for your travel plans. The room rate is about 20USd per night.

Xin Chao !

I wud recommend Hotel Lavender , door steps away from Ben Thanh Mkt and many nice and small restaurants around.
it is easy to move around even at night with lots of night market stalls to visit.
hotel room is clean and neat, although small it is cosy. No complaints.

The hotel staff are all very friendly.
Vy and Phi from the hotel hv been particularly helpful.

Hotel Lavender is one great location to stay.