The only sight on my saved list for Ho Chi Minh City was the Củ Chi tunnels — nothing in the city itself. So I added nine places that travel guides recommend, in the centre and in Chợ Lớn, the old Chinese quarter, and checked each one on Google: still open, rated 4.2 or higher. I have no notes of my own on them; the descriptions are put together from Google Maps reviews.
Prices are Google's average spend per person, valid as of 7 October 2026. Rate: 100,000 ₫ ≈ $3.85.
In short
- One day in the centre: Dinh Độc Lập, the War Remnants Museum and the post office are all within fifteen minutes' walk of each other.
- The post office still works: buy a postcard and send it home from the 1891 hall.
- A temple: Chùa Ngọc Hoàng in Tân Định — carved wood, incense and half-light; it's an active place of worship.
- In the evening: the opera house is lit up, and the À Ố Show gets you inside.
- Chinatown: in Chợ Lớn, the Thiên Hậu temple with its incense coils and Bình Tây market, where the whole city shops wholesale.
- Out of town: the Củ Chi tunnels, at two sites, Bến Đình and Bến Dược, with much the same programme.
The centre
Dinh Độc Lập (Independence Palace)
Bến Thành · 1960s presidential palace · daily 7:00–18:00
Google Maps · website · 135 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa
According to Google Maps reviews (4.5 from 48,600+): the former presidential palace of South Vietnam, preserved much as it was at the end of the war, a piece of 1960s modernism with Vietnamese motifs, offices, reception rooms and conference halls. The highlights are the bunker in the basement and the helipad on the roof. Tickets are about 80,000 ₫ (≈$3). Worth it even if history isn't your thing; out front there's a big lawn with a fountain where people pose in áo dài.
Bảo tàng Chứng tích Chiến tranh (War Remnants Museum)
Xuân Hòa · war museum · daily 7:30–17:30
Google Maps · website · 28 Võ Văn Tần
According to Google Maps reviews (4.5 from 41,600+): the city's most visited museum, three floors of photographs, documents and stories from the Vietnam War, with aircraft and weapons in the yard. Almost everyone says it's hard to look at but important. Tickets are 40,000 ₫ (≈$1.50), the audio guide another 50,000 ₫; card machines let you skip the ticket queue. Allow an hour to an hour and a half; some rooms have been closed for renovation lately.
Bưu điện Trung tâm Sài Gòn (Saigon Central Post Office)
Sài Gòn · post office from 1891 · Mon–Sat 7:30–18:00, Sun 8:00–17:00
Google Maps · 02 Công trường Công xã Paris
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 5,800+): a French-era post office with a vaulted hall, ironwork, old maps on the walls, phone booths and a large portrait of Hồ Chí Minh. It's still a working post office, so you can buy a postcard and send it home. Reviewers suggest skipping the souvenirs inside, which are overpriced. Đường Sách, the book street, is right next door.
Nhà hát Thành phố (Saigon Opera House)
Sài Gòn · French-era opera house · daily 9:00–17:00
Google Maps · 07 Công trường Lam Sơn
According to Google Maps reviews (4.6 from 18,000+): a late-19th-century colonial theatre with cream columns, balconies and ornate stucco, at its best at sunset and in the evening when it's lit up. Most people get inside for a show: the À Ố Show — acrobatics, live music and scenes from Vietnamese life — gets the most praise, and there's tea before it starts. Filming during the performance is strictly banned. The city's ballet and symphony orchestra perform here too.
Bảo tàng Mỹ thuật (Fine Arts Museum)
Bến Thành · art museum · daily 8:00–17:00
Google Maps · website · 97 Phó Đức Chính
According to Google Maps reviews (4.5 from 1,500+): Vietnamese art across the ages — from ancient sculpture and lacquer painting to wartime sketches — in an old yellow mansion with stained glass, patterned tiles, grand staircases and quiet courtyards. Many like the building as much as the collection; it's one of the most photogenic spots in the city, especially Building 1. Tickets are 30,000 ₫ (≈$1.20); the collection is small, and only some rooms are air-conditioned.
Nhà thờ Tân Định (Tan Dinh Church)
Tân Định · pink church from the 1870s · Tue–Sat 7:30–11:30 and 14:30–18:30, Sun 6:30–10:30 and 16:30–20:30, closed Mon
Google Maps · website · 289 Hai Bà Trưng
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 9,000+): a Catholic church from the 1870s, painted bright pink from top to bottom, with Gothic columns — one of Saigon's most recognisable buildings. Plenty of people found the gates shut, so check the hours; it's worth seeing from outside anyway, and the street around it is full of cafés with a view of the façade.
Chùa Ngọc Hoàng (Jade Emperor Pagoda)
Tân Định · Taoist temple · daily 7:00–18:00
Google Maps · 73 Mai Thị Lựu
According to Google Maps reviews (4.7 from 2,000+): a temple built by the Cantonese community in 1909, with carved wood, incense smoke, dim light, statues and scenes of the ten kings of hell; Obama's visit in 2016 made it world-famous. It's an active place of worship: shoes come off inside and photos aren't allowed. There are almost no English signs, so it's hard to tell what's what without a guide.
Chợ Lớn
Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu (Thien Hau Temple)
Chợ Lớn · 18th-century Chinese temple · daily 6:00–17:30
Google Maps · Facebook · 710 Nguyễn Trãi
According to Google Maps reviews (4.6 from 3,500+): a temple to the sea goddess Mazu, built by the Cantonese community in 1760 and one of the most important Chinese temples in Vietnam. Reviewers love the wood carving, the figures on the roof and the huge incense coils hanging from the beams: they burn for a long time and sometimes drop sparks, so mind your head. It's small and very much in use — local families still come here to pray.
Chợ Bình Tây (Binh Tay Market)
Chợ Lớn · wholesale market · daily 7:00–18:00
Google Maps · website · 57A Tháp Mười
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 6,400+): a huge market in a yellow building of French-Chinese design, where people buy wholesale: spices, dried seafood, fabric, kitchenware, clothes, fruit, with more alleys of stalls outside. Far fewer tourists than at Bến Thành, the vendors don't push, prices are lower and you can bargain 10–15% off. Crowded and loud, but that's the point: this is everyday Saigon.
Out of town: Củ Chi
Địa đạo Củ Chi (Cu Chi Tunnels)
Củ Chi · wartime tunnel network · daily 7:00–17:00
Google Maps · website · Phú Hiệp, Củ Chi
According to Google Maps reviews (4.6 from 18,300+): an underground network where guerrillas lived and fought during the war. There are two sites, Bến Đình and Bến Dược, with much the same programme: a documentary, a guide explaining how the tunnels and rooms were built, a stretch of tunnel you can crawl through, and a shooting range. It's about two hours from the centre, so nearly everyone goes on a half-day tour. Hot and crowded, but most people call it one of the most powerful things they did in Vietnam.
One last thing
Walk the palace, the War Remnants Museum and the post office before lunch, while it's cooler. Chợ Lớn takes another half-day: the Thiên Hậu temple and Bình Tây market both close by 18:00. Give Củ Chi a morning of its own; tours leave early.
More on Ho Chi Minh City: food and coffee, bars