Best time
December to April is the dry season and the most comfortable time to walk the city, while May to November brings short, heavy afternoon downpours.
At a glance
- Eat
- Cơm tấm, €12 Rate 2026-08-26. The lunchtime broken-rice stalls packed with office workers, a few streets off the Bui Vien tourist strip.
- Book ahead
- Book the Cu Chi or Mekong day tour a day or two ahead; domestic flights on to the centre or islands a few weeks out.
- Skip
- Ben Thanh market's sit-down food stalls, priced for visitors; eat a couple of streets back for half the money.
The centre is walkable in clusters. The War Remnants Museum (entry about €1.60) and the Independence Palace (about €1.50) sit within twenty minutes of each other in District 1, so pair them with a coffee stop rather than a taxi ride between each one. The traffic is the real distance here, and trying to cross the city by car in the afternoon will cost you an hour you did not plan to spend.
The food is the reason to stay an extra day. A rice plate of cơm tấm or a bánh mì runs €1 to €1.50, a bowl of something on plastic stools is about €2, and a cà phê sữa đá to follow is €1. Bến Thành market is fine to look at, but eat a couple of streets back from it where the queue is local.
Most people use the city as a base for the south. A half-day at the Cu Chi Tunnels is €20 to €35, a full day combining Cu Chi with the Mekong Delta is €25 to €40, and a hands-on cooking class is €15 to €37. A dorm bed is €6 to €9, a private room with air conditioning is €15 to €25, and a small boutique hotel is €35 to €60.
Sources
- Vietnam travel guide, Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, accessed