In my previous blog post, I wrote about Park Hyatt Hotel - the hotel that I stayed while I was in Ho Chi Minh City. So in this post, it's time for me to share with you my 3-day itinerary (we stayed in Ho Chi Minh for 4D3N, however as we didn't really visit any places on the 4th day, I decided to name this itinerary a 3-day itinerary).
Here are some basic information that you should know before travelling to Ho Chi Minh city:
Is it easy and how to get around in HCM?
Basically, GRAB is widely accessible in HCM. So I would say, it's pretty convenient and easy to get around in HCM. You can also book your private airport transfer from KLOOK from as low as RM29 only. Besides, if you are planning to visit places that are further from the city area, I would strongly recommend you to book a private car charter from KLOOK as well!!
How to get connected in HCM?
You can pre-book the 4G SIM card with data from KLOOK, or you can also purchase the sim card in the airport.
Is there any time-zone difference?
Yes, HCM's timezone is 1-hour behind from KL's timezone.
OVERVIEW OF MY ITINERARY
DAY 1
- Check-in hotel
- City Hall (People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City)
- Saigon Central Post Office
- Notre Dame Cathedral
- Cafe Apartment
- Dinner @ Di Mai
DAY 2
- Ho Chi Minh Museum of Fine Arts
- Brunch @ Haan Saigon
- Cafe Lekima
- Ben Tanh Market
- Cafe Terrace, Takashimaya
- Dinner @ Sorae
DAY 3
- Buu Long Pagoda
- Binh Quoi Tourist Village
- Tan Dinh Church (Pink church)
- Okkio Cafe
- Check-in Chloe Gallery
DAY 4
- Breakfast and pool time in Chloe Gallery
- Depart to airport
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| City Hall (People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City) Only a 5-min walk from Park Hyatt Saigon, the City Hall is the first landmark that we visited in HCM. It's a really beautiful French-colonial architecture and we thought this will be a great place to take some photos though this building is not open to the public. |
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| Saigon Central Post Office This post office is probably the most beautiful one that I've seen! Constructed between 1886 and 1891, this is still a functioning post office that opens from 7am-5pm daily. |
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| Not only can you send letters or postcards here, there are also some souvenir stalls for you to shop and bring some souvenirs home. |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral Just right across the post office is the Notre Dame Cathedral. Unfortunately, it was still under construction and drizzling during our visit, we did not manage to get any nice shots here. |
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After that, we visited the famous Cafe Apartment. It's literally an apartment block with about 30 different cafes / stores. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the hype..mainly because I think the cafes all look rather boring and average. Oh, and you do need to pay a lil for the "elevator fees" to get to the floor you want.
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| On day 2, we visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum of Fine Arts in the morning. The entrance fees is 30,000 VND (which is about RM5.30 only). This museum is a restored home with 16 showrooms displaying paintings and sculptures. |
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| The building is painted in pastel yellow and white, and the architecture is fascinating. The only problem is that it's quite stuffy in there as there's no air-conditioner nor fan. |
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Later on, we met up with my Vietnamese friend, Chloe for brunch at this newly-opened cafe called Haan Saigon. A pretty good cafe to sit down, chill and talk.
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| Ben Tanh Market After that, we went back to our hotel for a quick change before heading to the Ben Tanh Market! Being one of the oldest landmarks in Saigon, this market is really lively and offers a great atmosphere that is authentically Vietnamese. |
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| In this market, you can find a huge variety of merchandises ranging from local handcrafts to local snacks, decorative items, jewellery, and even food stalls! |
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| Tip: Be sure to haggle for a better price or do your survey in a few diff stores first because most often the sellers mark up their prices really high to tourists! Also, the stalls facing the main street always have higher price haha! |
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| Cafe Terrace Because the sky was already dark after visiting the market, we decided to visit Cafe Terrace, which is a cafe in Takashimaya mall. Pretty nice interior but it's quite dark. |
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| Sorae (Japanese restaurant) Chloe brought us to Sorae, which is her dad's Japanese restaurant for dinner! The food was amazing, and the restaurant also offers a beautiful night view of the city. |
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| Buu Long Pagoda On the third day, we planned to visit some places that are slightly further from the city area, so we booked a private driver from KLOOK and it was honestly the best decision! The driver picked us up from our hotel in the morning, and drove us to our first destination - Buu Long Pagoda, which is a Buddhist temple situated 40 mins away from the city.
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| Binh Quoi Tourist Village Then, we dropped by the Binh Quoi Tourist Village for a quick photo opportunity. It's laidback rural-looking village which you can enjoy paddling, fishing, etc. Because it was drizzling that time, we didn't get to explore the village much, so we just took a picture on the pond. |
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| Tan Dinh Church (Pink Church) Of course, a trip to Ho Chi Minh will never be complete without a visit to the famous Tan Dinh Church! But it was quite challenging to take a picture here, especially when the street is super busy haha! Oh, and it was not open during our visit so we didn't get to take pictures inside. |
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| After 129180 shots, we finally got some nice ones haha! |
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| Okkio Cafe is our next stop - it's a vintage-looking cafe that serves really good coffee. Oh ya, this cafe is actually nearby Ben Tanh Market! |
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| I was dying to try the Vietnamese EGG COFFEE and it was surprisingly good!! (Go watch my vlog for my review haha!) |
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| Chloe Gallery After visiting Okkio Cafe, we headed to check-in at Chloe's boutique hotel and spent the rest of the evening chilling there. This boutique hotel is not in the city centre, but it's indeed a very nice place to unwind and relax! |
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| Had breakfast and took some pictures around Chloe's Gallery before we headed to the airport and officially bid Ho Chi Minh goodbye! So that's all about my trip in Saigon, hope you guys find this blog post helpful!!! Don't forget to check out my Ho Chi Minh vlog: |