Where to go from Ho Chi Minh City to the sea. What to do if you want to go to the beach and you are in Ho Chi Minh City? Resorts near Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam
The largest Vietnamese city is located in the south of the country, almost 2 thousand km from the capital Hanoi and occupies an area that could accommodate two Russian capitals - more than 2000 square meters. km. The central part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolis (Vietnam) is one of the most densely populated urban settlements in the world: almost 10 thousand people per 1 sq. m. km.
Two thirds of tourists visiting the country enter Vietnam through this city. An amazing panorama opens up to travelers in clear weather already from the plane.
A little geography and history. Administrative structure and demographic data
Saigon River Ho Chi Minh City is located approximately 20 meters above sea level, and, in addition to the Saigon River in the west, the coastline in the east is indented by the bed of the Nya Be River.
There is eternal summer here, the temperature is 26-28⁰C, and there are only two seasons: from December to April in Ho Chi Minh City it is dry, and from May to November it rains. But they are mostly short-term and interesting excursions around the city and surrounding area are not a hindrance.
In addition, from May to September, airlines significantly reduce flight prices, and the prices of many tour operators for package tours to Ho Chi Minh City hotels are also very attractive. Discounts can reach 50%.
Interesting Facts
Did you know that Vietnam's largest city was once Cambodia's main sea gate? In the 17th century, the Vietnamese conquered these places, and the port of Prey Nokor was renamed Giadinh, and then it became Saigon (like the river on the banks of which it stands).
At the end of the 19th century, Saigon was the capital of French Indochina, in the second half of the 20th, for exactly two decades, it was the main city of South Vietnam, and in 1976, after the reunification of North and South, it was renamed in honor of the first president of the reunited country, Ho Chi Minh.
And although the last name of the city is almost half a century old, in everyday life, in colloquial speech, townspeople still often call themselves Saigon residents and feel like residents of the capital. And not only the older generation, but also young people. There is a good reason for this: there are many important historical and cultural attractions located here. The city is not only the air gateway of the country, but also the largest industrial and commercial center.
And although officially Ho Chi Minh City is not the capital of Vietnam, in terms of its importance it occupies the same place as Hanoi.
Who lives in Ho Chi Minh City and what religion do the townspeople profess?
More than 90% are the indigenous population - the Viet, about 6% - the Chinese (Hoa), the rest: Khmers, Chams and up to fifty different nationalities.
80% of the townspeople are Buddhists, about 10% are Catholics, there are Protestants, Hindus, followers of Islam and Baha'ism. The remaining residents (about 7%) consider themselves atheists.
Areas of the city where it is better to stay
The main administrative divisions of Ho Chi Minh City are: quận – this is the name of the urban area in Vietnamese and huyện – the rural county. There are 260 neighborhoods in 19 urban districts, and 5 rural counties consist of 63 communes.
Boundaries of urban areas of Ho Chi Minh City
The “record” figure is 46 thousand people. per sq. km. So many people live in district #11. The high-rise hotels, offices (Flemington Tower) and residential buildings that have grown here in recent years are adjacent to houses and churches of old construction. The most famous amusement park Dam Sen is also in this densely populated area.
Dam Sen Amusement Park Most often it is he who can be seen in the photos of travelers who visited Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
But the city’s largest district, No. 9, is the least populated: only a little more than two thousand people live here on every square kilometer. This is a completely new industrial and business area with high-rise residential complexes under construction.
The most famous and remarkable buildings and quarters of French colonial buildings are located in district No. 1.
This is the central administrative district of Saigon, where the city hall and city hall, the Reunification Palace, the opera house, the botanical garden and the zoo are located, and the most famous architectural landmark of Ho Chi Minh City - Notre Dame Cathedral.
Notre Dame Cathedral There are about 2,000 hotels, guesthouses and apartments in Ho Chi Minh City. About half of them correspond to the level of one star. There are only a few dozen international class hotels with 5*****. Prices in high season start at $200, but from May to September you can rent housing for half that price. There are large international class hotels in different areas of the city, but most of them are in districts No. 1-2, 3, 7 and Dong Khoi.
Where is the best place to stay in Ho Chi Minh City, which hotel to choose? It depends on the duration and purpose of your stay and financial capabilities. For tourists who have package tours to the resorts of the southern coast of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City can only be a point of arrival and departure, and the main goal is a seaside holiday. But many of them also plan some slack in their schedule for one or two days to get to know the city: either at the beginning of the trip, or before flying home.
Most independent travelers, those who flew to Ho Chi Minh City specifically and with the goal of staying here longer, stay in a special area for foreigners - the Backpacker Quarter (Pham Ngu Lao Street), where they rent budget accommodation.
The entire infrastructure of the quarter is designed to meet their needs: souvenir shops, clothing and footwear, catering establishments - cafes and restaurants with local Vietnamese cuisine, manicure salons and spa salons.
In the evening the whole block turns into a noisy party. You can rent accommodation in this place in the range from $5-10 in a mini-hotel and up to $40-60 in 1* - 3*** hotels, depending on the season.
Thanh Guesthouse What is budget accommodation like at Minihotel Alley? The guesthouse room is clean and quite comfortable. Mandatory set: hot water, air conditioning or fan, TV and small refrigerator. But when going up to the room, on the steep stairs, sometimes even just two of the guests may not be able to separate, although the rooms themselves are not cramped.
Helpful advice: if you are looking for a mini-hotel in the Bekpekersky quarter, give preference to accommodation not on the main street, but in the side streets: there you will be less bothered by the incessant street noise.
You can compare the cost of housing in Ho Chi Minh City on the most popular travel portals and choose the best hotel in terms of cost and location, where it is best to stay, here: Room Guru.
Find out PRICES or book any accommodation using this form
Transport: how to move around the city and between cities
From the largest Vietnamese international airport, Tan Son Nhat (Tan Son Nhat), you can get to the center of Ho Chi Minh City (6 km) from 6 am to 6 pm by bus No. 152 for less than $1, but you need to pay separately for luggage.
The bus will take you to the bus station next to Ben Thanh Market. Taxi fare to Pham Ngu Lao Street or your hotel in the area is $7-10.
Auto, taxi around the city
Interesting Facts. Vietnam does not have its own production of passenger cars, and the import tax on cars is often much higher than their cost. For this reason, such personal transport is not available to the vast majority of Vietnamese; only very wealthy citizens own passenger cars.
But the taxi service in Ho Chi Minh City is quite developed; it is used mainly by tourists, travelers and foreigners living in Vietnam for a long time.
Here are the coordinates of the main city services:
- 08-84 24 242 Saigon Taxi
- 08-82 26 666 Mai Linh Taxi Company
- 08-81 11 111 taxi Vina Taxi
Useful tips. A good reference point for the sanity and adequacy of the amount named by the taxi driver (in case you intend to use a taxi in your further movements around the city) will be the table on this website www.numbeo.com. Here in Vietnamese currency, which can always be converted at the exchange rate, the cost of the trip is indicated depending on the mileage.
Ho Chi Minh City Bus Park
Transportation is provided by several local companies, the most famous of which is Sinn Cafe.
There are two types of bus stops in the city: OpenBus tourist sites and regular state bus stations.
Ben Xe Mien Dong There are several intercity bus terminals in the city, two of them are in the Binh Tan area, the first serves the northern direction, the second serves the southern direction:
- Ben Xe Mien Dong (Miedong) is the main city bus station; the main tourist routes around the city and surrounding areas also begin and end here.
- Ben Xe Mien Tay (Mientai)
Buses depart from Ben Xe An Suong Bus Station in Hoc Mon County to Tay Ninh City.
It is better to buy tickets at the ticket office of the bus station, and not from the bus driver; there is no booking service by phone.
Tickets for OpenBus buses are sold at some local travel companies, at hotel receptions and at the ticket office of the main bus station. All night tourist buses (slipbuses) are double-decker, and the seats are arranged in three rows. Each passenger is given a light blanket and a headrest pillow.
This is what one of them looks like in the photo, departing from Ho Chi Minh City on a night flight.
The map of city routes is confusing for the uninitiated, but traveling by bus in Ho Chi Minh City should not be neglected: it is quite cheap compared to some other methods, and it is also safer. It’s worth buying a map and using it to navigate the main streets of urban areas.
Train Station The train station in District 3 (1 Nguyen Ton St.) still officially bears its old name (Ga Sai Gon) - Saigon Station.
From Ho Chi Minh City, in addition to Nha Trang, trains go to Da Nang, Hue, and Hanoi. In principle, this is the same route, along which four trains depart from south to north at different times: evening SE2 at 19:00, night SE4 at 23:00, and two morning ones, SE8 and SE6 - at 6:25 and 9:00.
Moto-bike (motorcycles, scooters, mopeds)
Just like Amsterdam, which is called the cycling capital of the world, Ho Chi Minh City can rightfully be the scooter capital of the world. On these roads, the man sitting on the “iron horse” is the main character.
The majority of Vietnamese travel on two-wheeled motor vehicles of varying power; 3-4 people with a driver on one motorcycle is the norm.
If you trust your driving skills and abilities, feel a lack of adrenaline and do not like riding the bus, you can rent a motorbike for $5-15. The rental price depends on the power of the iron “horse”.
Such and similar shots are a favorite subject of street photographs taken in Ho Chi Minh City on the streets of the city by a variety of photographers.
Join the daily multimillion-dollar stream of the same risky drivers, but be extremely careful - at first, even just contemplating this chaos, called here traffic, instills horror in those unaccustomed to the spectacle. And you will have to dive headlong into it and maneuver among thousands of the same motorbikers and pedestrians.
If you are not ready for this, but want to ride a motorcycle, just hire a motorcycle taxi. They are everywhere here, on the corner of any street, men on motorcycles, sometimes sleeping or lying down, but more often sitting on their bikes and waiting for their passenger. The shortest trip will cost $1-2 (about 20-40 thousand VND), and then it all depends on the distance and the client’s ability to bargain.
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“Mua” and “zam za” – every tourist who comes to Vietnam must know these words that are funny to our ears. The first signifies a purchase, the second a discount.
By the way, about discounts, or rather about economical shopping in Ho Chi Minh City. If you keep all receipts or invoices in which the amount of your purchase is not less than 2 million dong, and present them at the airport, then within a month after making it there is a chance to return VAT (minus 15% of its amount). Naturally, only if the product you purchased is “not at fault” and customs officers do not find it on the lists of those withdrawn from circulation or completely prohibited.
What do tourists bring from Vietnam?
Non - Coffee and green tea
- Bamboo Products and Mahogany Products
- Headwear as a souvenir: non - women's round conical hat and men's “colonialist” helmet
- Handmade paintings embroidered on silk
- Multi-colored T-shirts with pagodas and dragons
- Ivory smoking pipes
- Products made from freshwater and sea pearls and silver
Thorakao In the large shopping centers of Ho Chi Minh City, it is easy and more profitable than at home or in other countries to purchase products from Adidas and Nike, Kipling and Louis Vuitton bags, shoes from the famous brands Ecco, Geox and Clarks.
Many people are interested in where to buy good Vietnamese cosmetics as a gift in Ho Chi Minh City. There are few private-label decorative cosmetics here; Vietnamese manufacturers produce only natural cosmetics using ingredients such as pearl powder, rice powder, cucurma, coconut oil, ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, and snail extract.
Leading brands:
- Thorakao
- Lana Safra
- Lolane
- O'Nalyss
Real natural Vietnamese cosmetics are guaranteed to be available in the stores of the manufacturer.
Snail masks, shampoos based on saponin from soap tree beans, popular day cream for the face, “white tiger” ointments and much more can be purchased in boutiques of large shopping centers and in specialty stores. One of them: “Cosmetics from Andriana” (Hai Ba Trung St., 24).
Popular shopping spots in Ho Chi Minh City
About two hundred large and medium-sized markets, a countless number of street spontaneous and night markets, the most modern shopping centers, chains of department stores and supermarkets of foreign investors from Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and even Germany - this is the field of activity for avid shopaholics in Ho Chi Minh City.
Large and popular shopping establishments are located in discretes 1, 5, 7, but there are also many of them throughout the city.
Ben Thanh Market
The city has many architectural and iconic monuments from colonial times. But none of them became a symbol of the city. But the building, relatively unpretentious in architectural significance, but functional in its content, has been successfully playing this role for more than a hundred years.
His image can most often be found on various souvenirs: keychains, magnets and simply on various photos of Ho Chi Minh City.
The French built the building with a tower and a huge clock for almost three years, from 1912 to 1914, although the market on this site in the very heart of Saigon had been noisy for a long time.
You can get to Ben Thanh from Tran Nguyen Hanh Square, the main entrance is located directly under the clock, and there are 4 entrances, according to the number of cardinal directions, that’s what the gates are called.
Whichever way you enter the market, you will immediately fall into the tenacious hands of sellers of all kinds of souvenirs. Further along the perimeter there are shops with clothes and shops for shoes, dishes and all sorts of things.
And in the very center, under a huge 28-meter dome, there are fruits, vegetables, spices and dried fruits, and there is also a sea of Vietnamese “catering” establishments.
Our tourists have very different opinions and reviews about the main market of Ho Chi Minh City. It amazes some with its size and assortment, while for others it seems like an ordinary large Asian bazaar with a typical range of goods, a relatively meager assortment and an infrastructure inconvenient for shopping.
Some consider the prices at this market to be prohibitively high and advise going there only on an excursion, while others, on the contrary, recommend Ben Thanh as a cheap market, where you can also bargain and profitably buy gifts, buy souvenirs and taste Vietnamese cuisine.
But there are no indifferent people and there are thousands of reviews about the Ben Thanh market. This is the most visited place in the city by foreign tourists. And you can form your own opinion only by visiting it. Even if you are afraid of crowds, it is worth setting aside 1-2 hours to enter from the south through the main entrance, go through the market and then exit into the city through the Northern Gate. And take interesting shots along the way to add to the photo archive of your trip to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.
Address: Intersection of Le Loi, Ham Nghi, Tran Hung Dao Avenues and Le Lai Street
Binh Tay Market
One of the main markets, located in the famous Chinese district of Teolong. There are fewer tourists here; this market is mainly visited by the local population.
The large indoor market is open from 6 am to 7:00 pm, and from 5 to 9:00 am there is a morning open market, where the freshest products: vegetables, fruits, fish and meat, everything is much cheaper than in the tourist Ben Thanh.
The covered market is square in plan, with a tiled roof, retail space on two floors, and in the center of the courtyard there is an interesting old fountain. The assortment is very similar to the first one, but all the goods here are from local producers.
On Binh Thai you can find everything that grows and is produced in Vietnam: industrial goods, clothing, shoes, food, mountains of spices and nuts. As elsewhere, in local cafes you can try all the dishes of Vietnamese national cuisine, which is very tasty and recognized by gourmets all over the world.
Address: 57 Thap Muoi, | Ward 2, Ho Chi Minh City 7000
This market is located in District 6 and takes 15 minutes by taxi from Central District 1.
Sacrifice your sweet morning sleep and try to get here as early as possible, preferably at dawn. Then you will find the noisy open rows of morning trade in the freshest vegetables, fruits, food and plunge into the elements of a real Vietnamese market. You won’t regret it, and you’ll also save quite a lot.
Saigon Center (Saigon Shopping Center)
Ho Chi Minh City has much larger shopping centers, but this one is especially loved by both locals and tourists. Located in District 1. Its areas are located on the first three floors of a large 25-story skyscraper, which was once the tallest in the country.
There are cafes and restaurants on the ground floor. Well-known brands: clothing, shoes and accessories from various manufacturers who have located their facilities in Vietnam found their place in the second place, and household goods and interior items - in the third.
The Catherine Denoual Maiso boutique is also popular. Always buy only real porcelain dishes here: both for everyday use, and art products, and sets by masters. Bed linen is made only from natural materials.
Catherine Denoual Maiso The atmosphere of this shopping center is distinguished by a pleasant and recognizable phytoaroma throughout the entire territory; the aroma is unobtrusive, but noticeable. This is probably one of the marketing strategies that increases sales. However, it worked, and there are always a lot of visitors to the center.
Address: 65 Le Loi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 7000.
Opening hours: Monday - Thursday from 9:30 to 21:30, and from Friday to Sunday half an hour longer.
Holidays in Ho Chi Minh City, the nearest beaches
Part of the outskirts of the city is located on the coast of the South China Sea. But you won’t be able to have a full-fledged beach holiday in Ho Chi Minh City itself.
In the evening, on the embankment you can admire the sunset and have dinner at one of the fish restaurants. Swimming within the city limits is not worth it: multiple tributaries of rivers and streams, which, like the main large Saigon River, flow into the sea, carry tons of silt into it. And even the color of the sea water here does not inspire the desire to start water procedures.
The closest resort to Ho Chi Minh City is Vung Tau; the road to the beach by car takes about 2 hours. You can get there directly from Tan Son Nhat Airport by minivan ($6) or small air-conditioned buses (departing from the Mien Dong bus station in the city) for $2-4.
The water here is much cleaner, but in the high season there are a lot of people, just like in Soviet times on the Black Sea coast, including the local population who come to swim in the sea on weekends.
But guests of Ho Chi Minh City have other resorts on the southern coast to choose from, although not quite nearby. If you are traveling with your family, you have a direct route to the beaches of Phan Thiet, suitable for little travelers; for surfing fans, there is a direct route to Mui Ne.
The journey (220 km) takes 4.5 hours. You can get there by night bus for $10-12, and a 7-seater transfer will cost about $100-125 per company. Tourists often look for travel companions on Bla Bla or forums.
So our acquaintance with the city of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, ends, a place where 70% of tourists and travelers who annually visit the country of eternal summer end up. And what a coincidence: in recent years, about 8 million foreign tourists have been received in Vietnam per year, and this is comparable to the population of the largest Vietnamese metropolis. After all, statistics say that even a little more lives in developing Ho Chi Minh City - about 8.2 million people.
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Today’s article contains a detailed report on what recreational opportunities this country provides.
Popular resorts in Vietnam
Resort | How to get there | Prices | For whom |
Own airport | Families with children and teenagers |
||
Own airport | **** | Nightlife lovers, partygoers, young married couples |
|
Ho Chi Minh City Airport, river “missiles” | |||
Phan Thiet | Ho Chi Minh City Airport | Families with children, elderly people, kitesurfers |
|
By plane from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, by ferry from Rach Gia town | **** | Families with children, people looking for a relaxing holiday, divers |
|
By plane from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, by ferry from Vung Tau | **** | Divers, newlyweds |
|
By bus from Hanoi | **** |
Danang
Da Nang's sandy beaches are ranked among the world's most attractive beaches by Forbes magazine. The town of Danang itself is located on a coastline indented by bays and surrounded by low picturesque mountains. Its location is also convenient because from Da Nang it is easy to reach towns such as Hue, Hoi An and My Son. The time from September to December is suitable for surfers - during these months there are stable waves.
pros
- Nearby is one of the best water parks in the country - Da Nang Water Park. China Beach is considered the best beach in Vietnam.
Minuses
- In June, the coastal waters are inhabited by red jellyfish, whose burns are painful and can cause an allergic reaction.
Nha Trang
Perhaps the most popular for Russian tourists. Announcements, advertisements, and menus in many restaurants are duplicated in Russian, and many Europeans call this city “Little Russia.” There are a huge number of bars, restaurants, clubs, beauty salons. In addition, the city has several dive centers, healing springs and a mud bath.
pros
- Nearby, on a separate island, is the Vinpearl water amusement park, which can be reached by cable car. Lots of attractions and entertainment.
Minuses
- In the northern part of the city, a river flows into the sea, which sometimes brings with it mud, giving the water an unpleasant brown tint. There are many thieves and petty swindlers in the city.
Vung Tau
Vung Tau is located near, so residents of the metropolis spend their weekends here. The climate is milder than in other resorts, and you can relax all year round, avoiding the period from June to September, when the most rainfall occurs. You can entertain yourself by walking through the city park, going to the local market, exploring pagodas and temples, or visiting the lighthouse and statue of Jesus Christ.
pros
- Good infrastructure for shopping. Possibility to get to Ho Chi Minh City by water in 50-60 minutes.
Minuses
- The beaches are polluted by garbage washed up from the Mekong Delta and waste from industrial enterprises located within the city.
Phan Thiet
Phan Thiet is also close to Ho Chi Minh City and includes the small fishing village of Mui Ne. The resort is no less popular among Russian tourists than Danang, so you can often find Russian-speaking staff and menus in their native language. In addition, Phan Thiet is popular with surfers. Many people like to come here in the low season, as short rains relieve the heat. There is a lot to see in the area - the famous statue of the reclining Buddha, Binh Chau mineral springs, lotus lake.
pros
- Large selection of water activities, golf courses, really good beaches.
Minuses
- Almost complete lack of night entertainment.
Phu Quoc Island
Some compare Vietnamese Phu Quoc to a Thai island. And although they are somewhat similar, Phu Quoc is inferior to Phuket in the number of bars, restaurants, and discos. It is believed that Phu Quoc is the quietest and most relaxing resort in Vietnam. There are not only beautiful beaches, but also luxurious nature, into which the tourist infrastructure fits harmoniously. In your free time, you can visit pearl or black pepper factories, go on an eco-tour to the jungle or mountains, or try your hand at fishing.
pros
- The best place for diving.
Minuses
- You can only get to the island with transfers.
Con Dao Island
Con Dao Island is difficult to access, but this only plays into its hands - the holiday here is calm and secluded. Plus, most of the island is a national park, so the nature here is fantastic. The beaches are sandy, snow-white, and the visibility of the water sometimes reaches 20-40 meters. The best time for diving is from February to July, and from May to November there is a unique opportunity to see turtles that come to the island to lay eggs.
pros
- Few tourists. Great place for diving. There is an opportunity to travel to neighboring islands.
Minuses
- The tourism infrastructure is not yet very developed. Little entertainment.
Ha Long
Ha Long Bay is perhaps the most important and popular attraction in the country. More than 3,000 small rocky islands are scattered throughout the bay, creating a landscape of incredible beauty. Tourists mainly visit as part of excursions, but there is everything for a complete beach holiday. Particularly famous is the fashionable Tuan Chau beach, where Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh himself rested in the middle of the last century.
The best time to swim in the bay is from April to October.
since the rest of the time the water in the bay is not very comfortable.
pros
- Incredibly beautiful surrounding landscapes. Developed entertainment infrastructure.
Minuses
- Apart from the bay itself, there are no attractions. The resort is not suitable for diving.
The most popular resorts in central Vietnam include:
- Hue is an ancient city in Thia Thien province, known for its picturesque mixed landscapes with mountains in the west and the sea coast in the east. Here, in the former capital of the last imperial Nguyen, more than 300 historical monuments are concentrated, many of which are included in the UNESCO heritage;
- Da Nang is the country's largest port city with well-groomed beaches, founded in 1888 on the banks of the Han River;
- Hoi An is a small coastal town at the mouth of Thu Bon, which was an important trading center in the Middle Ages, today attracts with its snow-white beaches, the architecture of the Old Town, included in the UNESCO lists, and original architectural monuments in the Chinese style;
- Dalat, a mountain resort developed by the French during the colonial period, is today suitable for 1-3-day excursions with visits to waterfalls, lakes and gastronomic restaurants.
Resorts in northern Vietnam
In the northern part of Vietnam there are resorts and major tourist centers such as Sapa, Hanoi, Haiphong and Halong.
Hanoi has been the capital of the country for more than 1000 years. The city's architecture combines oriental and French traditions; the city has dozens of parks with lakes, markets and museums. Here you can see the Pillar Pagoda, White Horse Temple, Flag Tower and the imperial Forbidden City.
In Sapa, located in the mountains and attracting with an authentic flavor, it is worth visiting the Love Market, the Bac Ha Sunday Market, the Catholic Church of the Holy Lady of the Rosary, waterfalls and a bamboo forest.
Halong is a classic beach resort with a rapidly developing infrastructure. Its main advantages are clean white sand beaches, small bays, Tuan Chau Island, which can be reached by bridge, many restaurants and shops.
Haiphong and neighboring Baitu Long Bay and Cat Ba Island are good for a traditional beach holiday. In addition, this coastal town and its surroundings are home to attractions such as Nghe Temple, the French Theater and the UNESCO-recognized Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve.
Resorts near Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam
The most popular youth and respectable resorts are concentrated in the south of Vietnam. Among them:
- Nha Trang is one of the best resorts for a beach holiday in Vietnam with long sandy beaches (the main one is 7 km long), quiet bays and a huge number of hotels and restaurants.
- Saigon is an obsolete name for Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest city and most important economic center, where you can see many monuments: the Temple of the Jade Emperor, Notre Dame de Saigon, pagodas, mosques and Hindu temples.
- Vung Tau is the closest beach resort to Ho Chi Minh City, to which boats depart 10 times a day. It has the most developed infrastructure, a large number of nightclubs and bars;
- Phan Thiet is an excellent quiet resort for surfing and a relaxed family holiday, its beaches are surrounded by palm and pine groves, 5* hotels of famous international chains are concentrated here, many of them have their own comfortable beaches and golf clubs;
- Mui Ne is a resort on a cape near Phan Thiet with sand dunes and kitesurfing schools;
- Long Hai is a resort town on the outskirts of the country on a small cape in the South China Sea, characterized by a quiet sea and clean, wide beaches;
- Phu Quoc is the country's largest island with great tourism potential, famous for its diverse landscapes with 99 mountains, waterfalls and a reef ecosystem, suitable for lovers of tropical nature and water activities.
Dry weather in the southern resorts of Vietnam lasts from December to April, and from May to the end of autumn the rainy season lasts.
Unlike any other city, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is amazing! Along with skyscrapers made of glass and concrete, ancient pagodas are perfectly preserved, and this architectural landscape is diluted by prim European buildings of the 19th century. A mixture of styles, eras, tastes, aromas, bright colors - all this only enhances the impression of a holiday in Ho Chi Minh City. Moreover, you can easily get here from Moscow by direct flight(the flight lasts 9-10 hours).
Ho Chi Minh City celebrates an incomprehensible number of holidays. Whenever you plan your trip, you will certainly find at least one of them celebrating. Be it Fisherman's Day or Buddha's Birthday, it will be truly interesting and exotic.
Best time to travel
Ho Chi Minh City is located in one of the most beautiful places in the country - in the Mekong River Delta. The subequatorial climate of the southern capital of Vietnam pleases travelers with temperatures that do not drop below +28⁰C throughout the year.
From May to November it rains here every day: heavy, but short-lived. The rest of the time there is practically no precipitation. When planning a holiday in Ho Chi Minh City, be careful when choosing tours for April and May - at this time it is quite hot here - above +35⁰С.
Types of recreation
A traveler of any gender and age will be bored in Saigonen. Ho Chi Minh City offers a solid list of interesting types of entertainment:
- Cruises on the Mekong Delta. In addition to admiring nature, during the trip you can visit a unique place and buy great souvenirs, as well as see the life of ethnic villages.
- Safari.
- Bike tours.
- Incredible shopping on Dong Khoi Street - absolutely everything from matches to cars is sold here. Or a more economical option for shopping is the BenThan market.
- Visiting restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City is an opportunity to try all the cuisines of the world at minimal prices. For comparison: a luxurious dinner for two, with good alcohol and exquisite seafood delicacies, will cost an average of 35-40 dollars.
Attractions
Being a large city with a very long and interesting history, Ho Chi Minh City has preserved an incredible number of architectural monuments that are definitely worth visiting.
- Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Saigon;
- Reunification Palace;
- Vinh Nghiem Pagoda;
- Emperor Pagoda (JadeEmperorPagoda);
- Former American Embassy;
- Zoo and Botanical Gardens;
- Ho Chi Minh City Museum;
- War Museum;
- Art Museum;
- Dam Sheen Park, where you can see, among other things, the highlight of Vietnamese entertainment events - a puppet theater on the water.
Beach holiday in Ho Chi Minh City
The beaches closest to Ho Chi Minh City are located on the Vung Tau Peninsula. If you prefer an active beach holiday, welcome to the “Front Beach” (as tourists called it), or Tam Duong (its true name). At your service - beautiful nature, restaurants, bars, round-the-clock fun, comfortable sun loungers, beautiful umbrellas, delicious cocktails, etc.
For those whose idea of a seaside holiday is more relaxed, we offer “Mulberry Beach” on Vung Tau. This is perhaps the most picturesque place on the peninsula, where you can soak up the sun, surrounded by palm trees and other exotic plants.
Useful information about the country
- If Ho Chi Minh City tours last no more than 15 days, no need to apply for a visa.
- National currency is "dong". Despite the fact that dollars and euros are accepted in Ho Chi Minh City, they will give you change in dong, and the exchange rate will be unfavorable.
- You should not wear skimpy beachwear around the city. The friendly and welcoming local population may take offense at you.
- Necessarily Bring clothing that covers your shoulders and knees(this applies to both women and men) to visit temples and pagodas. Remember, you must take off your shoes in front of temples, and when leaving a religious building, you must not turn your back to it.
"The journey... begins with one step"
Tao Te Ching
The Moscow tour operator "Southern Lights" offers tours from Moscow to the southern capital of Vietnam - the interesting and contrasting city of Ho Chi Minh City. We will plan an amazing adventure for you at an affordable price! Plan your vacation in 2017 now!
We are a leading tour operator in Indochina. We organize tours according to group and individual programs. Many years of experience allows us to create only the most interesting routes for you. With us, your holiday experience in Ho Chi Minh City will be unforgettable!
You can find out prices, book and buy the tour you like by calling +7 495 229 76 40 or in our office in Moscow
If none of the package tours to Ho Chi Minh City suits you, our managers will draw up and calculate an individual route for you.
Ho Chi Minh City was founded relatively recently, it arose in the 18th century and today it is the largest metropolis in the country, where life is bustling around the clock. Noisy, bright, bustling, Ho Chi Minh City is considered the main business and cultural center of the country. Tourists can find absolutely everything here, luxury and affordable housing, luxury boutiques with branded clothing and markets with cheap goods, colonial-era architectural monuments and Asian pagodas. It is impossible to imagine a tour of Vietnam without visiting this huge city.
Also there will be no question with food in Ho Chi Minh City, there are restaurants, coffee, fast food everywhere, on the street in shops they sell exotic and strange creatures, whether to try them or not is everyone’s business. Restaurants offer dishes from different cuisines of the world, so every stomach of every tourist will be satisfied.
They offer accommodation for every taste; in total there are more than 600 hotels in the city, not counting boarding houses and guesthouses, of which there are plenty in Ho Chi Minh City. Five-star hotels are distinguished by the highest level of comfort, the service here is excellent; in cheap guesthouses you should not count on anything extraordinary: a bed, a table, a bathroom.
Beaches of Ho Chi Minh City located not in the city itself, but on the Vung Tau peninsula, they can be reached either by special ships or by highway, travel time is about 1 hour. The Vung Tau resort is suitable for tourists whose priority is a beach holiday. located on the first coastline and create maximum comfort for their guests.
Vung Tau is called the Vietnamese Riviera by locals. It is located 128 km from Ho Chi Minh City and used to be a place where the elite came to relax. Today the peninsula has turned into a resort with many hotels and a well-developed entertainment infrastructure.
The most popular beach in Vung Tau "Front Beach". A large number of hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars are concentrated here. The infrastructure is developed quite well, and the beach itself is very beautiful. When talking about the popularity of the beach in Vietnam, you should not equate this concept with the beaches of Egypt or Turkey. In Vietnam, despite the development of tourism, there are many times fewer travelers.
The most crowded beach in Vietnam is located opposite Front Beach and tourists call it Remote beach. Thousands of vacationers gather here, especially on weekends, the infrastructure here is well developed, and 10 km of sandy coast gives a wonderful time in the sun.
The beaches of Vung Tau have only two drawbacks: periodic sea pollution occurs due to nearby drilling platforms, as well as petty thieves who steal things they like.
Transport in Ho Chi Minh City developed quite well, there are about 130 bus routes throughout the city, which are recommended for tourists, all of them lead to the main attractions of Ho Chi Minh City. The buses are very clean, air-conditioned and cheap.
Taxi– another convenient way to move around the city; you can order a car for the whole day and explore the city without haste. Renting a motor boat in Ho Chi Minh City will allow you to enjoy the beauty of the place from the sea; you can book a cruise at the Bach Dang pier.
Renting a scooter in Ho Chi Minh City is an affordable, but very dubious pleasure, since the traffic in the city is crazy, and local drivers seem to be unfamiliar with the rules of the road.
Shopping in Ho Chi Minh City is a paradise for shopping lovers. Here there are not just shops or shopping districts, but entire streets where the same product is presented in a wide variety of variations. Since 2012, tourists can return VAT, if the total amount in checks exceeds 2 million VND. There are VAT refund terminals at Ho Chi Minh City Airport.
Shopping centers in Ho Chi Minh City are designed for foreign tourists, so the prices here are not low.
Definitely worth a visit Ho Chi Minh City night markets, of which there are a lot in the city. At the night market you can not only buy souvenirs or some products of local craftsmen, but also try local cuisine and plunge into the unique atmosphere that is present here. It is worth remembering that if you haggle with the seller for a long time, you can reduce the price by 2 times. But you should be very careful and keep bags with money close to your body - thieves are not asleep.
At all, Ho Chi Minh City is the most crime-prone city in Vietnam, a special police department has even been created here to combat banditry. Most often, tourists are robbed right on the street, snatching bags and breaking chains.
