Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, 2026

Travel Dates: March 4th - March 8th

Ho Chi Min City is more of a "living city" than both Ha Noi or Da Nang. There are highlights such as visiting the many cafe apartments to explore, aside from the most popular one. Walking through the shop-converted historic apartments is a fun morning/afternoon experience. We got coffee on the top floor and lunch on one of the mid-levels.

The largest market, Ben Thanh, is a must-experience market. We're not keen on the whole "fake designer goods" thing or haggling for souvenirs, but we appreciate the overall experience. I very much enjoyed getting a much-celebrated durian avocado smoothy. The thick & creamy avocado texture compliments the, rather flavorsome, durian. We also found the sometimes-elusive Bánh Mì Kẹp Kem (ice cream sandwich) vendor and got a vanilla/pineapple/durian ice cream sandwich. It was rather delightful.

Conclusion

Ho Chi Min City was definitely worth visiting, although, we could have reduced the number of days to 3 instead of 5. We weren't big on wanting to visit the war museums, and of the non-war museums, we found those in Hanoi to be of better quality. Our biggest oversight in planning, which would have made visiting the area better, is if we had planned a day trip or overnight to the Mekong Delta. Maybe it's enough of a reason to go back.