Ho Chi Minh City

Powerful and unflinching, the War Remnants Museum is Southeast Asia’s most visceral account of the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective. Spread across three floors and a sculpture-studded courtyard, the exhibits range from the graphic Requiem collection—photographs taken by journalists who died documenting the conflict—to displays on Agent Orange’s lingering devastation and the political propaganda that shaped the war’s narrative. Outside, captured American tanks and aircraft sit in the baking sun, while a reconstructed “tiger cage” used for Viet Cong prisoners forces visitors to confront the brutality on all sides. It is not an easy experience, but it remains essential for anyone seeking to understand modern Vietnam.

Beneath the rust-red earth outside Ho Chi Minh City lies an extraordinary underground world of narrow tunnels, trapdoors, and booby traps. Built during the Vietnam War, this subterranean network once sheltered entire villages and played a vital role in guerrilla warfare, providing a gripping, humbling look at history 65 km northwest of the city.

Standing as a time capsule of the 1960s, the Reunification Palace—formerly the Independence Palace—is where the Vietnam War dramatically concluded. On April 30, 1975, a North Vietnamese tank crashed through its wrought-iron gates, an image broadcast worldwide that signaled the fall of Saigon. Today, the palace remains frozen in that era, its opulent reception halls, underground war rooms, and rooftop helipad preserved in meticulous detail. Visitors can wander through the presidential living quarters, marvel at the grand staircase, and explore the network of bunkers beneath the manicured lawns. It is a surreal journey into a pivotal moment of modern history, where the tension of the Cold War still seems to linger in the air.

Soaring above a Parisian-style roundabout in the heart of District 1, the twin bell towers of Saigon’s Notre-Dame Basilica are Ho Chi Minh City’s most iconic silhouette. Built between 1863 and 1880 from materials shipped from France, the cathedral is French colonial architecture at its most romantic – every brick, every stained-glass panel, every neo-Romanesque arch whispering of 19th-century ambition. Step inside and the clamor of motorbikes outside becomes a distant murmur as light filters through 56 glass panels crafted by Lorin of Chartres. A statue of the Virgin Mary stands on the front lawn, said to have wept in 1959, drawing thousands of pilgrims. This is where the city pauses, breathes and remembers its layered identity.

At the center of District 1, beneath the iconic clock tower, Ben Thanh Market is a commercial institution that has defined Ho Chi Minh City’s hustle since the French colonial era. Originally built with materials imported from France, it has transformed from a floating market to a sprawling dry goods emporium. The atmosphere inside is dizzying—the air is thick with the scent of leather, spices, and local produce. From counterfeit silk shirts to exquisite lacquerware, it provides a crash course in the retail art of haggling. While it leans heavily toward modern tourism these days, its architectural shell and central location make it a bustling, unavoidable landmark in the southern metropolis.”

While tourists flock to Ben Thanh, the true pulse of Ho Chi Minh City’s commerce beats strongest at Binh Tay Market in the heart of Chinatown. Built in the 1920s by a Chinese philanthropist, this sprawling, multi-story labyrinth is a sensory overload of dried seafood, exotic spices, and wholesale textiles. Unlike its more polished counterpart, Binh Tay retains a gritty, authentic atmosphere where locals haggle over bulk goods and street food vendors serve steaming bowls of pho on the sidewalks outside. It is a photographer’s dream and a culinary adventurer’s paradise, offering a raw, unfiltered look at the city’s daily life.

Soaring 262 meters above the Saigon skyline, the Bitexco Financial Tower is a symbol of Vietnam’s rapid modernization. Its distinctive lotus-bud silhouette, inspired by the national flower, is illuminated by a dramatic LED light show at night. The highlight for visitors is the Saigon Skydeck on the 49th floor, which offers a breathtaking 360-degree panorama of the sprawling metropolis, the winding Saigon River, and the distant green hills. It is the perfect vantage point to grasp the sheer scale of the city’s growth, watching the chaotic traffic below transform into a river of light as dusk settles over the urban landscape.

A masterpiece of French colonial architecture, the Saigon Central Post Office is a grand cathedral of communication that has been in continuous operation since 1891. Designed by Gustave Eiffel’s firm, its soaring vaulted ceiling, intricate tile floors, and arched windows evoke the grandeur of a European train station. Inside, two massive hand-painted maps from 1892 depict the telegraph lines of Southern Vietnam, while the walls are lined with wooden phone booths and vintage mailboxes. It remains a functioning post office, allowing visitors to send postcards home from one of the most beautiful buildings in Asia—a perfect blend of history and utility.