Ho Chi Minh City: What to Know Before You Go

Short answer: base yourself in District 1 or District 3, schedule outdoor walks for early morning and after sunset to avoid the tropical midday heat, book all car and motorbike rides through the Grab or Xanh SM apps, and step away from the kerb before holding up your phone to check a map.

Understanding Saigon vs Ho Chi Minh City and the numbered districts

Renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 after the end of the Vietnam War, the southern metropolis is still called Saigon in everyday speech, on restaurant signs and by its airport and railway station codes (SGN). The city is divided into numbered central districts (Quan): District 1 holds the historic French civic buildings, Nguyen Hue Walking Street and Ben Thanh Market; District 3 sits immediately north-west with tree-shaded villas, the War Remnants Museum and local cafes; District 4 is a compact food island across the Ben Nghe canal; and District 5 forms the heart of Cholon, the historic Chinese quarter. Compare each area in where to stay in Ho Chi Minh City.

Motorbike traffic, kerbside phone awareness and daily pace

Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is dense and fast-moving, dominated by millions of scooters. Cross streets at pedestrian zebra crossings by walking at a steady, predictable pace without lunging or stepping back. While violent crime is rare, opportunistic bag and phone snatching by riders passing close to the pavement can happen in busy central streets: carry a cross-body bag worn on your inside shoulder away from the road, and step back into a shop doorway whenever you stop to use your smartphone.

Vietnamese dong, cards and tipping at markets

Hotels, shopping malls, rooftop bars and modern restaurants in District 1 accept contactless Visa and Mastercard, but banh mi carts, com tam grills and wet markets are cash-only. Check your Vietnamese dong (VND) polymer notes carefully so you do not mix up the blue 20,000 VND and 500,000 VND notes. Inside Ben Thanh Market, stalls without fixed-price signs expect polite, good-humoured bargaining before you buy.