Finding Saigon’s charms can be a little trickier than in Hanoi, the capital city, with its charming old town and mist-covered lakes. First-time visitors frequently depart disappointed. A day of exploring without a map and a strategy may rapidly turn into a pointless endeavor. Saigon, though, is a city worth months, if not years, of investigation for those who are prepared to do a little homework. Here are 5 Surprising Facts About Saigon.
1/ The beauty of District 3
Never disregard District 3, it creates a significant and unique vibe once you enter the district. District 3 is located along the northern boundaries of District 1 (Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Hai Ba Trung Streets), and is still walking distance from the majority of the city’s attractions. It is less expensive, less congested, and has better food than District 1—the central district where most tourists end up. Explore the various eateries on Vo Van Tan Street and Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street while sometimes exploring the connecting passageways. For fruits, veggies, live frogs, pots & pans, grilled pork sandwiches, and even a hidden wartime munitions basement or French architectural buildings. Moreover, don’t miss the morning street market at 287 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. And if you enjoy exploring narrow alleyways…
2/ Enjoy the city through the rooftop
What’s better than being able to enjoy the beauty of Saigon with a cocktail rooftop bar. This is also one of the hot spots that young people in Saigon love because of the mixture of the beauty of the sunset of the city with the scent of the cocktail. Moreover, the price at these places is moderate, around 100,000 VND.
3/ Hẻm (alleyways) are hidden treasure!
The hẻm (alleyways) in Saigon can either be a short cut between two main streets or they might extend for kilometers in every direction. (Before entering, be sure you download a local Google map on your smartphone.) A good place to start is the cut-through at 5A Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, where modern Japanese eateries, media production facilities, high-end tailors, and a synagogue coexist with traditional hẻm features like old-school coffee vendors, “broken rice” shops, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and pushcart fruit vendors all under the watchful eye of soaring glass-walled office buildings. The ideal time to visit any hẻm is in the morning to escape the heat and experience Saigon at its liveliest. Just be cautious of motorcycles, stray chickens, and amenable kids eager to perfect their English. You will have a different perspective about the Saigon’s beauty by looking and searching these hidden treasures!
4/ You can find anything in Saigon literally
If Hanoi is the capital of the country, Saigon is considered to be the convergence of regions. Honestly, this is the busiest and most bustling city in Vietnam. Travelers can easily find anything from other cities or even countries in Ho Chi Minh City. So, if you don’t have enough time to visit and try local items from other areas, you can find one at Saigon also by jumping in Google or asking your tour guide to taste.
5/ Travel the city by bus
One of the cheapest and safest ways to move around and sightseeing Saigon is via bus, which is really very good and not too difficult to figure out if you just go up and down some of the big streets.
It’s possible to plan a bus route to a destination using the color-coded map, even if it’s difficult to make out the city bus routes and all the numbers. Finding all the one-way streets in Saigon is the busiest part, but if you study the bus map a little, you can at least navigate the city’s main thoroughfares with ease.
Don’t worry! People in Saigon are friendly, they are willing to help you at the bus station to find the right bus. Moreover, you can download the Bus Map app or search the web one to find the location or bus in Ho Chi Minh City.
To sum up all the information, it is crucial to know more about Saigon before visiting. This information will help you to enjoy Saigon most uniquely and locally. If you want to know more about Saigon or Vietnam, visit the blog and contact us!
More related topic: Things need to know before visiting Hanoi