Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City — still called Saigon by almost everyone who lives here — is Vietnam at its most intense. The city’s 10 million residents share the streets with 8 million motorbikes, creating a symphony of horns, exhaust, and constant motion that somehow works.

But beneath the chaos lies a city of extraordinary depth. French colonial boulevards lined with tamarind trees give way to narrow alleys hiding the best phở you’ll ever taste. Art deco apartments house speakeasy cocktail bars. Centuries-old temples sit next to glass-and-steel skyscrapers.

District 1 is the beating heart — home to Ben Thanh Market, the War Remnants Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Bui Vien Walking Street. But the real Saigon reveals itself in Districts 3, 4, and 7, where tourists are rare and the food gets even better.

For Korean travelers, HCMC offers direct flights from Incheon (5 hours), familiar flavours in the Vietnamese-Korean fusion restaurants of District 7’s Phu My Hung, and some of the best shopping deals in Southeast Asia.

Whether you’re here for the history, the food, the nightlife, or just the sheer thrill of crossing a Saigon intersection on foot, this city will change the way you think about travel.