Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Location

Romantically referred to by the French as the Pearl of the Orient, Ho Chi Minh City today is a super-charged city of sensory overload. Motorbikes zoom day and night along the wide boulevards, through the narrow back alleys and past vendors pushing handcarts hawking goods of all descriptions. Still called Saigon by most residents, this is Vietnam's largest city and the engine driving the country's current economic resurgence, but despite its frenetic pace, it's a friendlier place than Hanoi and locals will tell you the food—simple, tasty, and incorporating many fresh herbs—is infinitely better than in the capital.This is a city full of surprises. The madness of the city's traffic—witness the oddball things that are transported on the back of motorcycles—is countered by tranquil pagodas, peaceful parks, quirky coffee shops, and whole neighborhoods hidden down tiny alleyways, although some of these quiet spots can be difficult to track down. Life in Ho Chi Minh City is lived in public: on the back of motorcycles, on the sidewalks, and in the parks. Even when its residents are at home, they're still on display. With many living rooms opening onto the street, grandmothers napping, babies being rocked, and food being prepared, are all in full view of passersby.Icons of the past endure in the midst of the city’s headlong rush into capitalism. The Hotel Continental, immortalized in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, continues to stand on the corner of old Indochina's most famous thoroughfare, the rue Catinat, known to American G.I.s during the Vietnam War as Tu Do (Freedom) Street and renamed Dong Khoi (Uprising) Street by the Communists. The city still has its ornate opera house and its old French city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. The broad colonial boulevards leading to the Saigon River and the gracious stucco villas are other remnants of the French colonial presence. Grisly reminders of the more recent past can be seen at the city's war-related museums. Residents, however, prefer to look forward rather than back and are often perplexed by tourists' fascination with a war that ended 40 years ago.The Chinese influence on the country is still very much in evidence in the Cholon district, the city's Chinatown, but the modern office towers and international hotels that mark the skyline symbolize Vietnam's fixation on the future.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Itineraries

12 Nights

Treasures of the Mekong

Departure Date
09 Nov 24
Cruise Line Scenic River Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Scenic Spirit
Region Mekong
Departure Port Siem Reap
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham, Angkor Ban, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Tân Châu, Tân Châu, Sa Déc, Cái Bè, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City

From £6,130pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

10 Nights

Temple Discovery and Luxury Mekong Cruise

Departure Date
09 Nov 24
Cruise Line Scenic River Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Scenic Spirit
Region Mekong
Departure Port Siem Reap
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham, Angkor Ban, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Tân Châu, Tân Châu, Sa Déc, Cái Bè and Ho Chi Minh City

From £5,628pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

7 Nights

8-Day Majestic Mekong Cruise

Departure Date
09 Nov 24
Cruise Line Emerald Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Emerald Harmony
Region Mekong
Departure Port Phnom Penh
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Phnom Penh, Koh Khsach Krao, Oudong, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Tân Châu, Long An, Giêng Island, My An Hung, Sa Déc, Cái Bè, My Tho, Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City

From £3,972pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

16 Nights

Treasures & Temples of Vietnam & Cambodia

Departure Date
10 Nov 24
Cruise Line Emerald Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Emerald Harmony
Region Mekong
Departure Port Hanoi
Destination Port Siem Reap
Itinerary
Hanoi, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre, Sa Déc, My An Hung, Giêng Island, Long An, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Koh Khsach Krao, Koh Khsach Krao, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap and Siem Reap

From £6,372pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

7 Nights

Charms of the Mekong

Departure Date
11 Nov 24
Cruise Line Ama Waterways
Cruise Type River
Ship AmaDara
Region Mekong
Departure Port Ho Chi Minh City
Destination Port Kampong Cham
Itinerary
Ho Chi Minh City, My Tho, Cái Bè, Sa Déc, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Phnom Penh, Oknha Tey Village, Angkor Ban, Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham and Siem Reap

From £4,014pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

14 Nights

Timeless Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong

Departure Date
12 Nov 24
Cruise Line Uniworld
Cruise Type River
Ship Mekong Jewel
Region Mekong
Departure Port Hanoi
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Hanoi, Hanoi, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Sa Déc, Sa Déc, My Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City

From Please Call

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

17 Nights

Highlights of Vietnam, Cambodia & Luxury Mekong

Departure Date
12 Nov 24
Cruise Line Scenic River Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Scenic Spirit
Region Mekong
Departure Port Hanoi
Destination Port Siem Reap
Itinerary
Hanoi, Hanoi, Hanoi, Cát Bà Island, Cát Bà Island, Cát Bà Island, Hanoi, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Cái Bè, Sa Déc, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Phnom Penh, Angkor Ban, Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap and Siem Reap

From £8,368pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

7 Nights

Magnificent Mekong

Departure Date
13 Nov 24
Cruise Line Viking River Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Viking Saigon
Region Mekong
Departure Port Kampong Cham
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Tân Châu, Sa Déc, Cái Bè and Ho Chi Minh City

From £7,395pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

12 Nights

Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong

Departure Date
14 Nov 24
Cruise Line Emerald Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Emerald Harmony
Region Mekong
Departure Port Ho Chi Minh City
Destination Port Siem Reap
Itinerary
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre, Sa Déc, My An Hung, Giêng Island, Long An, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Koh Khsach Krao, Koh Khsach Krao, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap and Siem Reap

From Please Call

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

7 Nights

8-Day Majestic Mekong Cruise

Departure Date
16 Nov 24
Cruise Line Emerald Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Emerald Harmony
Region Mekong
Departure Port Ho Chi Minh City
Destination Port Phnom Penh
Itinerary
Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre, Sa Déc, My An Hung, Giêng Island, Long An, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Koh Khsach Krao and Phnom Penh

From £4,322pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

16 Nights

Treasures & Temples of Vietnam & Cambodia

Departure Date
16 Nov 24
Cruise Line Emerald Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Emerald Harmony
Region Mekong
Departure Port Hanoi
Destination Port Ho Chi Minh City
Itinerary
Hanoi, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Koh Khsach Krao, Oudong, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Long An, Tân Châu, Giêng Island, My An Hung, Sa Déc, Cái Bè, My Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City

From £6,222pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises

17 Nights

Journey along the Mekong

Departure Date
17 Nov 24
Cruise Line Scenic River Cruises
Cruise Type River
Ship Scenic Spirit
Region Mekong
Departure Port Ho Chi Minh City
Destination Port Vientiane
Itinerary
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Cái Bè, Sa Déc, Tân Châu, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Oudong, Phnom Penh, Angkor Ban, Kampong Cham, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Siem Reap, Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Vientiane and Bangkok

From £8,528pp

Plus substantial savings from Deluxe Cruises