Your complete guide to Saigon in 2025: discover the city’s best hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist destinations – from book boutiques and designer threads to jungle cruises along the Mekong River

Ho Chi Minh City, commonly known as Saigon, is in the midst of an urban renewal, with enough exciting restaurants, bars, shops and attractions to satisfy even the most discerning traveller

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s most populous city and largest financial centre, is experiencing a cultural resurgence of sorts, with a slew of restaurant and bar openings and a greater influx of tourism than ever before. More importantly for our luxury-driven readers, it’s also become a shopping haven and hub for young Vietnamese creatives, with exciting new spaces and concept stores offering a vibrant vision for Southeast Asia’s future as a centre for fashion, arts and design.

Need help planning an itinerary to the sprawling heart of southern Vietnam but have no clue where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Stay at JW Marriott Hotel & Suites Saigon

Formerly the InterContinental Saigon, this celebrated and centrally located hotel in Ho Chi Minh City’s buzzy District 1 was recently reintroduced to the public as the JW Marriott Hotel & Suites Saigon just last year, debuting a slate of trendy, newly rebranded facilities, like the Driftwood Pool Bar, to the area. Within walking distance from major landmarks in the city such as the Independence Palace and War Remnants Museum, it’s an excellent base for first-time visitors as well as a great place to stay for frequent travellers, with top-tier concierge services and a residential tower housing serviced flats and suites next door.

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Though perks like Executive Lounge access – a highlight of many Marriott hotels – may appear to cater more towards the corporate business traveller, the hotel is also decidedly family-friendly. Located on the 19th floor of the Marriott in Saigon, the lounge has an intimate, homey vibe, which is perfect for relaxing and unwinding over evening cocktails in preparation for another busy day of sightseeing.

Meanwhile, the top floor deluxe suite is more than deserving of its name, sizeable enough to comfortably fit a family of three – or four, or more, if we’re being honest – with sweeping views of the surrounding district and skyline. Amenities are refreshingly sleek and modern but still retain some signature old-school charm.

Meal service is where this hotel truly shines though, and you’d be remiss not to try the banh mi here – a Saigon staple. If Western pastries are more your fix, the afternoon tea sets here are incomparable, comprised of delicious little cakes and canapes which are almost too pretty to eat. For Lunar New Year specifically, I indulged in a chocolate ‘red packet’ from the afternoon tea set made for the holiday before sampling some festive macarons from the in-house buffet restaurant, Market 39. Being spoiled for choice when it comes to even the smallest of snacks gives you a taste of the kind of grandeur that makes this Marriott experience truly special. As founder J. Willard Marriott himself liked to say, it truly is the little things that make big things possible.

Pick up some literature from Book Street

Bookstore tourism hasn’t quite taken off in the ways art or gastronomy have, but Ho Chi Minh City’s quaint little Book Street makes a strong case for planning your next holiday around some literature hotspots. Near to tourist attractions including the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon and the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, there’s always foot traffic on this charming stretch of alfresco coffee shops and local bookstores, which are stocked with Vietnamese titles as well as international bestsellers and more rare, harder-to-find gems – a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of the otherwise frenetic area.

Shop at Rue Miche

Thanks to some high-profile help from K-pop in particular, local Vietnamese fashion designers have been having a moment of late. Their trendy looks borrow from styles popular with Gen Z – from the coquette aesthetic to futuristic streetwear. Retail boutique Rue Miche brings together the very best of these brands and so much more, with a stellar line-up of arts and culture programming every month as well as a storefront juice bar called Rotten: who doesn’t love a cool and fresh coconut or pomelo drink in these hot and humid climes?

; and Beuter, frequently sported by Vietnam’s It girls.

Eat at Cuc Gach Quan

Cuc Gach Quan has all the makings of a hidden gem – discreet location, no public Instagram account and scant information in English on its Facebook page – except it isn’t one. Listed on the Michelin Bib Gourmand guide, this local eatery inspired by Vietnamese home cooking from the countryside has been a staple of Ho Chi Minh City’s ever-expanding food scene for years, with a wide range of dishes that illustrate just how diverse the country’s cuisine is.

You won’t find your typical bowls of pho here – only hearty communal dishes served family style, such as braised pork ribs and stewed claypot fish, which are as filling as they are delicious and better shared than eaten solo. The atmosphere deserves bonus points, designed so guests can feel at home from the moment they walk in, surrounded by lush greenery, antique gems, colourful paper lanterns and even a gorgeous koi fish pond at the entrance.

Cap a night off at Summer Experiment

Tucked into the second floor of an unassuming building just around the corner from the popular Ben Thanh Market, guests walking into Summer Experiment for the first time might be surprised by what they find. First, a blooming garden, then vintage-looking furnishings packed into an industrial-style space – all of which point to the direction in which this bar is going in building its character, defined by laid-back vibes but still serving high-quality drinks and service.

That doesn’t mean the cocktails are any less interesting, experimenting with home-grown flavours and locally-sourced ingredients, rich and verdant just like Vietnam’s diverse range of flora and fauna.

Walk the beaches in Vung Tau

If popular resort town Da Nang is too touristy for you these days, consider going down to Vung Tau, just a two-hour drive away from the heart of Ho Chi Minh, for a seaside escape instead. While not quite as developed as its northerly neighbour, there’s a raw beauty and quirky charm to Vung Tau which is perfect for visitors seeking a more authentically Vietnamese holiday experience.

Unlike Da Nang, where massive luxury resorts dominate the beachside real estate, and nearby Hoi An, the beauty of which has been ever-so-slightly dampened by overtourism, you’re unlikely to find any tourist traps in this tiny town, which remains more popular with local Vietnamese families instead.

If you want to experience the country’s famed pavement culture, take a walk along the relatively untouched coastline, where friends and families gather on the streets to share a bite to eat and maybe a pint or two. The extensive beaches here are flanked by two beautiful hillsides, aptly named Big Mountain and Small Mountain, complete with Vietnam’s own version of the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Float along the Mekong River Delta

A trip to Vietnam wouldn’t be complete without a boat tour, the country’s extensive network of rivers having played such an important role in shaping its history over the years. The Mekong is particularly impressive as one of the longest rivers in Asia, running all the way from southwestern China down to Southeast Asia, through Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and, finally, southern Vietnam.

Here, you’ll see tour guides and local Vietnamese navigating the namesake Mekong River Delta in speedboats and rowing boats, along the smaller canals, under the shade of fruit trees and floating markets. However touristy it may all seem, there’s nothing quite as fascinating as seeing the reality of this region, dotted with rice paddies and still heavily driven by agriculture, with your own eyes. Assuming, of course, you’re not attempting to row the boat yourself.

Gloria Tso stayed as a guest of JW Marriott Hotel & Suites Saigon.