18 free things to do in Ho Chi Minh City

Bustling Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is one of Southeast Asia’s best-value destinations. It's easy to enjoy a budget break when you can gobble down a street-side bowl of pho for a couple of bucks and soak up the buzz of life at street level for free. Accommodation and getting around are likely to be your biggest costs, but there are plenty of ways to enjoy Vietnam's southern capital without spending a penny.

To help your travel money go further, here are our top recommendations for free things to do in the former Saigon, from watching lively street performances to dropping in on fascinating temples.

1. Admire the interior of the Central Post Office

With a neo-Baroque facade and a science-themed interior, the still-functioning Central Post Office dates back to the late 1880s. Check out the impressive tiled floor and the vintage maps painted on the concourse walls, and pause outside to admire the reliefs of Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

Planning tip: If you're interested in stamps, there's a counter selling collector's sets and Vietnamese stamps with colorful designs.

2. Experience the mercantile magic of Ben Thanh Market

Established just before WWI, and set in one of the city's liveliest neighborhoods, Ben Thanh Market sells pretty much anything you could ever want. Brave the gauntlet of sellers and make your way through the market’s narrow aisles to a hidden staircase near the South Gate, then take the steps up to a small temple where vendors pray for a good day’s business and soak up the views over the market.

Planning tip: Every evening, a lively night market sets up at Ben Thanh serving delicious street food, so come in the afternoon and stay for dinner.

3. Take an evening stroll along Nguyen Hue Walking Street

This pedestrian-only street gets busy on weekend evenings as tourists and local families promenade and enjoy the street performers, and sip cà phê (coffee) in some of the city's coolest cafes. It's a great place to people watch. Don’t miss exploring the apartment building at number 42 – an Instagram hot spot, chock full of boutiques and trendy places to sip and snack.

Planning tip: For a prime vantage point for watching the walking street action, Saigon O'i inside the Cafe Apartment building at No 42 has great views from its balcony.

4. Splash about at Vivo Playground

Kids will enjoy cooling off from the heat with a romp through the mini waterpark with fountains and water jets at Vivo Playground, set atop the SC VivoCity Mall just south of downtown. It's free to access and fun for little ones; teens may prefer window shopping in the fashion boutiques downstairs.

5. Gaze up at the spires of Notre Dame Cathedral

Modeled after its Parisian namesake, the Notre Dame Cathedral is a red-brick, neo-Romanesque charmer, with twin bell towers and spires that reach 60m (197ft) into the sky. Inside, you can admire stained-glass windows and walls inlaid with devotional tablets, and mull over the mindset of the colonial settlers who tried to remodel Saigon in European style.

Planning tip: The cathedral is a popular place of worship and there are regular services, including a morning mass in English on Sundays.

6. Take photos at Ho Thi Ky Flower Market

Selling everything from lotuses to bunches of sunflowers, Saigon’s largest flower market (52 Ho Thi Ky, District 10) is open 24/7, with the buying and selling peaking in the early morning hours. Scented by blooms, it's a favorite backdrop for colorful photographs, and numerous food stalls supply shoppers with cheap eats.

7. Visit the colorful Cao Dai Temple

Adherents of Caodaism, a religion founded in Vietnam incorporating elements from Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity, come to worship at the colorful three-story Cao Dai Temple on Duong Tran Hung Dao. To view the main hall with its dragon-circled columns, head up the stairs, then turn to the left for women, or to the right for men.

Planning tip: The noon prayer ceremony is popular with visitors, but the mood is more contemplative once the tour groups depart. During festivals such as Hoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung in September, the temple is thronged by thousands of Cao Dai followers dressed in white.

8. Play shuttlecock at September 23 Park

Want to get active? Join one of the many groups kicking around a shuttlecock at this popular park running along the edge of the main backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao. The popular Vietnamese pastime known as da cau is like badminton for the feet, played with a feather-topped stack of plastic discs. Keeping the shuttlecock in the air looks easy, but try it for yourself and you'll appreciate the skill of locals.

9. Learn about Ho Chi Minh's successor at Ton Duc Thang Museum

Celebrating the life of Vietnam’s first president after reunification, the Ton Duc Thang Museum provides some interesting insights into Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s. Although overshadowed by his predecessor, Ho Chi Minh, Ton Duc Thang was the world's oldest serving president when he died in 1980, aged 91.

Planning tip: The Ton Duc Thang Museum is within walking distance of other interesting city sights, including the General Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Reunification Palace.

10. Meet English-speaking locals with Mundo Lingo

Mundo Lingo is a great way to meet English-speaking locals and other gregarious polyglots. Weekly meetups are typically held at a local bar, but there’s no obligation to buy a drink; just slap on stickers of flags representing the languages you speak and get chatting!

11. See murals of the Buddha's life at Chantarangsay Pagoda

Serving HCMC’s majority Buddhist Khmer community, the Chantarangsay Pagoda's main shrine has 14 Buddha statues and vividly colorful paintings of scenes from the life of the Buddha painted all over its ceiling and walls. Built in the modern Khmer style in 1946, the temple gets busy with worshippers at weekends.

12. Look for shophouse outlines on Dong Khoi Street

Great for window shopping, Dong Khoi is Saigon’s premier shopping street and it's full of international and Vietnamese boutiques. If you look hard enough, you’ll be able to see the outlines of the French-era shophouses that once lined this canal leading to the Saigon River. It's a good spot to contemplate Ho Chi Minh City's modern journey. 

Planning tip: For some free air-conditioning, duck into Couleurs d’Asie to view fine-art photography depicting Vietnam’s ethnic minority groups by French photographer Réhahn.

13. Take a wander through Binh Tay Market

The Binh Tay Market just outside of Chinatown is the city’s largest wholesale market, with an imposing clock tower and a central courtyard with gardens. Selling everything from produce to textiles, it’s also notable for its Chinese-inspired architectural elements, including dragons and phoenixes on the roof.

14. Listen to birdsong at Tao Dan Park

Known as the Jardin de la Ville when it was founded in 1868, the 10-hectare Tao Dan Park is right in the middle of the city. It's home to a temple dedicated to the Hung Kings of ancient Vietnam, a flower garden and sculpture exhibition, and the buildings of the former Cercle Sportif, a French-era sporting club. It's a relaxing spot to catch your breath, and lovers of songbirds congregate in the early morning, bringing caged birds to the park's "bird cafe" to learn new songs from each other.

15. Enjoy the green spaces of Thanh Da

Find calm on the narrow paths of this lightly developed peninsula known as "the green lung of Saigon" for its rice paddies and fishing ponds. An island of countryside in the city, it's just 15 minutes from downtown. The Binh Quoi Tourist Village at the very end of the main street of Binh Quoi is set up to resemble a typical village in the Mekong Delta.

Planning tip: There are several places to eat in Binh Quoi Tourist Village, plus a branch of the Dung Dinh cafe chain, and you can stay overnight in air-con bungalows.

16. Learn about heroic Vietnamese women at the Southern Women’s Museum

For insights into life for women in Vietnam, visit the charming Southern Women’s Museum. See how the ao dai, Vietnam’s national costume, evolved through the years, view scenes of typical country life and learn about the accomplishments of Vietnamese women, including the role played by women in the French and American wars.

17. Pay homage to the Chinese goddess of the sea at Thien Hau Pagoda

The colorful Thien Hau Pagoda was constructed in 1760 by seafaring Chinese immigrants. Built in the classic "seal" style, with a floorplan that resembles the seals (stamps) traditionally used to sign documents in China, the temple is dedicated to Thien Hau (Mazu), the Chinese goddess of the sea. The gorgeous roof, with its intricate ceramic dioramas and writhing dragons, and the giant suspended incense coils all add to the atmosphere.

18. Be dazzled by the colorful light show on Starlight Bridge

For a nighttime Instagram opportunity, join couples and families seeking colorful shooting locations at the pedestrian Starlight Bridge, just behind posh Crescent Mall in the expat enclave known as District 7. From Thursday to Sunday evenings, the bridge spouts water lit up by a rainbow of LED lights.

Planning tip: After taking in the light show, drop in on one of the many Korean restaurants in Phu My Hung, the hub for HCMC's growing Korean community.