How Many Days in Ho Chi Minh City?
Three days is the honest answer for most first visits, but the right number depends on what you came for. We plan these days for our guests every week. This page sizes your stay by interest, tells you what fits in half a day and what you can skip.
- Two days covers central Saigon and Cholon.
- Three days adds Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta.
- Cu Chi takes about 6 hours door to door; a Cu Chi and Mekong combo runs 13 hours.
- Half a day is enough for the Post Office, Notre-Dame from outside, Nguyen Hue and Ben Thanh.
- Plan outdoor sights 8:00 to 12:00 and museums in the heat of early afternoon.
How many days do you need?
Two full days show you the centre and Cholon, the old Chinese quarter. A third day lets you leave the city for the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta.
Lonely Planet's 48-hour plan does the same: the centre and its museums on day one, Cholon on day two.
A note on names: since 1 July 2025 the city has wards, not districts. Everyone, including Google Maps, still says District 1, so we do too. Our guide to the districts explains the new map.
How many days, by what you want to do?
We ask guests what they want first, then count. Here is our grid.
| If you are... | Days | What fills them |
|---|---|---|
| First visit, all-rounder | 3 | Day 1 centre, day 2 Cholon and street food, day 3 Cu Chi or Mekong |
| Family with kids | 2 to 3 | Zoo, Post Office, Nguyen Hue in the mornings; indoor stops 13:00 to 15:00; Cu Chi only if kids can crouch on dirt paths |
| Food first | 2 | Ben Thanh night stalls, Ho Thi Ky food alley, Vinh Khanh seafood street, one guided food evening |
| War and history | 3 | War Remnants Museum, Independence Palace, Xa Loi Pagoda, Cha Tam Church, then a full Cu Chi day |
| In transit or on a layover | Half a day | Post Office, Book Street, Notre-Dame from outside, Nguyen Hue, Ben Thanh |
| Full week | 5 to 7 | Three city days, Cu Chi and the Mekong on separate days, a spare day for rain |
Families should know that the War Remnants Museum is not suited to children under about 12. Night owls can fold an evening into any profile with our guide to Saigon at night.
Half a day or a full day? Sight by sight
Visit times decide how many days you need. These are the real durations, hours and 2026 adult prices. Our 1, 2, 3 and 4 day itineraries put them in order, hour by hour.
| Sight | Time on site | Hours | Adult ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| War Remnants Museum | 1.5 to 2 h | 7:30 to 17:30, desk shuts 17:00 | 40,000 VND (about $1.55) |
| Independence Palace | 1.5 h | 7:00 to 18:00 | 40,000 VND, or 80,000 (about $3.10) with the exhibition |
| Saigon Central Post Office | 20 to 30 min | Mon to Fri 7:00 to 17:00, weekends to 18:00 | Free |
| Notre-Dame Cathedral | 15 min, outside only | Interior open for mass only | Free |
| Ben Thanh Market | 45 min | Hall 6:00 to 18:00, night stalls 18:00 to 23:00 | Free |
| Fine Arts Museum | 1 h | 8:00 to 17:00 | 30,000 VND (about $1.15) |
| Cholon quarter | 2 h | Thien Hau Temple about 6:00 to 17:30 | Free |
| Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden | 2 to 3 h | 7:00 to 17:30 | 60,000 VND (about $2.30) |
| Cu Chi Tunnels | 6 h door to door | 7:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00 | 135,000 VND (about $5.20) |
A three-day plan that works
The order we give friends: walking in the cool hours, museums in the afternoon heat.
- 1Day 1 morning
The colonial centre
Notre-Dame from the square, the Post Office and its 1892 hand-painted map, Book Street, then City Hall and Nguyen Hue.
- 2Day 1 afternoon
Palace and War Remnants
Independence Palace, including the basement war room most visitors miss, then the War Remnants Museum before the desk shuts at 17:00.
- 3Day 2 morning
Cholon
Binh Tay Market during the 6:00 to 9:00 wholesale rush, then Thien Hau Temple and the medicine street of Hai Thuong Lan Ong.
- 4Day 2 evening
Eat your way through it
Ho Thi Ky food alley is busiest from 17:00, Vinh Khanh seafood street peaks 18:00 to 23:00.
- 5Day 3
Leave the city
A half-day Cu Chi trip, back by mid-afternoon, or a full day in the Mekong Delta.
Two days? Drop day 3. Swap ideas from our things to do list, and use the Cholon guide and street food guide for day 2.
Day trips: add one day each
The two classic trips each need their own day. Cu Chi is about 60 km away, around 1.5 h each way. My Tho, the usual Mekong stop, is about 70 km, and Lonely Planet counts 2 h each way to My Tho or Ben Tre.
A combo tour squeezes both into one day: pickup 7:00, Cu Chi until 11:00, the Mekong from 12:30, back around 19:00. It is rushed. We would split them over two days.
Ben Dinh is the closer Cu Chi site; Ben Duoc is 20 km further and quieter.
What you can skip
Where we would save your time, and where we would spend it.
Worth it for
- The Independence Palace basement and rooftop
- Nguyen Hue on a weekend evening, closed to traffic 18:00 to 22:00
- Eating at Ben Thanh rather than shopping there
- A weekday at Landmark 81: 300,000 VND (about $11.55) instead of 500,000 at weekends
Skip it if
- Notre-Dame's interior: it is under restoration and open for mass only
- The Opera House without a show ticket: there are no public tours
- The Bitexco Skydeck at 240,000 VND, when a 90,000 beer at EON Heli Bar gives a similar view
- Souvenir shopping at Ben Thanh, where opening prices run 2 to 3 times local
Getting around between sights
Short hops are cheap. A 2 to 3 km GrabBike ride costs 20,000 to 30,000 VND (about $0.80 to $1.15). From the airport, a GrabCar to District 1 runs 110,000 to 160,000 VND.
Metro Line 1 starts at Ben Thanh Market. A day pass costs 40,000 VND (about $1.55), and you tap in and out.
Read our safety guide for traffic and bag snatching, and the travel tips for visas, SIM cards and cash.
Questions we get on the bike
It covers the centre, the Palace and the War Remnants Museum, but not Cholon or the day trips.
Yes, for the city itself: the centre on day one, Cholon and street food on day two.
Combo tours do it in about 13 hours. It is rushed; split them if you can.
Allow 1.5 to 2 hours. It opens 7:30 to 17:30, the ticket desk closes at 17:00, and adults pay 40,000 VND.
Hanoi is a 2 h 09 flight, Da Nang 1 h 21, Phu Quoc about 1 hour, and Phnom Penh 6 hours by bus.
Outdoors from 8:00 to 12:00 or after 16:00, indoors from 13:00 to 15:00. Temperatures sit at 25 to 35 C all year.
Clara grew up just outside Saigon and moved to the city five years ago to study. She has been riding its streets ever since. Most evenings you’ll find her leading our night rides, usually with a bowl of snails waiting at the end. Everything in this guide is what she tells her own guests before the first stop.
Short on days? Let us drive
Eight landmarks in four hours, hotel pickup included, palace and museum tickets already paid. Book on WhatsApp, pay on the day.
