It has been a while since our New Year independent trip to Ho Chi Minh City, and I finally had time to pull the whole Ho Chi Minh breakdown together. Then I realized, unfortunately, that a lot of the receipts are gone. For now I can only sketch this trip’s itinerary and costs from notes friends shared and from whatever records are still around. What you actually spend still depends on the itinerary you put together. Enough preamble — here is this Ho Chi Minh trip.
Come meet Linlin’s Travel & Food
This Ho Chi Minh lazy guide is split into four parts first: food, stay, getting around, and things to do. Specific sights and restaurants will be shared in separate posts. Here is the southern Vietnam Ho Chi Minh itinerary from this trip.
Ho Chi Minh itinerary planner
Here is the full 6-day independent itinerary for reference. We stayed in 3 hotels. The plan was loose on purpose: New Year was the focus, plus shopping and Vietnamese hair-wash massages, so coming back to work would not feel exhausting. This is our schedule:
12/28 (Sat): Arrived at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 21:30 (taxi) → check in → supermarket
12/29 (Sun): One day of Ho Chi Minh city sights: Ben Thanh Market → Central Post Office (free) → Red Church (Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica), under renovation → War Remnants Museum (exterior) → Pink Church (Church of the Sacred Heart) → cafe break → Ho Chi Minh City Opera House (exterior) → Vietnamese massage
12/30 (Mon): Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta day trip → Vietnamese massage → supermarket
12/31 (Tue): Mui Ne day trip: White Sand Dunes → Mui Ne Red Sand Dunes → lunch → Mui Ne fishing village → Mui Ne Fairy Stream → Vietnamese massage
2/1 (Wed): Ben Thanh Market → An Dong Market → weekend creative market → Coffee Apartment → supermarket
2/2 (Thu): supermarket → Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City (16:50 flight) → home from the airporthttps://www.instagram.com/p/DEMLXGovLvG/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwang83.pixnet.net&rp=%2Fblog%2Fposts%2F14222958600#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A300%2C%22ls%22%3A180%2C%22le%22%3A195%7D
Next is the total cost of the trip, which is what most people want to know. Shopping, flights, transport, hotels, and the visa are all included.
Ho Chi Minh 6-day independent trip: total cost
Vietnam visa: paper visa arranged by Southeast Travel Agency: NT$2,500 per person
Flights: booked on Trip.com. VietJet Taipei outbound (1 personal item and 1 carry-on) + Vietnam Airlines return from Ho Chi Minh (20 kg checked bag, 1 carry-on, and 1 personal item) 8,350 + 120 (foreign transaction fee) = 8,470
Shopping: about NT$10,000 (food, shopping, massage, and other cash spending) per person
Mui Ne day trip: NT$5,684 / 2 people (bought on KLOOK)
Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta day trip: NT$2,878 / 2 people (bought on KLOOK)
Ho Chi Minh City G23 Spa & Massage experience (massage and hair-wash package): NT$1,578 / 2 people (bought on KLOOK)
Taxi fares: about 1,755 / 2 = 877.5 (Grab, including fees)
Travel insurance + trip inconvenience insurance + terrorism coverage: NT$1,579 per person
Hotels: about NT$8,809
Total spend: NT$37,315
That covers the southern Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 6-day itinerary and the total cost. Next, stay, food, things to do, and shopping — what we actually saw on this trip.
Ho Chi Minh things to do
We wanted an easy trip, and some days needed a car out to farther suburbs. KKDAY and KLOOK have often partnered with local agencies for day tours, and those tours come in a lot of versions. In Vietnam this kind of day tour can pick you up at the hotel, so after matching them to our own interests we booked 1-day tours on KKDAY and KLOOK. If you buy this kind of day tour, use the SHOPBACK website or mobile app. You can earn cashback and keep a bit more in your pocket.
For the city center itself, I would not buy a day tour. In Ho Chi Minh the sights sit very close together, and Grab is easy and not expensive, so mix the two and save yourself the hassle.https://www.instagram.com/reel/DERGwblvtDW/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwang83.pixnet.net&rp=%2Fblog%2Fposts%2F14222958600#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A301%2C%22ls%22%3A180%2C%22le%22%3A195%7D
Ho Chi Minh shopping
We came to Ho Chi Minh for New Year, and Vietnam’s big holiday, like Taiwan’s, is Lunar New Year. New Year’s Day itself is still a one-day public holiday. Family had specifically asked us to buy cashews and Mr. Viet coffee, so those two purchases took a larger share of the budget.
An Dong Market — special grade-A cashews
Lotte Mart — Mr. Viet coffee, instant noodles
UNIQLO — custom-printed T-shirts ×2https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEWWsHTv5ZJ/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwang83.pixnet.net&rp=%2Fblog%2Fposts%2F14222958600#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A302%2C%22ls%22%3A180%2C%22le%22%3A195%7D
Ho Chi Minh hotels
ICON SALGO IN
Icon Saigon – LifeStyle Design Hotel is in a very convenient spot, the hotel closest to the city center. Nearby sights include the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House (Saigon Opera House), Union Square Saigon Shopping Mall, and Ho Chi Minh City Hall. The whole floor is designed around Tiffany blue. The room is smaller than the other 2 hotels, but it is just as comfortable. Breakfast in the morning was excellent, and in the afternoon they offer free herb or fruit-infused water. Staff are on duty 24 hours, and there are Chinese-speaking staff.
LAMENNDA
Of the 3 hotels, this is the one I felt was the least okay. The bathroom was really not clean — we changed rooms twice and both bathrooms were not clean — and the overall colors are not especially striking. If you only need a place to sleep, it is still a reasonable choice.
leiden homestay&cafe
This was the most expensive room type of the Ho Chi Minh stay, and also the one we were happiest with. The design feels like a relaxed resort: comfortable, spacious, and the open ground floor is genuinely nice. When you book, watch two things. You pay on site, and you should make sure you have not booked the room twice, because the hotel will not tell you in advance. We accidentally double-booked, and only found out when we arrived. They take cash only — no cards, and no payment through the booking site. Luckily we had enough cash. Otherwise we would have been stuck.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DERqe8aPAZ-/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwang83.pixnet.net&rp=%2Fblog%2Fposts%2F14222958600#%7B%22ci%22%3A3%2C%22os%22%3A2165%2C%22ls%22%3A180%2C%22le%22%3A195%7D
Ho Chi Minh food
On food: Ho Chi Minh was so hot that after hotel breakfast we basically had no appetite, so this trip was casual. Most of what we ate came from small street stalls, so I am not recommending specific meals. We did try 2 good drink shops, and those are worth a taste when you are in Ho Chi Minh.
