Constructed in an area of 2,090 square kilometres and beautifully embraced by  winding rivers and green countryside, Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's biggest and most populated city of over 5 million inhabitants and is the main gateway to welcome  guests to Vietnam. This young, fashionable city  boasts of  not only the  most important centre of trade, industry and tech – science of Vietnam but also one of the most fascinating   destinations for   visitors. Ho Chi Minh City is also called with another familiar name – Saigon, which was once known by the world  under the title "Saigon – Pearl of the Far East".

Visitors will feel comfortable and pleasant here by the available conveniences that Ho Chi Minh City offers. Throughout the city, visitors will feel a warm welcome and be greeted by friendly smiles that the optimistic people of this city have to offer. However, beside the modern appearance and the bustling daily activities to be seen, Saigon is also an ideal place for those who want to discover the highlights of the Oriental culture. Here, in the heart of the city, you will see ancient Vietnamese-style pagodas, characteristic age-old temples and communal houses, a charming China Town of the 17th century, or you can find a hint of the 19th century European culture by the famous French-built churches and monuments. Each of which is really worth a visit.

History Museum

The History Museum, built in 1929 by the Société des Études Indochinoises, is just inside the main entrance to the city's zoo. The museum has an excellent collection of artifacts illustrating the evolution of the cultures of Vietnam, from the Bronze Age Dong Son civilization and the Oc Eo civilisation, to the Chams, Khmers and Vietnamese. The Museum is open from 8:00 to 11:30am and 1:30 to 4:30 pm daily.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The church is a fine landmark that makes Saigon more charming by its neo-Romanesque architectural style, red brick facade and two 40m-high towers rising above the city. In front of the  Cathedral is the statue of the Virgin Mary standing in the centre of the tree-lined square, looking downDong Khoi street.

There are many masses daily and the 9.30 am Sunday mass might be the best one for foreigners to attend. Saigon boasts several beautiful French-built churches, of which the Notre Dame Cathedral is the most splendid and typical one. The Cathedral, constructed between 1877 and 1883, is set in the heart of Saigon's government quarter.

Giac Lam Pagoda

Giac Lam pagoda dates from 1744 and is believed to be the oldest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City. Outside the building, in the front garden, there is a bodhi (bode) tree which was the gift of a monk from Sri lanka. Next to the tree is a gleaming white statue of Quan Am, the goddess of Mercy, standing on a lotus blossom. Inside there are funeral tablets, plentiful miniature statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas made of jack wood and a large bronze bell attached with lists of names of people seeking happiness and the names of sick people and the deads. It is believed that when the bell is rung, the sound will resonate to the heavens and carry with it the attached applications. This site is worth a visit and to learn the spiritual life of the ancient metropolitans.

Reunification Palace

Architecturally looking modern, yet the Reunification Palace has experienced historical changes over its time course and today becomes one of the most fascinating site to see in Saigon. In 1868, the Norodom Palace was built on this site as a residence for the Cochinchina's General Governor. After the French departed, the palace was handed over the Saigon Government and became home of South Vietnamese presidents. In 1962, two pilots of Saigon Air Forces bombed down part of the palace, and in the same year a new mansion was built on the existing site with a larger scale, the new building was named the Independence Palace. Since 1975, it has been once more renamed the Reunification Palace. The palace covers an area of 2,000 sq.m and consists of 5 storeys with 100 rooms and chambers decorated with finest modern Vietnamese art and craft. Perhaps most interesting of all is the basement with its network of tunnels, telecommunications centre and war room.

Chinatown

The Chinatown, or Cholon, is located in the City’s 5th district. It is a traditional Chinese Viet area with a separate culture of its own which has to be experienced. This China Town was set up by the end of  18th century when the Ming dynasty in China was overthrown. Many Chinese who were faithful to the Ming ran to Vietnam for peace and business and were permitted by the Vietnamese Lords to settle in this southern part of the country. Now there are almost half a million Hoas (Chinese Vietnamese) with many shops and family factories.

In this animated China town, visitors will have chance to visit Chinese pagodas and temples, enjoy Chinese special dishes, and do shopping in Binh Tay Market, which is always crowded as a wholesale market, especially to take part in exciting festivals of the Hoas at which you can see the dances of unicorns, dragons and lions performed by the site’s inhabitants.

Cu Chi Tunnels

About 65 kilometres northwest of Ho Chi Minh City lies the suburban  district of Cu Chi, a small area with an important history in the Vietnam wars against the French and the Americans. Cu Chi is famous for its 250-kilometer network of underground tunnels built by the communist guerrillas here. The district's villages and wards are interconnected by this network of tunnels with secret  openings. The main tunnel is between 60 - 70 cm wide and 80 - 100 cm high and has either a delta shape or vaulted ceiling.

The tunnel roof is a layer of hard earth of about 3 - 4 m thick that could withstand the weight of a 60 tontank or heavy artillery and the impact of bombs weighing up to 100 kg. The axis tunnel with its zigzag arms leads to deeper layers to numerous shelters and rooms. Visitors are welcomed to Cu Chi Tunnels to see and admire this legendary work of the Vietnamese people who with the most rudimentary tools could manage to dig down 4 - 12 meters in Cu Chi's rock-like soil, and to experience how life underground is.