8 Most Famous Streets in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh, the biggest and most dynamic city of Vietnam, always surprises tourists who come to this city for the first time with energetic people, good food, hospitality and open lifestyle. Visiting Ho Chi Minh city, you certainly want to get some locals advice about where to visit, or buy stuff. Let’s take a look at the 8 Most Famous Streets in Ho Chi Minh City and the best things they offer.

1. Bui Vien Street - Saigon's spot for backpackers

Bui Vien street is a really famous place for the ex-pat community in Ho Chi Minh city. The Street is also known as the “backpacker area” where foreigners can easily find a wide variety of inexpensive restaurants, bars, souvenir shops and hotels/hostels. While being seated at one of the places you can soak up the local lifestyle and culture. 

Bui Vien walking street starts from 7:00 pm to 2:00 am on weekends, so you cannot enter this street with a vehicle. During weekdays, the spot starts being busy from 6 pm. People come here to have some food, some “bia hơi” and a lot of fun. To have dinner here is very affordable and will cost you around VND 100-200k (US$  4-8), for this amount you will have a decent meal including a drink. And a beer costs you from 10-80k (0.5-3.5 USD).

Bui Vien Street

 

2. Nguyen Hue Walking Street - Local gathering spot

Nguyen Hue Walking Street is a popular tourist destination in Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Hue's main road is located in District 1. This distance becomes a pedestrian space at night, attracting a large number of locals and tourists to spend time here. Nguyen Hue Walking Street is a popular tourist destination in Ho Chi Minh City.

The walking street opens all day every day, but evenings and weekends are the busiest and most interesting times to have fun. Coming to Nguyen Hue walking street at night, you can enjoy the true energy of the city shown in the young generation and bustling activities here. You can easily find local artists performing all around, buying souvenirs or trying a bunch of local street food in Nguyen Hue Walking Street with really reasonable prices.

Nguyen Hue street

 

3. Pham Ngu Lao Street - Where to find budget hotels and hostels

Known as the “backpacker district” or the “budget travel district,” Pham Ngu Lao is one of the best Ho Chi Minh streets to find cheap accommodation, food, nightlife, and to book tickets elsewhere. 

The Pham Ngu Lao area consists of two parallel streets—Bui Vien and Pham Ngu Lao—and a handful of small connecting alleys. Located centrally in Saigon's District 1, the area is perfect for access to parks, markets, and the major sites around the city. This street of Saigon offers foreign tourists far more than just budget accommodation. You can find amazing clubs, mouth-watering street food, and especially some awesome travel mates here.

Pham Ngu Lao Street

 

4. Tran Nhan Ton Street - The best place to find old books in Saigon

If you are a book lover, Tran Nhan Ton street will definitely be the place that can satisfy you. Trần Nhân Tôn street is located in District 5, not too far from the centre of Saigon and is known as one of the main second-hand book streets of the city. 

You can find any kind of book on this street of Saigon, from novel to comic, from cookery to science fiction, both in Vietnamese and some foreign languages. Make a visit to a random book store in Tran Nhan Ton street, you will definitely adore any book you can find, and leave with a bunch of lovely books.

 

5. Le Cong Kieu Street - A spot to buy interesting antiques and old wrinkles

For a long time, the street of Le Cong Kieu, which is located behind Ham Nghi Road, has been known as the only street in Ho Chi Minh City selling various kinds of antiques. The 200-meter-long street is considered Saigon's oldest, and it appears to be untouched with each passing day. 

Le Cong Kieu street offers both tourists and locals thousands of varieties of antiques that some of them can hardly find elsewhere in Vietnam. This Ho Chi Minh street does not have nameplates in any shops, the shops are numbered instead, allowing customers to easily find the types of antiques they seek.

Ceramic and pottery antiques, for example, can be found in shops Nos. 19, 21, and 23, while Khmer gongs and statues can be found in shops Nos. 34, 36, 38, and 40, and furniture antiques in shops Nos. 15 and 36. At the end of the street, there are some shops selling old lacquered and wooden objects as well as sentence parallels.

Le Cong Kieu Street

 

6. Nguyen Thien Thuat Street - A dream destination for musicians and music lovers

Nguyen Thien Thuat Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, is best known for its wide array of music stores. But it is not just the stores that make the street popular. There is an aura of good old sound here that makes it all so alluring.

The Ho Chi Minh street gathers around 30 stores selling plenty of kinds of musical instruments and sound divides. You can easily find guitars (classic, acoustic, electric, bass…), violins, ukuleles, and a bunch of other instruments at all prices, from the cheapest at only a few dollars to thousands of dollars. Coming to Nguyen Thien Thuat street, you will be lost in the musical world full of beautiful sounds from the artists on this street. 

And if you only stay in Ho Chi Minh city for a few weeks or months, don’t worry about what to do with the big instruments when you leave. There are some stores willing to buy your old instruments, and if it was from that store, they will generously give you a good price.

Nguyen Thien Thuat Street

 

7. Ho Thi Ky Street - The unsleeping "little Dalat" in Saigon

Unlike other shopping streets of Saigon, Ho Thi Ky street doesn’t have a series of stores selling the same products. Ho Thi Ky is a huge flower market in Ho Chi Minh city. Ho Thi Ky flower market is open 24/7 all day and night, but the most crowded and bustling time is from 0:00 am to 3:00 am. Especially at dawn, the market is very busy with buying and selling activities and is extremely eye-catching because of the image of vendors rushing to transport flowers in time for the new day.

Make a visit to the flower market on this Ho Chi Minh street at night, you will not only enjoy an amazing colourful flower world but also can immerse yourself in the bustling atmosphere of the local people during a specific Saigon night.

Ho Thi Ky street

 

8. Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street - A place for traditional medicines and herbs

Hai Thuong Lan Ong is the most famous street of Ho Chi Minh selling traditional herbal medicine. Located in the heart of District 5, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street is the hub of Chinese medicinal herb stores and herbal clinics of Ho Chi Minh city.

The origins of this unique street may be traced back to the late 1800s when Chinese traders settled in the Cho Lon region to trade. As a result, valuable Chinese medicinal plants were brought over to meet the needs of the Chinese community in Saigon. From there, the neighbourhood evolved into the lively traditional medicine strip that exists today. Walking through this street, you can enjoy a really relaxing feeling of the smell emanating from the sacks of herbal medicinal products including leaves, roots, barks, and powders. If you want to find a trusted place for reducing stress and strengthening physical health, this Ho Chi Minh street is definitely the destination for you.

Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street

These are some recommendations of the famous streets of Ho Chi Minh city to stay or visit. Note down the ones that you are interested in and plan for your trip to Ho Chi Minh city now. 

Hue Pham

Image source: Internet