City Guide
Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by most people, is Vietnam's energetic business capital: millions of motorbikes, rooftop bars, street food on every corner and the biggest choice of coworking spaces and cafés in the country.
Best for
Remote workers who want city energy, coworking choice and great food
Best months
December to April (dry season)
Time difference with CET
+6 hours in winter, +5 hours in summer
Cost per day
Roughly €45–€90 including a good hotel
Internet
Very fast mobile internet; good WiFi in hotels and coworking spaces
Less suited if you want calm, green streets or a beach. Traffic is intense and the city is hot all year.
Vietnam's mobile internet is among the fastest in the world, and Saigon's hotels, cafés and coworking spaces usually have reliable WiFi.
A local SIM or eSIM gives you cheap mobile internet to share with your laptop as a backup. Read my guide to eSIMs for workations.
Coworking day passes usually cost 150,000–350,000 VND, about €5–€12.
Toong
A Vietnamese coworking brand with several locations in the city.
Dreamplex
Design-focused spaces, better suited to monthly memberships.
Saigon has a huge café culture, with spacious, air-conditioned cafés where you can work for hours.
District 1
Central and lively, close to restaurants, bars and sights. Noisy at night.
District 3
More local and leafy, with great cafés and street food, and still close to the centre.
Thao Dien
A quieter expat area by the river, with international cafés and restaurants.
Stays I list in Ho Chi Minh City:
A rough week for one person with a good hotel, excluding flights:
Stay
€200–€500
For a hotel room with a desk
Food
€70–€140
From street food to restaurants
Coworking
€40–€65
For five day passes
Transport
€15–€35
On Grab cars and motorbike taxis
Vietnam is six hours ahead of CET in winter and five in summer, so the European workday lands in your afternoon.
Dec–Apr
Dry season, the best time to go
May–Nov
Rainy season, usually with short heavy showers in the afternoon
Tết (Lunar New Year, January or February)
The city quietens down and many businesses close for a week or more
Tan Son Nhat airport is inside the city, about 30–45 minutes from District 1 depending on traffic.
Grab is the easiest way around, by car or motorbike taxi. The city’s first metro line connects the centre with the east. Cross roads slowly and steadily.
Citizens of many EU countries can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. For longer stays, apply online for a 90-day e-visa. A tourist stay does not allow local employment.
Join a street food tour on the back of a motorbike
Watch the sunset from a rooftop bar in District 1
Visit the War Remnants Museum
Take a weekend trip to the Mekong Delta
Explore the cafés in the old apartment block at 42 Nguyễn Huệ
Yes. It has the most coworking spaces and cafés in Vietnam, fast internet and low costs.
Saigon for energy, coworking choice and warm weather all year; Hanoi for history, culture and a real winter.
It is warm all year, around 30°C or more by day, so choose a stay with good air conditioning.
Ho Chi Minh City is part of my Vietnam guide, next to Da Nang and Hanoi. Compare it with the rest of the region in my Southeast Asia guide.
