Saigon sights

Walking from quan 3 (district 3) where I live to the adjacent quan 1 the city centre of Saigon is like watching the streets transform from congested and chaotic to orderly and smooth. Saigon city centre still retains some of the charms of an oriental Paris with its elegant buildings and beautiful boulevards. Some of the facades here reminded me of Shanghai’s bund and French quarter but of course not quite as grand.

The most noticeable and striking landmark would be “city hall” an ornate building that looks like it belongs more to France’s Loire Valley. Unfortunately the building which is a former hotel is not open to the public.


The municipal theatre building is just so cute, it looks like it's made out of pink icing:-

The main tourist attraction seems to be the reunification palace, which is the former french governor’s residence and now has become a museum. The original residence built in 1868 has undergone many changes over the years due to power change and war damage, this latest structure was completed in 1966. Will save going in the museum itself for another day when I have more time. Of course what French colonial city is complete without its cathedral, named Notre Dame no less!


Right next to the cathedral is another French masterpiece, the post office. This has got to be the most beautiful post office I have ever seen both outside and inside :-



Cho Ben Thanh is the main market in Saigon which has become more of a tourist trap than an authentic “market”. Just imagine, central market, petaling street, Kamdar, a fresh food market and hawker centre all rolled into one giant market space… and you’ll get the picture.

My favourite place so far has got to be the fine art museum, not just because entrance is free but also cos it combines a European facade with oriental details and finishings. One can just imagine the heyday of this grand old dame of a building that used to host parties for the rich and famous of Saigon during the French colonial era when it was a privately owned mansion :-


The inner courtyard of the fine arts museum:-

Inside the fine arts museum :-


Antique elevator and equally rustic staircase of the fine arts musem


Of course there’s much more to see in Saigon city centre like many other museums, the botanic gardens/zoo, riverside area, Xa Loi pagoda, VietNam Pagoda etc etc….
There is also much much more to each attraction in itself and my simple pics do not do justice to the elegance of the buildings. Anyway those are some of Saigon’s city centre landmarks I managed to visit so far in my first weekend here.