While you tend to make a budget trip to Vietnam, it’s sure that the following free things to do in Ho Chi Minh City is what you wish to grab. Not only do these activities cost nothing, but you are also easy to experience them in the city center. Your trip will be more deserving and fascinating with each of them.
Visiting the pink church
This pink church is located on Bai Ba Trung Street, District 1 and a phenomenal point for sightseeing because of its enchanting decoration and charming color. Erected in 1876 in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, the church now becomes one of the free things to do for both tourists and parishioners.
Address: 289 Hai Ba Trung Street, District 1
Roaming around Turtle Lake
Turtle Lake is actually a small pond in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, and the common place for Saigonese to meet at night. Especially, couples often stroll around the pond and talk together. The youth culture house of Saigon is situated nearby, and you can come there to join fascinating and helpful activities on Sunday. If you would like to make friends with locals, the house is indeed an ideal spot as a weekly English club is held there.
Address: Tran Cao Van and Pham Ngoc Thach Streets, District 1
Taking photos at Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral
One of the surprising free things to do as well as a ravishing Instagrammable spot in Ho Chi Minh City is Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral. What makes it attractive is its color and architecture. Designed in the French architecture from the French colonial era, the cathedral emerges from the city center as a pearl, looks elegant, and becomes a fabulous background for your photos in Instagram.
Address: Cong Xa Paris Street, District 1
Chatting with Vietnamese students at 30-4 Park
If Turtle Lake is a good place for people to talk together, 30-4 Park is excellent. Why? It’s because the spot is spacious and cooler as there are many trees in there. You will find lots of students sitting or walking around and chatting with international visitors. They mainly sit there to study in group, talk at leisure or improve their English. If you are keen on doing free things in Ho Chi Minh City and making friends with Vietnamese students, helping them learn English at 30-4 Park is certainly a perfect way.
Address: 178 Pasteur Street, District 1
Going window-shopping at Ben Thanh Market
There is no entrance fee for a visit to Ben Thanh Market. Go window-shopping and you will explore unique and exquisite items which you have never seen before. It’s possible to state that Ben Thanh Market is a symbol of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general; with your photo whose background is this market, most travel gurus will know where you are staying. A plus point of this site is architecture in the French style; it’s elegant and special.
Address: Le Loi Street, District 1
Kicking shuttlecock at 23-9 Park
Kicking shuttlecock is a kind of sport as well as a deserving free thing to do in Ho Chi Minh City. At 23-9 Park, Saigonese – mainly teenagers often gather in a group of about 5-6 to play every afternoon. Unlike other playgrounds, there will be a fee to have a space for hire, but it’s totally free in the park. You should not be afraid as such a group will welcome any foreign player. And if you travel with your friends, the park is surely a wonderful place for you guys to play that game.
Address: Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1
Strolling in Bui Vien or Nguyen Hue Walking Streets
Perhaps, you reckon that walking streets are where you simply go for a ramble, but Nguyen Hue and Bui Vien Walking Streets in Ho Chi Minh City are not only free things to do, but also a chance to get nightlife experiences as a local. Yes, there is more than one activity in there when dark covers the sky of the city.
Bui Vien is so far more pulsating than Nguyen Hue. Meanwhile, Nguyen Hue is more spacious than Bui Vien; that’s why Nguyen Hue looks calmer. However, each of them has its own amusing things. You can find both of them hum over the weekend; they are the place of music bands, free singers, free dancers, beautiful cocktails, entertaining activities, and even branding activities of some companies.
