First time in Saigon
 

Hi there,

My wife and myself are heading to the area in February for our annual winter vacation. Not going to Mexico or Caribbean for a change! Can't wait.
Just a few questions if anybody can chime in?
- Landing in HCMC later on a Saturday and staying at the Sheraton. Next morning wanting to walk to the War Remnants Museum then work our way back. Is this walk doable and safe?
We want to experience the culture and are not worried about fancy restaurants and stuff. We can do that at home. Looking for recommendations finding simple eateries that we can watch the world go buy enjoying cheap bear and decent local food. Anything in the Sheraton area that we should be aware of or we can find? We are flying out then on Monday morning to Nha Trang for 11 nights.
- Coming back through HCMC we are trying out the Le Meridien - Any recommendations for those type of places also in that area? The next day we are then taking a Mekong Delta tour then coming home the next day.

I think I will reserve a private pick up when we first land just to get our bearings straight as this is our first time here. I would rather book something from a company on line rather than the hotel as they seem quite expensive in comparison. Any recommendations?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated for our short time in the city.
Feedback on the hotels we are staying at?

.......oh and also...... I assume it will be easy to exchange CDN dollars when we land at the airport to start us off. We land around 10:00 p.m.

It is about 2km from Sheraton to war Remnants so you can walk :)

You may like to visit Cu Chi tunnel by speed boat, we did in early morning before group come there. Quite interesting, also arranged airport pick up with them, price is cheaper than hotel

Thanks. I checked your link but I cannot find anywhere to arrange airport shuttle pick up?

No need to book any car for p/u just make sure to take either a Vinasun (white) or Mai Linh (green) taxi. It cost me apx $7 from the airport to The Renaissance which is in D1 on the river, maybe Uber will a $1 cheaper but used both companys and never had any problems and both times was after midnight to boot.

Another place not to miss is The Presidential Palace which I did the same day as the War Museum and walked to both

Correct spelling is Vinasun.

"...No need to book any car for p/u just make sure to take either a Vinsun (white) or Mai Linh (green) taxi..."

OP - The walk to the Museum is doable, and bring a hat in case of excessive heat. You will start your walk on Dong Khoi Blvd toward the Museum. Along the way or on the way back, you can stop by the Cathedral, the Post Office and the mentioned above Unification Palace. Your lunch option that day could be either one of the restaurants on Le Quy Don St (same street as the Museum) or the Ngon restaurant (located on Pasteur St, between Nguyen Du St and Ly Tu Trong St). I recommend the latter as an easy introduction to the national cuisine.
For "cheap beer and decent local food", my recommendation is the Ben Thanh Central Market, also walkable from the Sheraton. After 6PM, the 2 side streets are blocked off to traffic, yielding the space to food stalls and souvenirs shops. The food is decent and I hope you will get a feel of the local scenery. If you prefer a restaurant setting, right at the Ben Thanh market is the Viet Restaurant (9-11 Phan Chu Trinh Street), I have ate there and I liked it. There is also the option to go to the so-called backpacker area (Bui Vien St, Pham Ngu Lao Street), also near the Ben Thanh Central market, which is ho-hum to me personally.
The street immediately to the left of the Meridien is Ngo Van Nam street and it has several nice restaurants. Keep walking on the short Ngo Van Nam street until it ends at Le Thanh Ton street and you will be at the Japantown area of HCMC. Otherwise, take an evening stroll on the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street along with the locals and eat at the Cocochin food court, quite popular with the locals. Here you will also have a wide choice of food from all 3 regions of Vietnam.
Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

In my experience with CDN$ exchanging around SE Asia it was better to exchange your spending cash from CDN$ to US$ in new $100s (Franklins) and then exchange it locally.
The CDN cash market is so small that the cash takes a real beating. Some rural money changer would not touch CDN cash.

You may take taxi as above suggestion or contact Indochina Best Travel to arrange airport pick up, we paid 20$ for private transfer to our hotel

Great!! Thanks so much for the feedback. Appreciated.
I'm not so sure I want to exchange everything to US$ then back to Dong? I think if I get new crisp CDN at home I shouldn't have a problem exchanging?...or am I wrong. I just haven't heard of people having issues exchanging CDN$.

Nonetheless, really looking forward to this trip! As long as the weather holds up we will make the best of it!

There are several money booths at the airport, and the major hotels will change for you too at a lesser rate. I am US so not experienced per se with your currency, but I can't imagine any trouble with it in those places. Maybe in Nha Trang it would be a bit harder, but for SGN I think you're ok.

I agree with the taxi comments, very easy. When you come out of arrivals, just head to the left side as you approach the first lane of the traffic. Each company usually has a rep standing around there, and Vinasun and Mai Linh can be more passive, but walk up to them and state you want a taxi. Mai Linh is easiest to recognize, imo, from the bright green uniform. Anything from 140k to 200k is normal, as traffic has been horrible lately.

Also the museum/cathedral/palace/post office comments I agree with. I do not think the food at Ben Thanh is good at all, but it is certainly a place you can sit and drink and watch the people go by and there are a few gems in the alleys behind it. I think Nguyen Hue is a better recommendation. Enjoy your trip.

My experience with CDN dollars all over SE Asia is that it is a very minor currency and the premium or discount over the Int'l FX rate is very large over USD, Euro, Yen and RMB.

You will get it changed at major centers, but at what rate? In Toronto there are many money changing only storefront operations who have a very competitive CDN to US rate. When I do the math with my cost of US$ and the local US$ CDN$ rates I am always ahead going CDN>US>local.

I don't think you will have problem changing CND into VND at one of the exchange booths at Tan Son Nhut Airport.
Backup plan is to withdraw some money from an ATM machine at the airport to cover the taxi cost. Across from the Sheraton, on the corner of Dong Khoi and Nguyen Thiep St, there is a ForEx shop with better rates than hotels that I used all the times when I am in town. They will accept CND there I am sure.

If your changing money there is a jewellery shop across the street from the western side of Ben Thanh Market, I always change my money there (AUD) and get 700-800 dong more per dollar than the airport.
Easily best rate I have come across and they are very busy with locals and tourists and they are trustworthy

CDN money
 

Having travelled for years around Asia it is difficult to get a good exchange with CDN. The US $ is even accepted at many places without converting to local currency. Some small places do not even recognize CDN

I definitely am not looking to expect to walk around with CDN and try and use it somewhere. I simply just want to take it and exchange it to DONG wherever that might be.....exchange place, bank, hotel etc.,
I am also not worried about losing a dollar or two on the exchange - yes, I could see losing 20% or something but I don't think the exchange will be that bad for CDN. I just asked as it didn't make any sense to exchange to US which is a horrible exchange to begin with for CDN right now then change it back over to DONG if I'm looking at only saving a few dollars??
I guess it all depends in what a persons definition is of a good exchange vs convenience. I like convenience :)