Saigon wasn't the part of Vietnam I was most excited to see.
We were on our way from Tokyo to Australia in December 2023, and a two-night stop in Ho Chi Minh City fitted our route. I wanted to visit Vietnam, but the places I was most curious about were elsewhere in the country. Saigon, from what I had heard, would be crowded, polluted and difficult to navigate.
Those impressions weren't entirely wrong. The traffic and air pollution were as challenging as I had expected. But it would be unfair to judge our visit only by the city streets, because one of the best experiences of the entire stop happened on those very streets.
We booked a vegan food tour by motorbike. I would return for that tour alone.
Two nights between Tokyo and Australia
Our wider trip was unusually ambitious. We were travelling from Vancouver through Tokyo and Saigon before continuing around Australia, and the dates had to fit other family travel arrangements. Saigon was an interesting way to break up the long journey rather than simply a destination we would have chosen in isolation.
We stayed at Le Meridien Saigon for December 29-31, 2023. The hotel gave us a convenient central base and a river view, and it made it easy to reach some of our planned activities. But a comfortable hotel couldn't make the city's traffic disappear.
I had heard plenty of praise for Vietnam from my parents. Most of that enthusiasm, though, had been about places beyond Saigon. I arrived curious, but not with the same anticipation I'd had for some of our earlier stops.
The tour that changed the day
We booked Saigon Vibes' vegan food tour by motorbike. Rather than spend the day travelling between restaurants in a car, we rode as passengers behind local scooter drivers, stopping for food we would have struggled to discover on our own.
For us, this was a much better way to experience the city.
Our guides took us through the busy streets and introduced us to an assortment of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Almost everything we ate was a hit. The banh mi in particular has stayed with me: one of those simple food memories that becomes inseparable from a place.
It wasn't just about the meals. Travelling through Saigon on a scooter made the city feel more immediate. There was traffic everywhere, but we were participating in its rhythm rather than watching it through the window of a stationary car.
The ride also brought back a memory I hadn't expected. Sitting behind the driver reminded me of being a kid, exploring cities from the back of my dad's scooter. For a moment, an unfamiliar city felt strangely familiar.
That is the part of travel I find hardest to plan for. You can research attractions, hotels and restaurants in considerable detail, yet an ordinary-seeming moment can end up meaning more than any of them.
Dream Lux TravelsA city where the good and disappointing sat side by side
We had other enjoyable moments. I particularly liked the unusual experience at Noir. Spa, and the views from Landmark 81 were impressive. My partner was very happy with a stop at the Vietnamese clothing shop NEM.
That tower visit also gave me a useful point of comparison. We'd already visited Taipei 101, Seattle's Space Needle and Tokyo Skytree, so this was a difficult group to stand out from. Saigon's skyline was impressive, but the tower experience itself did little to distinguish itself from the others. I was glad we saw the view; it simply wasn't one of the reasons the city stayed with me.
But not everything landed. We went on a Saigon Princess river dinner cruise: the views were enjoyable, while the food disappointed us. The A O Show was another letdown for me. I had hoped for something closer in impact to the productions I have enjoyed in Las Vegas, and it didn't meet those expectations.
Some of the markets also felt less interesting after what I'd already experienced elsewhere in Asia. None of this meant Saigon lacked character. It meant that, in a short stay, our experiences varied sharply in how rewarding they felt.
The contrast only made the scooter tour stand out more.
Dream Lux Travels
Dream Lux TravelsThe practical reality of Saigon traffic
Our tour was scheduled from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. We had a show that evening, with entry beginning at 5 p.m., and I thought that left us plenty of time.
It didn't leave nearly as much as I expected. Even travelling by scooter, we reached the venue only about fifteen minutes before entry opened. That experience reinforced why I would build generous margins between bookings in Saigon, particularly if a journey depends on a car.
I wouldn't describe the motorbike tour as a universal answer to getting around the city. It was a guided experience with local drivers, not us trying to navigate unfamiliar traffic on our own. But for our particular day, it combined transportation and the highlight of our visit in a way a conventional sightseeing tour probably wouldn't have managed.
Dream Lux TravelsWhere points fitted into the trip
We booked our two nights at Le Meridien Saigon using 28,800 Marriott Bonvoy points in total. That was helpful, and the hotel's location gave us a good base, but I wouldn't claim that points transformed the entire Saigon experience. Vietnam was relatively affordable for us compared with many other destinations we have visited.
The real difference was being able to choose a convenient hotel and spend our limited time on something meaningful rather than on unnecessary logistics.
I would not build an argument for Saigon around the hotel or the redemption. I would build it around the people who showed us the city from their scooters and the food they introduced us to.
Would I go back?
I would rather use my next Vietnam visit to explore somewhere new. Two nights gave us enough time for the Saigon experiences that mattered most to us, and a longer stay wouldn't necessarily have changed my feelings about the traffic, pollution or some of the attractions.
But I did recommend the motorbike food tour to my parents when they visited later. They loved it too, which was satisfying because it was the one experience I most wanted them to have.
If I found myself in Saigon again, I know where I would start: not with a landmark, a market or a hotel lounge, but with another seat behind a scooter driver and whatever the next stop on the food tour had in store.
Saigon didn't become one of my favourite cities. It did give me an experience I would happily repeat. Those are two different things, and both can be true.