Saigon City Guide: A Comprehensive Travel Guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Au Nguyen

May 2014 · Au Nguyen

About this ebook

An ultimate guidebook to traveling in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) with up-to-date reviews of the best places to stay, eat, sights, cultural information, maps, transport tips and some of the city's best kept secrets - all the essentials to get to the heart of Saigon. This travel guide is a result of the rich experience and in-depth research by a Vietnamese American author who had lived in Saigon for 24 years before he moved to the United States. So you will walk away informed and amazed by practical and honest advice. Some of the exclusive features include:

+ Full-color, easy-to-read maps of the whole districts instead of small areas, making it easier to navigate

+ Insightful reviews of the city's best local eateries that have never been covered

+ Highlights of where to eat, drink, stay, and have fun, so that you can tailor your trip to your own personal needs and interests

+ Comprehensive introduction of the Vietnamese cuisine, featuring 60 popular dishes and popular local eateries specializing in those dishes.

+ Visual contents of all attractions, restaurants, bars, and hotels for lively illustration

+ Coverage of Phu My Hung, Saigon’s upscale residential area, offering you a pleasant escape from the frantic pace of downtown

+ Quarterly updates if necessary, giving you the latest experience Saigon has to offer

Ratings and reviews

A comprehensive guidebook with the bells and whistles, pictures and colorful, easy-to-read maps and easily among the best in the business. If all you had in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) was this guide, you'd be in excellent shape and able to plan an extraordinary trip to your liking. The guide opens with listings of the top 17 Experiences that you may wish to visit. Since I have not previously been to Saigon that list is really more than I could hope to see in 2 days and deciding which ones to pick will be a challenge. Then the meat of the book comes and this is where the strength lies: great writing, intelligent insights, good food and lodging recommendations. The most extensive sections in the guide are on the Vietnamese cuisine and local eating scene which covers many local dishes and local eateries. At the end, there is a section called Travel Essential which provides tons of information from business hours, to money to health matters. In all, this is an excellent travel companion that will help you plan an unforgettable trip, minutely tailored to your tastes and interests. Among the best in the business.

The first several chapters are dedicated to more general topics such as history, culture, the obligatory Top 17. The latter are for the city's 4 major districts with large, detailed maps. In each of these the major sites are described and there are suggestions as to where to eat, drink and stay. There are highlights for eating, drinking, and hotels so it's easier to choose. Personally I find the eating section is the most useful with a comprehensive introduction to the cuisine. It also shows you where to eat each dish. What makes this city guide stand out from other Vietnam travel guides is an array of local eateries with no English menu but authentic Vietnamese food for next to nothing. One of my greatest concerns is taxi scam which is popular in this city. This book provides lots of information on how to distinguish reliable taxi companies such as Mai Linh and Vinasun from dodgy ones with images to illustrate. In short, a very practical and useful book. It's definitely worth every penny.

A must buy if you travel in Ho Chi Minh City. The recommendations are always spot-on and lavishly illustrated. Great background information, great tips on how to get the most out of your time there. The eating chapter is amazing - superbly detailed and practical. The exclusive list of local eateries is amazing. The book shows great attention to details. For example, it shows me how to get a Mai Linh taxi at the airport with an image of their counter at the airport, so I don't have to worry about the taxi scam. The maps are in color, very detailed, and easy to read. Worth every penny!

About the author

Au Nguyen is a Vietnamese American who had lived in Saigon for 24 years. Like most locals, he has an enthusiasm, if not to the point of obsession, for cafes and Vietnamese cuisine which he thinks the best cuisine in the world. When he lived in Saigon, he spent most of his free time to explore the city’s best eateries and cafes. While living in the states, he learned that Saigon’s unique coffee culture and the brilliant dining scene, particularly street food and local eateries, are not well covered in most guidebooks and travel websites in the market. He also realized that most guidebooks were not up-to-date, making them unhelpful. In 2012, he decided to write a comprehensive guidebook with a better insights into the city’s ravishing dining scene, the unique coffee culture, and daily life of the locals. He believes that his rich local knowledge would provide travelers a better understand of the city. As the city is changing at an astonishing pace, his book will be updated quarterly if necessary.