Ben Thanh Market Guide

The first time I walked into Ben Thanh Market I lasted about eleven minutes. It was two in the afternoon, the aisles were shoulder to shoulder, a woman had hooked a silk scarf over my arm before I had finished saying hello, and the heat under that big iron roof felt like standing behind a bus. I bought a bag of cashews I did not want and walked out to find air. The second time, a few mornings later, I went at half past seven. Vendors were still unrolling tarpaulins, the coffee stalls were pouring the first drip filters of the day, and the fabric section was quiet enough to actually touch things. That visit lasted two and a half hours and I have been back on every trip to Ho Chi Minh City since. This guide is everything I wish someone had told me before the first attempt: when to go, what is genuinely worth buying, what the food court is like, how the bargaining really works, and how to fold the market into a day in District 1 without burning out by lunch.

What Ben Thanh Market actually is

Ben Thanh sits at the big roundabout where Le Loi, Tran Hung Dao and Ham Nghi meet, right at the southern end of District 1. The building you see today, with the clock tower on the south gate facing the roundabout, dates from the early twentieth century, and the market has been the commercial heart of this part of Saigon for far longer than that. It is a covered market under one roof, roughly square, with four main gates named after the compass points. The south gate under the clock is the one everybody photographs and the one taxi drivers aim for; the east and west gates are quieter and drop you straight into the food and fresh-produce sections respectively.

Inside it is a grid of narrow aisles, and the stalls cluster by trade. Broadly, the front half near the clock tower is souvenirs, clothing, bags and lacquerware. The middle is coffee, tea, dried fruit, nuts and spices. Towards the back and the sides you find fresh produce, meat, fish and flowers, which is where locals do their actual shopping, and the cooked-food stalls run along the sides in two long strips of counters with low plastic stools. The whole thing feels bigger than it is because the aisles are so tight; you can cross the building in about four minutes if you walk with purpose, which nobody does.

One thing to get straight early: Ben Thanh is a tourist market now, at least in the front sections. Locals buy their vegetables and pork here, and the food stalls are genuinely popular with office workers at lunch, but the souvenir aisles are priced for visitors and the vendors know exactly who they are talking to. That does not make it fake. It makes it a particular kind of place, and you enjoy it more once you stop expecting it to be a secret village market and start treating it as a lively, slightly chaotic bazaar where the real skill is in how you shop.

The timing that changes everything

If you take one practical thing from this article, take this: go early or go late, never in the middle. The market opens around six in the morning for the produce and food sections, with the souvenir stalls drifting open between seven and eight. Between roughly half past seven and nine it is at its best. The light comes in through the high windows, the vendors are relaxed and more willing to chat than to chase, the food counters are serving breakfast to people who actually live nearby, and you can move without a hand on your back. By ten the tour groups arrive and from eleven to about three it is dense, hot and hard work.

The covered market winds down from around five in the afternoon, with most stalls shuttered by six or seven. Do not panic if you arrive at dusk, because that is when the night market sets up on the streets along the east and west sides of the building, mainly Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh. It runs roughly from six or seven until late in the evening and is an entirely different experience: open air, outdoor seating, grilled seafood on charcoal, cold beer, and a crowd that is more about dinner than shopping. Hours shift with the season and the weather, so check on the day if you are planning around a specific time.

Weather matters more than you would think. Ho Chi Minh City has a dry season from roughly December to April and a wet season from May to November. In October, when I am writing this, afternoons often bring a short, violent downpour around three or four o'clock. The market roof keeps you dry, but the streets outside flood for twenty minutes and the night market can start late or have a slow evening. A morning visit sidesteps all of that. If you are visiting during Tet, the Lunar New Year, expect the market to be heaving in the week before and partly closed for a few days after; it is wonderful for flowers and gift boxes beforehand but a poor time for calm shopping.

Getting there and getting around District 1

From Tan Son Nhat airport the market is about eight kilometres, which sounds like nothing until you meet Saigon traffic. Early morning or late at night the drive is twenty-five minutes; at six in the evening it can be an hour. A ride-hailing app from the arrivals hall works well if you already have data, which is the catch, because the airport Wi-Fi is patchy and queuing at a SIM counter after a long flight is nobody's favourite. On my last trip I pre-booked a 5G SIM collected at the international arrivals hall (from S$10.00 at the time of writing), which meant the app worked before I had cleared the door. If you would rather not deal with any of it, a private airport transfer with an English-speaking driver starts from S$12.00 and the driver waits with a name board, which after a red-eye is worth every cent.

If you are staying anywhere in District 1, walk. The market is ten minutes on foot from Nguyen Hue walking street, fifteen from the Opera House and Notre-Dame, and about twenty from the backpacker strip on Bui Vien. Crossing the roundabout in front of the clock tower is the one bit that frightens first-timers. The trick is the same as everywhere in Vietnam: wait for a gap in the larger vehicles, then walk at a steady, predictable pace and let the motorbikes flow around you. Do not stop, do not run, do not dart back. It feels wrong for the first three crossings and then it feels normal.

There is also a metro now. Line 1 runs from Ben Thanh station, directly under the roundabout, out past the Opera House and Ba Son to the eastern suburbs. For a visitor it is most useful as an air-conditioned way to reach the Landmark 81 area or to come back from Thu Duc, rather than for hopping around District 1, where everything is walkable anyway. The station entrances are right by the market, so if you are coming from the east side of the city it drops you at the door. City buses stop on the roads around the roundabout too, but routes and stop positions change often enough that I would check on the day rather than trust an old map.

One option I did not expect to like as much as I did is the hop-on hop-off double-decker bus, from S$8.00. It loops the main District 1 sights with a stop at Ben Thanh, and on a hot afternoon the open top deck is the only breeze you will find. It is not fast, but as an orientation lap on your first day it beats walking in circles, and it lets you do the market early, then ride to the War Remnants Museum and Independence Palace without a second taxi.

What is worth buying, and what is not

Let me save you some disappointment. The racks of branded T-shirts, the sports shoes and the football shirts are not what they say they are, and the quality is random. The lacquerware is a mixed bag: some stalls sell beautiful hand-finished trays and boxes, others sell thin, sprayed items that will chip in your suitcase. The mass-produced fridge magnets and conical hats are fine as throwaway gifts but you will see the same ones in every market in the country. Where Ben Thanh genuinely earns its reputation is in a handful of categories where the products are good, the choice is wide and the prices, once bargained, are fair.

Coffee

The coffee aisles in the centre of the market are my favourite part. Vietnam is a robusta country and the classic Saigon cup is strong, dark, slightly chocolatey and poured slowly through a small metal phin filter over condensed milk. Most stalls will let you taste before you buy, and the better ones grind to order. Ask for robusta if you like the traditional taste, arabica from Da Lat if you prefer something softer, and a blend if you cannot decide. Weasel coffee, the famous civet-processed bean, is sold everywhere here and almost none of it is the real thing; treat it as a flavoured novelty rather than paying a premium. Buy a phin filter while you are there. The simple aluminium ones are cheap, light and genuinely useful, and they make a better gift than another magnet.

Dried fruit, nuts and spices

Cashews are the big one. Vietnam grows a huge share of the world's supply and the salted, roasted ones with the skins on are addictive. Candied ginger, dried mango, jackfruit chips and dried coconut are all good and travel well. Lotus tea, where green tea has been scented with lotus flowers, is a lovely, delicate buy. For spices, look for whole star anise, cinnamon bark from the north and small jars of pho spice mix. Check that packets are sealed properly and ask for a bag with a zip if you are flying with them; the market vendors know what customs officers like to see and will often vacuum-pack larger orders.

Fabric and clothing

The fabric section is a real pleasure if you have any interest in textiles. Bolts of silk, brocade and cotton stacked floor to ceiling, and the vendors can usually point you to a tailor who will run up an ao dai, the long fitted tunic over trousers, within a day or two. If you want a made-to-measure outfit, come on your first day in the city rather than your last. Linen shirts and loose trousers are good value and practical in the heat. Try everything on; sizing is small and inconsistent.

Handicrafts

Embroidered pictures, bamboo and rattan baskets, ceramic bowls from Bat Trang, carved wooden boxes and hand-painted fans. Quality varies enormously, so pick things up, turn them over and look at the back. A well-made lacquer tray has a smooth, even finish on the underside too. For jewellery, the silver is often not silver, so buy for the look, not the metal, unless you are at a stall with proper hallmarks and a receipt.

How bargaining really works here

The old advice is "offer half and meet in the middle", and at Ben Thanh that is roughly right for souvenirs, clothing and lacquerware, where the opening price to a foreigner is often two to three times what a vendor will accept. It is wrong for food, coffee and anything with a printed price, where a polite ask for a small discount is the most you should try. The spirit of the thing matters more than the arithmetic. Vendors here bargain all day and they are good at it; the ones who go home happy are the buyers who treat it as a conversation rather than a battle.

My routine, learned the hard way, goes like this. Walk the whole aisle once without buying anything, because the same item is usually on four or five stalls and you want to know that before you start. Decide what you are actually willing to pay. Ask the price, smile, and offer something clearly below your limit but not insulting. The vendor will come down a bit and tell you it is good quality. Say thank you, say it is a little more than you wanted to spend, and take a step away. More often than not the price follows you. If it does not, the next stall has the same thing. Never start bargaining for something you do not intend to buy; it wastes their time and sours the aisle for you.

A few practical notes. Carry Vietnamese dong in small notes; paying for a 50,000 dong scarf with a 500,000 note annoys everyone and slows the whole transaction. Some larger stalls take cards and many now take a local QR payment app, but cash is still what works everywhere and gets you the better price. Keep your wallet in a front pocket or a zipped bag across your chest, not because the market is dangerous but because any crowd anywhere attracts pickpockets and this is a very dense crowd. And if a vendor grabs your arm, which they do, a gentle "khong, cam on" (no, thank you) and a smile is all it takes. Nobody will be offended.

Eating at the market

The cooked-food counters run along two sides of the market, and they are where I would send anyone who is nervous about Vietnamese street food but wants to try it. Everything is cooked in front of you, turnover is fast, and the women running the stalls have been doing it for decades. Sit on a stool, point at what someone else is eating, and you will be fine. Prices are a little above a street stall outside but still very reasonable; a bowl of noodles and a drink will not trouble your budget.

What to order depends on the time of day. In the morning it is pho, the beef noodle soup, or hu tieu, the southern pork and seafood noodle that locals here would argue is the real Saigon breakfast. Bun bo Hue, the spicy lemongrass beef noodle from the centre of the country, is excellent at a couple of counters and will wake you up. Around lunch go for com tam, broken rice with a grilled pork chop, a slice of egg meatloaf and pickles; it is the dish I crave most when I leave Vietnam. Banh xeo, the crispy turmeric pancake stuffed with prawns and bean sprouts, is messy and wonderful, eaten wrapped in lettuce and herbs. Goi cuon, the fresh rolls with prawn and pork, are a light option when it is too hot for soup.

Leave room for the drinks and sweets. The che stalls sell layered dessert cups of beans, jellies, coconut milk and crushed ice that look like a science experiment and taste far better than they should. Fresh sugarcane juice with a squeeze of kumquat is the most refreshing thing in the building. And have at least one proper Vietnamese iced coffee, ca phe sua da, brewed through the phin onto condensed milk and poured over ice. If you see "egg coffee" on a sign, that is a Hanoi speciality that has drifted south; it is whipped egg yolk and condensed milk on top of strong coffee and works better than it sounds.

If you want to go deeper than pointing at bowls, there is a cyclo ride, market walk and cooking class from S$39.82 that starts with a vendor-led tour of the market's fresh sections before you cook what you have bought. I did a version of this on my third trip and it changed how I shop here; once someone has shown you the difference between the herbs and explained what the dried shrimp is for, the back of the market stops being a blur and becomes a larder. The cyclo part is touristy, yes, but it is a lovely way to see the old streets at a human pace.

The night market and the streets around it

When the shutters come down on the covered market, the action moves outside. Stalls set up on the streets flanking the building, tables and plastic chairs spill across the pavement, and the air fills with charcoal smoke from grills loaded with squid, scallops, prawns and corn. It is louder, cheaper and more relaxed than the daytime market, and it is the version of Ben Thanh I now prefer. Order a few grilled things, a plate of morning glory stir-fried with garlic, and a cold local beer, and sit watching the motorbikes go round the roundabout under the lit clock tower. The souvenir stalls outside sell much the same as inside at similar prices, so there is no need to shop twice.

A short walk away, the streets between the market and Nguyen Hue are worth an hour of wandering. Le Loi and Nguyen Hue have been smartened up and the pedestrian boulevard on Nguyen Hue is where families come out after dark to stroll, eat ice cream and watch the fountains. The cafes tucked into the old apartment block at 42 Nguyen Hue, each on a different floor with its own balcony, are a good place to sit above it all. If you want something more organised for the evening, the river is right there: the Ben Thanh Princess dinner cruise, from S$47.94, sails from the Saigon riverside with a buffet and live music, and on a clear night the skyline from the water is the best view of the city you will get without paying for a tower. It is not fine dining; it is a pleasant, easy evening, and it suits the end of a long market day.

A full day in District 1 built around the market

Here is the day I now recommend to friends, and it works because it respects the heat and the crowds. Start at the market at half past seven. Eat breakfast at the food counters, then do your shopping while the aisles are calm: coffee first, dried goods second, then the souvenir section with your bargaining energy still intact. Be out by half past nine with your bags, and if they are heavy, drop them at your hotel; most District 1 hotels are within fifteen minutes' walk.

Walk up Le Loi to Nguyen Hue, turn left and keep going to the Opera House, then on to Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office, which is a glorious yellow colonial hall with a huge portrait of Ho Chi Minh at the end and a working post counter where you can send a postcard. From there it is a ten-minute walk to the Independence Palace, the 1960s presidential palace that was the scene of the fall of Saigon in 1975 and has been left more or less as it was, down to the rooftop helipad and the basement war rooms. Give it an hour. Then the War Remnants Museum, fifteen minutes further north, which is heavy and important and the one place in the city I would say you must not skip. Allow ninety minutes and do not plan anything cheerful immediately afterwards.

Doing those two sites with a guide makes a real difference, because the exhibits are sparse on context in English and the stories behind the rooms are what make them land. The War Remnants Museum and Independence Palace walking tour, from S$17.85, covers both with a local guide and fits neatly after a morning at the market. If you would rather have the whole city stitched together for you, the half-day Ho Chi Minh City premier tour (from S$22.23) covers the museum, the palace, the cathedral and the post office in a morning with transport between them, which on a wet-season day is a blessing.

By mid-afternoon you will want air conditioning. Tao Dan Park behind the palace is shady and full of old men playing Chinese chess, or head back towards the market and up the Bitexco tower for the view, or sit in one of the hidden cafes above Nguyen Hue with a coconut coffee until the heat breaks. Then, as the light goes, back to the market for the night stalls and dinner outside. That is a full day, and it never leaves District 1.

Beyond District 1: Cholon and the day trips

If Ben Thanh has whetted your appetite for markets, the one you want next is Binh Tay in Cholon, the city's Chinatown in District 5 and 6. It is a wholesale market, far less touristy, with a courtyard, a lovely old building and traders who are too busy moving sacks of dried mushrooms to bother selling you a hat. The streets around it are full of incense-dark temples, herbal medicine shops and some of the best Chinese-Vietnamese food in the city. It is a long walk or a short taxi from Ben Thanh, and it rewards half a day. A Cholon exploration by electric buggy, from S$19.68, threads the temples and back streets with a guide, and on a hot day the open buggy is a far better way to cover the distance than on foot.

Closer to the market, and almost nobody visits it, is the Fito Museum of traditional Vietnamese medicine, from S$10.00, in a restored wooden house in District 10. It is small, beautifully done, and explains the herbs and preparations you will have seen in the market and in Cholon's pharmacies. I went expecting twenty minutes and stayed over an hour. It is a good rainy-afternoon option.

For a full day out, the two classic trips from the city are the Cu Chi tunnels to the north-west and the Mekong Delta to the south-west. Cu Chi is the network of tunnels the Viet Cong used during the war; you can crawl through a widened section and it is sobering and claustrophobic in equal measure. The Mekong is a day of boats, fruit orchards, coconut candy workshops and small canals under palm fronds, and it is gentle in a way that balances the war history nicely. A Mekong Delta day tour starts from S$27.82 and picks up in District 1, often from near the market itself, so an early departure after a quick breakfast at the food counters works well. Both trips are long days with a lot of time in a vehicle; take water, a hat and realistic expectations about Saigon traffic on the way back.

Practical details people forget

Money. The currency is the Vietnamese dong and the notes come in large numbers; a 500,000 dong note is roughly the price of a nice dinner for two, a 20,000 note buys a coffee. The 20,000 and 500,000 notes are both blue and confusingly similar in bad light, and I have handed over the wrong one twice. Count carefully, keep large and small notes in different pockets, and do not change money at the market stalls that offer it; use a bank or your hotel. ATMs are plentiful around the roundabout.

Connectivity. You will want data for maps, translation and ride-hailing, and the market is one place where a translation app genuinely earns its keep when bargaining goes beyond numbers. If you did not pick up a SIM at the airport, an eSIM you install before you fly is the least fuss. The Vietnam eSIM delivered by email as a QR code starts from S$8.42 and sets up in a minute if your phone supports eSIM; check that it does before you buy, because older and some regional models do not.

Luggage and carry-ons. Coffee beans, nuts and sealed dried fruit are fine in checked bags for most countries, but fresh fruit, meat products and anything unsealed are not, and some countries are strict about plant material; check the rules for where you are flying home to. Lacquerware and ceramics need wrapping; the vendors will do it in newspaper, but bring a couple of soft T-shirts to pad them in your suitcase. Liquids like fish sauce and coffee syrups go in checked bags only.

Health and comfort. Wear shoes you can walk in and clothes that breathe; the market has fans but no air conditioning and it is humid under that roof. Drink more water than you think you need. The food counters are safe for most people, but if you have a delicate stomach, stick to things cooked in front of you and skip the ice in drinks on your first day. Toilets exist inside the market but they are basic; the cafes on Le Loi are a better bet.

Families and accessibility. Children generally love the market in the morning and hate it at midday, which is a decent rule for adults too. Pushchairs are difficult in the aisles; a carrier is easier. The floor is level and the gates are at street level, so a wheelchair can get in, but the inner aisles are too tight to move comfortably once the crowds arrive, and the food counters are stool-height. Early morning is the only realistic window for anyone with mobility needs, and the night market outside is much easier to navigate than the interior.

Visas and arrival for Singapore-based travellers

Singapore passport holders can enter Vietnam without a visa for short tourist stays, and so can citizens of a number of other ASEAN and European countries, but the exact list and the number of days allowed have changed several times in recent years. Other nationalities, including many travellers resident in Singapore on work passes, need a visa in advance, and Vietnam's e-visa is the normal route. It is applied for online, takes several working days in theory and sometimes longer in practice, and you must enter through the airport or land crossing you named on the application. Do not leave it to the week before you fly. HolidaySG keeps an up-to-date summary with the current rules, fees and processing times on the Vietnam visa requirements page, and we can handle the application for you if you would rather not wrestle with the government portal yourself.

At the airport, immigration queues at Tan Son Nhat can be long when several regional flights land together, especially late evening. If you are arriving tired with children, the fast-track meet and greet service walks you through the priority lane, and at the time of writing it starts from S$22.10; whether it is worth it depends entirely on the hour you land and how patient you are. Combine it with a pre-booked transfer and you can be at a District 1 hotel within an hour of touchdown, which leaves you fresh enough to be at the market at half past seven the next morning. That, after all, is the whole point.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ben Thanh Market worth visiting if I dislike touristy places?

Yes, with a condition: go before nine in the morning or after seven in the evening. At those hours it is a working market with good breakfast and a night market full of locals eating grilled seafood. In the middle of the day it is a tourist attraction, and if that is the only version you see you will leave underwhelmed. If you want the less touristy equivalent, go on to Binh Tay in Cholon.

Is there an entry fee?

No. The market is free to enter through any of its gates, and so is the night market outside. You only pay for what you buy or eat.

How much should I bargain?

For souvenirs, clothing and lacquerware, expect to settle somewhere between forty and sixty percent of the first price quoted, and be prepared to walk away. For coffee, dried goods and food, prices are closer to honest and a small discount for buying several items is the most you should push for. Printed prices are generally fixed. Always keep it friendly; the vendors remember rude customers and the aisle is small.

Can I pay by card?

Some of the larger souvenir and fabric stalls take cards and many accept local QR payment apps, but cash in Vietnamese dong is what works everywhere and gets you the better price. Carry small notes. There are ATMs around the roundabout outside the clock tower gate.

Is the food at the market safe to eat?

The cooked-food counters are busy, the turnover is fast and everything is prepared in front of you, which is about as reassuring as street food gets. Most visitors eat there without any trouble. If you are cautious, choose hot dishes over cold ones on your first day and ask for drinks without ice.

How long should I plan for?

Two hours is enough for a morning of breakfast and shopping; three if you are buying coffee seriously or getting something tailored. Add an evening for the night market if you can. It is small enough that you do not need a whole day, and the rest of District 1 is on the doorstep.

What is the night market like compared with the day market?

The night market is outdoors on the streets either side of the building, with seafood grills, beer and plastic tables. It is more about eating than shopping, cheaper and more relaxed, and the souvenir stalls sell the same things as inside. Hours vary with the season and the rain; check on the day if you are relying on it.

If I book a tour that includes the market through HolidaySG, when do I get my ticket?

E-tickets are emailed after our team confirms your booking. Prices shown here are "from" prices at the time of writing and can change with the season and the exchange rate, so check the product page for the current figure. If you have a question before or after booking, our support team is available from 9 AM to 11 PM Singapore time.

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