Shopping in Ho Chi Minh City – where and what to buy

Ho Chi Minh City is a great and very convenient place to do a little shopping before flying home. After all, this is the financial capital of Vietnam, so shopping here is very well developed. However, there are some features that are worth knowing about. We will tell you everything in detail:

How and how to pay for purchases

It is more profitable to pay for purchases with local money, although in exceptional cases they are ready to accept dollars at markets or in private shops. But keep an eye on the rate at which you are offered to pay, as it is usually less profitable than paying in dong.

Bank cards in Vietnam are also widely accepted, but as for tourist purchases, they can not be paid everywhere. They will not accept the card at the market, in most souvenir shops, in street clothing stores. Without any problems, you can pay with a card for purchases in supermarkets and stores of large shopping centers, in branded souvenir shops and tea and coffee shops.

Russian cards are accepted for payment in Vietnam. Now the Unionpay card from Rosselkhoznadzor and ATB Bank is working, all the others are not working. Mir maps also work in Vietnam, but very limited, so you shouldn't count on it for shopping. More details about this were told in the updated instructions Bank cards and ATMs in Vietnam here...

What to buy in Ho Chi Minh City

We have detailed instructions about what to bring from Vietnam here... We advise you to familiarize yourself with it first, everything is there. As for the specifics of shopping in Ho Chi Minh City, then, in our opinion, from personal experience, it makes sense to buy sports and tourist clothes, souvenirs, coffee and tea, exotic fruits to bring them home, exotic products (fish and soy sauce, rice paper, rice noodles, glutinous rice), balms and cosmetics, jewelry:

• Fruits

  

  In Ho Chi Minh City, you can buy any exotic fruits that are found in Vietnam, but, of course, taking into account the seasons. These are mainly rambutan, mango, pitahaya (dragon fruit), lychee, pineapples, sala (snake fruit), guanabana, passion fruit, sapodilla. Separately, it is worth telling about two problematic fruits:

  • Durian (smelly fruit) – you can and should buy it, but only to try it on the spot, since it absolutely cannot be transported on an airplane.
  • Mangosteen is a very cool and delicate fruit, and quite expensive. You need to buy it, you can even bring it home, but the problem is that it deteriorates very quickly and attracts ants very much, so you can bring it to the plane and bring home a whole anthill.

  In general, you can read everything about exotic fruits and what they are in our detailed article with rating here...

  Exotic fruits are sold everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City at street markets, from mobile carts and in supermarkets. Do not buy fruit at the Ben Tan market, prices are very high there. A great place to buy fruit in the center is the Thai Binh Market and the streets next to it. We will tell you about these markets below.

• Souvenirs

  

  They are sold everywhere, but there are three cool places where we advise you to definitely go:

  • Ben Thanh Market. There are a lot of souvenirs here, prices are higher than in other places, but you can bargain a lot.
  • Ho Chi Minh City Post Office. There are a couple of large souvenir shops inside the post office, the prices seemed lower to us. Than in the Ben Tan market.
  • American Dan Sin Market or Dan Singh (Dan Sinh Market). A very cool place for men's souvenirs in the military style and with attributes of the USSR.

• Coffee and tea

  

  It is better to buy Vietnamese coffee and tea not at the Ben Tan market, prices are inflated several times. Grain coffee can be bought at Thai Binh Market, there are a couple of large coffee shops there, but not at the market itself, but across the street from D. CốNg QuỳNh Street. We always buy ground coffee and tea in large chain supermarkets Co.Op Mart and Go! (former Big C), as well as in the small network Bach Hoa Han (Bach Hoa XANH).

• Alcohol

  

  In Vietnam and in Ho Chi Minh City, in particular, local alcohol and any foreign alcohol, even Russian, is sold. But there is no point in buying here and bringing home world or Russian brands – you can buy all the same things from us or in duty-free shops at the airport. Therefore, you need to bring local drinks from Vietnam. They make excellent rum, whiskey, brandy, and good wine here. You can buy exotic rice vodka. And, of course, a mandatory gift – snake whiskey or a bottle with a snake. As always, we have a detailed article about alcoholic beverages in Vietnam here...

  But, surprisingly and sadly, it is not so easy to buy local alcohol in the tourist district No. 1 and its immediate surroundings. We have probably visited all supermarkets, markets, specialty stores. Mostly foreign alcohol and local wine are found everywhere, and at relatively high prices.

  The only place where there was a more or less decent selection of local alcohol was the Ben Tan market. Whiskey with a snake is also sold there, and this is probably the only place in Ho Chi Minh City where you can buy such an exotic gift. But, as we said above, the prices on the Ben Tan market are very high, you need to bargain. For example, a bottle with a snake of 600,000 VND!!!

  If you know other places in the center with local alcohol, share in the comments.

• Electronics

  

  Our opinion is that there is no point in buying electronics in Vietnam. We went and compared prices in many stores in different cities. And we have repeatedly seen that the assortment and prices here are the same as in Russian chain stores and marketplaces, even often more expensive. In addition, everything you buy here will be without a guarantee in the Russian Federation.

  Nevertheless, if you have a different conviction on this score or just need to buy something urgently, then we advise you to immediately go to the online electronics supermarket Dien may XANH (Green Machine). There are several such shops in Ho Chi Minh City, there is one near the tourist area. You can find them on the Google map, and the store also has a website https://www.dienmayxanh.com/, but exclusively in Vietnamese.

• Clothes and shoes

  

  It would seem that now neither clothes nor shoes can surprise anyone, we have everything. But still one kind of clothing in Vietnam will be interesting. Vietnam produces sports and tourist clothing and footwear under the North Face brand and other brands. These are mainly trekking boots, multi-layered jackets with Gore-Tex membrane and windbreakers, hiking pants, thermal underwear, synthetic T-shirts. Sometimes you can also find camping equipment, such as bags, trekking poles, etc. All this is really produced in Vietnam and supplied to stores around the world under various well-known brands, including they are sold in popular chain stores in Russia.

  In Ho Chi Minh City, we found a large selection of such clothes at the Russian market. This is really a market with rows full of clothes, it is very popular with foreign tourists. We also bought tourist clothes with a membrane here more than once, while there were no complaints. But, of course, you need to understand that in most cases these are fakes or low quality, so you need to choose each copy very carefully.

  If you want to "stock up" on tourist and sportswear with a quality guarantee, then there is a "Decathlon" in Ho Chi Minh City, even several shops. Prices in terms of rubles for most of the goods here are significantly lower than in the Desport store that replaced Decathlon in the Russian Federation, so you can safely buy. True, the choice of serious trekking and mountain shoes is weak here.

Ho Chi Minh City Markets

We present you a selection of the most interesting markets in Ho Chi Minh City, where we visited:

• Ben Thanh Market (Cho Ben Thanh)

  

  This is one of the oldest markets in Ho Chi Minh City and the most popular among tourists, not a single guest of the city will miss it. The market building is an architectural landmark and a must-see object for all sightseeing tours of the city. It is necessary to visit here, and what is good, you will not have to go far, because it is located in the very tourist heart of the city next to the famous tourist street Pham Ngu Lao in district No. 1. But Ben Tan is interesting not only as an architectural landmark, but rather as a place for tourist shopping. After all, you can find anything here. Mostly tourists go here for souvenirs, dried and fresh fruits, casual clothes and suitcases, coffee, tea, rice, local alcohol, bottles with a snake. True, the prices of goods in recent years have become simply cosmic, sometimes overstated 3-4 times compared to neighboring shops and supermarkets, so you need to bargain here. Read more about the Ben Tan market here...

  🕐 Working hours: works every day from early morning until about 18-19 hours. After closing, all trade moves to the streets around the market.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: Ben Tan is located in the city center (Ben Tan market on the map). From anywhere in the tourist area of Ho Chi Minh City (District No1) you can get here on foot.

• Binh Tai or Cholon Market (Cho Binh Tay)

  

  Ho Chi Minh City, like any other major Asian city, has its own Chinatown. This is District No. 5 (District 5). The area itself is colorful and interesting, and is a kind of attraction. Therefore, if you have enough time, you should go to this area, walk around it and visit the Cho Binh Tay market. However, such a trip will take at least half a day. In the area you can see several Chinese temples, many shops, including those selling Chinese medicines, and, of course, many markets. Of particular note is the large indoor market Cho Binh Tay. You can buy anything here, except for serious electronics. If you need to buy toys, then you can't find a better place than here in Ho Chi Minh City. Learn more about Binh Tai and Chinatown here...

  🕐 Working hours: Daily, during the daytime.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free of charge.

  🚶 How to get there: located far from the tourist area and the center, you will have to go by taxi or bus (Cholon Binh Tay Market on Ho Chi Minh City map). From Ben Tan Market there is a bus number 1.

• Russian market (Russian Market)

  

  This is a large clothing market in Ho Chi Minh City, known for selling Russian clothes here. Well, like "Russian"... It seems that Russian clothing here means any warm clothes, such as jackets, down jackets, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, etc. By the way, this market is very popular among foreign tourists. They come here and buy everything with pleasure, and they think that these are really Russian clothes. They also sell bags, suitcases, T-shirts, underwear. In general, everything is the same as in any other clothing market, but still the main difference from other markets is that here you can buy warm clothes for the Russian off-season and winter: hoodies, windbreakers, jackets with sintepon and down. The quality of the goods is average, mainly made in Vietnam, Bangladesh, China. But the choice is large, and there are many clothes under the brand North Face. Learn more about the Russian market here...

  🕐 Working hours: daily, from 09:00 to 18:00.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free of charge.

  🚶 How to get there: located within walking distance from the tourist area and Pham Ngu Lao street (market on the map).

• Dan Sinh American Market (Dan Sinh Market)

  

  This is one of the most unusual and interesting markets for tourists in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. It can be visited not only and not even so much for shopping, but as a museum shop and a tourist attraction. At least the men will definitely like it here. He specializes in household goods and all sorts of little things. However, when you walk here among the rows, you will feel like in an antique shop, littered with various museum exhibits. It is worth coming here at least to look at all this variety: coins, dishes, watches, cameras, figurines – just not to list. It's just a paradise for lovers of old rarities. However, in order to find something, you will have to spend a lot of time, since there are a lot of departments, and the shelves are simply crowded and littered with things. Especially here it will be interesting for lovers of military-style clothing and accessories. There are a lot of items with Soviet symbols, with original inscriptions "Made in the USSR". Read more about the American Dan Xin market here...

  🕐 Working hours: daily, from 09:00 to 18:00.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located in the city center, a 15-minute walk from the tourist district and Pham Ngu Lao Street (American market on the map).

• Local Thai Binh Market

  

  This is a real local market in the center of the tourist area of Ho Chi Minh City. Unlike the promoted Ben Tan market, it is designed for local residents, respectively, and the prices here are much lower. In the indoor part they sell clothes, shoes, household goods, and on the street – fruits, vegetables, meat, fish. There are a lot of street food stalls here: mostly noodles with meat, buns with fillings (baths), pastries. You can eat from 35,000 VND per dish. In the shops adjacent to the Thai Binh market, they sell coffee and tea by weight, for example, arabica from 320,000 VND per kg, green tea – from 80,000 per kg. For comparison, the Ben Tan arabica market sells from 120,000 DONG per 100 grams!!! If you find yourself nearby, we advise you to take a closer look at fruits and vegetables: their prices here are much lower than in supermarkets and on Ben Tan. about here...

  🕐 Working hours: Daily, during the daytime.

  💵Entrance fee / ticket price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located in the center of Ho Chi Minh City in a tourist area at the end of Famngulao tourist street (Tai Binh Market on the map). From the Ben Tan market here is a 10-minute walk.

Shopping malls of Ho Chi Minh City

• Co.Op Mart is not a very large, but suitable supermarket for buying fruits, coffee, tea, glutinous rice, and all sorts of "goodies". There is a small selection of alcohol. But there is very little local. The prices here are lower than in the Ben Tan market, but maybe a little higher than in the Tai Bin market. We always shop here before departure. Located within walking distance from the tourist area (Co.Op Mart on the map).

  

• Saigon Centre or Takashimaya Ho Chi Minh City shopping Center is a modern shopping center in the center, relatively clean and convenient. On the ground floor there is a large supermarket with a huge selection of local products for tourists, including alcohol, but mostly foreign. Located within walking distance from the tourist area (Takashimaya on the map).

  

• Saigon Square Shopping Center is one of the oldest shopping centers in the center, not in the sense that it is bad, but it has been working for a very long time. Here you can buy inexpensive souvenirs and clothes. In general, nothing special, but if you pass by, you can take a look. Located near Takashimaya (Saigon Square on the map).

  

• Van Hanh Mall Shopping Center is a huge multi–storey shopping center. Inside there is a Decathlon, a hypermarket. It is located a few kilometers from the center, it is better to go by taxi or bus (Van Hanh Mall on the map).

  

• Vincome Center Shopping Center. A new modern shopping center with a supermarket, boutiques and entertainment. There is a skating rink, a cinema, game attractions. Located far from the center in the elite Landmark district, you need to go here by taxi, bus or metro (Vincome Center on the map). We would not recommend purposefully going to this shopping center from the center, but if you stop in this area or go to the observation deck of the Landmark 81 tower, you can go in.