Saigon nightlife

Saigon is another name of Ho Chi Minh City, the former capital of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Being the biggest city in the country, it also has the most diverse and very active night life. Even though most of the places are closing after midnight and most probably you will not find entertainment spots running 24/7, this city always has something to offer, and if you are searching for fun, you will definitely find it, regardless of day of a week. Ready for adventures? Here we go!

Southern Vietnam with extension to Cambodia 10 days

Bars

People in Saigon like to spend time in bars, and there is plenty of them in the city. Most of them are located in the city center, and here you can find everything – from beer houses to fancy cocktail bars. And if you love magnificent views, choose one of the rooftop bars and enjoy watching the sleepless city! SONG XANH CRUISE

Bia Sai Gon 73
If you come to Vietnam, you will, probably, learn very fast what is “bia hoi”. From Vietnamese, it means “fresh-brewed beer”, and it is extremely popular among locals. One of the most popular bars that serves bia hoi is Bia Sai Gon 73, located in the heart of backpacker area of Saigon. It has plastic chairs along the pavement, and is always crowded with both, travellers and locals. A jug of beer will cost here nearly $0,5, and you will definitely enjoy its easy and relaxed atmosphere.
Address: 73 Bui Vien St, District 1 , Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam Alova Gold Cruise
Hours: 9:00 am – 3:00 am

Chill Skybar
We are not sure if you will ever get a chance to see more spectacular view on the city than from Chill Skybar. Located on top of AB Tower, the bar offers a rich variety of drinks and a fine dining menu as well. Each evening, since 9:30 pm, it hosts live performances of DJs. Come here before the sun goes down, and enjoy all the colours of Saigon.
Address: AB Tower, 76 Lê Lai, Bến Thành, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 5:30 pm – 2:30 am

Saigon nightlife

Q Bar 
This is one of Saigon's longest-running bars, that had been opened in 1992, and is always full of happy people. It is located in the historic Opera House building, and is considered to be a place of worship for locals and a “must” for expats and tourists. This is an excellent choice for chilling during the weekdays and for loud parties during the weekend!
Address: 7 Lam Son Square ,District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Hours: 11 am – 12 am

Clubs
During weekends young people in Saigon often choose to spend their nights out in clubs, enjoying loud music, dancing, drinking and simply having fun together. Curious about how do the dance floors look here? Follow our piece of advice!

Apocalypse Now
This is one of the first clubs opened in Saigon and is also one of the most popular in the city. It has two floors and an outdoor terrace. On the first floor the DJ usually plays quite mainstream music and global hits, while on the second floor you may crash the retro party with the music from 80s and 90s! The club is open till 4 am, so if you party till early morning, it should become your choice!
Address: 2C Thi Sách, Bến Nghé, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Hours: 8 pm – 4 am

Lush Nightclub
Lush Nightclub is a good alternative for those visitors who prefer contemporary design and great selection of music. This is definitely a club with a style. Sometimes it gets overcrowded, but this is just another proof that this is one of the best spots to visit in Saigon.
Address: Lý Tự Trọng, Bến Nghé, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 8 pm – 3 am

Gossip Club
The club is  located in the Dai Nam Hotel and is a popular place among local models and celebrities. Gossip club is a home to DJ Stanley, the former winner of the Heineken Thirst Competition, who regularly plays here. This is a fabulous way to experience local clubbing culture, excellent service and relaxing atmosphere.
Address: 79 Tran Hung Dao, District 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 11 am – 12 am

Music
Saigon can be easily called a heaven for music lovers, as there is a big number of places holding live performances in different styles and genres – from flamenco to hard rock. Just choose the one you want!

Sax N Art Jazz Club
Sax N' Art Jazz Club had been voted the best jazz club in Saigon and is highly popular among local people. The place is owned by a famous local saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan. It regularly hosts jam sessions and live concerts of famous Vietnamese musicians. Sometimes there is a fee nearly $5, which is added to your first drink.
Address: 28 Lê Lợi, Bến Nghé, 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 7 pm – 12 am.

Acoustic Bar
The first thing we should tell you about Acoustic Bar is that performances here are not only acoustic. The second thing is that this is a home of rock music in Saigon. You can hear here songs of young and talented Vietnamese musicians, as well as renditions of legendary hits – from John Lennon to Rolling Stones.
Address: 6E1 Ð Ngo Thoi Nhiem, District 3, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 6 pm – 12 am

Seventeen Saloon
This is a crazy two storey live music hall inspired by Wild West. Joyful rock’n’roll parties with featuring a live Filipino band of performances of Vietnamese musicians always last here till late night! You will definitely have a lot of fun here and make it a night to remember!
Address: 103A Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hours: 7 pm – 2 am

Dong Van Karst Plateau Ha Giang Vietnam

Dong Van karst plateau has an area of 2.350 square kilometers, spreads over four districts of Ha Giang province: Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van and Meo Vac at an average height of 1.400 - 1.600 meters with a number of beautiful limestone and winding road. Here, scientists have found 33 tectonics heritages, 45 geomorphology heritages and many unique fossils in sedimentary rock, which creates opportunities for the tourist attraction, brings income for indigenous people. Mai Chau Valley 2 days

From Ha Giang town, along 4C Highway about 50 kilometers, tourists step into Quan Ba districts with spectacular and grandeur mountain scenery. In the journey to the rocky plateau, visitors can enjoy the beauty of Can Ty Pass. Dong Van karst plateau has 80% limestone, is one of the most distinctive karst in Vietnam with black and majestic boulders. The shapes of boulders are created by environmental conditions and different stages of development. Here, the whole scene is rocks with various shapes such as petals, flowers, flower branch (Khau vai rock garden, Veo Vac District) or the shape of tiger (Lung Cu rock garden). Van Chai rock garden has green grass that creates the majestic and grandeur beauty for landscape. PANDAW CRUISE

Besides the geological value, Dong Van karst plateau also attracts tourists by the unique cultural and spiritual values associated with the ethnic Mong, Dao, Lo Lo… living on the plateau. They picked up stones to build house, walls. They carved stone to grow corn. They renovated the mountainside into a vast of rice. The beauty and grandeur of Dong Van plateau comes from not only the huge natural boulders but also the fair of the H’mong, Dao, Lo Lo… In the morning, ethnic people from neighbor districts come to fair with colorful costumes.

• Treasure Junk, Halong Travel

Dong Van Karst Plateau Ha Giang Vietnam

From the geological unique, in the end of 2010, Dong Van karst plateau was recognized as the first geological park of Vietnam and Geoparks of the world. Dong Van karst plateau is one of the special limestone mountain, including the marks of the history of the earth’s crust process and tradition of indigenous communities.

Dong Van karst plateau has all elements convergence to become global Geoparks. Rocky plateau also has national relic such as: mansion of Vuong family, Lung Cu flag pole, Dong Van ancient, Ma Li Peng pass, Quan Ba Twin Mountain…

Vietnam unveiled as the fastest growing tourist destination

When the Post Office recently revealed their list of the fastest growing currencies in the UK, I was not surprised to see which destination was at number one – Vietnam!

The index is a good indicator of hot tourist destinations for Brits this summer and like us at PureTravel it appears they too love Vietnam holidays! In fact sales of the Vietnamese currency, the dong soared by a massive 68% this summer (June-August). The findings come from the highly respected UK Post Office which has 11,500 local branches across the UK. Southern Vietnam with extension to Cambodia 10 days

In my opinion this should put Vietnam right at the top of the must-see destinations list for some wintersun and into spring 2013. The weather is distinctly autumnal right now in the UK so a long haul trip to Vietnam is ideal and even easier now that direct flights are operating between London Gatwick and Hanoi as we reported last year. And right now 1 GBP equals 33,760 VND which means that with just 29.61 GBP you can be a millionaire in Vietnam! Dragon Pearl Junk

The rise in popularity is also attributed to the fact that several luxury resorts have also opened up in various locations throughout Vietnam. There is also a new airport planned for the southern Vietnam province of Kien Giang; the Phu Quoc International Airport is on schedule to open late 2012 and will dramatically increase accessibility of the Mekong Delta region. The Vietnamese government has pledged to invest more money on key tourist infrastructures such as leisure and entertainment complexes, even if the addition of tuk-tuks on the city streets of Hanoi has been vetoed.

Vietnam unveiled as the fastest growing tourist destination

At a recent meeting, tourism ministers of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar debated the feasibility of creating a ‘unified visa zone’ for the four countries, which would ease red tape for tourists visiting southeast Asia. If the system gets the go ahead its estimated that more than 25 million international travellers will visit the 4 countries, compared to 12 million foreign tourists last year (and 14% more than 2010). Of course once western travellers have made the journey it’s all the more attractive to combine several Southeast Asian countries at the same time. In fact many western tour operators already offer the multi-country trips so this move would be very appealing. AUTHENTIC MEKONG

I’ve been lucky enough to have explored Vietnam, spending time in the usual Vietnamese tourist haunts; Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Danang, Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay and I absolutely loved my visit! I hope more travellers discover Vietnam for themselves and for some inspiration check out some of the weird and wonderful hotels you could opt for.

Imagine my excitement as well when I caught the BBC Top Gear Special which featured the three famous presenters; Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James |May traversing Vietnam on motorbikes travelling 1,000 miles from Ho Chi Minh City to Halong City. They had just eight days to complete the journey with various challenges along the way but I won’t reveal who won – all I can say is that you definitely need to catch up with the episode either on a cable TV station or via the BBC site. Fantastic viewing and very funny!

And if you’re curious as to which destinations came in positions 2-10, we have published the list; Top 10 Fastest growing holiday destinations revealed.