Hanoi and Saigon, which is the most attractive city of Vietnam? (part 2)

After Part 1 of this subject, have you made up your mind which will be the best city for you?

Tours around Hanoi or tours around Ho Chi Minh City?

If you’re still in hesitation, let’s continue our journey to find out the most interesting city of Vietnam, between 2 candidates: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City!

1. History & sightseeing

Hanoi and Saigon have had vastly differing histories, and this has made their culture, architecture and character a lot different from each other.

Hoan Kiem lake of Hanoi

As Vietnam’s capital for nearly one thousand years, Hanoi is widely regarded as the country’s cultural center, with layers upon layers of history visible in its streets, buildings and landmarks – and Hanoi also possesses many significant cultural sites than any other city in Vietnam.

It used to serve as the country’s political center, the capital of French Indochina, the base of the Viet Minh government, the capital of an independent North Vietnam, and now is the capital of reunified Vietnam.

Temple of Literature in Hanoi

Each steps in your tours around Hanoi with ancient monuments such as theTemple of Literature, theOne Pillar Pagodaand the old Citadel standing near the French colonial villas and mansions, the Grand Opera House, the Presidential Palace and even more recently with plentiful skyscrapers, will just be an awesome experience that you can never forget.

Unsurprisingly, these historical monuments have left Hanoi with an excellent collection of museums and historical stories to keep the visitor busy. Besides those mentioned above, you can also visit the mausoleum and stilt house of Ho Chi Minh, The Old Quarter, which is not only a place to sightsee but also a wonderful place to eat and shop.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter

In comparison with Hanoi, Saigon has not been as old-aged as Hanoi. For the beginning of its history, Saigon was known as Prey Nokor: the most important commercial seaport of the Khmer Empire, based in modern-day Cambodia.

Since then, Saigon has gone through almost as many changes in politics as Hanoi: the Vietnamese seized and annexed it, then the French and Spanish conquered it, it became the capital of the anti-communist independent republic of South Vietnam, then fell to the Viet Minh and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the communist leader of the north.

A museum in Ho Chi Minh City

And if you’re someone who is curious about the war history of Vietnam, then Saigon is the place to see war-era museums and relics, such as the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, the Revolutionary Museum, the Museum of Southeastern Armed Forces, the War Remnants Museum and the hauntingly evocative Cu Chi Tunnels, used by guerilla fighters.

2. Food

To most of tourists, Saigon is the street food capital of Vietnam, with a great variety of foods and drinks, which is the result of the successful combination between Vietnamese cuisine and international cuisine.

Saigon’s streetfood

However, the king of Vietnamese food is Pho – the beloved Vietnamese noodle soup – and its spiritual home is unequivocally Hanoi. Here you’ll find thousands of streetside stalls and small kiosks with plastic chairs and tables on the pavement where you can chow down on this national dish.

The king of Vietnamese food, Pho

So, it will depend on what aspects that you want to discover in a city, its cuisine, its monuments or its culture,… to really choose the most fancy city for you if you just have time for one city in Vietnam.

So what are you still waiting for but not booking a tour with this travel agency immediately to enjoy joyful Vietnam tours!