The Best Places To Cool Down This Summer In Ho Chi Minh City

Let’s face it, you cannot completely avoid the heat in Ho Chi Minh City. The dilemma is, you want to tour around the city but most of the tourist attractions are not air-conditioned. Here we round up the best places to chill in the city this summer.

Swimming pool

The quickest way to cool off is to dive into a refreshing swimming pool. For those who look for something quieter than the stacks of public swimming pools, some hotel pools do offer reasonable prices along with good ambiance. Occupying the 1920s former historical French garage, the Rex Hotel is a good start. With views over the vibrant downtown area and the Bitexco Financial Tower, the rooftop pool with its bar gives visitors a chance to beat the heat of the city. Another Saigon’s iconic hotel, Caravelle Saigon is also a classy joint. It housed both the Australian and New Zealand Embassy during the 1960s and was known as a communication hub for foreign correspondents. Surrounded by plenty of plants and tropical trees to shade you from the city’s sun, the pool is just one of the elements that make this such a laid-back place. There are many lounging spots inside for you to relax and drink in communal areas decked with the eco-friendly decor.

Rex Hotel, 141 Nguyễn Huệ, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Caravelle Saigon, 19 Công Trường Lam Sơn, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

1. Water park

Park

With a variety of slides and rides, Dam Sen Water Park provides fun and entertainment to guests of all ages. It is perfect for kids and teenagers, but thrilling rides like Black Thunder and Boomerang – in which the brave can slide into pitch-black tubes with laser effects or freefall for a scary 12 metres – should be exciting enough for anyone.

Ice cream

If you don’t want to go to great effort to chill out, head straight for the HCMC’s best ice-cream shops. It would be folly for an ice-cream shop to determine a travel destination, yet in summer Baskin Robbins really makes a powerful argument for doing just that. With 16 flavours in total, the ice-cream here is deliciously rich and creamy, not mention the real hot fudge.

2. Craft beer

Pub

Summer is the perfect time to quench your thirst with an icy beer. As the city has been undergoing a craft beer revolution, getting a seat in a cool, chilled-out city centre pub seems like a great plan. Pasteur Street Brewery is on a mission to prove craft beer can thrive throughout the country. Despite its modest design and tiny space, Pasteur Street has an unusually good beer selection with more than 70 varieties. Its key taps regularly feature Passionfruit Wheat and Jasmine IPA. Another option to escape the heat is Bia Craft with its warm and lively atmosphere where you do not need a TV to find a drink mate!

Pasteur Street Brewery, 144 Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam, +84 8 3823 9562

Craft beer at Pasteur Street Brewing © | Arnie Kim/Flickr

3. Open green spaces

Park

You do not have to have hot weather to enjoy a cool-off day trip to a green village-like space, but it does help. For some real respite, Binh Quoi Village is a shady retreat in green grasslands, small cottages and fish ponds surrounded by coconut trees. Or head to Van Thanh Park, a miniature of a Vietnamese traditional village. On entering through areca palms lining the pathways, you are greeted by the delightful sight of coconut palms, cannonball flowers, bamboo lanterns and a serene lake view.

Binh Quoi Village, 48/10 Điện Biên Phủ, Phường 22, Bình Thạnh, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.