Best Time to Visit Ho Chi Minh City

December to April

Months to avoid: May to November (rainy season, afternoon deluges that flood streets within minutes, particularly September to October)

Recommended stay: 3-5 days

Plan Ho Chi Minh City for December to April. Give it 3-5 days. The window to avoid is May to November (rainy season, afternoon deluges that flood streets within minutes, particularly September to October).

What the season gets you

• The War Remnants Museum is one of the most affecting places in Southeast Asia, photographs and equipment that make the war real in a way textbooks never managed
• Street food culture runs district by district: bun bo Hue in District 3, banh canh in District 8, broken rice (com tam) everywhere at dawn
• Cu Chi Tunnels, 250km of wartime tunnels an hour outside the city; crawling through them changes how you read the war