Ho Chi Minh City

Formerly known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's largest city and the engine driving the country's current resurgence. It may be the most capitalist city in the country, but HCMC hasn't forgotten its role in the struggle for Vietnamese independence, as attested by such sites as Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Communist ideals aside, HCMC is once again a dynamic business-minded city, as a stroll down Dong Khoi Street or through Ben Thanh Market will prove. Aside from pockets of older architecture, HCMC is a sprawling, rapidly modernizing city that offers an urban buzz unlike anywhere else in Vietnam.