Rain in Ho Chi Minh City: what to expect
Before the list of things to do, it helps to understand what rain in Ho Chi Minh City actually looks like, because it is probably not what you are picturing. A rainy day here is rarely a lost day, and once you know how the rain behaves, it is easy to plan around.
What the rain is actually like
Rain in Ho Chi Minh City is short and heavy rather than long and grey. Most of the time it arrives as a single hard downpour, often in the afternoon, lasting somewhere between one and two hours, and then it stops and the sky clears as if nothing happened. It is not the all-day drizzle you get in Europe.
It can, occasionally, rain for most of a day, and during the wettest months you might get more than one burst. But that is the exception. Far more often, a rainy day in Saigon means you lose an hour or two, not the whole day, which is exactly why having a few indoor things to do up your sleeve is all you really need.
How to read the weather forecast
This is where a lot of visitors panic unnecessarily. You look at the forecast for your week in Ho Chi Minh City, see a rain cloud on every single day, and assume your trip is washed out. It almost never means that.
A rain-cloud icon on every day simply means there is a daily chance of rain, which in the wet months there almost always is. It does not mean it will rain all day, or even for most of it. The same goes for the percentages: a high chance of rain means it is likely to rain at some point that day, usually for that one short burst, not that the sky will be pouring from morning to night. Once you understand that, the forecast stops being scary. Plan your outdoor sightseeing for the morning, keep a few rainy-day things to do in mind for the afternoon, and you will rarely be caught out.
When rain is most likely
Broadly, the wetter months in Ho Chi Minh City run from around May to October or November, when those afternoon downpours are most frequent. The drier months, from about December to April, see far less rain. That is all you really need to know to plan what to do on a rainy day while you are here.
If you are still planning your trip and want the full seasonal picture, our guide to Ho Chi Minh City in rainy season covers when to visit, what the weather is like month by month, and what to pack.
Things to do when it rains in Ho Chi Minh City
Coffee, food and waiting it out
The simplest thing to do in Ho Chi Minh City when it rains is to sit somewhere dry, order something good, and let the downpour pass. Saigon is built for this, with a cafe or a food stall on every corner, and waiting out the rain over a coffee or a hot bowl of noodles is about as local as it gets.
1. Take shelter in a cafe
This is what locals do the moment it starts to pour, and it is the easiest rainy-day move in the city. Ho Chi Minh City has one of the best cafe cultures in the world, and there is no better time to enjoy it than watching a storm come down through the window with a strong Vietnamese coffee in front of you.
Order a ca phe sua da, the classic iced coffee with condensed milk, or try the local specialities: egg coffee, coconut coffee, or salt coffee. The city is full of everything from tiny plastic-stool spots to serious specialty roasters, so you are never far from somewhere to shelter. For something more memorable, the Cafe Apartment on Nguyen Hue is an old apartment block where nearly every unit is now a small cafe, and watching the rain roll across the boulevard from a balcony a few floors up is one of the nicer ways to spend a wet hour in Saigon.
2. Eat comfort food while it pours
There is a reason Vietnamese comfort food tastes better in the rain, and locals will tell you the same thing. A hot, brothy bowl of something while the rain hammers down outside is one of the small pleasures of a rainy day in Ho Chi Minh City, and it is a genuinely local way to wait out the weather.
Go for pho, the classic noodle soup, or hu tieu, or a bowl of banh canh with its thick, chewy noodles. Chao, Vietnamese rice porridge, is the ultimate rainy-day comfort food here, and hot pot is perfect if you are in a group and happy to sit for a while. Much of this is best from the small local spots and the covered street food stalls, which conveniently give you a roof and a reason to stay put until the rain eases.
3. Settle in for a long lunch or dessert
If you would rather sit somewhere more comfortable, a rainy afternoon is the perfect excuse for a long, slow meal. Ho Chi Minh City has restaurants for every budget, and nobody will rush you out while it is pouring outside, so a rainy day is a good time to book that sit-down lunch you have been meaning to have.
For something lighter, seek out a che shop. Che is Vietnamese sweet dessert soup, served hot or cold in dozens of varieties with beans, jelly, fruit and coconut milk, and a bowl of it makes a cheap, cheerful way to park yourself somewhere dry for half an hour while the sky empties out.
Culture and history indoors
Some of the best things to do in Ho Chi Minh City when it rains are the ones that keep you dry for a couple of hours while you actually see something. The city’s museums, shows and covered markets are all made for a rainy afternoon, and several of them are among the best things to do in Saigon in any weather.
4. Visit a museum
A rainy day is the perfect excuse to tick off the museums you might otherwise skip in the heat. Ho Chi Minh City has a good range of them, almost all fully indoors and air-conditioned, which makes them an obvious thing to do when the rain comes down.
The War Remnants Museum is the most powerful and the most visited, giving an unflinching account of the Vietnam War. The Reunification Palace, the building where the war ended, is another strong choice, with its underground command bunkers a good place to be when it is pouring. For history and culture, the Museum of Vietnam History and the Museum of Fine Arts are both housed in beautiful old buildings, and the quirky Fito Museum covers traditional Vietnamese medicine.
One honest tip: a couple of these, including the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace, have outdoor sections with tanks and aircraft, which you can simply skip or save for when the rain stops. For the full picture, our guide to the museums in Ho Chi Minh City covers them all.
5. See a cultural show
An indoor show is one of the best rainy-evening things to do in Ho Chi Minh City, and two in particular are worth booking. Both are air-conditioned, both are wordless so nothing is lost in translation, and both are genuinely good rather than just a way to stay dry.
The A O Show, performed at the Opera House, is a bamboo circus of acrobatics and live music built around scenes of Vietnamese life, and it is superb. The traditional water puppet show is the other option, a thousand-year-old art form performed in a pool of water, which is charming and especially good if you have children. Both sell out in tourist season, so book ahead rather than turning up on the night.
6. Wander a covered market
Ho Chi Minh City’s big markets are roofed, which makes them a perfect place to be when the rain arrives. You can browse, eat, shop and shelter all at once, and the sound of rain drumming on the roof only adds to the atmosphere.
Ben Thanh Market is the famous one, right in the centre, packed with stalls selling souvenirs, clothes, coffee and food. Over in Chinatown, Binh Tay Market is the huge wholesale market and a more local experience, with a lovely old courtyard building. Both give you a dry, busy, interesting hour or two while the weather sorts itself out, which is exactly what you want from a rainy day in Saigon.
Ho Chi Minh City has plenty more markets beyond these two, and our guide to the best markets in Ho Chi Minh City covers where to go for everything from souvenirs to street food.
Malls, cinema and indoor entertainment
When the rain really sets in, the most reliable things to do in Ho Chi Minh City are the ones built entirely indoors. The malls, cinemas and entertainment centres are not the most local experiences in the city, but on a wet afternoon they are dry, air-conditioned, and genuinely useful, especially if you have kids or a group to keep happy.
7. Head to a mall
The malls are the obvious rainy-day fallback in Ho Chi Minh City, and they do the job. They are large, cool, completely dry, and they pack shopping, food courts, cinemas and more under one roof, so you can lose a couple of hours without stepping outside.
Saigon Centre, with Takashimaya inside it, is the nicest in the centre, and Vincom Center and Diamond Plaza are both central and easy to reach. Beyond the shops, most have big food courts for a cheap meal out of the rain, and some have extras worth knowing about: Vincom Center Landmark 81 has an ice rink, which is a genuinely fun thing to do when it is pouring outside. Nobody flies to Saigon to visit a shopping mall, but on a heavy rainy day, it is one of the easiest things to do.
8. See a film
Catching a film is an easy way to sit out a few hours of rain in Ho Chi Minh City. The cinemas are modern, comfortable and cheap, and most malls have one. International films are usually shown in English with Vietnamese subtitles rather than dubbed, so check the listing for a subtitled screening and you are set for the afternoon.
9. Bowling, arcades and family fun
For something more active, the city’s indoor entertainment centres are a good rainy-day option, especially with children or a group. You will find bowling alleys, arcades and games centres inside the bigger malls, which are an easy way to burn a couple of hours and a lot of energy while the rain comes down. They are cheap, they are dry, and kids love them.
10. Play at a board game cafe
Board game cafes are a fun, low-key thing to do in Ho Chi Minh City when it rains, and the city has a good few of them. You pay a small fee, pick from a huge library of games, and the staff will explain the rules in English if you need them. Board Game Station in District 1 is a well-known one, and a rainy afternoon with a coffee and a few games is a nice way to pass the time, particularly in a group. It is worth calling ahead to reserve a table on a busy rainy day.
Relax and unwind
Not everything on a rainy day has to keep you busy. One of the most enjoyable things to do in Ho Chi Minh City when it rains is nothing much at all, and the city is very good at helping you do it cheaply and well.
11. Get a massage or spa treatment
A massage is the quintessential rainy-afternoon activity in Ho Chi Minh City, and there is no better excuse to book one than a downpour outside. The city is full of spas and massage parlours at every price point, from simple local shops to polished day spas, and by Western standards even the good ones are cheap.
Book a foot massage, a full-body oil or Thai massage, or a longer spa package, and spend an hour or two out of the rain being thoroughly looked after. It is worth booking ahead where you can, since the good places fill up on wet afternoons for exactly this reason, and you will walk out relaxed to find the rain has usually stopped and the streets are dry again. On a rainy day in Saigon, it is hard to think of a better way to spend the time.
Hands-on and creative
If you would rather do something with a rainy afternoon than just wait it out, Ho Chi Minh City has plenty of hands-on activities that keep you dry and busy. These are some of the more rewarding things to do when it rains, because you come away having learned something or made something, rather than just having killed a couple of hours.
12. Take a cooking class
A cooking class is one of the best rainy-day things to do in Ho Chi Minh City, and a genuinely good use of a wet afternoon. You spend a few hours indoors learning to make Vietnamese dishes, from fresh spring rolls and pho to banh xeo and other classics, and then you sit down and eat what you have cooked.
Many classes start with a trip to a local market, which is usually covered, so even that part works in the rain. It is hands-on, it is cultural, and it sends you home able to recreate a few of the meals you have been enjoying all trip. Most classes run a few hours and need booking a day or so ahead, so it helps to have one in mind before the rain arrives.
13. Try a workshop
Beyond cooking, the city has a growing number of creative workshops that make for a fun, dry, hands-on rainy day in Saigon. You can make your own perfume, throw pottery, paint, or try a traditional craft, all indoors, and all ending with something you have made yourself to take home.
These are small operations with limited spaces, so they need booking ahead rather than turning up, and availability changes often. If the forecast looks wet for your trip, it is worth checking what workshops are running while you are in town, since a rainy afternoon is the perfect time to do one.
Something a little different
Not every rainy-day idea in Ho Chi Minh City is about hiding from the weather. If you have already done the museums and the malls, here is one last thing to do when it rains in Saigon that turns the storm itself into the attraction.
14. Watch the storm from above
Here is a rainy-day idea most visitors never think of: instead of hiding from the rain in Ho Chi Minh City, go up high and watch it. A tropical storm rolling in over the city is a genuine spectacle, and one of the more memorable things to do when it rains in Saigon is to watch it come down from above the streets rather than in them.
From a high rooftop bar, a sky-high cafe, or an observation deck, you get a view of the whole thing: the dark clouds sweeping in over the skyline, the sheets of rain moving across the districts, and the lightning if you are lucky, all from somewhere warm and dry with a drink in your hand. The observation decks at Bitexco Tower and Landmark 81 both give you this, as do the many rooftop bars around the centre, several of which have indoor seating right against the glass.
One honest caveat. This works best when the rain is a passing storm with some visibility, so you can actually see it moving across the city. In a total whiteout, when the cloud drops and the rain is so heavy you cannot see much at all, the view disappears and you are better off saving it for a clearer moment. But catch it right, and watching a Saigon downpour from four hundred metres up is a rainy-day experience you will remember long after the weather has cleared.
Practical tips for Ho Chi Minh City when it rains
A few practical things make a rainy day in Ho Chi Minh City far easier to handle, and most of them come down to accepting the rain rather than fighting it. Get these right and the weather barely dents your plans.
Just wait it out
The most useful thing to know is also the simplest: the rain usually passes quickly. A downpour in Ho Chi Minh City tends to blow through in under an hour, so more often than not the right move is to step into a cafe, order a coffee, and wait. There is rarely any need to abandon your day or reshuffle everything. Shelter for a bit, let it pass, and carry on.
Plan outdoor mornings and indoor afternoons
Because the rain most often comes in the afternoon, the easiest way to plan a rainy day in Saigon is to do your outdoor sightseeing in the morning while it is dry, and save the indoor things to do for later in the day. Line up a museum, a mall, a massage or a cooking class for the afternoon, and you will barely notice the weather.
Carry a poncho, not an umbrella
Take a cue from the locals. When it rains in Ho Chi Minh City, everyone reaches for a cheap plastic poncho rather than an umbrella, because an umbrella is useless on the back of a motorbike and awkward in a crowd or a strong wind. You can buy a poncho for next to nothing at any convenience store or from street vendors the moment it clouds over, and it packs down to nothing in your bag.
Expect Grab to get busy
Here is an honest one that catches people out. The second it starts raining, everyone in the city opens the Grab app at once, so cars and bikes get scarce, waits get longer, and prices rise. If you need to get somewhere in a hurry when it is pouring, expect to wait and pay a little more, and often it is easier to simply wait the rain out than to fight for a ride. Our guide to getting around Ho Chi Minh City covers the apps.
Watch for flooding and slippery floors
Heavy rain can flood some streets surprisingly fast, turning a road into ankle-deep or worse water within minutes. Avoid wading through deep water if you can, since you cannot see what is under it. Watch your footing too: tiled shopfronts, marble lobbies and smooth pavements get very slippery when wet, and this is an easy way to take a fall.
Keep your phone and valuables dry
Saigon rain is heavier than you expect, and it will find its way into an open bag. Keep your phone, camera and anything else that matters in a zip-lock bag or a dry pouch when you are out in it. It is a small thing that saves a lot of grief, and it means you can still get your photos of the storm without worrying about your phone.
