Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens: a 160-year-old green lung
What it actually is
Twenty hectares of shaded, faded, historic parkland right in the middle of District 1. Inside it there are around 2,000 animals across more than 120 species, a botanical garden with over 320 species of plants, an amusement park, two museums and a temple. It is enormous, it is green, and it costs about two dollars to walk into.
The first thing to understand is that this is not a Western zoo and it will not feel like one. It is a local place, full of Vietnamese families having a day out, grandparents dozing in the shade, and school groups shouting at the monkeys. It is cheap, it is busy, and it is a little worn around the edges. Most people spend two to three hours here, and you could easily stretch it to half a day if you take it slowly.
One of the oldest zoos in the world
This is the part that gets left out of most guides, and it is the most interesting thing about the place.
The gardens were commissioned in March 1864 and opened to the public in February 1869, which makes this one of the eight oldest zoos on earth and one that has never stopped running. It opened the same year as the Suez Canal. It predates most of the famous zoos in Europe and America, and it has been on this same patch of ground, doing the same thing, ever since.
The botanical garden came first, and that order matters. It was laid out by a French botanist named Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre, who ran it until 1877 and whose real interest was plants, not animals. The trees went in before the cages did. That is why, more than a century and a half later, the gardens are still the better half of this place.
Some of those trees are still standing. There are specimens here well over a hundred years old, planted by the men who founded the garden, and you walk underneath them the entire time you are here. That is a genuinely strange thing to think about while a peacock crosses the path in front of you.
It has survived everything, too. The French, the Japanese, the American war, the fall of Saigon, and 160 years of a city that has rebuilt itself several times over. Twenty hectares of prime land in the centre of a city where every square metre is being turned into a tower, and it is still trees. That alone is worth something.
The honest part: animal welfare
This needs saying early, rather than being buried at the end, because for some visitors it will decide whether they come at all.
The zoo is old, and in places it still feels genuinely Victorian. Many enclosures are small, bare and concrete, with little to occupy the animals in them. The bird cages are the worst of it: several are far too cramped for birds that are built to fly, and they are hard to look at if you care about that sort of thing. The big cat housing is poor. The elephants, one of whom is over sixty years old, would clearly benefit from better facilities.
This is not a fringe complaint. It comes up again and again from foreign visitors, and it is a fair reaction. If animal welfare matters a great deal to you, there is a reasonable chance you will find parts of this place upsetting, and some people leave wishing they had not come.
There is another side, and it is worth hearing.
The zoo does real conservation work that almost nobody writes about. It rescues trafficked and injured wildlife, it runs breeding programmes, and it is the only zoo in the world to have successfully bred the Vietnamese crested argus, an extraordinarily rare pheasant, in captivity. It has also been renovating steadily, and the newer enclosures are noticeably better than the old ones.
And then there is the money. The ticket costs 60,000 dong. That is two dollars, less than a coffee on Dong Khoi, in a city where a modern zoo would need many times that to run properly. It is not an excuse, but it is context, and it is the same context you will find in most of Southeast Asia.
The practical advice: come knowing what this is. If you arrive expecting a modern conservation-led zoo, you will be disappointed and possibly distressed. If you arrive expecting a 160-year-old botanical garden that happens to have animals in it, you will have a good morning. That distinction runs through the rest of this guide.
What to see at Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens
1. The botanical gardens
Start here, because this is the best of it and almost nobody comes for it.
The gardens hold over 320 species of plants, including orchids, cacti, ferns, and bonsai, along with species brought here from Africa and the Americas back when this was a serious colonial botanical project. There is an orchid garden, and it is worth finding.
But the real attraction is simply the trees. There are enormous, ancient specimens throughout the grounds, some of them well over a century old, and they throw deep shade across most of the site. In a city where walking anywhere means heat, exhaust and no cover, that shade is worth the ticket on its own. The paths are wide, the noise of the traffic disappears within about a minute of walking in, and it is one of the very few places in central Saigon where you can hear birds instead of motorbikes.
2. The animals
Around 2,000 of them, across more than 120 species, and the collection is broader than you would expect.
The ones worth seeking out: the white Bengal tigers, which are the headline animal here; the giraffes, of which there are two family groups; the white rhinos, a pair called Van Bi and Thi Bo; the hippos; the elephants; and a decent primate collection including chimpanzees, an orangutan, gibbons and douc langurs. The capybaras are a consistent crowd favourite and one of the better enclosures.
Voi Chuong, one of the two Asian elephants, is over sixty-seven years old. Most elephants do not live to that age. She has been at this zoo for decades, which means she was already here through the war, and she is one of the oldest animals of her kind anywhere.
The peacocks roam free through the grounds, along with the resident cats, which is a nice surprise the first time one walks across the path in front of you.
Be prepared to look for things. The layout is not logical, animals of the same type are scattered across the site rather than grouped, and some of them are easy to miss entirely. The leopard, in particular, tends to sit motionless in a corner and most people walk straight past his enclosure without seeing him.
3. The reptile house and crocodile lake
Consistently one of the better parts of the zoo, and the reptiles seem to fare better here than the birds and the big cats.
The reptile house sits near the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai gate and holds pythons, snakes, iguanas and tortoises, several of them impressive. Over on the east side is the crocodile lake, with Siamese and saltwater crocodiles.
One practical oddity: the reptiles are spread across at least three separate areas rather than kept together, which is confusing and means you will probably come across them by accident at different points in your walk.
4. The conservation work
Worth knowing, because it complicates the easy verdict.
The zoo runs a rescue programme for trafficked and injured wildlife, taking in animals seized from the illegal trade, and it runs captive breeding programmes for endangered species. It is the only zoo in the world that has successfully bred the Vietnamese crested argus, an exceptionally rare pheasant native to the forests of central Vietnam, and that is a genuine achievement by any standard.
None of this cancels out the problems with the older enclosures. But it is real work, quietly done, and it deserves a mention that it almost never gets.
5. The Fauna and Flora Museum
A small museum tucked inside the grounds, in a French building over a hundred years old that was originally an office.
Inside is a collection of taxidermy, skeletons, and preserved specimens in jars. It is old-fashioned in a way that feels almost Victorian, dim and quiet and slightly strange, and it is a complete contrast to the noise outside. Some people find it fascinating. Some find it macabre. It is worth twenty minutes either way, and it is included in your ticket.
6. The Temple of the Hung Kings
There is a temple inside the zoo, and its history is better than the building.
It was built by the French as a memorial to the Indochinese soldiers who died fighting for France in the First World War. After independence it was rededicated as a temple to the Hung Kings, the legendary founding rulers of Vietnam, who are said to have established the country thousands of years ago.
So a French war memorial to colonial subjects became a shrine to Vietnamese national origin. That is a very Vietnamese piece of recycling, and it takes five minutes to see.
7. The amusement park
There is a small, dated amusement park inside the zoo, with a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, a roller coaster, ball pits, bouncy castles and a 7D cinema.
It is not glamorous, and no adult travelling without children needs to go near it. But it is cheap, the rides cost a dollar or two each, and if you have kids it will buy you an easy hour. It is also, for a lot of Vietnamese families, half the reason they come.
8. The train and the electric buggy
Worth the money, and the tip most guides miss.
There is a small train and an electric buggy that loop the grounds. The buggy in particular is worth taking: it comes with a guide who explains what you are looking at as you go, it covers a lot of ground quickly, and in the heat it saves you an enormous amount of walking. Given that the signage on the enclosures is poor, a guide who actually tells you about the animals fixes the single biggest weakness of a self-guided visit.
Take it at the start, get the overview, then walk back to whatever you want to see properly.
9. The night tour
The zoo runs an official night tour to see the nocturnal animals, which is a genuinely different experience and the one thing here that nobody expects.
It costs more than a day ticket and it needs booking in advance through the zoo’s own website. If you are in Saigon for a while and you have already done the daytime version, this is the more interesting visit.
Entrance fees and opening times
Opening hours
7:00 to 18:30, every day, including weekends and public holidays. The zoo does not close.
Two things to know about timing. The gates open at seven, and that first hour is by far the best time to be here: cool, quiet, and the animals are actually awake and moving. And some of the smaller buildings inside close earlier than the zoo itself, with the butterfly house shutting around 4pm, so if you want to see everything, be inside by two at the latest.
Ticket prices
Cheap, by any standard.
- Adults: around 60,000 dong, roughly 2 US dollars
- Children 1m to 1.3m tall: around 40,000 dong
- Children under 1m: free
Prices are by height rather than age, which is standard across Vietnam and catches some parents out.
What costs extra
The entrance ticket gets you the gardens, all the animals, the Fauna and Flora Museum and the temple. Everything else is priced separately.
- The amusement park rides: roughly 15,000 to 40,000 dong each
- The train and electric buggy: cheap, and worth it
- Feeding the animals: bring small notes
- The night tour: considerably more, and needs booking ahead
None of it is expensive. But it is all cash, and it adds up if you have children who want to try everything.
Buying tickets
You can buy at the gate, which is straightforward, or online through the zoo’s own website at saigonzoo.vn, where they also sell combination tickets that bundle the entrance with the buggy or the games. If you want the guided buggy, buying a combo online is the easier route.
Prices do change, and there is a reasonable argument that they should go up, so treat the numbers above as a guide and check the official site before you go.
Location and getting there
Where is Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens
The main gate is at 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem, District 1, with a second entrance on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.
It sits at the eastern end of Le Duan, about a kilometre from the cathedral and the post office, which puts it comfortably inside the area most visitors are already walking around. If you have been to the Reunification Palace, you are ten minutes away.
Walking
Genuinely pleasant, which is rare in this city.
From the Notre Dame Cathedral, simply walk east down Le Duan and keep going until the road ends at the zoo gates. It takes about fifteen minutes. Le Duan is a wide, tree-lined boulevard with real pavements and deep shade, and it is one of the few walks in central Saigon where you are not fighting for space with parked motorbikes.
Do it in the morning, before the heat arrives.
Grab or taxi
The easy option, and what most people do.
From anywhere in District 1 it is a short, cheap ride, usually well under 100,000 dong. Tell the driver Thao Cam Vien, which is what the zoo is actually called in Vietnamese, rather than the English name. Our guide to Grab and taxis in Ho Chi Minh City covers how the apps work.
The metro
Ba Son station on Metro Line 1 is the closest stop, and from there it is a short walk to the gates.
If you are coming from Ben Thanh or anywhere else along the line, this is quick, cheap and air-conditioned, and it avoids the traffic entirely.
Bus
Buses 5 and 14 both stop near the zoo, and cost almost nothing.
They are slow and crowded, and for the sake of a couple of dollars most visitors are better off in a Grab. But they exist if you want them.
Nearby to combine a visit
Everything below is either inside the zoo or within a fifteen minute walk of the gate.
Museum of Vietnam History: literally inside the zoo grounds, next to the main gate, and the best history museum in the city. Two thousand years of Vietnamese history, an outstanding Cham sculpture collection, and 25,000 artefacts. It is a separate ticket and it is worth every dong. Combining the two makes a genuinely good half day.
Reunification Palace: a ten minute walk down Le Duan, and the building where the war ended. The bunkers underneath are the best part.
Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office: fifteen minutes on foot at the other end of Le Duan, and the natural next stop.
Book Street: a shaded pedestrian lane beside the post office, full of bookshops and cafes. A good place to sit down when the heat finally gets you.
Practical tips for visiting Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Go early, or go late
The most useful piece of advice in this guide.
Arrive at seven when the gates open, or come after four. In the middle of the day two things happen at once: the heat becomes genuinely punishing, and the animals go to sleep. Turn up at noon and you will walk around a furnace looking at motionless lumps of fur in the shade, and wonder why anyone recommended this place.
Early morning is cool, quiet, and the animals are active. It is a completely different visit.
It is entirely outdoors
There is no air conditioning anywhere. None. This is a park, and you are in it.
Bring water and more of it than you think, a hat, sunscreen, and a hand fan if you have one. The tree cover is excellent in much of the zoo, but there are long open stretches with no shade at all, and you will be walking for two or three hours.
If you are here in the rainy season, bring a poncho and expect the afternoon downpour.
The signage is poor
Set your expectations. Labels are minimal, mostly in Vietnamese, and there is very little information about what you are looking at, where it lives, or what it eats. Compared with a Western zoo, the educational side is close to non-existent.
If that bothers you, take the guided electric buggy, where someone actually tells you about the animals as you go. It fixes the problem for a very small amount of money.
Bring cash
Small notes. The rides, the animal feeding, the drinks stalls and the snack sellers are all cash, and you will want some.
Avoid weekends if you can
Weekends and public holidays bring crowds, school groups and, sometimes, loudspeakers. It is fun in its own way, and watching Vietnamese families enjoy their day out is part of the experience, but it is not peaceful.
A weekday morning is the sweet spot. There are also occasional food and craft fairs on the main avenue, which are a nice bonus if you happen to catch one.
If you feed the goats, watch your clothes
You can pay to feed some of the animals, and children love it. Fair warning about the goats: they will put their hooves on you, they are not gentle about it, and you will end up dirtier than you started. Bring tissues and do not wear anything you care about.
Do not expect a quick visit
Two to three hours is the realistic minimum, and four if you want to see everything properly including the museums.
It is bigger than it looks from the gate, and the layout wanders. Give it a morning rather than trying to squeeze it between two other sights.
Is Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens worth visiting?
It depends entirely on what you walk in expecting.
Go for a shaded, historic green space in the middle of a city with almost none, and you will have a good morning. The trees are older than the buildings around them, the grounds are calm, and at two dollars it is one of the best-value hours in District 1. It is excellent with children, and it is a rare chance to see how Vietnamese families actually spend a day off.
Do not go if animal welfare matters a great deal to you. Several enclosures are small, bare and concrete, the bird cages are genuinely poor, and the big cats and elephants are housed badly by modern standards. Plenty of visitors leave upset, and that reaction is fair.
The honest recommendation: treat it as a botanical garden that happens to have animals, not as a zoo. Go early, take the buggy, walk the old trees, and add the Museum of Vietnam History by the gate. Then walk down Le Duan to the cathedral. That is a good half day, and it costs about the price of a beer.
