Make sure you write your postcards in Ho Chi Minh City, as it’s a great excuse to visit the city’s stunning 19th-century post office.
Even in a city with such a great wealth of colonial architecture, the superb Saigon Central Post Office is a notable highlight. Step inside to marvel at the sublime barrel-shaped hall with its cream tiled floor and to admire intricate hand-painted maps on the walls.
Designed by the French architect Gustave Eiffel and completed in 1891, the, Saigon Central Post Office is renowned as one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Vietnam.
Take a few moments to admire the building’s features from the street outside and you will see the rows of arched windows, the large clock above the main entrance and the red and yellow Vietnamese flag flying overhead.
When you step inside, you will instantly notice the high curved ceiling that runs the length of the spacious main vault. Supported by green iron poles, this would not look out of place in a 20th-century British railway station. On the walls on either side of the main hall, look for several hand-painted maps. Take a closer look to see Saigon and other parts of South Vietnam in stunning detail.
Make your way across the shining tiled floor, past rows of operational phone booths and desks to the far end of the vault. Examine the colourful mosaic hanging on the wall which depicts the revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in exquisite detail.
If you don’t have anything to mail, head outside to the entrance where souvenir sellers often converge. Purchase a range of memorabilia along with postcards and artistic pictures. Stamp collectors can also find an array of rare stamps on sale inside the post office.
Find Saigon Central Post Office on Cong Xa Paris Street just across the road from Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral. As a fully functioning post office, the building is open through the week.
