Saigon is a busy city full of motorbikes and cars on the streets. Luckily, you can find a few places to escape from bustling life. One of them is Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
This zoo and garden area is the largest plant and animal conservation park in Ho Chi Minh City and the 8th largest zoo in the world. Also, the locals call it Thao Cam Vien or Vuon Thu Saigon (Saigon Zoo).
The Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ho Chi Minh City
- Address: 2B Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC.
- Gate 2: 1 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC.
- Opening hours: 7:00 am – 6:30 pm
- Entrance fee: 50,000 VND/adult and 30,000 VND/child
- Phone: 028 3829 1425
The Zoo and Botanical Garden has many other exciting things besides looking at the animals.
The Zoo and Botanical Garden is a great place to escape from the heat.
In the early days, this area was originally a botanical garden, representing the green and diverse ecosystem of the region.
Later, it changed its name to the Zoo and Botanical Garden. Because of the perennial plant ecosystem, many people consider the Zoo and Botanical Garden a place to avoid the heat, which is also reasonable.
According to the record, the Zoo and Botanical Garden is a scientific research area led by the French tropical plant researcher Mr. J.B. Louis Pierre, who is in charge of supervision.
To turn this place into an animal and plant breeding ground for Indochina. By the end of 1865, the Japanese government provided the Botanical Garden with about 900 exotic plant varieties. This is the reason why people call this garden a small lung of Saigon.
The plant has up to 1,800 trees of 260 different species, 23 species of domestic orchid, 33 species of cacti, 34 types of bonsai, and 20-hectare green grass. This site is divided into several areas:
- Zoo area
- Ornamental plants and orchids
- Play area (for all ages and sightseeing purposes).
While the zoo and play area are for children, the bonsai area is for students and older people. Why is that? It is because:
The Zoo and Botanical Garden is a site for virtual living and practicing photo skills.
Many young people today have a very elegant hobby of taking pictures. Fortunately, there are countless places in the garden for virtual living and many things for practicing photography skills.
If you like to be photographed,
If you do not want yourself to appear in the photos but prefer to record the beautiful images for sharing, you have to go to the fanciful corners of this oasis.
If you like taking pictures,
If you do not want yourself to appear in the photos but prefer to record the beautiful images for sharing, you have to go to the fanciful corners of this oasis.
The most famous location is the orchid and cactus garden, which is located far to the left of the main stage. Open from 9:30 am, this place gathers many young people to rest and enjoy the coolness of the sky.
This orchid and cactus area is unique and favored, so you will probably have to line up to wait for your turn to take pictures.
If you don’t like the mass, drop by behind the scenes of the main stage. It has a pretty terrace, but few people visit it. Here, there is classical architecture, which looks very fancy. Surrounding this area is a lush green shade, a perfect standard background for brightly colored dresses such as yellow or red ones.
Every corner of the Zoo and Gardens can take beautiful pictures, thanks to the natural green backdrop and the ancient architecture here. Some other pretty looks for photos are behind the gates, in the tree canopy, or in the middle of the snake breeding maze.
The Zoo and Botanical Gardens is an excellent destination for families with young children.
Playground and animal learning area
Most children don’t like nostalgia or classic style. Any place that can bring joy and laughter to them can immediately become a paradise. So, going to the zoo to enjoy fresh air or virtual living is not something they care about.
The Zoo and Botanical Garden has many thrilling games. Bring your kids here; it will definitely be refreshing.
You can use the tram to visit the whole botanical garden. Tickets for this type of vehicle are sold near the control gate on Le Duan Street for about 20,000 VND/ticket.
The area near the Nguyen Thi Minh Khai gate (also known as the back gate) is the most fun game in the park. Service time is from 7:00 am – 5:00 pm every day.
Children’s Zoo is a favorite place for plenty of kids. Your children can feed the young goats, lambs, etc., through the fence. Interestingly, on Saturdays and Sundays (from 9:30 am – 10:00 am) and public holidays (10:00 am – 10.30 am), the children’s garden will open the doors for free for them to visit and have fun. Babies can cuddle and play with these animals.
You can watch the animals being fed at around 3:00 pm daily in the barn for the Lion, Indochinese tiger, and Bengal White Tiger. The food for wildlife animals will be tied up so that the animals climb to maintain their wild behavior and stay active.
Performing Arts
There are two free shows: elephant and music shows. The elephant performance occurs at the elephant rearing zone on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays from 9:00 to 9:30 am. Particularly for the Tet holiday, there will be an additional performance in the afternoon from 14:00 to 14:30.
Musical performance: music, circus, and magic shows are at the main stage of the Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Saigon on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Particularly, Sunday has an afternoon performance from 16:00 to 18:00.
However, recently, cultural shows have been held infrequently.
What to eat at Thao Cam Vien?
There is no attractive food inside the Botanical Garden. Besides the Zoo canteen, only a few stalls sell ice cream and snacks for children. So, if you want to eat delicious food, cross to Rubik’s Zoo.
Rubik Zoo is a shopping, dining, and entertainment center with an area of over 5,000 m2. It is also a semi-ecological project, born right next to the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
There are many food stalls, including food from different regions of Vietnam. From top to bottom, from inside to outside, just one step away is a food stall with tasty dishes.
Which is the best time to go to the Zoo Botanical Gardens?
The Zoo and Botanical Garden is large, so visiting them all takes a lot of time. Many people take 4-5 hours.
Therefore, you should come here early, from 8:00 am to 9:00 am is most appropriate. If you visit it after 2:00 pm, you may only explore some places.
Summer, from May to September, is the peak tourist season, and many local people spend time here. However, the best time when the flora blooms here is after the Tet holiday from the end of March to April.
While Ho Chi Minh City is usually noisy, the Zoo and Botanical Garden has become ideal places to escape a stressful life.
The garden is suitable for family travel with children and for people who like to take pictures.
You can see the animals in the zoo and spend time relaxing in the green regions.
