Saigon central post office: Vietnam essential travel guide 2023

Saigon Central Post Office which is one of the symbols of Ho Chi Minh City welcomes thousands of visitors every day. This building is built from 1886 to 1891 by the master of French architecture with the European style. Many people come here to send merchandise, while other visitors want to visit to learn more about the ancient architecture of Ho Chi Minh city.

1. The history of the Saigon central post office 

After capturing Saigon, France established a communications system. In 1860, France built the "Saigon Steel Department" (Saigon Post Office) in the center of the city. The designer of this project is Gustave Eiffel - a famous French architect who designed the Eiffel Tower (Paris), Statue of Liberty (New York), Long Bien Bridge (Hanoi), and Trang Tien Bridge (Hue). In 1863, the Saigon Steel Department was established.

In 1864, the first letters which were stamped "storks" (stamps appearing first in Vietnam) were sent from Saigon to over the world. In 1886, the Saigon Central Post Office was rebuilt under the design of architect Villedieu with his assistant - Foulhoux, because this post office is insufficient to meet the needs of people. In 1891, the new headquarters of Saigon Central Post Office officially inaugurated.

Read more: Saigon Opera House, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Everything You Need To Know

2. The architecture of the Saigon central post office 

Saigon Central Post Office which is the biggest post office in Vietnam, attracts many tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh City. This office is located at number 2, Paris Street, on the highest land of Ho Chi Minh City with Notre Dame Cathedral is on the opposite side. The Saigon Central Post Office is one of the most beautiful destinations of Renaissance architecture in Vietnam.

Architects Villedieu and his assistant Foulhuox designed the new building after 23 years. Seeing from the outside, the travelers can see the window bend, the large clock above the main door of the building and the national flag of Vietnam. "This is a very beautiful building," said David Luiz, an Australian visitor.

a. The unique architecture of the Saigon central post office

While most of the windows of the building are domed or slightly domed, the windows are rectangular in the middle. The borders, lines or patterns make the strong and most decorative lines reminiscing about the train station in Europe. The pillars system of the front side (including 20 pillars) is all square-shaped structure. On the top of the pillars is attached relief plaque with very elaborate embroidery. Particularly, the pillars between the second floor and the ground floor of the Saigon Central Post Office building have the plaque bearing the name of scientists who have great contributions. 

Read more: Bui Vien Street, Ho Chi Minh - The Essential Travel Guide 2020

This place is great for human civilization in the field of electricity and telegraph. Inside the Saigon Central Post Office building, there is the arched ceiling that corresponds to the entrance door supported by two pillars and the iron truss system featuring elaborate designs. 

b. The view from the main entrance of the Saigon central post office

From the main entrance of the building, the travelers can see two maps attached to the ceiling. These are the historical maps of "Saigon et ses environs 1892" and "Lignes du Terre Pyramids du Sud Vietnam et 1936". There are 38 counters serving customers with all the postal services and telegraph networks throughout the country and over the world. 

On the one hand, travelers get to the Saigon Central Post Office to witness the unique architecture. On the other hand, they want to immerse themselves in a world of ancient including the mailbox and the call counters. Visitors can also rest on the benches of wooden varnish, which are located here a hundred years. The time here seems to run very slowly because, in any corner, the travelers can also catch a glimpse of old Saigon.

Over the past hundred years, the Saigon Central Post Office building is still a beautiful and impressive architecture. The Saigon Center Post Office building along with Notre Dame Cathedral create an interactive architecture cluster, a unique highlight for the city. 

3. The services of the Saigon central post office 

The 2,000-kilometer Sai Gon - Quy Nhon - Da Nang - Hue - Vinh - Ha Noi steel line system was completed on March 22nd, 1888. In 1889, the Sai Gon - Bangkok telegraph line was opened to serve the business community. In July 1894, Saigon started using the telephone system. 

The central post office is open to the public with modern communication services in addition to traditional services such as express mail, express mail, souvenir culture, phone, etc. Four rows of large wooden tables lining inside serve the people who need to declare and write to send letters, postal mail. To many visitors, sending postcards from the Saigon Central Post Office to relatives and friends is an interesting way of keeping the memories in the modern tendency period. 

For more detail, we would  like to introduce some outstanding services of the Saigon central post office as follows:

a. Secured postage

It is a service of accepting, transporting and delivering postal items to domestic and international addresses; The parcel is numbered for tracking and positioning in the delivery process.

b. International Parcels 

It is a service of delivery of documents, articles, and goods from senders to recipients between Vietnam and other countries in the world within the framework of the UPU through the network of the Vietnam General Post Office. 

c. Express delivery EMS

It is a service of express mail, documents, articles, and goods from the sender to the recipient between Vietnam and other countries in the world within the framework of the UPU and the EMS Association.

d. Money deposit

Money transfer services of the Saigon central post office are provided at post offices and commune cultural post offices throughout the country.

e. International money transfer

It is a service that the recipients can go to the Saigon central post office to receive money from relatives sent from abroad through the following channels:

- Post Offices: France, USA, Malaysia, Singapore, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Laos, Cameroon Cambodia, France, Korea, Brunei, Japan, Switzerland, Thailand, Philippines, and Poland;

- Bangkok Bank Thailand;

- Western Union Money Transfer Company

f. Gift transfer

The service delivery flowers, gifts from the sender to the recipient. Meeting the needs of visiting, sharing, congratulations, etc of the customers.

g. Souvenir products 

Along the two corridors of the building, there are thousands of souvenir products, postcards of Vietnam people in general as well as Saigon, in particular, are displayed and sold to serve tourists.

h. Phone call service

It still holds 14 telephone booths divided into two main lobby to serve the residents and visitors having the need to contact as well as a sense of the past.

Note: The price of your services depending on the way you choose to transfer and the weight of your parcels

i. Meeting Mr. Duong Van Ngo - The last surviving assistant of the Saigon Central Post Office

Mr. Duong Van Ngo (was born in 1930) being a former postal worker from 1952, is believed to be the last surviving assistant in Saigon. Although he has retired for 24 years, he is fluent in both English and French and still works here. With the mentality of the "public correspondent", he serves people until he is not healthy enough as well as help people remember a bit of nostalgia for the no-internet period. He only takes about VND 10,000 -  VND 20,000 for each letter.

4. How to get to the Saigon central post office 

If you use the private vehicle to go around Saigon, you can use the google map or ask for local people’s help to get to the Saigon central post office.

a, Using the bus to get to the Saigon central post office 

There are several bus routes you can catch to get to the Saigon central post office.  We would like to give you the schedules as follows:

Note: the schedules can be changed. You should access the official bus website HCMC Department of transportation to get more information.

Actually, there is no route to get to the Saigon central post office directly, you must to get off the bus at the center of the city and then use the google map or ask for the local people's help to get to the Saigon central post office.

Please ask the sale-man the destination you want to go to. They will direct you in a suitable way.

b, Using the taxi to get to the Saigon central post office 

The easiest way to get to the Saigon central post office is by calling directly to the taxi hotlines in Saigon. We would like to give you a list of taxi hotline in Ho Chi Minh City as follows:

c. The comparison between 2 ways to get to the Saigon central post office.

d. Some must-know tips when using the means of transportation in Vietnam

• Saigon map is the most important thing that you must have during the travel time period
• Learning the Vietnamese language will be the key point in making your journey become easier and more interesting.
• Having clear negotiation with the drivers if you do not want to be tricked after getting in.
• Asking the local people if you want to have more experiences about Vietnam Travel as well as the Vietnam History 
• Bringing your belongings as few as possible to make sure that you can control them completely.

5. Where to visit nearby the Saigon central post office 

We would like to give you some recommendations about the destinations being around the Saigon central post office. You will have more opportunities to find out more interesting experiences from this destination.

a. Notre Dame Cathedral

This is not only a tourist destination but also a historical and symbolic city of Saigon. Around the church in the evening, there are many attractive snacks and cafes attracting a lot of tourists.

Notre Dame Cathedral is over 100 years old but its majesty and splendor of this work have not lost at all. Besides, the natural scenery outside is great. You will gain a lot of interesting experiences when walking around the church.

b. Ben Thanh Market - The symbol of Saigon

Ben Thanh Market is one of the largest markets in Ho Chi Minh City. The market is located in District 1, near the bank of Ben Nghe. Today, Ben Thanh Market is not only a popular tourist destination of Ho Chi Minh City but also an unofficial symbol of the city.

Ben Thanh Market has contributed greatly to the economic development of the region. Hence, this place which has existed for more than a hundred years has been selling a lot of commodities.

c. Reunification Hall (Independence Palace)

Independence Palace or the Reunification Hall is located on a 150,000 m2- land in the heart of the city. It is remodeled quite a lot before becoming an ideal tourist site of Saigon. Besides, this place was used to organize conferences, seminars, and receptions of domestic and foreign agencies and enterprises

d. Walking Street Nguyen Hue

Nguyen Hue Walking Street has the total construction cost of nearly VND 430 billion including 2 segments: President Ho Chi Minh's statue park from Le Thanh Ton Street (in front of the People's Committee Office) to Le Loi Street and the square Nguyen Hue from Le Loi Street to Ton Duc Thang Street.

The square, walking street Nguyen Hue (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) is connected with the Metro station, HCMC Theater and Thu Thiem urban area (District 2). This square is the center of light control, water music, sound, etc.

e. Tao Dan Park

This beautiful park of Saigon in the early morning attracts crowds of people to exercise, and walk. If you visit Saigon on the occasion of Tet, you should visit Tao Dan Park to enjoy the trees, flowers and even animals because in this case, you will have the unique experiences that you haven't had before.  

f. Diamond Plaza Trade Center

Diamond Plaza which is the name of a building in Ho Chi Minh City, is one of the famous dining venues of District 1. This 22 story building was built in 1999 and is located on the corner of Le Duan Street and Pham Ngoc Thach Street, in the back of Notre Dame Cathedral.