What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour? Eating out and exploring neighboring districts which are different from the popular District 1 is an amazing experience in Ho Chi Minh City. Discovering the world of local dishes and street foods is the best part of this tour. What is the dress code for a Ho Chi Minh food tour?
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- Is it safe to join a Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
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- What to carry on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
Table of Contents
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
Which Ho Chi Minh City food tour for your choice?
At first, I would like to introduce to you some choices so you can have an overview of food tours in Ho Chi Minh City. As you can see, the tours can be done in the day time or at night, means of transportation can be motorbike, taxi, car, and jeep. So the topic about dress code for Ho Chi Minh City food tour is not easy. Besides, travelers should wear suitable clothes in the rainy season.
- Saigon Night Food Tour: classic and popular choice, great street foods
- Saigon Sightseeing & Food Tour: a great mix of tourist attractions and street foods
- Saigon Unseen & Food Tour: a great mix of tourist attractions and street foods
- The AoDai Foodie: traveling with nice female riders in Ao Dai traditional dress
- Street Food Tour with local students: budget choice, going with talented local student, more simple but impressive menu
- Ho Chi Minh City food tour by motorbike and walking: the most popular choice
- Ho Chi Minh City food tour by vintage vespa: more expensive and unique experience
- Ho Chi Minh City food tour by jeep: more expensive and unique experience on open-air jeep
Please contact Tracy Do & Bill Bui at +84938314386 (Whatsapp/iMessage/Viber/SMS) for detailed information about food tours in Ho Chi Minh City and best prices for your group.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour? Sport shoes, clogs, sandals, hats, caps, T-shirts, watches, wooden bracelets, rings, pants, jeans are suitable things to wear.
Top reasons why you should wear comfortable clothes on Ho Chi Minh City food tour
- The majority of food tours in Ho Chi Minh are by motorbike. Tourists sit on the back of motorbikes which are less stable than cars and jeeps.
- Whether it is a jeep, car, or motorbike tour, travelers must walk for some distance along streets and alleys, stroll along food streets, through local markets and food areas,… High heels and uncomfortable clothes are not suitable.
- Some visiting places and eating places are narrow and crowded.
- You will be served a lot of foods so tight clothes are not suitable.
- Although streets and alleys are paved and rather flat, there are some rough roads and wet places.
- At eating places, dinners may sit on small/big plastic/wooden/stainless steel chairs/stools. For example, you will find it difficult to sit on a small plastic stool if you wear a long dress.
- There are many food tour options, including the mixed options such as sightseeing and food tour in Saigon so tourists should dress appropriately.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour? Small plastic and wooden chairs and stools at street food stalls and restaurants in Saigon.
Comfortable clothes, footwear, headwear
Top: Blouse, T-shirt, shirt are great choices. A tops without sleeves is fine but it is not recommended because of strong sun in the day time, cold air or wind at night.
Bottom: Shorts, trousers, pants, jeans, jeggings are suitable bottom wears on a food tour in Ho Chi Minh City. Too short shorts are not bad idea but they are not better than the listed ones.
Dress: Mid length dresses are great, you should make sure that you will be comfortable on a motorbike/jeep/car and walking.
Footwear: Sport shoes, sneakers, clogs and sandals are the best choices. Boots are good footwear but they can make you uncomfortable on hot days. Waterproof shoes are great on rainy days. Flip-flops are not too bad but they are not very good on slippery and wet streets and alleys.
Headwear: A hat or a cap is great to carry and wear on day food tour in Saigon. In the evening, it can help to make you more fashionable.
Which clothes, footwear, headwear shouldn’t you wear?
- Too long dress: Some areas are a little wet and dirty, your long dresses can be easily dirty. They make you walk more slowly than other people in the group.
- Too short skirts and shorts: These outfits are not suitable to sit on motorbikes or at some street food stalls. Sometimes tourists join Ho Chi Minh sightseeing/unseen and food tours on which they visit not only local restaurants and food stalls but also sacred places such as Thien Hau Pagoda, Thich Quang Duc Memorial. Bottom wears covering knees are recommended at holy places in Saigon.
- Sexy clothes: There is no prohibition but we can see that outfits or too tight outfits do not work in the circumstances. They can make you difficult to enjoy the tour to its fullest.
- Jumpsuits: Not all toilets in Ho Chi Minh City are spacious and comfortable. So it is wise to wear something easy to take off.
- Wide-brimmed hats: Although wide-brimmed hats keeps sun and rain out of your eyes, they can limit tourists’ field of vision and be blown away.
- Sweaters: In the dry season, Ho Chi Minh City is hot in the day time and a little colder at night. In the rainy season and in the coldest months, it is not too cold to wear sweaters. In facts, there are a few cold days when it has the lowest temperature from the end of December to January.
- Big scarfs: A scarf can be entangled in the motorbike leading to skidding and consequent traumatic injury. It also prevent you from going comfortably in crowded places or someone can pull it.
- Too loose clothes: Similarly to scarfs, long and loose clothes are related to motorcycle injuries in Ho Chi Minh City.
- High heels, high neck boots, Oxford shoes, platforms, wedges, loafers: These footwears are not recommended to wear on a Ho Chi Minh City food tour.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour? You should wear polite clothes if there may be some holy places on the tour.
How about Ao Dai?
Ao Dai is one of the most beautiful items that Vietnamese people have and we are proud to know that foreigners would like to wear the traditional long dresses on tours in Ho Chi Minh City. There will be great photos at the top tourist attractions and hidden places. On a food tour or a sightseeing food tour in Saigon, you should choose narrow pants and a shorter long dress with two flaps. Floor length pants and long dresses are beautiful but they are not suitable. You shouldn’t choose too thick fabric which can make you hot and uncomfortable to go around.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
Sun protection clothes and accessories on day tours
Some travelers would like to join morning and afternoon Ho Chi Minh food tours, with or without visiting tourist attractions and less-known places. Too short bottom wears and tops without sleeves are not recommended on day tours. Moreover, you should know how to protect you from the strong sun in a tropical country like Vietnam. These days, the ultraviolet index in the Southern region of Vietnam is at a very high risk of harm. In Ho Chi Minh City, the UV index is 8.2, reached its highest levels of UV radiation with a scale of 9.8 in May 2024. Certainly, there is some cool days with lower values. In summary, sun protection clothes and accessories are recommended to wear on Ho Chi Minh food tour. You should not forget to apply sunscreen before being under the sun at least 30 minutes. Here is the list of recommended clothes and accessories:
- Hat or cap.
- UV-anti coat.
- UV arm sleeve.
- Long-sleeve T-shirt/blouse.
- Pants and trousers.
- Sunglasses.
- UV-anti clothes.
- Sun gloves.
- Mask.
- Simple neck scarf.
- Thin and lightweight hoodie.
Is it cold at night and should I wear something warm on Saigon night food tour?
It is not too cold at night in Ho Chi Minh City so you do not need to prepare something warm like sweater, beanie and winter shoes. In December and January – the coolest months in the city, you can consider to carry a very short and thin scarf (square silk scarf) and a thin coat.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour? A thin coat is a good choice at night.
What do you need to pay attention to if it is Ho Chi Minh food tour by motorbike?
In recent years, doing Ho Chi Minh food tour by motorbike is perhaps the most popular thanks to the reasonable price, effectiveness of the vehicle, and ability of seeing the real local life. There are some few things to know before joining a motorbike food tour in Saigon. Too loose and too long clothing can make you have troubles when sitting on the back of a motorbike. High heels are not good footwears for motorbike pillion passengers.
Motorbike pillion passengers can not be protected from the sun as well as car and jeep passengers so you should wear something sun protective.
In addition, you must wear a helmet to reduces your risk of a serious brain injury and death and follow the traffic rules in Vietnam. Drivers (also tour guides) usually bring helmets for pillion passengers so you do not need to buy a helmet for yourself. If you have already your own helmet, you are welcomed to wear it on the trip. You should inform the company about that in advance so they do not prepare a helmet for you. In case you travel with your kids, you should let the customer support team know about the ages of the children or their head sizes when or right after booking the tour.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
What to wear in the rainy season?
Rain coats, rain ponchos, rain jackets or rain suits are usually provided by tour companies. But you can prepare your favorite and fitted rainwear, it should be lightweight and compact. Waterproof clothing and footwear are good choices.
Jewelry
I don’t say that you should not wear jewelry on a Ho Chi Minh food tour. It is recommended to wear not too many and not too big pieces of jewelries on the journey. Saigon is a vibrant, hustle and bustle city so there are many crowded places. Your jewelry can be stolen easily at any time during the tour. It does not mean Ho Chi Minh is a dangerous city. Saigon is rather safe for travelers in recent days but we must be as careful as possible. Snatch thieves can make you fall when they try steeling your items. Watches, small earrings, bracelets, rings, wooden, plastic, and in expensive jewelry are okay.
Why should you wear a mask on a Ho Chi Minh food tour?
Ho Chi Minh City is classed as a moderately polluted city in South East Asia. You should prevent yourself from air pollution, the spread of viruses, and strange smells. Although it may be not comfortable to wear a mask, you should wear it on dusty and humid streets and alleys, crowded areas, and chaotic local markets.
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
What to wear on Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour?
In summary, comfortable clothes, footwear, and headwear are always recommended to wear when traveling. Sun protective clothing and accessories are necessary in the day time. A thin coat is not redundant. You should think about something safe on motorbike/jeep/car trips, in crowded and chaotic places like local markets, food streets, food courts, narrow pavements,… For your information, they usually use plastic and stainless steel dining tables and chairs which are sometimes small and short.
Please contact Tracy Do & Bill Bui at +84938314386 (Whatsapp/iMessage/Viber/SMS) for detailed information about food tours in Ho Chi Minh City and best prices for your group.
