Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in District 1 is seen from above. Photo by Nguyen The Duong

With more than half of 2018 gone, vacation enthusiasts around the world have begun making travel plans for early next year.

Skycanner, a Scotland-based travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine, has a few hot recommendations.

Viet Nam’s largest metropolis, receives high marks from the travel site, alongside neighbors like Thailand’s Bangkok and the Philippines’s Manila.

Skycanner suggests that history buffs would do well to visit the War Remnant Museum in District 3, a 15-minute ride from the Ben Thanh Market in the heart of Sai Gon.

The museum, home to more than 20,000 artifacts, images and documentaries relating to the Viet Nam War, is an eloquent witness to the war crimes perpetrated by colonial and imperial forces, crimes that continue to impact the lives of millions of Vietnamese citizens to this day.

Coffee shops and banh mi stalls are part of Saigon’s cultural life that should not be missed, the travel site says.

Nightlife in the megacity has something to offer globetrotters, including partying hard in the city’s backpacker district Pham Ngu Lao, famous for the Bui Vien pedestrian street, Skycanner tells its readers.

Leading international travel guide publisher Lonely Planet last month included Ho Chi Minh City in a list of top ten places to visit in Asia.

The Travelsupermarket website has named Sai Gon among the 15 fastest-growing tourist cities in the world by 2025, based on data from British market research firm Euromonitor International.