- Home
- Cities
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Neighbourhoods
- District 1
Quận 1, for relocating families.
Who District 1 suits, what to think twice about, and the crux of the decision, in the words of the Going Global Ho Chi Minh City guide.
District 1, at a glance.
From the Going Global Ho Chi Minh City guide, First Edition.
- Suits
- District 1 suits the family or working couple who want the centre of Saigon rather than a managed expat enclave. It is the city’s geographic and logistical hub, holds the only Metro Line 1 terminus, and carries the deepest concentration of restaurants, bars, retail and bespoke tailoring in this guide. It rewards people whose work pulls them in several directions, or often to the airport.
- Think twice
- Think twice if a school place or hospital access is decisive. District 1 has no top-tier international school campus and no general international hospital inside it; the air quality is routinely unhealthy; and the expat community is dispersed and transient rather than a settled social fabric. Tourist-strip noise and pricing are real, depending on the street.
- The crux
- The real choice: District 1 gives you the city itself, and access over community — not a quieter, edited version of it.
…an energy that some people find thrilling for years and others find exhausting inside of six months
Getting around.
From District 1 to the places families go most, in the guide’s own figures.
| Destination | Clear run minutes | Peak minutes |
|---|---|---|
| District 1 (CBD) | in the district | The guide gives no figure |
Tân Sơn Nhất AirportGuide
| around 20 | 40–60 |
Thảo Điền schoolsGuide
| 20–25 | 35–45 |
Phú Mỹ Hưng / District 7 schoolsGuide
| 25–30 | 45–60 |
FV HospitalGuide
| 30–40 | The guide gives no figure |
Times from the Going Global guide. Clear = a clear run by car or Grab unless stated; peak = around 7:30am on a weekday.
Explore the live map.
On the map, look for the label District 1.
The Going Global working maps, kept in Google My Maps: the whole city, or District 1 street by street. Pan, zoom and open the pins.
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Map
Loads Google Maps. Google’s privacy policy (opens in a new tab) applies.
The whole city, full screen in Google Maps (opens in a new tab) ↗ District 1, full screen in Google Maps (opens in a new tab) ↗
Not sure it fits?
There is no best neighbourhood here, only the one that fits your family. Six or seven short questions rank all seven neighbourhoods in the guide.
What the full guide covers for District 1.
- Transport
- Flooding
- Healthcare
- Schools
- Housing
- Cost
- Community
Read a chapter free.
“Five Pillars of Relocation Success”, a chapter from the Ho Chi Minh City First Edition, as a designed PDF. Leave your email address and the download link appears right here.