Book St in District 1 is a kind of thoroughfare off Hai Ba Trung St which is one of the main arteries in District 1. The street takes its Vietnamese name from a well-known local intellectual, although it has been re-named at least three times since it was originally called Hong Kong St in French colonial times. This alley of some twenty or so book stalls, each with their own frontage design, features all the main publishing houses along with notable magazines and newspapers.

​You are good for a leisurely browse of the mainly Vietnamese titles whilst enjoying the shade of an avenue of trees. If it all gets too much in Saigon’s sometime furnace, then coffee shops beckon and give you a chance to thumb through your newest purchase. You’ve even got a side elevation of Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica at the end of the street, possibly next to the section marked 'Spiritual'.