Here's the best deal for changing money that I've found so for in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. It's also legal, so you won't have to worry about getting fake notes.
- 4C Lê Lợi Street (along the same row as the Tourist Centre)
- 161 Ðồng Khởi Street
I usually go to the one on Lê Lợi, it's quite visible.
The exchange rate for 23 November 2007, Friday was US$1 to 16,070VNÐ.
1)Only clean, newish notes for US$ are accepted. This rule doesn't seem to apply to Vietnamese currency though.
2)US$50 and US$100 notes will get a better exchange rate. I usually change US$50 at a time for short stays, and if I have a US$100 note, I ask for them to return a US$50 note, and the remaining to be changed to local currency, BUT AT THE HIGHER RATE. They will understand. Do check, sometimes they try to give you less money or round down, but when you point it out to them, they will (grudgingly) return the small change.
3)If you want to break your US$5 or US$10 into the US$1 notes, you can do so here. This is for easy use at the market and shops, when buying small items. Because many places also charge in USD, but they may return the change in VNÐ if they don't have enough USD.
