Vinh is primarily a transit point on the north-south route through Vietnam, but it has enough of interest to justify a half-day stop. The main draw for most visitors is the Ho Chi Minh birthplace complex at Kim Lien, about 14 kilometres west — a genuine pilgrimage site for Vietnamese history and one of the most visited in the country. Within the city, the Soviet-era architecture is striking in its own way, and the market and riverside areas give a good sense of ordinary provincial Vietnamese life.