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Saigon City Tour: Explore Culture and History
5.0
29 Ratings
Hiep Phuoc
Experience a comprehensive private tour of Ho Chi Minh City with a local guide. Explore the city’s history, culture, and landmarks, and enjoy a flexible itinerary tailored to your interests. Don’t miss the chance to visit the Saigon Skydeck for a stunning view of the city.
Experience a comprehensive private tour of Ho Chi Minh City with a local guide. Explore the city’s history, culture, and landmarks, and enjoy a flexible itinerary tailored to your interests. Don’t miss the chance to visit the Saigon Skydeck for a stunning view of the city.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- The Independence Palace - This palace serves as a time capsule from 1975. Visitors can view two original tanks used during the palace’s capture, which are parked on the grounds. Formerly the residence and office of the French Governor of Cochin-China, the palace features lush gardens, secret rooms, antique furniture, and a command bunker. It…
- The Independence Palace - This palace serves as a time capsule from 1975. Visitors can view two original tanks used during the palace’s capture, which are parked on the grounds. Formerly the residence and office of the French Governor of Cochin-China, the palace features lush gardens, secret rooms, antique furniture, and a command bunker. It continues to host significant events in Ho Chi Minh City, including APEC summits.
- Central Post Office - A must-see in Saigon: Designed by Alfred Foulhoux, this building boasts arched windows and wooden shutters, reminiscent of its late 19th-century prime.
- Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral - A must-see in Saigon: Situated in Paris Square, the cathedral was named Notre Dame following the installation of the ‘Peaceful Notre Dame’ statue in 1959. In 1962, the Vatican elevated it to a basilica, officially naming it Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica.
- Saigon Opera House (Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater) - A must-see in Saigon.
- People’s Committee Building - A must-see in Saigon: Originally built as a hotel in 1898 by French architect Gardes, it now functions as a city hall and stands as one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
- Emperor Jade Pagoda - Located in District 1, this is one of the oldest pagodas in Saigon, approximately a ten-minute drive from the city center.
- Ben Thanh Market - Situated in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, Ben Thanh Market is an excellent spot for purchasing local handicrafts, branded goods, Vietnamese art, and other souvenirs. Inside, there are food stalls offering hawker-style Vietnamese cuisine, and visitors can enjoy a cold drink to cool off when bargaining becomes overwhelming. The market is large and can be challenging to navigate, especially during the hottest part of the day, but it is definitely worth a visit.
- War Remnants Museum - A must-see in Saigon: Opened to the public in 1975, the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City was once called the ‘Museum of American War Crimes.’ It serves as a stark reminder of the lengthy and brutal Vietnam War, featuring graphic photographs and American military equipment. Exhibits include a helicopter with rocket launchers, a tank, a fighter plane, a single-seater attack aircraft, and a conventional bomb weighing 6,800kg. These weapons were used by American troops against the Vietnamese between 1945 and 1975.

What's Included
- Full Entrance Fees Included
- Complimentary Mineral Water
- Professional English-Speaking Guide in Saigon
- Local Restaurant Lunch
- Cruise Port Pick-up and Drop-off
- Private Transportation with Experienced Driver
- Full Entrance Fees Included
- Complimentary Mineral Water
- Professional English-Speaking Guide in Saigon
- Local Restaurant Lunch
- Cruise Port Pick-up and Drop-off
- Private Transportation with Experienced Driver
What's Not Included
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- Lunch and beverage/drinks
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- Personal expenses
-
- Other expenses not clearly mentioned in the Inclusion part
-
- Lunch and beverage/drinks
-
- Personal expenses
-
- Other expenses not clearly mentioned in the Inclusion part
Additional Information
- Our itineraries are adaptable and can be modified to ensure you have an exceptional local experience.
- Our private tour guide will conduct the tour in Ho Chi Minh City in a highly flexible manner to align with your interests and hobbies until it’s time to return to the cruise port.
- 7:30-8:00 AM: Our driver will greet you with a sign displaying your…
- Our itineraries are adaptable and can be modified to ensure you have an exceptional local experience.
- Our private tour guide will conduct the tour in Ho Chi Minh City in a highly flexible manner to align with your interests and hobbies until it’s time to return to the cruise port.
-
7:30-8:00 AM: Our driver will greet you with a sign displaying your name at the Phu My port gate (a 2 to 5-minute shuttle bus ride from the ship to the gate) and depart for Saigon, approximately a 1.5-hour journey by private mini-van.
• Our Tour Guide will welcome you in Saigon Center, where you will begin your day with the Saigon City Tour. -
We’ll explore the history and culture of Saigon with visits to:
• Local Wet Market
• The Jade Emperor Temple
• City Hall
• Opera House
• Central Post Office
• Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral -
Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant featuring Pho (noodle soup).
• Saigon Skydeck on the 50th floor - Enjoy a spectacular view of Saigon.
• War Museum or Reunification Palace - Our guide will bid you farewell, and the driver will return you to the ship.
Location
Hiep Phuoc
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(29 Ratings)
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Teresita
Jan 22, 2026
Penny is excellent tour guide knowledgeable, flexible and cater to the guest’s preferences! Lam the driver excellent. - We enjoyed and recommend tour guide Penny and Lam Kapol. Flexible, knowledgeable and experienced. She cater to the preferences of the guests. She looks after our safety
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Victoria
Dec 26, 2025
Sites, food, people; Saigon. - Titus did a great job of making this trip feel special and it was convenient when traveling from a cruise port. And the food was amazing!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linda_y
Dec 16, 2025
Our tourguide Le was... - Our tourguide Le was great! He is such a funny guy which blends well with our group. Le has a wealth of knowledge about Vietnam history. The second we got in the car, he started sharing about the history which is helpful because it was about 1.5 hours drive from our pickup to our tour place.
Review provided by Viator
Maureen_n
Dec 15, 2025
Great day in Phu My - We had a fabulous guide May Cam Nhung and driver on a private day tour to Phu My. While the drive to and from the port to downtown Saigon is long, our car was very comfortable. May contacted us a day or two before we arrived and meeting up was a breeze. May expertly guided us through the Central Post Office, Independence Palace, the War Remnants Museum and Ben Thanh Market. We even had time for a delicious lunch of Pho at a local restaurant.
We appreciated the care and highly recommend May!
Review provided by Viator
Bozena
Nov 20, 2025
Day in Saigon - I would like to write a review regarding today's tour, with James, the tour guide.
Me and my husband were extremely satisfied.
James is very kind, very knowledgeable and intelligent young man.
We were lucky to have him, his English is excellent.
We would recommend this tour in Vietnam to all friends. We had very good feeling
Thank you again
Bozena and Jan
Božena and Jan
Papp
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Glenn_t
Oct 27, 2025
Review : Guided tour of Saigon October 26, 2025 - We had such a memorable day exploring Saigon with our guide, Phan Tran Tuwen, Sunday, October 26. He’s a kind and genuine young man who made us feel welcome right away. Phan was very flexible and adjusted the tour to suit our pace and interests, showing us the best highlights of the city while sharing his local knowledge with enthusiasm. It was a truly enjoyable and authentic experience — we couldn’t have asked for a better guide.
Sincerely,
Glenn & Susan, Bruce & Kerry
Review provided by Viator
O2717zojosephm
Apr 17, 2025
Best ever tour we have taken - What an incredible tour! Spent a day traveling to Ho Chi Minh city on a private tour with driver and guide. Our guide, Linh, was amazing and shared not only the sights of Saigon, but also shared so much of their culture and history. Being a private tour, we were also able to tweak the tour a bit to better align with what our desires were in seeing the city. We just learned so much and saw wonderful things.The connection with finding the driver and guide at My Phy was also very well done and they were waiting for us when we exited the boat/port.
Highly, highly recommend this company and tour to anyone desiring a high quality experience in Vietnamese!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
David_l
Mar 5, 2025
Excellent day! - We had an amazing day with our guide Nina and driver. We saw everything we wanted to see and were able to pace our stops well! Nina was the perfect guide who guided us very well!!!
Review provided by Viator
Tonymd8391iu
Feb 28, 2025
Wonderful day of sightseeing - We greatly enjoyed sightseeing Ho Chi Ming city with our private tour guide Linh who spoke English very well and was delightful to be with. On the long drive from port to the city, she kept our interest with information of Vietnam’s past to present day. The pho noodle lunch and Vietnamese ice coffee recommended by Linh were delicious. She kept us safe when crossing traffic congested roads. Our driver safely navigated the busy streets and got us back to port at our requested time. Thanks again Linh.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michael_f
Dec 14, 2025
Request a guide with good English skills - We asked for an authentic lunch experience and our guide came through. We had pho in a very obvious local neighborhood and it was fabulous.
I would suggest less time at the pagoda to be allocated to other things.
I was disappointed with our guides lack of English skills. While he tried hard, he could not answer many of our questions.
Our driver was excellent navigating the chaotic streets.
Review provided by Viator