Day trip

Ho Chi Minh: Full-Day Private City Tour

Activity provider: Maika Tours
Day trip

Ho Chi Minh: Full-Day Private City Tour

Activity provider: Maika Tours

From US$ 95 per person

Experience Vietnam’s rich tapestry of history, culture and lifestyles with a local guide. Venture all over Ho Chi Minh, soaking up city’s iconic French colonial architecture and bustling local markets

About this activity

Free cancellation
Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
Reserve now & pay later
Keep your travel plans flexible — book your spot and pay nothing today.
Duration 8 hours
Check availability to see starting times.
Live tour guide
English
Pickup included
We will collect you to any hotel located within Ho Chi Minh City. Please wait in the hotel lobby 10 minutes before your scheduled pickup time. Your private tour guide will be holding a sign with your last name on it.
Wheelchair accessible

Experience

Highlights
  • See the City's biggest flower market
  • Ride To China Town
  • See the beautiful Thien Hau Temple
  • Experience the War Remnants Museum
  • Walk through the Independence Palace
  • Notre Dame and Post Office
Full description
You day will begin with a beautiful stroll through the pretty Ho Thi Ky Flower Market, the biggest in Ho Chi Minh City. You’ll get to view the colorful daily life of the city’s local traders while you navigate through the narrow and winding streets of the market. Afterwards, you will head to the Pet Market where you will pick up a bicycle for an hour of riding through the city. First, you will pass by the local food and fruit market where you will receive an insight into the local cuisine and daily Vietnamese life. Next you’ll get to whizz past many specialist local markets including leather, fabric, second-hand items and Chinese Medicine stalls. Your cycling leg of the tour will then end at the Thien Hau Temple. Located in Chinatown, Thien Hau Temple is widely considered the most beautiful in the entire city. After visiting this legendary temple, you will drive along the canal to see the contrast between poor stilt houses and the wealthy sky buildings. Following this, you will head back to the city center to visit the fascinating War Remnants Museum. This will be an emotionally hard-hitting experience given the graphic content of the museum, yet, it will be a valuable stop for anybody wishing to learn more about different perspectives surrounding the Vietnam War and its continuing effects today. After the trip to the museum, your guide will take you to try the most famous Vietnamese cuisine, Phở, for lunch. Once you've fueled up, it’s off to your first stop of the afternoon which will be the Reunification Palace. Here you’ll learn all about its important place in Vietnamese history. Following this palace visit, your next stop will be the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office. Your knowledgeable guide will explain all the history behind these two incredible buildings. Next, you will head to the historic CIA building where the last U.S Helicopter flew out of Saigon in 1975. You’ll learn all about the story of the last U.S Operation, Frequent Wind. From here you will have a mini walking tour to see HCMC highlights including the Opera House, Hotel Continental and Nguyen Hue Square where you can see City Hall, Rex Hotel and the mighty Bitexco building. The final stop for the day will be the Ben Thanh market, a must-see spot to understand the local market cultures. It is good for either window shopping or practicing your bargain skills. Ben Thanh market is a must spot to understand the local market cultures. It is good for both window shopping or practicing your bargain skills. After this busy place, it will be time to enjoy a famed Vietnamese coffee before you are brought back to your accommodation.
Includes
  • All entrance fees
  • All taxes
  • Fully air-conditioned vehicle
  • Two bottles of water
  • English-speaking guide
  • Vietnamese set menu lunch
  • Gratuities
  • Personal Expenses

Select participants and date

Participants

Date

Important information

What to bring

  • Sun hat
  • Sunscreen
  • Jacket
  • Insect repellent

Know before you go

  • Tours operate all year round, except for Vietnamese New Year which runs from February 1-10, 2019 Tour is recommended to start at 8:00AM and finish at around 5:00PM Please ensure you dress respectfully (knees and shoulders should be covered at all times)
Customer reviews

Overall rating

5 /5

based on 3 reviews

Review summary

  • Service
    5/5

Sort by:

Traveler type:

Star rating:

Great tour starting with a tour of a huge flower market (makes you wonder who is going to buy all the flowers). Fortunately, the “animal market” with its pets crammed together in small cages consisted of only a few shops next to each other. An absolute highlight was the approximately one-hour bike tour, which takes you past various other markets (everything has its own market) to Chinatown. There you can see a beautiful temple. After lunch at a local restaurant, we toured the former presidential palace, then downtown the cathedral, post office, opera house (all dating from French colonial times) and the building from which the last US American helicopters departed to visit. Mr. Hung, our fabulous guide provided us with tons of information garnished with personal experiences. We always felt safe with our driver.

Read more

October 31, 2022

March 23, 2019

Hallo! we had such a great day, we learned a lot about saigon, we tasted delicious dishes, and we had a great and very nice guide, everything was perfectly organized! Thank you!

February 13, 2023

Product ID: 186090