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Discover Ho Chi Minh City A Guided Tour

By CloudGuide S.L
Free cancellation available
Price is AU$11 per adult

Features

  • Free cancellation available
  • 8h 30m
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation

Overview

Discover Ho Chi Minh City's exhilarating collision of past and future with your self-guided audio tour, allowing you to explore Vietnam's largest metropolis at your own pace. Begin at the elegant Notre-Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office where French colonial grandeur survives amid the motorbike chaos that defines modern Saigon. Wander through the exhibits of the War Remnants Museum where photographs and artefacts document the conflict that shaped contemporary Vietnam, then explore the underground tunnels of Cu Chi where guerrilla fighters lived beneath American bases. Marvel at the jade Emperor Pagoda's incense-clouded chambers where Buddhist and Taoist deities receive the prayers of devotees who have worshipped here for over a century. Stroll down tree-lined Dong Khoi Street where colonial-era buildings house designer boutiques and rooftop bars with skyline views, then lose yourself in the sensory overload of Ben Thanh Market where vendors sell everything from silk to snake wine.

Activity location

  • Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon
    • 01 Công trường Công xã Paris
    • 70000, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon
    • 01 Công trường Công xã Paris
    • 70000, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Check availability


Discover Ho Chi Minh City A Guided Tour
  • Activity duration is 8 hours and 30 minutes8h 30m
    8h 30m
  • English
Language options: English
Price details
AU$11.43 x 1 AdultAU$11.43

Total
Price is AU$11.43
Until Mon, 16 Mar

What's included, what's not

  • What's includedWhat's included
    Digital Map.
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Self-guided walking tour (app)
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Access to the audio guide for 50+ Ho Chi Minh City attractions and hidden spots.
  • What's excludedWhat's excluded
    Private transport
  • What's excludedWhat's excluded
    Entry fees to tourist attractions or museums.
  • What's excludedWhat's excluded
    Our app-based self-guided tour has no physical guide on-site.

Know before you book

  • Not recommended for travellers with spinal injuries
  • Not recommended for travellers with poor cardiovascular health
  • Public transport options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Activity itinerary

Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon

  • 30m
This neo-Romanesque cathedral constructed entirely from materials imported from France between 1863 and 1880 remains the most elegant symbol of colonial Saigon, its red brick facade and twin 58-meter spires dominating the central district. The cathedral served as the spiritual centre for French colonists and Vietnamese Catholics through war and revolution, its Virgin Mary statue in the square famously 'weeping' in 2005 and drawing enormous crowds before authorities dismissed the phenomenon. The building is currently undergoing extensive renovation, but the exterior and surrounding plaza continue to provide the city's most iconic photo opportunity and peaceful gathering space.

Central Post Office

  • 1h
Designed by Gustave Eiffel's firm and completed in 1891, this magnificent post office remains a working facility where visitors can send postcards beneath the vaulted ceiling while admiring painted maps of Cochinchina and the benevolent portrait of Ho Chi Minh presiding over the grand hall. The building's iron structure, cream and green colour scheme, and elegant phone booths transport visitors to the era when Saigon was the 'Pearl of the Orient' and this post office connected the colony to France and the world. The souvenir shops may be touristy, but the architecture and atmosphere make this essential viewing.

War Remnants Museum (Pass by)

Vietnam's most visited museum presents the American War (as Vietnamese call it) through photographs, weapons, and personal artefacts that document the conflict's devastating human cost, particularly the effects of Agent Orange that continue to affect generations. The exhibits are emotionally overwhelming and present an unambiguously Vietnamese perspective, but the museum provides essential context for understanding modern Vietnam and the resilience that rebuilt the nation from devastation. American military equipment including tanks, helicopters, and artillery fills the courtyard while interior galleries display the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs that turned American public opinion against the war.

Dong Khoi Street

  • 1h
Saigon's most elegant boulevard has been renamed repeatedly—Rue Catinat under the French, Tu Do (Freedom) under the South Vietnamese, Dong Khoi (Uprising) since reunification—but has consistently served as the city's premier address for hotels, shops, and entertainment. The tree-lined street connects Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Saigon River waterfront, its colonial buildings now housing luxury boutiques, international restaurants, and the rooftop bars where Saigon's cosmopolitan elite gather for sunset cocktails. The Continental Hotel, immortalised in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, and the Opera House anchor a district that reveals Saigon's aspirations to sophistication.

Ben Thanh Market

  • 30m
Saigon's most famous market has occupied this central location since 1914, its iconic clock tower and distinctive architecture housing over 1,500 stalls selling everything from lacquerware and silk to coffee, spices, and the fresh produce that supplies countless street food vendors. The market's overwhelming sensory experience—vendors calling out, merchandise piled high, aromas of cooking food—provides an immersive introduction to Vietnamese commerce that hasn't fundamentally changed despite modernization. The surrounding night market extends trading hours and adds street food stalls that draw locals and visitors for evening meals at communal tables.

Emperor Jade Pagoda

  • 30m
The most atmospheric temple in Ho Chi Minh City has honoured Taoist and Buddhist deities since Cantonese immigrants built it in 1909, its ornate interior thick with incense smoke and filled with carved wooden statues depicting heaven, hell, and the cosmic hierarchy. The main hall's Jade Emperor surveys the faithful while side chambers display the terrifying judges of hell and the serene Chief of Hell sorting souls for reincarnation. The temple's tile roof, interior pond with turtles, and constant activity of worshippers create an authentic spiritual experience amid the commercial chaos of surrounding streets.

Cu Chi Tunnels (Pass by)

This remarkable tunnel system 70 kilometres northwest of the city allowed Viet Cong guerrillas to live, fight, and survive beneath American bases during years of intensive bombing and search-and-destroy operations. The 250-kilometer network included hospitals, meeting rooms, kitchens, and armories, all dug by hand and ventilated through disguised openings that defied American detection technology. Visitors can crawl through widened sections of the tunnels, fire weapons at the shooting range, and understand how determination and ingenuity overcame technological superiority in a conflict that reshaped American military thinking.

Cholon

  • 1h
Saigon's Chinatown has served the city's ethnic Chinese community since the 18th century, its atmospheric streets still filled with traditional apothecaries, incense-clouded temples, and the wholesale markets that supply businesses throughout southern Vietnam. The Binh Tay Market, with its distinctive colonial architecture, provides a more authentic and less tourist-oriented market experience than Ben Thanh, while the ornate Thien Hau Temple dedicated to the sea goddess draws worshippers who light enormous spiral incense coils that burn for weeks. The neighborhood's Chinese signage, traditional businesses, and temple complexes create a distinctive atmosphere within the larger city.

The Independence Palace

  • 30m
This modernist palace served as the headquarters of the South Vietnamese government until a North Vietnamese tank crashed through its gates on April 30, 1975, ending the war and reunifying Vietnam under communist rule. The building's 1960s architecture, preserved in time-capsule condition, reveals the Cold War aesthetics and military-industrial complex that defined the American-backed regime through its rooftop helipad, basement war room, and vintage telecommunications equipment. The tank that breached the gates stands in the grounds while the preserved interiors offer insight into the final hours of a regime whose sudden collapse stunned the watching world.

Bui Vien Street

  • 30m
Saigon's backpacker district transforms each evening into a pedestrianised party zone where cheap beer, thumping music, and the international backpacker trail create an atmosphere that some find irresistible and others find exhausting. The street's budget accommodation, tour agencies, and late-night pho stalls serve travellers on tight budgets while the surrounding lanes reveal more authentic local life beyond the tourist-oriented frontage. Love it or hate it, Bui Vien provides a useful concentration of services and an energetic introduction to Saigon nightlife that reveals another dimension of this multifaceted city.

Saigon River

  • 30m
The river that has sustained Saigon since its founding now provides the setting for evening promenades, dinner cruises, and the rapidly developing skyline of District 2 that represents Vietnam's economic ambitions. The Bach Dang Wharf offers views across to the new Landmark 81 tower—Southeast Asia's tallest building—while sunset cruises provide perspective on the city's transformation from colonial port to modern metropolis. The waterfront's development continues, with parks, pedestrian areas, and commercial districts replacing the industrial infrastructure that once dominated the riverbanks.

District 3

  • 1h
Saigon's emerging creative quarter fills the tree-lined streets of District 3 with speciality coffee roasters, hidden-alley cafes, and the boutique businesses that represent Vietnamese millennial ambitions beyond the traditional economy. The neighborhood's French-era villas, many converted to atmospheric cafes, provide the setting for a coffee culture that has made Vietnam one of the world's leading producers and most innovative consumers. Exploring the district's backstreets reveals the Saigon that young Vietnamese are creating—design-conscious, internationally connected, and proud of local traditions reinterpreted for contemporary life.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIES
    Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon
    • 01 Công trường Công xã Paris
    • 70000, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLE
    Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon
    • 01 Công trường Công xã Paris
    • 70000, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

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