Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Southern Vietnam
Three days to get under the skin of Saigon
Most people give Saigon a day and leave with a headache. With three, and someone who lives here, the city starts to make sense and becomes the reason for the trip.
Overview
The city, given time
Saigon does not reveal itself on a bus tour. The sights that everyone lists are real and worth seeing, but they take a morning. What takes longer is learning how the city actually works: the Chinese city in the west, the canal districts, the coffee shops that function as offices, the food that changes from one district to the next.
Three days is enough to do both. We build the days around the heat: out early, a long lunch, an afternoon at the hotel, and back out when the light goes. Your guide stays with you each day and can swap things around as your interests show themselves.
- Length
- 3 days, 2 nights
- Base
- District 1 or District 3
- Pace
- Mornings out, afternoons slower
- Evenings
- One street-food night
- Style
- Private, with guide
Nights
Where you sleep
Day by day
Day by day
Day 1
The centre and the war years
Street food by scooter after dark
Your guide meets you at 08:00 and you walk: the Independence Palace when it opens, with its bunkers and 1960s interiors, then the old post office and the cathedral square, and coffee in an old apartment block on Nguyen Hue that is now filled with small cafés.
After lunch and a rest at the hotel, we spend the late afternoon at the War Remnants Museum, which is one-sided in its framing and hard to look at in places, and is still the most important museum in the country for understanding how the war is remembered here.
At 18:30 a rider collects you by scooter for four hours of street food across District 4, District 3 and beyond, with seven or so stops. You sit on the back; you do not drive.
Day 2
Cho Lon, the Chinese city
The Cho Lon assembly halls in the morning
At 07:30 we drive to District 5, where Cho Lon, once a separate Chinese city, still runs on its own rhythm. Binh Tay market first, while the wholesale trade is busy, then the assembly halls built by the old Chinese communities, and the street of herbalists where medicine is still weighed out by hand.
Lunch is in Cho Lon. The afternoon is free. In the early evening, from 16:30, your guide takes you through a century of buildings in the centre, from French villas to the concrete apartment blocks of the 1960s, ending on a rooftop as the lights come on.
Day 3
Cu Chi at dawn, and a slow afternoon
Cu Chi before the crowds arrive
Pick-up at 06:30 for the Cu Chi tunnels at Ben Duoc, about two hours away, which you reach before the tour groups. The tunnels, the forest and the craters take two hours, and you are back in the city by 12:30.
Lunch is at a family restaurant in District 3. In the afternoon we finish with coffee: a roaster who explains why the south drinks robusta, and a walk along the canal side of Binh Thanh. The trip ends at your hotel around 17:00, or at the airport if you are flying out.
Price
Price
| Travellers | Tier 1 — simple | Tier 2 — comfortable | Tier 3 — the good ones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travelling | from 295 | from 370 | from 560 |
| 4 travelling | from 240 | from 300 | from 460 |
| 6 travelling | from 220 | from 275 | from 415 |
The hotel is the biggest variable: District 1 has everything from simple rooms to grand old hotels. Everything else is the guide, the car on the Cu Chi morning, the scooter riders and meals. Groups of four or six pay less each. If you want to rearrange the order, the price does not change.
Included
What is included
What the price includes
- Private guide for all three days
- Car and driver for Cu Chi and Cho Lon
- Scooter riders and all food on the street-food night
- Two nights in District 1 or 3 at your chosen tier, with breakfast
- Lunches on all three days and entrance fees
What it does not include
- Airport transfer on arrival, which we can add
- Drinks outside the street-food night, and tips
- Travel insurance and visas
- Shopping, tailoring and personal spending
Practical
Practical notes
December to April is dry. From May to November the rain comes as a heavy shower most afternoons, which suits a plan that has you indoors at that hour anyway. April and May are the hottest weeks; we move more of the walking to the early morning then. Tet, in late January or February, empties the city and closes many family restaurants for several days.
Wear shoes you can walk in and clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temples. The scooter night comes with helmets; tell us if you would prefer a car.
Not for everyone
Who this does not suit
Three days in one city is too much for travellers who find noise and traffic draining; Saigon has no quiet version, and we would rather you spent the time in Hoi An. It also does not suit anyone expecting a museum city with a preserved old quarter. Saigon is commercial, modern and loud, and its charm is its street life.
If you only have ten days in Vietnam, one full day here plus a delta night is usually the better split.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Is three days in Saigon too long?
For most first visitors two is enough. Three is right if you like food, history or cities, and it gives you Cu Chi without a rushed day.
Can we skip Cu Chi?
Yes. We can replace it with a morning in District 4 and the canal side, or a cooking class.
Is the scooter night safe?
The riders are experienced and ride slowly, and helmets are provided. If you are unsure, we can do the same stops by car.
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