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'Mix & Match' Tours
§ City of Hanoi
§ Pagodas & History
§ Ha Long Bay & Yen Tu
§ Ancient Capitals
§ Northern Highlands
§ Cao Bang & Lang Son
§ Central Highlands
§ Hue Monuments
§ Cham Discovery
§ Mekong & the South
§ Cu Chi & Tay Ninh
§ Ho Chi Minh City


Tell us about your particular interests, and we'll take you to places only the local guides know. Whether it's active travel, sun worship, study tours, Vietnam War sites, or satisfying your culinary curiosity, Mikeland welcomes a challenge!

 

Home > "Mix & Match Tours > Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Tour

If you're traveling anywhere in the south, you will probably use Saigon's Tan Son Nhut International Airport for your arrival and/or departure.

Saigon is a bustling commercial city that is growing by leaps and bounds. That means you have the choice of brand-new high-rise hotels, classics like the Majestic or the Continental (made famous by novelist Graham Greene), or smaller hotels that are closer to the heartbeat of the city.

Pagodas & Temples

Saigon is a relatively new city, founded in the Nguyen era (17th-18th Century), so its pagodas are more recent than those of Hanoi and often quite different because of the mixed Khmer and Hoa (Chinese) heritage of the south.

  • The temple and tomb of Le Van Duyet are a must-see for visitors, embodying the Confucian spirit of the Nguyen Dynasty period.
  • The temple to the Jade Emperor in the Dakao Ward was built by Saigon's Chinese community to honor the most important figure in the Taoist pantheon, but its many rooms include impressive carvings of many other deities and the Ten Kings of Hell.
  • The Giac Lam & Giac Vien pagodas are far enough from downtown to be off the beaten tourist path, but they are the oldest pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City, with many unique features of interest.
  • The Cholon area, famous for its Chinese trading community, has a several temples and association halls that are famous for their distinctive architecture and colorful altars. Within a few blocks, you'll make the acquaintance of Thien Hau, protector of seafarers, Quan Cong, the historical general who suffered death rather than betray his trust, and Quan Am, the Buddhist Bodhisattva of mercy.

Colonial heritage

Most of the buildings in the downtown area reflect the French influence (late 19th Century and 20th Century) and the period when Saigon was an administrative center of the south. A walking tour of the downtown includes:

  • The Notre Dame Cathedral, designed by French architects and built in 1880, is the best known of Saigon's Catholic and Protestant churches.
  • The Central Post Office was designed by French architects and completed in 1891. Architectural historians say that if you look closely, you'll find Cham elements incorporated in the design.
  • Reunification Hall, the former Presidential Palace of South Vietnam (1955-75) is a very modern structure (early 1960s) built on the site of an old French colonial building.
  • This is also a good area to shop for quality souvenirs, lacquerware, artwork, and books. Tell your guide when you need to take a break -- we recommend the terrace of the Rex Hotel or the air conditioned Highlands Cafe (Vietnam's answer to Starbucks).

Museums

  • The National History Museum covers Vietnam's history from the prehistoric to the present, with several rooms devoted to the Oc Eo, Khmer, and Cham cultures of the south. The Museum building is connected to Saigon's Botanical Gardens.
  • The Ho Chi Minh City Museum (formerly the Revolotionary Museum) has enlarged its scope to include recent contemporary exhibitions such as "Mekong Lifeways: The Stories of Six Villages." The Museum itself is housed in a spacious, high-ceilinged building that was once home to the colonial Government of Cochinchina.
  • The War Remnants Museum is similar to the Army Museum in Hanoi, with many military artefacts from the 20th Century wars with U.S. and French forces.

Contemporary

Ho Chi Minh City will surprise and delight you with its dazzling entertainment venues and nightlife.

  • One way to cool off is to spend an afternoon enjoying the slides, rides, and wave machines at the Saigon Water Park or the Dam Sen Water Park.
  • You may not expect to find a bowling alley in Saigon, but the Dam Sen Cultural Park (adjacent to the Water Park) has one. The Cultural Park also has tennis courts, a supermarket, a fitness center, beauty salons, spa services (water acupuncture and massage), coffee bar, and floating restaurant.
  • Saigon nightlife includes Tran Minh Teng's club, where you'll hear the "Kenny G" of Vietnam and guest artists playing everything from "Unchain My Heart" to smooth jazz.

Other sights around town

  • Ben Thanh Market
  • Binh Tay Market (Chinese).
  • Tour a lacquerware factory.
  • Spend an evening boating on the Saigon River (dinner with traditional music).

 

  • Saigon is the natural starting point for a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the sights of Tay Ninh Province, and our 4-5 day tour of the Mekong Delta.
  • If you want to get a quick taste of the Delta, we can arrange a day to My Tho or an overnight trip to our new guesthouse in the town of Tra On, the Mekong Palace.
  • If you're planning to work your way north, you can easily connect your visit to Saigon with our Central Highlands tour (mountains) or our Cham Discovery tour (central coast).
  • It's a short plane ride from Ho Chi Minh City to the island paradise of Phu Quoc, where you can relax on pristine beaches or hike forested hill trails. From Phu Quoc, you can also take the ferry for a day trip to the Oc-Eo site, where Roman coins have been found among the remains of the ancient kingdom of Funan.