Ho Chi Minh City Private Shore Excursion from Cruise Port

Highlights

Leistungen

Ablauf

1. Tour guide will welcome and pick up your group in front of the port gate with your name on hand.

   5 Min.

2. The Central Post Office in Ho Chi Minh is a beautifully preserved remnant of French colonial times and perhaps the grandest post office in all of Southeast Asia. Located next door to Notre Dame Cathedral, the two cultural sites can be visited together and offers visitors a chance to imagine life in Vietnam during the times of the Indochinese Empire. The building was designed by Alfred Foulhoux and features arched windows and wooden shutters, just as it would have in its heyday in the late 19th Century.

   30 Min.

3. Independence Palace was the base of Vietnamese General Ngo Dinh Diem until his death in 1963. It made its name in global history in 1975. A tank belonging to the North Vietnamese Army crashed through its main gate, ending the Vietnam War. Today, it's a must-visit for tourists in Ho Chi Minh City. The palace is like a time capsule frozen in 1975. You can see two of the original tanks used in the capture of the palace parked in the grounds. Independence Palace was the home and workplace of the French Governor of Cochin-China. It has lush gardens, secret rooms, antique furniture, and a command bunker. It's still in use to host important occasions in Ho Chi Minh, including APEC summits.

   1 Std.Eintritt inbegriffen

4. Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, built in the late 1880s by French colonists, is one of the few remaining strongholds of Catholicism in the largely Buddhist Vietnam. Located in Paris Square, the name Notre Dame was given after the installation of the statue ‘Peaceful Notre Dame’ in 1959. In 1962, the Vatican conferred the Cathedral status as a basilica and gave it the official name of Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica. Measuring almost 60 metres in height, the cathedral’s distinctive neo-Romanesque features include the all-red brick façade (which were imported from Marseille), stained glass windows, two bell towers containing six bronze bells that still ring to this day, and a peaceful garden setting in the middle of downtown Ho Chi Minh City District 1.

   15 Min.

5. The Saigon Opera House in Ho Chi Minh is an elegant colonial building at the intersection of Le Loi and Dong Khoi Street in District 1, very close to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and the classic Central Post Office. The restored three-storey 800-seat Opera House was built in 1897 and is used for staging not only opera but also a wide range of performing arts including ballet, musical concerts, Vietnamese traditional dance and plays. Performances are advertised around the building and information can be found in the state-operated tourist information centre close by.

   15 Min.

6. The People’s Committee Building Saigon in central Ho Chi Minh City features well-preserved French colonial architecture in a spacious garden landscape. Originally constructed as a hotel in 1898 by French architect Gardes, it now serves as a city hall and one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. Occupying the end of Nguyen Hue walking promenade, it has three buildings with embossed statues of animals and people, intricate bas-reliefs on the walls, as well as a statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of the main building. The best time to visit is in the evening, as these features are beautifully illuminated with LED lights.

   15 Min.

7. The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City first opened to the public in 1975. Once known as the ‘Museum of American War Crimes’, it's a shocking reminder of the long and brutal Vietnam War. Graphic photographs and American military equipment are on display. There's a helicopter with rocket launchers, a tank, a fighter plane, a single-seater attack aircraft. You can also see a conventional bomb that weighs at 6,800kg. American troops had used these weapons against the Vietnamese between 1945 and 1975.

   1 Std.Eintritt inbegriffen

8. Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 is a great place to buy local handicrafts, branded goods, Vietnamese art and other souvenirs. Here, you’ll find eating stalls inside the market where you can get a taste of hawker-style Vietnamese cuisine or simply cool off with a cold drink when the bargaining becomes too much. The market is big, difficult to navigate at times and certainly best avoided during the hottest part of the day but all the same its well worth a look. When night falls, restaurants around the perimeter of the market open their doors creating a vibrant street side scene filling the air with the scents of wok-fried noodles, barbecued fish and meats. One of Saigon’s oldest landmarks, Ben Thanh offers a great atmosphere that is absolutely authentically Vietnamese.

   45 Min.

9. Visiting Saigon's historic rooftop - symbol of the end of the Vietnam War

   Vorbeifahrt

10. Ho Chi Minh City’s Cholon is Vietnam’s largest Chinatown with roots dating back to 1778. Chinese minorities hid here from the Tay Son and subsequently had to rebuild the area twice following attack with as many as 70% estimated to have died trying to escape on boats. Those who survived settled and began selling a variety of Chinese products. During the Vietnam War Cholon was a thriving black market for US soldiers trading in American Army issue supplies. The area today is a popular site for those on the tourist trail and also attracts many Taiwanese and Chinese visitors. Cholon is an interesting place to see classical Chinese architecture reminiscent of years gone by with plenty of Chinese restaurants.

    1 Std.

Stornierung

Kostenlose Stornierung bis 24 Stunden vor Beginn, mit voller Rückerstattung.

Bewertungen

Die Bewertungen stammen aus 25 Rezensionen, die unser Buchungspartner gesammelt hat. Es sind die eigenen Worte der Reisenden, in der Reihenfolge ihres Entstehens — nie umsortiert, damit das Erlebnis besser dasteht.

Angezeigt werden auf Englisch verfasste Bewertungen.

• 5Dorothy Is an Outstanding Guide with Great Local Insight and Spanish Fluency

  We had a very pleasant surprise when we arrived and realized that we had both a driver and a professional tour guide, and she even speaks Spanish!! DOROTHY is incredibly warm and professional. She has deep knowledge of the city and the country, and we gained a lot of context thanks not only to what she knows, but also to how she explains things: clear, simple, and very engaging. At every stop, she shared stories and insights that really enhanced what we were seeing. She was also flexible with our itinerary, adding extra stops that weren’t originally included and asking us when we preferred to have lunch to plan the day around it. Entrance tickets to the Reunification Palace are included. We were also pleasantly surprised that she took us to a great pho spot since we wanted to try it. On top of that, lunch is included, which is a nice added touch. We highly recommend DOROTHY, whether you take the tour in English or Spanish.

  Seaside319301April 2026über Tripadvisor

• 5Dorothy Is an Outstanding Guide with Great Local Insight and Spanish Fluency

  We had a very pleasant surprise upon arrival when we realized the tour included both a driver and a professional tour guide, who also speaks Spanish!! DOROTHY is incredibly warm and professional. She has deep knowledge of the city and the country, and we gained a lot of context thanks not only to what she knows, but also to how she explains things: clear, simple, and very engaging. At every stop, she shared stories and insights that really enhanced what we were seeing. She was also flexible with our itinerary, adding extra stops that weren’t originally included and asking us when we preferred to have lunch to plan the day around it. Entrance tickets to the Reunification Palace are included. We were also pleasantly surprised that she took us to a great pho spot since we wanted to try it. On top of that, lunch is included, which is a nice added touch. Recomendamos mucho a DOROTHY, whether you take the tour in English or Spanish.

  Mauricio_MApril 2026über Viator

• 5Too Hot to see Saigon

  Very informative tour of Saigon on a 95 degree day!Our guide Anna and driver did everything possible to make us comfortable and adapted the tour as we requested! She was pleasant and knowledgeable. The heat was overwhelming.

  Ronnie_RMärz 2026über Viator

• 5A must do !! Fantastic !!!

  Absolutely amazing, top notch , brilliant, fun, excellent guide in Evelyn and our driver .. very informative, kind, wonderful , lovely people... highly recommended... 5 stars 🤩🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

  EsdodgeMärz 2026über Tripadvisor

• 5Great trip

  We had a great trip with James. Highly recommend. We were 4 adults (parents and grandparents) and 1 toddler. James took us to a wide range of sites and was very accommodating to plan our day around our toddlers needs. He and our driver met us at the cruise port at 10 am and dropped us back to the port at 6.30pm. we went to all the major sights, had a lovely pre organised lunch that accommodated for vegetarians and was able to get the toddler to nap in the air con van for a bit too. Everything was covered in the costs, apart from some drinks with lunch and James was very knowledgeable and offered good information and advice throughout the day with a good sense of humour.

  U7577FGchristopherlMärz 2026über Tripadvisor

• 5Knowledgeable, comfortable and friendly trip to see the sights of Saigon

  We've just finished our tour with James. We are travelling with our 1 year old and this was the perfect tour. James was adaptable when needed and really knowledgeable. They were there waiting at the port when we got off the boat even though our port had changed. Thank you for showing us the sights of Saigon and for a great lunch.

  miarS2740CIMärz 2026über Tripadvisor

Gut zu wissen

How it compares in Vung Tau

• Its from-price is 18% below the median of the 25 stadtbesichtigungen we list in Vung Tau.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 2 of 25.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Vung Tau

Vung Tau is a seaside city on a peninsula in southern Vietnam, a weekend retreat for Ho Chi Minh City with beaches, a hilltop Christ statue and seafood.

Vung Tau occupies a peninsula on the South China Sea in the south of Vietnam, south-east of Ho Chi Minh City, with two small mountains rising from the coast. Under the French it was called Cap Saint-Jacques, and it still has colonial buildings such as the White Palace, a villa of 1898 set among frangipani trees on the hillside. A lighthouse built in 1862 stands on the Small Mountain with views over the bay.

Top-ranked sights in Vung Tau: Christ the King Statue (Christ of Vung Tau).

See all 87 experiences in Vung Tau