The Architecture of Central Saigon: A Self-Guided Audio Tour
- 1.3–1.5 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Ho Chi Minh City – or Saigon to those who know and love it – is like a jumbled attic of architectural anomalies, each one recounting a chapter in Vietnam’s story. On this self-guided audio tour, you’ll explore the city’s built heritage, from French edifices to groundbreaking modernist landmarks. You’ll also catch glimpses of the biophilia taking root in a city that is increasingly dominated by glass and steel. This tour starts at Notre Dame Cathedral. You’ll explore the Saigon Central Post Office, a neo-baroque facade that flaunts flashes of French Indochina, and the neo-classical Justice Building, with Ionic and Corinthian columns straight out of Ancient Greece. As you wander through leafy boulevards, you’ll also learn how Vietnamese architects reclaimed the city’s identity after the French exit. The tour ends at the Archbishop’s Residence compound. This walking tour offers a unique perspective on how architecture reveals Vietnam’s journey from colonial rule to independence.
Inclusions
What's included
- Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
- Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
- App for Android and iOS
- Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
- Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
What's not
- Smartphone and headphones
- Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
- Food and drink
- Transportation
Itinerary
This self-guided audio tour starts at Notre Dame Cathedral, a colonial copy of its counterpart in Paris, but with its own cultural elements and local superstitions.
You’ll explore the Saigon Central Post Office, a neo-baroque facade that flaunts flashes of French Indochina, and the neo-classical Justice Building, with Ionic and Corinthian columns straight out of Ancient Greece.
Discover how climate-responsive design was incorporated into buildings like the Independence Palace and General Sciences Library, naturally cooling buildings before air conditioning
On this walking tour, you’ll explore the city’s built heritage, from French edifices to groundbreaking modernist landmarks. You’ll also catch glimpses of the biophilia taking root in a city that is increasingly dominated by glass and steel.
Discover how climate-responsive design was incorporated into buildings like the Independence Palace and General Sciences Library, naturally cooling buildings before air conditioning
Visit a rare pre-colonial tomb tucked away in the city’s central park
Explore the curved corner apartment building at 218 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, an example of Saigon’s endangered modernist heritage
Examine how Vietnamese modernist architects incorporated traditional symbols like Chinese characters and dragon imagery into their progressive designs
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- This self-guided audio tour starts in the square in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- VoiceMap Audio Tours
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in Ho Chi Minh City
- Its from-price is 88% below the median of the 2927 experiences we list in Ho Chi Minh City.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City, still widely called Saigon, is Vietnam's buzzing commercial hub of French colonial landmarks, war history and superb street food.
District 1 holds the main sights within walking distance: the red-brick Notre-Dame Cathedral, the elegant Central Post Office with its vaulted hall, the colonial Opera House and the ornate City Hall. The Independence Palace preserves its rooms as they were at the end of the war, and the War Remnants Museum tells the story of the conflict with sobering directness.
Top-ranked sights in Ho Chi Minh City: Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon Opera House (Opéra de Saïgon), Saigon Central Post Office.
Special offers in Ho Chi Minh City
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
50% offFree cancellation
