• Private tour, daily departure (AM or PM)
• Duration: 4 hours (08:00 – 12:00 or 13:30 – 17:30)
• Meals: Excluded
• Best period: Year-round
The history of Ho Chi Minh City has many layers, telling a tale of decades of external influence from the Chinese and the French. With your private driver and English-speaking guide, start your visit today by exploring Dong Khoi Area in the center of the city where the French colonial presence can be felt at the Notre Dame Cathedral (under construction), a Catholic Basilica commissioned entirely of imported French building materials. End with a visit to the Saigon Central Post Office, a stunning architectural marvel with rich Gothic, Renaissance and French influences. From here continue to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, also known as Phuoc Hai and regarded as one of the most interesting pagodas in the country. Built by the Cantonese community around the turn of the 20th century, it is still busy with worshipers. Filled with smoky incense, the pagoda with its elaborately carved figurines and decorated panels of carved gilt woodwork, is dedicated to Buddhist and Taoist deities. If you only visit one pagoda in the city, this should be the one.
Finally, head over to Cholon, the city’s Chinatown and widely regarded as the largest one in the world by area. The city used to be known as Saigon-Cholon until Vietnam’s independence from France in 1955.
