Private City Tour: Highlights and Hidden Gems of Ho Chi Minh City With Locals

Experience the best of Ho Chi Minh City on a private city tour with locals. Discover the city’s highlights, hidden gems, and local treats while avoiding the crowds and supporting the local economy.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Saigon Opera House (Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theater) - Visit the Saigon Opera House and other key landmarks of the city. Your local guide will take you to the main attractions, giving you a comprehensive overview of what makes Ho Chi Minh City unique.

  • Central Post Office - One of the oldest buildings in the city, the Central Post Office was constructed between 1886 and 1891 and has become a significant symbol of Ho Chi Minh City. Along the way, your local guide will reveal hidden treasures known only to locals. Experience the city from a different perspective and discover places and stories that many tourists miss.

  • The Independence Palace - Also known as the Reunification Palace, it gained global recognition in 1975 when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its main gate, marking the end of the Vietnam War. Each landmark and stop has its own story, and your local guide is ready to share them all. Prepare to hear incredible stories, unique insights, and fun facts that only a knowledgeable local can provide!

  • War Remnants Museum - Visit the War Remnants Museum.

  • The Venerable Thich Quang Duc Monument - Depending on your guide and their chosen route, this stop might be included in your tour.

  • Antique Street - Depending on your guide and their chosen route, this stop might be included in your tour.

  • Ben Thanh Market - Depending on your guide and their chosen route, this stop might be included in your tour.

  • People’s Committee Building - Depending on your guide and their chosen route, this stop might be included in your tour.

  • Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon - Depending on your guide and their chosen route, this stop might be included in your tour.

What's Included
  • Private Tour
  • Local Guide
  • 1 local drink/tasting
  • Tickets for War Remnants Museum included
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks, unless specified
Additional Information

This is not merely another city tour; it’s the finest exposure to Ho Chi Minh City from an exceptional viewpoint! Experience Ho Chi Minh City with a city tour that provides an excellent snapshot, featuring city landmarks, secret spots, engaging narrative, and a local delicacy - this tour has it all covered!

Move away from the large tourist hordes and crowded places; it’s now time to witness Ho Chi Minh City in its full glory through a local lens. Visit key monuments like the Saigon Opera House, Saigon Central Post Office, Independence Palace and discover unknown treasures and city mysteries with the support of an expert local guide. As a bonus, a local specialty is included.

The Withlocals Highlights & Hidden Gems Private City Tour™ is one of Withlocals’ signature tours available in major cities globally. We are in association with devoted local guides who are compensated fairly. We bolster local economies by solely offering local goods and counter overtourism with only small, unobtrusive groups.

  • Private tour: only you & your local guide
  • CO2 Neutral: all tours carbon emissions are offset
  • Post Covid-19 regulations are applied to this product with regards to the number of participants, delivery methods of the tour and content of the tour.
Location
Thích Quảng Đức Monument
Đường Cách Mạng Tháng 8
Monument of the Venerable Monk Thich Quang Duc (At the intersection of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street and Cach Mang Thang Tam Street. District 3).
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(194 Ratings)
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R2454cgderekw
Aug 7, 2024
Informative and rewarding. - To see Vietnam in all its beautiful but bonkers glory, see it with a local.. Stories tourists don’t know, paths tourists don’t walk, lives tourists don’t understand await..
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tourswithjecky
Jul 24, 2024
Amazing Hochiminh City - Our Ho Chi Minh City tour was an absolute highlight of our trip! We were lucky enough to have Jecky as our guide, and their knowledge, enthusiasm, and friendly personality made the experience truly unforgettable. The tour itself was incredibly well-organized, offering a perfect blend of iconic landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the War Remnants Museum, alongside hidden gems like the Cu Chi Tunnels. The city's vibrant energy was contagious, and Jecky's insights brought everything to life.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
105marcusd
Jul 17, 2024
Awesome tour of Saigon - Wow, what an awesome place Saigon is, even more so when you have Thien as your tour guide. Not only do you get the history of the places you visit, but then you get more intimate details that only a local, with connections has. And the stories are not just about the places, but also about Thien’s family connection with those place. Such as her Dad’s part in the storming of the Independence Palace by the tanks of the liberation army tanks. We cannot recommend this tour & Thien more highly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ako75
Jul 6, 2024
Great introduction to HCM! - Our group enjoyed the hidden gems tour with Thien. This was our first time in HCM. She brings a unique perspective and offers suggestions based on what we are interested in doing. She is extremely flexible and I know if we needed to change the order of the tour she would done her best to accommodate. We booked her for two trips, this one and CuChi tunnels tour. I highly recommend this tour with Thien.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Road402185
Jun 24, 2024
City Tour of HCMC - My family (wife and 2 teenagers) had a great city tour with Huyen. It felt like touring with a friend - she was flexible and had great insights into each of the locations and kept the kids engaged. Gave us suggestions on local places to eat and visit ourselves as well. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Queenpersiaau
May 31, 2024
Diamond of Saigon tour - Had an amazing hidden gems tour with Thien. Thien is super passionate about Saigon and her energy is infectious, lots of laughs. Best tour in Vietnam. Great flexibility too as we had already been to War Remnants Museum so Thien changed tour and we felt we got to see more of the locals side of Saigon. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
240paulr240
May 8, 2024
Absolutely brilliant. We love Thien! - Thien’s communication in advance of the tour of second to none. She was so helpful with regard to other places we were visiting even before we arrived in Vietnam. When it was time for the tour she was prompt and full of energy and joy and laughter and so much enthusiasm. She showed us all of the highlights teaching us lots of things we didn’t know. She definitely wasn’t a clock watcher either and we got to see some extra areas within Saigon which were absolutely fantastic. Three hour tour? Nope! It was much longer in the very best way. We can’t recommend Thien enough and wish we could do it all again tomorrow! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Haneyb2018
Apr 1, 2024
Amazing walking tour - We truly enjoyed our couple of hours together with Thien. She is very passionate about telling the history about Saigon/Vietnam, so we learned alot during our little walking tour with Thien. Even the kids (8&10 years) enjoyed this tour and were very happy with Thien.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Luke5020
Mar 31, 2024
Enjoyable Walking Tour - Huyen showed up on time and we decided that since I was already staying in District 1 and could see most of the "usual sights" easily, we'd explore other parts of Districts 3 and 1, including: 1. Hum (which I later returned to for an excellent and healthy vegetarian meal — countering all the banh mi, Vietnamese coffee, sweet treats, and pho I had elsewhere), and which was amazingly decorated on the inside as well as the outside. 2. The story of the flagpole at Independence Palace, the turtle statue roundabout, and their connection to Hong Kong feng shui. 3. Where to get good Vietnamese food, kitschy (but unique) souvenirs, etc.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dfurnell14
Mar 26, 2024
Fantastic personalised tour - We had a fantastic tour from Huyen, clearly with care and thinking about the information we had received beforehand. She was funny, charming and had great energy. She knew a great deal about Ho Chi Minh, the food and the history of the city. I’d highly recommend everyone considering a tour to just go for it and book with Huyen!
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