Best of South Vietnam

DAY 1: HO CHI MINH ARRIVAL

Upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, our driver pick you up at the airport and transfer to hotel for check in. Free time and Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

DAY 2: HO CHI MINH CITY TOUR (B/L/-)

At 8:00 am, start your Ho Chi Minh city tour full day to visit two iconic architectural landmarks the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office built between 1877 and 1883 by renowned designer Gustav Eiffel. The cathedral still remains an active church with services each day and is favoured backdrop for Vietnamese wedding photographs.

From the Saigon cathedral, take a short stroll along Dong Khoi Street to the Saigon Opera House. From a bomb shelter to housing the parliamentary Lower House, the Opera House has had an interesting history. Restored in 1995 the Opera House has returned to its roots and is once again a theatre.

Next, visit the Reunification Palace, once a symbol of the South Vietnamese Government. It was here on 30 April 1975, that the war ended when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates. See the war room, the banquet hall and the presidential office with the unusual gifts which have been received. Continue on to the War Remnants Museum, your guide will tell the story of the city’s darkest and most tragic hours during the Vietnam War. The museum contains displays of military aircraft, weaponry and many photographs – some that are quite graphic in nature.

After lunch at a hidden Vietnamese restaurant, step off the tourist trail for next stop on this Saigon full day city tour. Visit a Secret Weapons Hiding Place Museum (Bảo tàng Hầm bí mật chứa vũ khí) – this place itself is a historical venue, where the army of North Vietnam hid their weapons right inside the heart of Saigon. A visit is well worth if you are interested in history of Vietnam war.

Head to Cho Lon – the city’s Chinatown and Thien Hau Pagoda which is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. With intricate friezes, carved tableaus and impressive incense coils make for some great photos. Then observe street life with a cyclo ride through the narrow streets to Binh Tay market that sells everything from hats to dried squid!

DAY 3: SAIGON – CU CHI TUNNEL – TAY NINH (B/L/-)

After breakfast, visit the Cu Chi Tunnels -an underground labyrinth of passageways, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (or “American War” as it’s referred to here) as protection against American air raids. Those inclined are invited to crawl through selections of the tunnels to better understand what life was like for the Vietnamese soldiers during wartime.

Next you will visit the beautiful Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh and partake in the noontime prayer service. This large and colorful compound is home to the hybrid religion founded in the 1920s: Caodaism, which combines elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam in order to promote peace. Have lunch in Tay Ninh and return to Saigon in the late afternoon. Overnight in Saigon.

DAY 4: SAIGON – CAI BE – VINH LONG – CAN THO (B/L/-)

Breakfast at your hotel, tour guide pick you up at your hotel. Today you leave Saigon and travel to the Mekong River Delta. Enjoy an early breakfast at the hotel before driving to the riverside town, Cai Be. Along the way, stop at a candy factory and orchard garden, where you have an opportunity to listen to traditional music.

Enjoy a relaxing lunch at a riverside restaurant, then cross the river by motorized boat to visit some fluvial islands and explore the countryside by bicycle. Your driver will meet you at Vinh Long pier and take you to the epicentre of the Mekong Delta, Can Tho City  for the night. Overnight in Can Tho.

DAY 5: FLOATING MARKETS – CHAU DOC (B/L/-)

Head straight out onto the water on our own private boat and head to the biggest floating market in the whole of Asia, Cai Rang! You will get to experience local produce being sold first hand from boat to boat. After the market we will head back to the hotel for some breakfast before checking out and taking a scenic drive to Chau Doc. Here we will check out Ba Chua Xu temple, at the foot of the Sam mountain before taking a Xe Loi trip through some local villages before finishing up in Ba Sa fish square. Overnight in Chau Doc.

DAY 6 – CHAU DOC – PHNOM PENH (CAMBODIA)  (B/-/-)

It’s an early departure for the 4-hour morning speed boat ride to Phnom Penh. It’s an hour to the border where visa formalities must be cleared (visas must be obtained in advance) before continuing into Cambodia and onto the final destination.

If hotel and travel arrangements are required in Cambodia, please contact us.