Half-day Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) Tour

This personalized private tour is one of the best ways to explore and to discover what Saigon has to offer to visitors. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is the largest and busiest city in Vietnam with a population of 7 million people. Much of the daily life takes place on the streets, which are lined with shops, stalls, and vendors with their wares spread out on the footpath. Don't miss the bustling Ben Thanh Market - a fantastic place for bargains of every kind! There are several interesting sights in Saigon. The War Remnants Museum has a wealth of images from the wars, the most moving being a gallery entitled 'Requiem' which is dedicated to Vietnamese and foreign journalists and photographers who perished during the French and American conflicts. The Reunification Palace was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam until April 30, 1975, when the North Vietnamese tanks came crashing through the front gates, bringing the U.S.-Vietnam War to a dramatic end. Close to the Palace some of the best examples of French colonial architecture are represented in the forms of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. Notre Dame Cathedral was built between 1877 and 1883, and the stones used to create it were exported in its entirety from France. Next, to the cathedral stands the Central Post Office, finished in 1891. It is another fine example of French architecture and is Vietnam's largest post office. For all of its French colonial history, Ho Chi Minh City is by far Vietnam's most modern city. It has numerous shopping malls, cinemas, discotheques and a bewildering number of bars.