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Travelling to Ho Chi Minh City, many travellers are searching for the days tour from Ho Chi Minh for their stay in Ho Chi Minh City. This page wil help you to choose one or some tours which are the best for your group.
Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is a city with energy in its veins. This is Vietnam’s most modern metropolis; its penchant for business, innovation and technology is unrivalled throughout the rest of the country. Such a meteoric rise was unforeseeable in 1975, when North Vietnamese troops stormed the city and drove a tank into the gates of Independence Palace, ending the Vietnam War and claiming victory for the communists. Yet, in the few short decades since then, Ho Chi Minh city has been reborn as one of Asia’s top destinations, boasting both urban attractions and a wealth of tropical greenery at its doorstep.
The following day trips from Ho Chi Minh City are carefully selected by Vietnam Escape Tours to show our customers the best of southern Vietnam. The potential of the region’s history, culture, nature and religion is fully discovered under the care of a professional English-speaking guide, wo has your enjoyment as their prime concern. Read on to discover more about what these day tours from Saigon can offer you.
Such is the stellar history of Ho Chi Minh City that the metropolis itself provides excellent entertainment and intrigue over the course of a day. The events here that shook the world are still just a few decades old and, though the social wounds are healed between the north and the south, some of Ho Chi Minh’s biggest attractions still draw crowds looking to see the lasting effects of the famous Vietnam War.
The museums of the city are exactly the place to start in this regard. The War Remnants Museum is the most popular of Vietnam’s war museums and gives a good, if slightly biased, account of the war. Visitors can look at photo exhibitions throughout the years and get a good grasp of the timeline of the war. The Independence Palace is another stalwart Saigon day tour attraction, as this was the exact location where the war was ended in dramatic fashion. Those wanting to look further back through Vietnamese history will find the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Museum of Vietnamese History to offer fascinating glances at Vietnam’s colonial, dynastic and feudal rules.
Before the Americans came the French, who sought to rule over Vietnam and make it head of their Indochinese Empire comprising Cambodia and Laos. Through the latter part of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, this worked quite well, but a successful uprising from the Vietnamese eventually left many French buildings throughout the country unoccupied. Nowadays, no day tour in Ho Chi Minh City is complete without a visit to two such buildings – Notre Dame Cathedral and the Saigon Central Post Office – both of which exhibit gorgeous colonial architecture and tell of a distinguished period of Vietnamese history.
The entirety of District 5 offers an even bigger step back through history. This district is known as Cholon, split into Chợ Lớn – meaning ‘Big Market’, referring to Binh Tay Market, where boisterous trade still takes place. Cholon was originally a full city in its own right, but the ever-expanding Saigon eventually engulfed it into one of its districts. Nowadays, the Chinese heritage of Cholon is still evident in architecture and calligraphy, while the district is increasingly becoming known for its bohemian and hipster credentials.
The historic centre of trade to and from Saigon became the lifeline of several Americans at the end of the Vietnam War. The Fall of Saigon in April 1975 saw Americans and Vietnamese fleeing the city via boats floating down Saigon’s snaking river. Nowadays, the waterway offers a romantic setting for Saigon dinner cruises, which float atop the calm river and display Ho Chi Minh City’s shimmering lights in its reflections.
The cuisine of Ho Chi Minh City differs from most of the rest of the country. Chinese and Khmer influences over the course of the city’s history have given Saigon a love for spice and sweet, which are flavours still peppering the palettes of today’s Saigonese. The city’s modern, thriving expat scene has expanded Saigon’s cuisine in every direction, including Indian, Italian, Ethiopian and beyond. The Saigon Motorbike Food Tour will reveal Ho Chi Minh City’s culinary wonders both new and old.
Ho Chi Minh City is well connected with the areas of south Vietnam. Its car, bus, train and flight connections reach many of the beautiful sites beyond its borders. Here are a few of the nearby areas perfect for day trips from Ho Chi Minh City.
Tourists needn’t go far when looking for the best one-day trips from Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City province is home to Can Gio Mangrove Forest, often referred to as the ‘Green Lungs of Saigon’. The nature here is indeed luxuriant in its colour and a breath of fresh air from the noise of the city. Tours of Can Gio are usually on boats that skim across the swamp and its gorgeous mangrove borders.
On the polar opposite end of Ho Chi Minh City province, right on its borders, lies the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. This 250km underground network was a breath-taking piece of wartime ingenuity by the Viet Cong, who dug out entire hospitals, weapons storages and living quarters below the jungle floor. Half-day tours to the Cu Chi Tunnels include explorations of the tunnels themselves and a look at the key sites of fighting with Americans and South Vietnamese troops, some of which happened at unbelievably well-disguised entrance holes and trap doors.
The city of Vung Tau stands just under 100m to the southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, operating as an essential port from its long shoreline. Vung Tau was the centre of ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) activity in the war, and also a focal point for religious missionaries long beforehand. The latter is evidenced by the city’s iconic ‘Christ of Vung Tau’ statue, which stands 32m tall atop a mountain and surveys the city Rio de Janeiro-style.
Evidence of the former is best found just outside Vung Tau, at Long Tan and Nui Dat Battlefield, the site of some incredible heroism by ANZAC forces. In lashing monsoon rains, a small battalion of Australian and New Zealand soldiers found themselves outnumbered 20 to 1, fighting bravely enough to earn the respect of the Viet Cong shooting at them. One-day tours from Ho Chi Minh City to Long Tan and Nui Dat Battlefield recount the story of the ANZAC soldiers at the sites of fighting, namely Horseshoe Hills and the Long Phuoc Tunnels.
The tropics of south Vietnam make for excellent habitats for some of Asia’s largest and most endearing wildlife. No more is this the case than at Cat Tien National Park, a 70,000-hectare sprawl of lowland jungle and coursing rivers. Visitors here can see crocodiles at Crocodile Lake, at-risk monkeys and bears at the Endangered Primate and Bear Rescue Centres, and gibbons on a morning trekking tour. Some of Vietnam’s fascinating ethnic groups such as the Tay, Ma and Stieng also inhabit Cat Tien, taking up residence in incredibly designed stilt houses and longhouses.
A highly religious province just to the northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh hosts Vietnamese Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims in harmony. It also hosts the little-known religion of Cao Dai, which has its home at the eye-catching and highly extravagant Cao Dai Temple. The religion itself advocates the best parts of the established, major religions and its phenomenally unique architecture shows this. One-day tours from Saigon to Cao Dai Temple soak up the uniqueness of the temple’s outer construction as well as its interior, which is full of writhing dragon statues and headed by an all-seeing eye.
Vietnam’s legendary Mekong Delta has fostered a mysterious, tropical reputation for itself, given its incredible age and the phenomenal nature that has sprouted in that time. Everything here operates at the beat of the Mekong River, the lifeblood of the Mekong Delta’s 12 provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and far, far beyond. On its final descent into the ocean from its starting point 4,350km away in China, the Mekong River splits into countless other rivers, streams and estuaries, all of which feed human and plant life across a 40,000km2 expanse. Some of Ho Chi Minh City’s best day trips head south of the city and traverse the ancient towns and unbridled greenery of the Mekong Delta.
The so-called ‘Kingdom of Coconuts’, Ben Tre, has an unsurprisingly relaxed vibe. Palm trees here are absolutely everywhere, flanking waterways and providing shade for the laidback population of the province’s tiny towns. The pace of life here is as slow as it gets anywhere in Vietnam, and a day trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre will show visitors how different life can be just 85km from the big city. These tours typically take in the beauty of Ben Tre from its canals, which skim beneath tunnels of overarching tropics. Also included on tours are the charming workshops that operate in Ben Tre’s rural areas, creating fine handicrafts such as candy, jelly, kitchenware, décor and even furniture from the province’s abundant coconut.
Located in the Mekong Delta’s capital of Can Tho, Cai Be floating market is one of the region’s famous on-water markets, accessible only by boat. Vendors and buyers congregate on the Can Tho River every morning, bargaining over goods such as clothes, mechanical parts and food. The atmosphere here is joyous and furious, with fast-paced action that goes against the usual laidback atmosphere of the rest of the delta. One-day tours from Ho Chi Minh city to Cai Be floating market leave early from the city and arrive at the riverbanks just after sunrise. These normally include a look at some of the fantastically mixed architecture of Can Tho and its rural workshops as a bonus.
My Tho is often known as the ‘Gateway to the Mekong Delta’. Its position 70km south of Ho Chi Minh City means it is one of the region’s most accessible cities and thus, provides a wealth of public transportation options for the rest of the delta. However, most tourists visit My Tho for the city itself, as well as many of the islands off its southern banks, each whimsically named after a different mythical being. Day trips from Saigon usually take in these islands along with the stunning Vinh Trang Temple, which stands as an exquisite blend of East and West featuring gorgeous gardens and a gigantic smiling Buddha statue.
Being a tropical region, Saigon and its surrounds are the recipients of some intense weather in the realms of both heat and rain. The climate here is split into two seasons – the wet and the dry, roughly dividing the year down the middle.
Southern Vietnam experiences up to 6 months of the wet season. Fortunately, the name is attributed mainly for the periods of powerful rainfall that fall in quick bursts, ones that are usually over within an hour. The scenes this creates in the city are really what makes Saigon so appealing, so if your south Vietnam day trip falls during this time, don’t despair. Temperatures, however, can be quite stifling, but the air quickly cools following a shower of rain.
The dry season is categorised by more tame weather, which comes as a big relief to Saigon’s citizens. This is the ideal time for a day trip from Ho Chi Minh City, as cooler weather and very little rain mean that your time outside will be more pleasant than it would be in the wet. The sky during the winter from December to February can be a little grey at times, but the beauty of the Mekong Delta, Cat Tien National Park and Can Gio Mangrove Forest still shines through.
With Vietnam Escape Tours, you can be sure of the entire package from the start of your Ho Chi Minh City day trip to the end:
To get the most out of your day trip from Saigon, Vietnam Escape Tours recommend you bring some of the following items:
Please see all of Vietnam Escape Tours’ day trips from Ho Chi Minh City listed below. Feel free to contact one of our agents if you have any questions – we are always available to help!
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