Lonely Planet Experiences Private Ho Chi Minh City Tour: Cyclos & Markets

Make like a local and experience Ho Chi Minh City using your own two feet and from the seat of a cyclo! With a combination of foot power and pedal power, you'll see the classic sights and quintessential markets of HCMC like you've never seen them before! We'll start walking from the General Post Office, an icon of Saigon, and Notre Dame Cathedral, built by the French during the colonial era. Both structures are fine examples of architecture from the colonial period.

Our HCMC tour takes us past the Reunification Palace, previously referred to as the Presidential Palace, and the site of the official South Vietnamese surrender on April 30th, 1975. Although we won't go into the palace, your local guide will tell you all about it and give you the chance to take some photos. 

From here we continue our journey to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, where we'll embark on a cyclo tour of Ho Chi Minh City, rolling around the city on a traditional three-wheeled bicycle with a carriage at the front for passengers. Drivers use pedal power to push us along, and gives us the opportunity to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of HCMC without the barrier of being trapped behind a car window (or the sound of a noisy engine!).

The ride will lead us to a local café for a quick pick-me-up, where you will sit among locals and enjoy some tasty Vietnamese coffee. 

Hop back on the cyclo and we'll ride toward the crossroads where the famous monk Thich Quang Duc self-immolated in 1963, in protest of the government’s persecution of Buddhists. 

We’ll then ride to the very local District 3 and the biggest flower market in the city. We’ll also visit a neighbourhood where a lot of Viet Kieu Cambodians now live in Saigon, giving you a chance to learn more about Southeast Asian history and taste some finger food in the market. 

Back on the cyclo, it’s non-stop sightseeing as we pass by the ‘pet street,’ Le Hong Phong, and the ‘art and painting street,’ Tran Phu, before bidding our cyclos goodbye at Tao Dan Park. Here, we’ll enjoy a short walk to Saigon’s iconic and authentic Ben Thanh Market; with its unmistakable clock tower, it has long been a staple of the city and is not to be missed. 

At the end of your Ho Chi Minh City tour you are free to continue exploring Ben Thanh market, or your guide will assist you in getting a taxi back to your hotel or providing tips and suggestions for further exploration in the area. 

(If you’d prefer to travel as part of a regular group experience, please book our Ho Chi Minh City Cyclos & Markets group tour.) 

This tour is priced for a minimum group size of two travellers. A solo traveller may still book this private experience but will be charged the base rate for two travellers.

• Souvenirs and items of a personal nature
•  entrance fees
•  tips/gratuities for drivers and guide.