If you are travelling to Saigon, there are loads of great tours to see all the main attractions in town. But if you want to see the real Saigon you need to check out Saigon Motorbike Tours. Read on to find out what they’re like.
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How to Book Saigon Motorbike Tours
District 1 in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is the main tourist area in town. It is where most tourists will gravitate to when it comes to accommodation and activities. District 1 in Saigon also has the highest concentration of Tour Booking Agencies.
Just walk into any tour booking agency and ask for a Saigon Motorbike Tour and they will instantly know what you are asking for. This is one of the most popular tours in Saigon. There are several companies to choose from, and the range is around $29 for a 4 hour tour of Saigon on motorbike.
Another great alternative is to go to the tour desk at your hotel. Our favourite hotel by far in Ho Chi Minh City is the Duc Vuong Hotel, and they have a wonderful tour booking desk. Normally these will offer the same price as the tour booking agency.
Vespa Tours
Actually I had heard about Vespa tours in Saigon, and that they are highly recommended. I asked at the tour agency and they said they cost $75 per person. Sure enough, I checked the Vespa Tours website and verified these tours cost $75 per person.
These 4-5 hours look like loads of fun, and you will definitely tour Saigon in style on these lovely vintage Vespa’s. But I’m sorry, I can’t recommend these tours for roughly double the cost of a regular tour, on a standard Japanese motorcycle. The itinerary is roughly the same, as is the fun factor.
Saigon Unseen Tour
The best motorbike tour Saigon has to offer, and one that we highly recommend, is the “Saigon on Motorbike” tour. These are widely available at tour booking agencies, and there are a wide range of tour options available.
The tour that we went on is wall the Saigon Unseen Tour, and costs $27 per person on the company website. We paid $29 per person at the tour booking agency.
Saigon Unseen Tour Itinerary
The tour advertises 8:00am to 12:00am. However we had an exclusive tour with just my son and I. Thus we requested a 9:00am start. No problems, since we were the only people on this tour. We left our Anpha Boutique Hotel in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City.
Thich Quang Duc Statue
First stop was in District 3 Thich Quang Duc. This is a monument dedicated to a Buddhist Monk who burnt himself alive in 1963 in protest. A very sad site, you can see the burning on YouTube.
Flower Market
Next stop was the flower market in District 10, surely one of the most colourful sights in Saigon. This market is a 24 hour market, at it’s liveliest at 11pm when the new flowers arrive each night. But it’s still great during the day.
Cambodian Market
Then we went through the Cambodian market, a melting pot of food and cheap shopping. Watch out as motorbikes whiz through the busy pedestrian streets of these markets.
Chinese Temple #1
We stopped an old Chinese temple.There is ample opportunity to take photos inside the Chinese temple, and admire the incense burning rituals all around you.
Chines Temple #2 – The Thien Hau temple
After the first temple, then we stopped at another important Chinese Temple, The Thien Hau temple. This on is bigger than the first, and about 300 years old. You even have the opportunity to have some fortune telling done.
Chinese Markets
Then it’s off to the Chinese traditional medicine markets, in the heart of China Town in District 5. This is also a wet market, and you see an endless array of mysterious produce on sale. You can see the hustle and bustle up close as you walk through this market, you really feel like you’re part of the action.
Chinese Tea
After weaving our way through the China Town market, up some alley ways and up some flights of stairs we made it to a Chinese Tea shop above the temple. Here we enjoyed some Chinese tea and some traditional sweets made from coconut and lotus flowers.
Ghost Apartments
On the way to the tea shop, you get up close to 3 high rise apartment blocks in Chinatown, which look to be fairly new. These are built in strict accordance with Chinese superstitions… 3 in a line, tallest one in the centre.
Apparently a mother and her daughter went missing and were never found soon after these were built. Consequently they were deserted due to superstitious fear of spirits, and to this day these giant ghost apartments remain empty. Except for some homeless people.
Temple of 10,000 Buddhas
Next stop was a bonus stop, the temple of 10,000 Buddhas. Up on the 4th floor there is a special room with a giant Buddha statue, surrounded by 10,000 smaller Buddha statues. Although this is not in the official tour itinerary, I’m sure if you ask the tour operator nicely they will take you there.
Floating Market
The next stop was at the little floating market along the river in District 4, where fresh produce is bright in daily from the Mekong Delta. Here we were treated to a refreshing coconut drink straight off the boat. Near this market are some of the Saigon slum areas, where you can see how the poorest people live.
Vietnamese Pho Restaurant
Final stop was at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant, to have a delicious Pho for lunch. If you have never eaten Pho, this is the main dish of Vietnam and the one dish you absolutely have to try before you leave.
Tour Options
These tours can be modified to suit you. Instead of Chinese Tea you can go to a Vietnamese coffee house. Instead of Vietnamese Pho you could go to a different restaurant. It’s all up to you.
Other Popular Motorbike Tours of Saigon
If you are interested in food tours Saigon Motorbike Tours are perfect. Tours are available during daytime or nighttime to sample all the different foods in Saigon. You can even combine food tours and Saigon Unseen tours.
If you are interested in city tours Saigon Motorbike Tours are still a great option. You can take a tour around all the major attractions in Saigon like the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace, Central Post Office, City Hall, Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral and Jade Emperor Pagoda. I am sure you can modify these tours as you like for your perfect tour in Saigon.
Make Sure You See Saigon on Motorbike
A Ho Chi Minh motorbike tour is not to be missed when you visit this amazing city. Sure you can see this city on foot, by grab taxi, by cyclo, or by some organised bus tour. But to truly see the real Saigon you really can’t go past these motorbike tours.
There are several companies offering these tours, and I suspect they all offer great tour packages. Read some reviews online and make up your own mind which is the right tour for you. But I can thoroughly recommend the Saigon Unseen Tour, it promises to be the best thing you ever did in Saigon.
Here’s a video of the Saigon Unseen Tour which we went on.
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Research Before You Visit Saigon
It always pays to do some research before you go on holidays, especially in Saigon because it is such a complicated and confusing city. Here are a some useful Lonely Planet travel guides to get your started.
