Ho Chi Minh City Private Tour With A Local Expert

11/10 experience with Xuan on both the Ho Chi Minh City Tour and Cu Chi Tunnels tour! My dad and I were on the tour with Xuan and he was great. Extremely knowledgeable and super friendly. Within the first hour, he was both a guide and a friend and it felt like being shown the city of Saigon from a local friend. We saw SO much. He took us to the local market, local apartment buildings, the war museum, all the major sights, Saigon sky deck and a coffee stop. He even personalized the tour by taking us to see the famous monk statue and sights we were interested in. His passion for the history of this city came across in full force and I couldn’t imagine exploring this city with anyone else. Big Ups to Xuan! We also did the half day tour with Xuan to the cu chi tunnels and that was great as well. His expertise helped us have a seamless experience, avoiding the crowds and maximizing our experience to the fullest. We learned so much!

Our day with Xuan was fantastic! Great communication and planning in advance to make sure we saw everything on our ‘must see list’. Our driver was equally excellent - we felt safe at all times even with the scooters zipping around. The rickshaw ride through various market districts was especially memorable, as was the food! Bhan mi, egg coffee and Michelin recommended Pho - everything arranged seamlessly by Xuan. His reputation as a five-star guide in Vietnam is very well-deserved - can’t recommend enough!

Our cruise was supposed to dock Ho Chi Minh City and I had booked excursion with Xuan. RCCL changed us to DaNang/Chan May port. Reached out Xuan and asked could he help with the change. Very positive and immediate response and yes he set us up with private guide & driver at that port. Our guide was Ms. Tea and driver, Cong - both were excellent - what a great day we had. Felt safe, saved us so much time so we could see so much more. Just a wonderful day. Thanks to Xuan for taking care of us. And to our "team" in Hoi An and Ba Na Hills for showing us a great day in Vietnam and safely back to ship on time - zero stress day!

I hired Xuan for three tours (Hue - Da Nang with our tour guide Lập , the Mekong Delta tour with Xuan, and Ho Chi Minh City with Xuan). He was always prompt in replying to my emails and very professional. Our cruise ship docked in the city center, so we were comfortable taking this half day Saigon tour. Our ship departed at 1pm, so I asked Xuan to get us back to the ship by noon. And he did. We went to a huge local market (called Bàn Cờ, address: Hẻm 242 Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, Phường 3, Bàn Cờ, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam) that had many, many tiny alleys. No large cruise tours would be able to go there. Buses and other large vehicles cannot traverse this area, only small cars and small vans. We felt so lucky to see the real local life going about their morning business buying fresh food for their meals. I imagine they do this on a daily basis. We saw so much produce, meats, poultry, fish and seafood, and even stalls that were selling cooked Vietnamese street food. We saw live fish, eels, chickens, frogs, etc. We visited the Thien Hau pagoda, took a 40 minute trishaw ride around the market area among all of the scooters, stopped for a coffee break where Xuan cut up different fruits for us to eat. We visited the War Remnant museum, which was difficult to see. We went to the general post office, where we did a little shopping. Xuan pointed out the former CIA headquarter building where the last American helicopter landed in 1975. The last thing that Xuan did for us was to stop to purchase some Banh Mi sandwiches for the ride back to the ship. He bought one for each couple to split. I’m glad he did that. They were huge and oh, so delicious. He said they were the best ones in the city. Stuffed inside a crispy baguette is pork liver pâté, braised pork belly, butter, pickled vegetables and a cilantro-chili sauce. Really excellent. My husband, friends and I loved all of the tours, most especially the Mekong Delta tour. We were away from the big cities and got to see some of the areas of the Delta. Xuan took us to an area where large cruise tours don't go to. We cruised along the river, had a wonderful lunch (lots of food) at a riverside restaurant overlooking the Mekong river, walked among the fruit trees, watched a woman cut open a coconut, took a tuk tuk ride, and did a sampan ride. That was the best! The third tour that we did was to Hoi An and Da Nang with Lập. We went to a beach were we saw many round basket fishing boats, Linh Ung pagoda (beautiful area with bonsais and Buddha statues), went to marble mountain, visited a marble factory, had lunch at Vy’s Market restaurant, which was an eatery. My husband and I shared the fried pork spring rolls, the chicken and ginger dumplings, and the grilled squid with a chili sate sauce. He had a beer I had wine. All for about $24. We also stopped to see the dragon bridge. All three tours were excellent. Both Lập and Xuan were so nice and gave us a lot of information. Our drivers were professional. Thank goodness because the drivers (cars, vans, and motorcycles) drove so crazy! Xuan was recommended to me by a friend. I now pass my recommendations on to anyone visiting these places in Vietnam. Xuan is your guide (and Lập too)!

We had an amazing tour with our guide Hanna. She speaks excellent English and is kind and knowledgeable.

We had an amazing tour of Ho Chi Minh City with Xuan on one day and a second amazing tour of Hoi An/Da Nang with Tea (coordinated through Xuan) on our recent cruise ship stops in Vietnam. I can't recommend Xuan enough! The tours were tailored to exactly what we wanted to see and highly organized which allowed us to see so much in just a single day at each stop. Pick-ups and drop-offs at the cruise ports were flawless. Xuan and Tea were so friendly that we felt like we were friends rather than clients. If you're making either of these cruise port stops, you definitely want to take the private tours with Tour With Xuan!

Xuan runs a great tour company and puts together wonderful tours. Our Saigon trip got in alot of great sites, but it didn't seem rushed because of how he aligned the stops. Extremely personable and speaks wonderful English.

Wow - what a day in Ho Chi Minh City! We did this as a cruise shore excursion from Phu My port and we couldn't have asked for a better excursion. Xuan coordinated different couples so there were 8 of us on the tour - the perfect number. From the moment he met us at the port his enthusiasm was infectious. He was so knowledgeable about the history of the city and area, and local treasures. As a traveler himself he knows that tourists want an authentic experience of where they're visiting, which is why we went to a local market tourists don't visit, sat on a corner drinking delicious Vietnamese coffee, took a rickshaw ride, and ate chicken pho at a Michelin rated restaurant. There was never a dull moment and he got us back to the port - full and tired - with plenty of time to spare before all aboard time. If I'm ever back in the Ho Chi Minh area I will be connecting with Xuan for another tour.

Xuan and his team are dedicated to making your day the best it can be. First of all, his communication was extraordinary. He confirmed, reiterated, followed-up, checked in and answered my long list of questions. He offers an excellent itinerary, but is flexible to add, subtract, shift timing, etc. to accommodate your wishes. We were on a cruise and booked Xuan which was significantly better and less expensive than the ship's large group excursion. We were picked up and returned to the port in a timely fashion. The van was incredibly comfortable. Our guide, Dung, was personable, knowledgeable, helpful, took many pictures and spoke excellent and clear English. She made a few additions to the itinerary based on some things we mentioned to her. We were so very impressed!! The day was a perfect WOW. A side note: I made a mistake and forgot to remind our guide to take us to a particular additional location. Xuan called me and repeatedly apologized. One thing that I wanted to buy was a specific book for my granddaughter. Xuan bought the book and had it delivered to the ship at his expense. You don't find people like him anywhere. I HIGHLY recommend booking with Xuan.

Another vote for Xuan's tours. We were a group of 8, sailing on Celebrity Millennium and we docked at Vung Tau for HCMC. We had booked the suggested, by Xuan, tour and were were picked up promptly and left the port a few minutes ahead of schedule. Our tour included Chinatown, temple in Chinatown, rickshaw rides, visit to wet Market, flower market, wholesale Chinese Market before stopping for lunch at a recommended, very clean, restaurant (not included). After lunch we visited the War Remnants Museum, the Presidential Palace (outside only), the Post Office and a view of the CIA apartment from where the last helicopter left in 1975. Overall, a very busy and interesting day. Our guide, Martin, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It was a great tour, half the price of a ship tour and we were back a the ship 2hrs 30mins before sailaway.