Vietnam War Tour in Saigon: The Secret Story of the Saigon Commandos

Your private guide and driver pick you up from your hotel lobby to begin this Vietnam War tour in Saigon.

Start your morning with a steaming bowl of phở at Pho Binh, one of Saigon’s oldest pho shops, serving Northern-style phở for over 65 years. Thanks to its good food and its location near major South Vietnamese government offices, it was always packed with diners, from South Vietnamese officers to cyclo drivers.

That was exactly the point. The commandos gathered much of their intelligence simply by listening to the officers and police talking at the next table.

The pho shop was a brilliant cover. The upper floor served as the Forward Command Post for the Saigon – Gia Định Military Region. It was right here, on the top floor, that the secret order to attack five major targets across Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive was issued.

Next, visit the Saigon Commandos Museum. Built in 1963, this three-floor building originally belonged to the Ngọc Quế Union- a cover organization managed by Mr. Trần Văn Lai (Năm Lai). To evade government suspicion, Mr. Lai posed as a wealthy contractor specializing in interior design for high-profile projects, including the Presidential Palace (Independence Palace).

While the building appeared to be a workshop for woodwork and cyclos, it was actually a secret intelligence station, a meeting space, and a safehouse for strategic wartime documents. After the 1968 Tet Offensive, when Mr. Lai’s identity was exposed, the property was confiscated, auctioned off, and split among various owners before being painstakingly restored.

We then head to a historic shop known during the war as a favorite spot for South Korean soldiers serving local broken rice (Com Tam) and coffee.

Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, this house was secretly bought by Mr. Trần Văn Lai to hide weapons. Deep below the living room floor lies a hidden underground bunker that once held 2 tons of explosives, AK-47s, B40 rocket launchers, and hand grenades—all used in the 1968 attack on the Independence Palace.

You will get to open the cleverly concealed trapdoor beneath the floorboards, climb down into the narrow subterranean space, and examine authentic wartime weapons used by the Saigon Commandos. You will also see the ingenious ventilation system hidden inside water pipes and wall crevices that kept tons of explosives undetected for years.

We end this Vietnam War tour in Saigon at the War Remnants Museum, one of the most visited and emotionally powerful historical sites in Vietnam.

Through iconic photo collections, military equipment and deeply moving stories, you’ll gain a thought-provoking perspective on the Vietnam War, the resilience of the local people and the value of peace. It’s a quiet, meaningful moment to reflect before our private vehicle takes you back to your hotel.