Saigon River Cruise: One-Hour Sightseeing, Sunset Cruise or Dinner Cruise?
4 min read
The short answer
For a first look at the skyline, the Saigon River boutique cruise is the simplest choice: one hour, English-speaking guide, up to 20 people. It costs €8.97 per person and has 4.6 / 5 from 1,425 reviews. If you want dinner or an evening out, one of the dinner cruises fits better. They are three different kinds of evening, so pick by what you want from it.
The one-hour cruise
The page starts and ends at the Saigon Waterbus Station and lists passing the Hotel Majestic, Nguyen Hue pedestrian plaza, Mong Bridge, the Dragon House Harbor, Bitexco Financial Tower, Ba Son Bridge and Landmark 81. Food and drinks are available to buy at the onboard bar. A sliding roof can be closed for rain or for the hottest hours. There is a restroom on board. Starting times are shown when you check availability. The page lists the cruise as not suitable for children under 7 or wheelchair users.
Sunset cruise with a walk
The Saigon skyline river cruise with walking tour (€33.13) lists a duration of 45 minutes to 3 hours. The walking part is optional: it starts at 3:00 PM every day at the Saigon Opera House, goes along Nguyen Hue and ends with the guide taking you to the cruise pier. The cruise itself lasts 45 minutes and leaves at 5:00 PM every day; the page describes it as a sunset or an evening trip, with a welcome drink, a bar on board and padded seats. The group is limited to 15. If you only want the boat, you can skip the walk and be at the pier at least 20 minutes before boarding. A walking-tour-only option also exists; the cruise ticket belongs to the cruise option.
Dinner cruises
- The romantic Saigon dinner cruise (€41.78) is listed at 3 hours, with hotel pickup and drop-off in District 1 as an option. The page describes a set menu or buffet depending on the ship, plus live music or onboard entertainment. Drinks and tips are not included and a holiday surcharge can apply. English support is included; other languages carry a surcharge.
- The water puppet show and dinner cruise (€74.82) lasts 4.5 hours: a 45-minute show at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, then dinner on the Indochina Queen, with van transfers in between. Groups are up to 30. The page notes the show is in Vietnamese, but the stories are easy to follow. Hotel pickup covers central District 1, except two named streets; from elsewhere you meet at 112 Tran Hung Dao Street by 5:30 PM. The tour ends around 9:30 PM. The page lists it as not suitable for people with mobility impairments or heart problems, or wheelchair users.
Which one
- First evening, short on time: the one-hour cruise.
- Want a walk first, and a golden-hour boat: the sunset cruise with the optional walk.
- Want dinner and a show in one night: the puppet show and dinner combination saves two separate bookings; the plain dinner cruise is the version without the show.
If you are choosing between puppets and the Bamboo Circus, read A O Show or water puppet show. The river also leads to the tunnels: a half-day speedboat tour to Cu Chi (€63.36, 7 hours on the page, about 45 minutes on the boat each way) replaces the drive; ask the operator which tunnel site it visits, and see Ben Dinh or Ben Duoc. All 56 Saigon River cruises start from €8.97.
