Vietnam - 4 Days 2025 Anzac Day at Long Tan & Ho Chi Minh City

DAY 1 – 23rd April 2025 (Wednesday):

(Arrive Ho Chi Minh City)

Arrive at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport, where you will meet your driver who will take you to your central city hotel. Check-in with the rest of your day free until the evening.

Evening: Saigon River Dinner Cruise (‘Join-in’ tour):

Depart hotel: 6:30pm

Finish: 9:30pm approx.

A great way to start the tour and meet the other tour members. Be at the hotel’s reception area by 6:15pm where you will meet the driver who will take you to the wharf area on the Saigon River to board your ship for a relaxing dinner cruise. Enjoy a range of food from a buffet selection while you watch the lights of Ho Chi Minh City go by.

Meals: Dinner
Hotel: Eden Star Hotel (4 Star) (or similar)

DAY 2 – 24th April 2025 (Thursday):

Morning: Cu Chi Tunnels by Speedboat Tour (‘Join-in’ tour)

Depart hotel: 7:00am

Finish: 1:30pm approx.

This will be an enjoyable, exciting and interesting morning.

Gather at the hotel’s reception area by 6:45am. Travel back to the Saigon River where you will board a 10-12 passenger speedboat for an exciting trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Along the way, your guide will point out life along the banks of the Saigon River with plenty of photo opportunities.

At the Cu Chi Tunnels, take an informative tour of this ‘underground’ village complex built by resourceful Vietnamese guerrilla fighters, during the Vietnam War. Different aspects of life in the tunnels such as meeting areas, workshops to make weapons and clothing, as well as kitchens and sleeping areas, have been recreated on the surface.

You will have the opportunity to go through a short section of tunnel and envisage what it was like back then.

Enjoy a traditional Vietnamese lunch before returning to Ho Chi Minh City.

Afternoon: City Tour (Private tour)

Depart: 1:30pm (after lunch)

Finish: 5:30pm approx.

Join the tour bus for your afternoon city tour after disembarking the boat.

Visit the Independence Palace which, in 1975 when South Vietnam fell to the North, was the Presidential Palace. Ransacked at the time and left derelict, this magnificent building was later restored as it was in 1975 and provides an interesting snapshot of that era. A short distance away, visit the War Remnants Museum, a mixed display (sometimes confronting) that shows the Vietnam (American) War from the Vietnamese perspective.

As time allows, visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and Saigon Post Office, located in the heart of the city, both built in the nineteenth century and noted for their architecture.

Finish this afternoon’s tour with a drink at the Rooftop Bar of the famous Rex Hotel which was a meeting place for American military officials and foreign correspondents, during the Vietnam War. Your guide will point out the Caravelle Hotel, the location of the Australian and French Embassies during the Vietnam War and the old CIA building which became famous as the last evacuation point in the final days of the war.

Evening: Street Food Tour (Private tour):

Depart: 6:00pm

Finish: 8:30pm approx.

Tonight, you are in for a treat. Depart the Rex Hotel on a Street Food Tour. Walk between different food outlets noted for their own speciality, sampling a range of delicious Vietnamese food cooked in front of you.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Eden Star Hotel (4 Star) (or similar)

DAY 3 – 25th April 2025 (Friday):

Full day: Vung Tau, Nui Dat and Long Tan Memorial (Anzac Day Service) Tour (Private tour):

Depart hotel: 8:00am

Return: 6:00pm approx.

Assemble in the hotel’s reception area at 7:45am before boarding your bus. Travel out of Ho Chi Minh City to the east to Phuoc Tuy Province and the coastal city of Vung Tau. Stop at the site of the Peter Badcoe Club (R&C Centre) and the VC Memorial which was the site of the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group. Drive by the Front and Back Beaches and if time allows, visit the Worldwide Arms Museum featuring a significant display of Australian military memorabilia.

Have lunch at the Palace Hotel adjacent to the Grand Hotel which was a popular location for Australian soldiers.

In the afternoon, travel to the site of the Australian Task Force (ATF) Base at Nui Dat. Visit the site of the Australian, NZ and US artillery positions and bunker, which played a vital role in the Battle of Long Tan. Nearby, is the ATF HQ. Here, the remnants of the command centre can be seen.

A short distance away is Kanga Pad (the helicopter pad) and SAS Hill, now a quarry. Also see Luscombe Airfield, now a roadway and drive down Canberra Avenue to the site of the 6RAR camp. Visit the Nui Dat Memorial and pause for some time of personal reflection.

Visit the Long Tan Memorial which marks the site of the Battle of Long Tan in which Australian soldiers, heavily outnumbered, engaged the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Sadly, 18 Australians and about 245 NVA soldiers died. Take part in a private Anzac Day Service on this important day to all Australians and remember all those who died, in all wars, both military and civilian.

If time allows, visit the Long Phuoc Tunnels. A tunnel complex used by the Viet Cong to move around within the Australian controlled area. Enjoy a walk through a small section of the tunnels.

Return to Ho Chi Minh City and your hotel.

Please Note: To comply with Vietnamese Government requirements, tour numbers are strictly limited. The Vietnamese Government reserves the right to withdraw access to the Long Tan Memorial at any time. In such circumstances, a suitable alternate location will be used for the Anzac Day Ceremony.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Eden Star Hotel (4 Star) (or similar)

DAY 4 – 26th April 2024 (Saturday):

(Depart Ho Chi Minh City)

Your day is free as you wish until your driver picks you up from your hotel to take you to the airport in time for your outbound flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

Meals: Breakfast

• Airport transfers

• Hotel pick-ups/Drop-offs for tours

• Hotel (4 Star) accommodation

• Meals as indicated

• Experienced, English-speaking guide

• Comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle with driver

• All touring as per program

• Entrance fees as per program

• Historic War Tours – Anzac Day Polo Shirt

• All travel to/from Vietnam

• Passport & Visa expenses

• Meals and services not mentioned

• Drinks at the Rooftop Bar at the Rex Hotel

• Comprehensive travel insurance

• Personal expenses (e.g. telephone, internet, laundry, drinks, souvenirs etc.)

• Tips to Guides and Drivers

If you find that you are unable to join a tour that has been booked, confirmed and paid in part or in full, the paid amount of that tour less any unrecoverable costs, may be converted to a voucher. The value of that voucher may be used towards the same tour with a later departure date or any other HWT tour.

If a refund is requested, the following cancellation fees may be deducted from the paid amount:

• Greater than 14 days prior to tour start date - 10% of total tour amount + any unrecoverable costs

• 14 Days or less but greater than 7 Days prior to tour start date – 50% of total tour amount + any

unrecoverable costs

• 7 Days or less (including 'no show') prior to tour start date - No refund

Day 1:

• Evening Saigon River Dinner Cruise – Low-Moderate

Day 2:

• Cu Chi Tunnels (by speedboat) – Moderate-High

• City Tour:

• War Remnants Museum – Low-Moderate

• Independence Palace - Low-Moderate

• Pink Pagoda – Moderate

• Notre Dame Cathedral - Low

• Saigon Post Office - Low

• Evening Street Food Tour – Moderate

Day 3:

• Long Tan Memorial – Low

• Australian Task Force site at Nui Dat - Low-Moderate

• Long Phouc Tunnels – Moderate

• Vung Tau and locations – Low-Moderate