Feel the wind in your hair on a 4.5-hour tour of Ho Chi Minh City by Vespa. Your guide is a longtime resident of Saigon, and knows all the hidden gems.

Explore historic and modern sites for a true insider’s view, starting with Tao Dan Park, home to butterflies, lush plants, and locals showing off their song birds. Continue to Reunification Palace, and learn about the North and South Vietnam negotiations after the Vietnam War.

Admire the Gothic Central Post Office and stunning Notre-Dame Basillica, containing a statue of the Virgin Mary said to have shed tears in 2005. Your guide will enlighten you about Vietnamese wedding rituals and the role of religious organizations.

Zip down bustling Dong Khoi Street and through District One, pausing on Nguyen Hue Street to see architecture that spans more than 300 years of the city’s history. Go to the Opera House (now the Municipal Theater) to marvel at an awesome example of French colonial architecture.

Continue to District Two by ferry to see Saigon from the water. Back on your bike, ride to District Three and the Jade Emperor Pagoda and maroon Taoist pagoda. Also known as the Tortoise Pagoda, this elegant place is festooned with statues, turtles, and koi ponds.

Drive through District Eleven to District Five, the Chinatown of Saigon. Dominated by beautiful St. Francis Xavier Church, it is here that the former president of South Vietnam was captured after the 1963 coup. Your last stop is the Chinese Community Spirit House, built in honor of the goddess Thien Hau, protector of sea travelers.