5 Days: HCMC and Its Best Day Trips

Five days covers all four real day trips without needing to add the Can Tho overnight yet: Cu Chi and Tay Ninh, the Mekong Delta, Vung Tau, and a genuine free day back in District 1 rather than a rushed fifth trip. Only have four days? Drop the free day and see the 4-day version . A sixth day free? The 6-day plan keeps this same five days and adds a Can Tho overnight on top.

Book these before you go

Day 1: Land, settle into District 1

Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) sits 6-8km from District 1; a Grab car runs 110,000-250,000 VND (roughly $4-10), 25-45 minutes outside rush hour. Check in, walk Dong Khoi or Nguyen Hue in the evening, have dinner, and get an early night ahead of a run of day trips.

Day 2: Cu Chi Tunnels and Tay Ninh’s Cao Dai Temple

Early 7-8am pickup for the roughly 2-2.5 hour drive northwest to Tay Ninh, arriving by 11:15-11:30am for the noon Cao Dai ceremony. Continue to the Cu Chi Tunnels on the way back; Ben Duoc, at roughly 70km, beats the closer Ben Dinh on scale and crowds if your operator offers a choice. Entry runs 110,000-125,000 VND (~$4-5). Back in District 1 by early evening, 8-10 hours door to door.

Day 3: The Mekong Delta at My Tho and Ben Tre

My Tho and Ben Tre sit 70-90km southwest, 1.5-2 hours by road: a sampan canal ride, a coconut-candy workshop, Vinh Trang Pagoda. Shared tours run roughly $25-70 per person. This is the honest single-day Mekong trip; Can Tho’s Cai Rang floating market needs an overnight, covered in our 6-day and 7-day plans.

Day 4: Vung Tau beach

The Greenlines hydrofoil down the Saigon River takes 1.5-2 hours, roughly $10-15 (250,000-375,000 VND) one way, more departures on weekends; bus or car runs 2-3.5 hours instead. Vung Tau is Saigon’s own weekend beach-escape valve, not a spectacular coastline by the standard of Da Nang or Phu Quoc, so treat it as a beach-and-seafood day. The 32-metre Jesus Christ statue on the headland is worth the 800-plus steps.

Day 5: Use it on the city, not a fifth day trip

After four straight day trips, don’t reach for a fifth. The remaining real gaps are in the city itself: the War Remnants Museum, Ben Thanh Market, Cholon’s Chinatown, none of which this gateway plan has touched. Spend day five on our full Ho Chi Minh City guide or its own 3-day city itinerary for a ready-made plan, rather than forcing a rushed Can Tho trip into a single day; that one needs an overnight, covered from the 6-day plan onward.

Is five days too many day trips in a row?

Four in a row is the honest limit before fatigue sets in, which is exactly why day five here is a city day, not a fifth trip out of town. Each of Cu Chi/Tay Ninh, the Mekong, and Vung Tau involves several hours in a vehicle; stacking a fifth on top invites burnout rather than adding value.

Should day five be Can Tho instead of the city?

No, not as a single day. Can Tho and its Cai Rang floating market only work as an overnight; squeezing a 3.5-hour-each-way trip into one day means arriving after the market’s real energy has faded. If Can Tho is the priority, add a sixth day rather than replacing day five with a rushed version.

The day trips, side by side

Day trip Distance from HCMC Travel time What it costs
Cu Chi Tunnels (Ben Duoc) ~70km 1.5-2h 110,000-125,000 VND entry (~$4-5)
Tay Ninh, Cao Dai Great Temple ~90km 2-2.5h Free entry; built around the noon ceremony
Mekong Delta, My Tho and Ben Tre ~70-90km 1.5-2h Day tour roughly $25-70pp shared
Vung Tau beach ~90-100km 1.5-2h by hydrofoil, 2-3.5h by road Hydrofoil 250,000-375,000 VND ($10-15)
Mekong Delta, Can Tho and Cai Rang (overnight only) ~170km 3-3.5h one way Overnight tour roughly $60-120pp

Keep day five flexible rather than booking anything for it in advance; it’s the one day in this plan meant to absorb whatever the first four days didn’t finish.