Day Trips Around Ho Chi Minh City
Four genuine day trips sit within reach of Ho Chi Minh City, and each one asks something different of you: tunnels, canals, a beach, or a noon religious ceremony that only runs once a day.
Cu Chi Tunnels
About 50-70 km northwest, 1-2 hours by road, the tunnels split between Ben Dinh, closer and widened for crowds with an optional AK-47 firing range on site, and Ben Duoc, farther out and keeping unwidened original-scale sections. The standalone entrance fee is disputed across current sources, roughly 90,000 to 135,000 VND, occasionally structured as a base admission plus a separate service fee rather than one number. A morning here pairs naturally with an afternoon back in District 1.
My Tho and Ben Tre: the Mekong that actually fits a day
My Tho and Ben Tre, 70-90 km out and 1.5-2 hours each way, deliver the honest single-day Mekong experience: sampan rides through narrow canals, coconut-candy workshops, and orchard fruit tastings. Can Tho and its Cai Rang floating market, by contrast, sit 3-3.5 hours away each direction, and the market itself has genuinely shrunk, to roughly 200 trading boats today from about 500 in 2016, with real trading activity concentrated in an early 05:00-08:30 window. A same-day round trip from the city arrives after that window has thinned out; seeing Cai Rang properly means an overnight in Can Tho, not a rushed add-on to a My Tho itinerary.
Mekong Delta day tours on GetYourGuide list current My Tho and Ben Tre departure windows, and Les Rives’ own site covers its Saigon River routes toward the delta.
Vung Tau and Tay Ninh, for a change of pace
Vung Tau, 90-100 km southeast, is the city’s own weekend beach option: fastest by Greenlines hydrofoil at roughly 1.5-2 hours for 250,000-375,000 VND one-way, or 2-3.5 hours by road. It is a serviceable beach, not a spectacular one against Da Nang or Phu Quoc, so treat it as a break from the city rather than the trip’s highlight. Tay Ninh’s Cao Dai Great Temple, about 90 km and 2-2.5 hours out, holds its noon ceremony as the practical stop for a day-tripper, viewed from the upstairs gallery; a full round trip runs 8-10 hours door to door, which is why it is usually combined with a Cu Chi morning rather than done alone.
For the landmarks near where these trips depart, see the sightseeing guide , and for the properly-timed Can Tho overnight, the multi-day trips guide covers it in full.
Book Cu Chi or My Tho for a single day without hesitation; save Cai Rang for a trip with a night in Can Tho built in, since a rushed version undersells what is already a shrinking market.