Vietnam » Southern Vietnam » Ho Chi Minh City | 🏛 Cu Chi Tunnels Tour

Cu Chi Tunnels & Mekong Delta: Small-Group Day Trip

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.97 (1,231 reviews) 97% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/30

Duration11h–12h

GroupUp to 18

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

History, flavors, and river life from Ho Chi Minh in one day

You’ll crawl through Cu Chi Tunnels with a local guide, taste cassava like wartime guerrillas did, share lunch with fellow travelers, then drift along quiet Mekong Delta canals by rowboat while folk music plays nearby. Expect moments that linger long after you’re back in busy Ho Chi Minh City.

11h–12h

Step-by-step itinerary

Pick up from hotel
Drive 1.5 hours to Cu Chi Tunnels
Watch introduction video about tunnels
Explore tunnel network and living areas
Learn about traps and wartime facilities
Taste special tea and cassava
Have lunch at local restaurant
Visit My Tho city
Cruise along Tien River
Visit coconut candy mill
Ride wooden sampans on small canals
Savor seasonal fruits and honey tea
Enjoy Southern Vietnamese folk music
Return to Ho Chi Minh City by 7 PM

The Experience

The day didn’t start exactly as planned — I forgot my hat and realized it just as our van pulled away from the hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Our guide, Minh, noticed me squinting at the sun already and handed me his spare (it was bright yellow and a little too big, but honestly, it made for good photos). The drive out to Cu Chi Tunnels took about an hour and a half. I’d seen photos before, but actually ducking down into those narrow tunnels… it’s hard to explain. The air inside felt thick and earthy, almost damp, and Minh told us stories about families living down there for weeks. He showed us where they cooked rice with barely any smoke escaping — I still don’t get how they managed that. We tried cassava dipped in peanuts; apparently that was daily food during the war. It tasted plain but comforting somehow.

Lunch was at this open-air spot not far from the tunnels — plastic chairs, fans humming overhead, bowls of pho steaming up my glasses. I sat next to Li from Singapore and we both tried to pronounce “Mekong” properly (Li laughed when I tried to say it in Vietnamese — probably butchered it). After that we headed toward My Tho city for the Mekong Delta part of the tour. The boat ride along the river was slower than I expected — kind of peaceful though. Kids waved from the banks and you could smell something sweet in the air near a coconut candy workshop (I bought some for later but ate most of it on the spot). At one point we switched to these tiny wooden sampans; there were dragonflies everywhere and someone nearby started playing folk music on a dan tranh — that sound really stuck with me.

I think what surprised me most was how much quieter everything got once we left the main roads behind. There’s this moment floating down a canal where all you hear is water against wood and maybe someone laughing in another boat. It’s strange how quickly you go from city chaos to that kind of calm. By the time we got back to Ho Chi Minh City around 7pm, my shoes were muddy and I’d sweated through my shirt, but honestly? That felt right for a day like this.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off within central Ho Chi Minh City (Districts 1 & 4), entry fees for both Cu Chi Tunnels and all Mekong Delta activities, a traditional Vietnamese lunch with local specialties, motorboat cruise plus rowboat ride through canals, fruit tasting with honey tea while listening to live folk music performances by locals before heading back in the evening.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by SST TRAVEL