6 Days of Saigon Day Trips
Six days keeps the same Cu Chi, Tay Ninh, Mekong, Vung Tau, Can Tho and Cai Rang days as the 5 day version, then swaps the return-straight-to-HCMC drive for a second Mekong stop: a night in a Ben Tre coconut-lane homestay instead of a group bus back to the city. Don’t need the second overnight? See the 5 day version . Have a full week? The 7 day version adds a slower finish.
| Day | Day trip | Travel time from HCMC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cu Chi Tunnels (Ben Duoc) and the Tay Ninh Cao Dai noon ceremony | Combined, 8-10h round trip |
| 2 | Mekong Delta: My Tho and Ben Tre | 1.5-2h each way |
| 3 | Vung Tau beach and the Christ of Vung Tau statue | 1.5-2h each way by hydrofoil |
| 4 | Travel to Can Tho, overnight | 3-3.5h each way |
| 5 | Cai Rang dawn floating market, then on to Ben Tre | Sampan at dawn; Can Tho-Ben Tre roughly 2h |
| 6 | Ben Tre coconut-lane homestay, overnight | Return to HCMC next morning, 1.5-2h |
Book these before you go
- Compare District 1 hotel rates for the first three nights
- Book a combined Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple tour rather than arranging both legs solo
- Compare Mekong Delta day-tour options for day 2 if skipping the day 6 homestay this trip
Day 1: Ben Duoc’s tunnels, then the Cao Dai noon ceremony
Morning: Ben Duoc, 70km and roughly 2 hours out, entry 110,000-125,000 VND (~US$4-5). Check current visitor details first. Afternoon: Tay Ninh, 90km and 2-2.5 hours from HCMC, the free noon Cao Dai ceremony. Evening: return, an 8-10 hour day door to door.
Day 2: My Tho and Ben Tre, the honest single-day Mekong trip
My Tho and Ben Tre, 70-90km and roughly 1.5-2 hours from HCMC: a sampan through coconut-palm canals, a coconut-candy workshop, orchard fruit tasting, all in one unhurried day.
Day 3: Vung Tau’s beach, and the statue you climb from the inside
The Greenlines hydrofoil takes 1.5-2 hours each way. The Christ of Vung Tau statue, 32 metres tall, is reached by roughly 800 steps up Small Mountain plus 133 steps inside the statue to its arms.
Day 4: The road to Can Tho, ahead of the dawn market
Can Tho sits 3-3.5 hours from HCMC. Settle into a riverside hotel near Ninh Kieu Wharf, eat at the wharf’s night market, and set an early alarm; Cai Rang’s real wholesale trade runs hardest 5-8:30am.
Day 5: Cai Rang at dawn, then onward to Ben Tre
A pre-sunrise sampan from Ninh Kieu Wharf catches Cai Rang’s wholesale trade, wooden boats stacked with produce and hung with samples advertising each boat’s cargo, at its actual peak rather than its tail end. Vietnam’s official Mekong Delta guide covers the wider region for a future, longer loop. Rather than driving straight back to HCMC afterward, continue roughly 2 hours to Ben Tre and check into a homestay for the night.
Day 6: A Ben Tre coconut-lane homestay, the better Mekong finish
Why add a whole extra day just for Ben Tre? Because the coconut-candy workshop and canal paddle that every rushed My Tho day trip crams into an hour become an unhurried evening instead. Ben Tre sits just 14km past My Tho, “the land of coconuts,” with more than 300 small candy workshops and quiet canal lanes a group bus never lingers in. A homestay trades the tour’s fixed return slot for a slow dinner and an early-morning walk before heading back to HCMC, roughly 1.5-2 hours. Ben Tre’s own tourism notes cover more of the province if extending the stay further.
Grab covers the city between day trips; fix the fare in the app before you ride. Six days turns the standard rushed Mekong bus tour into two genuinely different Delta experiences instead of one repeated version of the same trip.