6 Days: HCMC Day Trips on a Budget
Six days from Ho Chi Minh City fits all four real day trips, including an overnight run out to Can Tho for the Cai Rang floating market. This extends the 5-day plan with a sixth day rather than replacing it; the 7-day plan finishes what this one starts.
Book these before you go:
- A District 1 hostel or hotel, check rates on Agoda
- A combined Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple tour for Day 2
- A My Tho and Ben Tre Mekong Delta day trip for Day 3
- A Can Tho and Cai Rang 2-day overnight tour for Days 6-7, book a few days ahead
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, District 1 settle-in | ~25-45 min airport transfer | 150,000-300,000 VND (Grab + dinner) |
| 2 | Cu Chi Tunnels + Tay Ninh Cao Dai combined | 1.5-2h to Cu Chi, then on to Tay Ninh, 8-10h door to door | 90,000-125,000 VND entry, plus US$15-40pp tour |
| 3 | Mekong Delta: My Tho and Ben Tre | 1.5-2h each way | roughly US$25-70+pp tour |
| 4 | Vung Tau beach | 2h hydrofoil (2-3.5h by road) | 260,000-375,000 VND hydrofoil one-way |
| 5 | Slow day back in the city | none | under 200,000 VND (free sights + food) |
| 6 | Travel to Can Tho, overnight | 3-3.5h each way | from roughly US$139pp for the 2-day overnight tour |
Day 1: Arrival and District 1 Settle-In
Fly into Tan Son Nhat (SGN) and Grab into District 1 for roughly 110,000-250,000 VND. Check into your hotel, wander Ben Thanh Market for orientation, then a street-food dinner under 65,000 VND.
Day 2: Cu Chi Tunnels and Tay Ninh’s Noon Ceremony
Leave by 7-7:30am for the Cu Chi Tunnels, entry 90,000-125,000 VND, then on to Tay Ninh for the Cao Dai Great Temple’s noon ceremony, arriving by 11:15-11:30am; entry is free. An 8-10 hour day door to door.
Day 3: Mekong Delta, My Tho and Ben Tre
My Tho and Ben Tre sit 1.5-2 hours out: a sampan ride through coconut-palm canals, a coconut-candy workshop, and orchard fruit, often with a Vinh Trang Pagoda stop. A shared tour runs roughly US$25-70+ per person.
Day 4: Vung Tau, a Beach Day Out
Take the Greenlines DP hydrofoil from the Bach Dang terminal in District 1, about 2 hours each way, 260,000-375,000 VND one-way. Fresh seafood and a swim, not a bucket-list Vietnamese beach, book the earlier sailing for a full afternoon.
Day 5: A Slow Day Back in the City
Stay in the city and spend less than any day-trip day cost you. Wander Cholon or the Jade Emperor Pagoda, both free, or ride Metro Line 1 (6,000-20,000 VND) toward Thu Duc. Catch up on laundry, a massage, or a proper sit-down meal.
Day 6: Travel to Can Tho and Overnight
Head southwest toward Can Tho, 3-3.5 hours from HCMC, arriving early afternoon. Spend the rest of the day at a walkable pace: the riverside promenade, a local market that is not staged for tour buses, and dinner at a Can Tho restaurant rather than a hotel buffet. Overnight in Can Tho, this is the whole point of the extra day, the Cai Rang floating market’s real trade happens before most HCMC day-trippers could ever arrive.
Why does Can Tho need an overnight when every other day trip on this list is a single day?
Because Cai Rang’s floating market runs its genuine wholesale trade roughly 5-8:30am, and Can Tho itself sits 3-3.5 hours from HCMC each way. A same-day round trip arrives after the boats have thinned out and the best light and energy have already passed. Staying overnight puts you on the water at dawn instead of arriving for the tail end.
Is the 2-day Can Tho tour better value than arranging it myself?
Usually yes, once you count the overnight stay. A packaged 2-day tour from roughly US$139 per person bundles transport, an overnight stay, breakfast at the market, and the boat trips, which is close to what booking a Can Tho hotel and a separate boat hire would cost arranged piecemeal, minus the planning effort. Arrange it yourself only if you already have a specific Can Tho hotel in mind.
The 7-day plan adds the actual dawn market morning and the return trip to this same spine. Keep a spare 100,000-200,000 VND in small notes through Can Tho, its market stalls break a large bill even less easily than HCMC’s do.