Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta in One Day: Is the Combination Tour Worth It?
4 min read
The short answer
The combination tour is worth it if you have only one day to spare and want a taste of both. You will not get the depth of two separate trips. The Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta tour with coconut village is the most reviewed of them: €31.49 per person, 4.7 / 5 from 14,809 reviews, 10 to 11 hours. Its itinerary gives the tunnels about three hours and the Mekong about two, with 1.5 hours on the bus before the tunnels.
What the day looks like
Both tours start at about 7:00 to 8:00 AM with a pickup, go to Cu Chi first, then eat lunch and continue to the Mekong. The pages differ in the details:
| Tour | Day | Pickup | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta with coconut village | 10 to 11 hours; Cu Chi, lunch, My Tho cruise, sampan, a family house; back at about 6:30 to 7:00 PM | Central hotels; drop-off at Ben Thanh Market | English or French guide |
| Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta, coconut village tour | 11 hours; Cu Chi, lunch, a drive of about 3 hours to the delta, rowboat and motorboat to Coconut Island; back in the evening | Pickup between 7:00 and 8:00 AM; private or small-group options | English guide |
The first page lists all entry fees and boat trips, a Vietnamese lunch (vegan options available), fruit and a bottle of water among its inclusions; shooting range bullets and tips are extra. On both tours the shooting range is optional and costs extra. The second page lists the motorboat and sampan rides, a tuk-tuk or electric car ride, a set Vietnamese lunch (vegan option available) and a music performance; entry fees do not appear in that list, so ask the operator about the Cu Chi ticket before you compare €31.49 with €31.55.
How it compares with two separate trips
Separate trips are longer in total: a Cu Chi tour takes about seven hours, as in our guide to the Cu Chi tunnels, and a Mekong day trip about nine hours, as in our Mekong Delta day trip guide. That is 16 hours against 10 to 11, so the combination has to share its hours between the two places. In exchange you get one early start instead of two, one pickup and a day that ends in the evening.
Who should skip it
If you want the quieter Ben Duoc section of the tunnels or a nine-hour Mekong day with My Tho and Ben Tre, book separately: the Ben Duoc pages name the section and a group of up to 10 or 12 guests; for the combination tours, ask the operator which section of the tunnels they visit. A long day on the bus is a poor fit with young children. The Ben Duoc small-group page lists people with back problems, claustrophobia or heart problems as not suited to its tour; of the two combination pages, only the second lists people it does not suit (wheelchair users), so ask the operator if back, heart or claustrophobia concerns apply to you.
Our recommendation
For one day and one booking, take the most reviewed combination, the first one in the table, and check the inclusions of any other before you compare prices. With two days, do Cu Chi and the Mekong separately. See all 68 Cu Chi tunnel tours, from €11.48, or all 73 Mekong Delta tours, from €13.56.
