Cu Chi Tunnels from Ho Chi Minh City: Ben Dinh or Ben Duoc, and Which Tour to Book
4 min read
The short answer
Nearly every Cu Chi tour from Ho Chi Minh City is a half-day trip of about seven hours, and most of that is time on the road: the standard tours’ booking pages describe a drive of around two hours each way. So the choice is less about the tunnels than about group size and which part of the site you see. One operator says most tours go to the crowded Ben Dinh section and offers Ben Duoc as the quieter alternative. For most visitors we would book a small-group Ben Duoc tour, such as the Ben Duoc small-group tour with hotel pickup: €18.38 per person, 4.7 / 5 from 1,737 reviews, limited to 10 guests.
What every tour has in common
The four road tours below pick you up at central hotels (or ask you to meet at an office in District 1), drive to Cu Chi and walk you through the tunnel system with an English-speaking guide. The pages mention camouflaged entrances, kitchens, meeting rooms, traps and a section you can crawl through; the pages of the small-group Ben Duoc tour and the morning or afternoon tour also name a short film and boiled cassava with tea, served as wartime food.
An optional shooting range is on offer, and bullets cost extra on every page that mentions it. The Ben Duoc small-group tour states a minimum purchase of bullets, so read that line first if you want to shoot.
The tours side by side
| Tour | Which section | Group | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cu Chi Tunnels guided tour, AM/PM departure | Ask the operator which section | Small group up to 10 or standard up to 30, depending on the option | 7 hours |
| Cu Chi Tunnels morning or afternoon tour | Ask the operator which section | Private, small or larger group | 7 hours |
| Ben Duoc small-group tour | Ben Duoc | Up to 10 | 7 hours |
| Ben Duoc tour, max 12 people | Ben Duoc | Up to 12 | 7 to 7.5 hours |
| Cu Chi half-day speedboat tour | Ask the operator which section | Group tour | 7 hours |
Prices today: €14.69 (AM/PM tour), €14.70 (morning or afternoon tour), €18.38 and €15.79 (the two Ben Duoc tours), €63.36 (speedboat). The speedboat tour is the only one that leaves the road behind: its description promises a luxury speedboat along the Saigon River instead of the long drive. Its itinerary gives about 45 minutes on the boat each way, the page lists a Vietnamese set lunch (vegan food available), and the operator asks for each passenger’s full name, date of birth, nationality and passport number to register the group with the port authority.
Check before you pay
Entrance fees are handled differently. The AM/PM tour and the 12-person Ben Duoc tour list entry tickets and a bottle of water with their inclusions. The morning or afternoon tour appears to list entrance fees as extra, so confirm that line before you compare prices.
Who should think twice: the Ben Duoc small-group page lists people with back problems, claustrophobia or heart problems as not suitable, and the morning or afternoon tour page says it is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with heart problems. That tour is free for children under 5, who must be accompanied by an adult. Wear comfortable shoes and take cash.
Our recommendation
Book the small-group Ben Duoc tour if the tunnels are the point of your day and you would like fewer people in them. If price decides, compare the AM/PM tour (€14.69) with the 12-person Ben Duoc tour (€15.79): both list entry tickets, and the AM/PM tour is the most reviewed Cu Chi tour we list. Want more than the tunnels? Read about Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta in one day, or browse all 68 Cu Chi tunnel tours, from €11.48, on GetYourGuide.
