Visiting the Mekong Delta region is a beloved activity for travelers visiting Southern Vietnam. Going to the Mekong isn’t like traveling to a small city like Hoi An or Sapa, though – it’s a huge area with lots of ground to cover.
That’s why knowing about where to go and what to do is crucial. In this Mekong Delta travel guide, I’ll share all the details that I’ve learned by talking to locals and traveling there several times myself, including the best things to do and a suggested driving route.
Plan your trip to Mekong Delta
What to Expect
The Mekong Delta is the agricultural hub of Southern Vietnam. That might not sound too exciting on its surface, but the endless seas of bright green rice paddies interspersed with coconut trees, fruit orchards, and colorful villages never get old.
Thin, well-maintained stone pathways and raised wooden walkways weave through the rice paddies, making transportation easy if you’re riding a bicycle or motorbike. The pathways are a world away from the hectic roads of Saigon and Hanoi, though, with some of them unable to accommodate cars.
While on the roads, expect to only occasionally pass other pedestrians or motorbike drivers, most of whom will likely wave and shoot you a friendly smile, unlike what you’ll experience in a big city.
That’s not to say The Mekong Delta is all farmland – the cities in the Mekong Delta are hubs of Southern Vietnam culture with plenty of things to do and landmarks to visit. They still maintain the lush and vibrant feel that characterizes the region, though.
Should you visit with a tour?
The most straightforward (but not necessarily the most authentic) way to explore the Mekong Delta is by an organized tour from Ho Chi Minh City. Keep in mind the tours are highly standardized, typically including a boat ride through a canal, visits to a fruit orchard and rice paper factory, and other stops.
If you do wish to use a tour, be sure to check the ratings as the tour quality varies. This tour on GetYourGuide is rated 4.4 stars, and the highest-rated option on Viator is this tour. However, if you have the time, a better way to see the Mekong Delta is to explore by yourself — and we’ll explain how in this guide.
What Makes the Mekong Delta Unique?
The entire identity of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Region is defined by water. Its culture, its cuisine, its traditions, and nearly every other aspect of daily life center around the river.
It’s evident by the houses built along the sides of (and sometimes in the middle of) the many canals, by the fields of bright green tropical vegetation that line the roads, and by the floating markets that are famous in the region.
The waterways running throughout the region are almost like roads elsewhere in Vietnam, with small brightly-colored boats carrying pedestrians or cargo frequenting them instead of motorbikes.
The water in the region also transforms the food, making the fruits and vegetables taste fresher, the meats taste juicier, and the general flavor palette of the region’s cuisine a bit more naturalistic.
Adding to the vibrant feel of the Mekong Delta culture is the fact that it includes influence from so many parts of the world – France, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and America in particular.
It’s also home to a large number of ethnic minority groups, most of them originating from the Khmer people or the Cham people, the two ancient civilizations that originally settled the delta. The many small ethnic groups have given rise to a plethora of unique cultural practices that you won’t find anywhere else, such as the coconut-centered religion practiced on a few islands in the Mekong Delta.
Getting there
One of the nice things about visiting The Mekong Delta is how close it is to Ho Chi Minh City, the city most tourists to Southern Vietnam fly into. In fact, it’s only about 85km (53 miles) from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre, a mid-sized city that acts as the gate to the Mekong Delta region.
The table below shows how long it takes to get to various cities in the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City via different transportation methods.
You can also check all transport options at 12Go.
| City | By car/taxi | By motorbike/taxi | By bus |
| Ben Tre | 1hr, 53m | 1hr, 57m | 2hr |
| Can Tho | 2hr, 41m | 3hr, 42m | 4hr |
| Long Xuyen | 3hr, 37m | 4hr, 2m | 4hr, 30m |
By Car/Motorbike
If you want to make your own way down to The Mekong Delta by road, it’s an easy route along the highway from Saigon to any of its cities.
This map shows the route from Ho Chi Minh City to several of the largest cities in The Mekong Delta by road. You can click on one of the routes on the map for step-by-step directions.
You can find some good tips on actually renting a motorbike in our guide to motorbiking in Vietnam.
By Taxi
If you don’t have your own vehicle in Vietnam or just prefer the convenience of traveling by taxi, there are a few surprisingly cost-effective options.
The best way to book a taxi to the Mekong Delta is by using a ride-hailing app like Grab or Be. Expect to pay about 1.2 million VND ($50) for a one-way trip to Ben Tre or 2 million ($85) for a trip to Can Tho. If you’re traveling alone and would prefer to take a motorbike taxi, you can book one on the same apps for about half the price of a car.
While getting a taxi from Ho Chi Minh City to cities in the Mekong Delta is generally easy on these apps, getting a taxi from rural parts of the Mekong Delta to Ho Chi Minh City is often more difficult since there are not as many drivers available in the Mekong. You may want to arrange a round-trip taxi to The Mekong Delta with a company like G5Car or TaxiGo.
By Bus
The Mekong Delta is one of the most popular weekend getaways or day trips from Ho Chi Minh City, so there are lots of bus companies that offer service there. Several of the best cheap but reliable bus companies offering trips to The Mekong Delta include:
All of these bus services will cost you under $9 one-way for most routes to or from Ho Chi Minh City to The Mekong Delta.
By Flight
Can Tho International Airport is the only airport in the Mekong Delta. Flying there is by far the quickest way to get to the Mekong Delta if you’re visiting from somewhere further north than Ho Chi Minh City. This method is obviously more expensive than traveling by road, but I’ve found domestic flights in Vietnam to be some of the most hassle-free air travel experiences I’ve ever encountered (which is saying a lot).
Surprisingly, there are no flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho, so travelers in Ho Chi Minh who want to visit the Mekong Delta should utilize one of the other travel options. Flights from Hanoi take about 2 hours and 10 minutes and flights from Danang take about 1 hour and 30 minutes. My preferred airline for inexpensive domestic flights in Vietnam is Vietjet.
Where to Stay in the Mekong Delta
There are two avenues you could take when looking for places to stay in The Mekong Delta: hostels/hotels in the cities or farm stays in the Mekong Delta countryside. Let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of each, as well as some of the best options for each.
Mekong Delta Homestays
My recommendation for accommodation in the Mekong Delta for those visiting for a short time is a farm stay in the Mekong Delta countryside.
There are a lot of Mekong locals who have opened their homes up to travelers as a sort of bed & breakfast. The owners of such farm stays will often not only house their guests but also introduce them to the local culture by cooking for them, answering their questions, and even walking them around town and pointing out local hotspots.
Since the Mekong Delta is so huge and no online guide could list all the things to do in all of the smaller villages, the added insight of a local farm stay owner can be extremely useful. Note that many owners of farm stays in the Mekong Delta speak little to no English, so be prepared to use Google Translate to communicate if needed.
There are three potential drawbacks to staying in a Mekong Delta farm stay: they’re generally not quite as nice as hotels in terms of amenities, they’re less convenient to get to since they’re outside the city, and the owners usually don’t speak much English. Many tourists appreciate these differences, though, because they create a more authentic experience.
Some highly-rated Mekong Delta farm stays include:
Mekong Delta Hostels and Hotels
Staying at a hostel or hotel in one of the large cities in the Mekong Delta is a great option as well. The lush green beauty of the region is still present in city parks or in the suburban neighborhoods of the Mekong’s cities, but these accommodation options will also give you access to all the modern comforts Vietnamese cities provide: supermarkets, indoor restaurants, and 24-hour convenience stores.
The cities are also the Mekong Delta’s cultural hubs, with museums, street food, floating markets, and other popular Mekong Delta attractions (more on those below) usually being no more than a few minutes away.
The best site to use when looking for good deals on hostels and hotels in the Mekong Delta is Agoda. It’s similar to Booking.com, but it specializes in Southeast Asian properties. Good places to search for hotels include Ben Tre, Can Tho, or Long Xuyen.
Things to Do in the Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is a huge region – 40,577 km2, to be exact. For that reason, finding the best things to do there can be daunting, especially for a first-time visitor. So let’s focus on a few of the best activities that will give you an authentic look at this beautiful bastion of South Vietnam’s culture.
First, though, a note on Mekong Delta Tours. Since the Mekong is one of the most popular tourist areas in Vietnam, practically every tour company in the Southern part of the country will offer tours there.
The tours may have slight differences, but the itineraries for almost all of these Mekong Delta tours seem to be remarkably similar: a short boat ride through a canal and past a rice paper factory, a visit to a bee farm, a visit to a fruit orchard, and a horse-drawn buggy ride through a village or two with a stop for a bland lunch.
These generic tours give you a decent overview of what the area looks like, but they can feel rather formulaic and inauthentic. Most of the stops on these tours are actually meant to sell you overpriced local products like honey, coconut candy, and wooden handicrafts. Again, not the worst use of money in the world, but if you have the time available it’s worth exploring the Mekong Delta independently for the best experience.
The top Mekong Delta travel tip you’ll hear from those who have been multiple times is to bypass the package tours and do some exploring by yourself. So, without further ado, here are some of the best things to do in the Mekong Delta. Since the Mekong Delta region is so big, you’ll need to cycle or motorbike to these locations yourself or hire a driver to take you around for the day.
Take a Sampan Ride Through Canals
The complex web of canals spanning the Mekong Delta is totally unique, and a boat ride down a few of the watery avenues is a must for those experiencing the area for the first time.
You’ll take a seat in a sampan (a traditional Vietnamese rowboat) and the boat’s owner (usually an old lady) will propel the boat through the narrow waterways with remarkably strong arms. The bamboo, banana, and papaya trees, and mangroves lining either side of the canals will generally provide shade from the otherwise-intense sunlight. The lotus flowers, water lilies, and elephant ear plants in the water add to the bucolic feel of the ride. It’s a lovely introduction to the area, and I’d recommend you try to make it one of your first stops.
You can ask the people in charge of your hotel or homestay to help you book a sampan (make sure you’re not booking a full tour) or you can head to a pier yourself and you’ll be barraged with sampan drivers offering to take you down the canal for a good price. I bought this sampan tour out of Can Tho and really enjoyed it, though it’s not the cheapest option.
Visit Floating Markets
The Mekong Delta floating markets are its most famous landmarks. It’s amazing they’re still around, given how much simpler it would seem to organize a daily market on land instead of on boats in the middle of the river. Sure enough, though, dozens of merchants bring their floating houses to the market early every morning to sell their wares, and you can witness it if you wake up early enough.
The most popular floating markets in the Mekong Delta are:
- Cai Rang floating market in Can Tho
- Cai Be floating market in Tien Giang
- Phong Dien floating market in Can Tho
- Nga Bay floating market in Hau Giang
- Nga Nam floating market in Soc Trang
- Tra On floating market in Vinh Long
Ask your hotel or homestay for info about where to catch a boat to the market and at what time you should be there. Then head down to the dock yourself and catch a boat for a low price.
Cycle Through the Countryside
I know I recommended you avoid going on a tour in the Mekong Delta, but a cycling tour is an exception. The flat terrain makes the Mekong Delta ideal for cycling, offering up-close views of rice paddies and rural life without being too strenuous.
You’ll be cycling through the real Mekong Delta, not the touristy version that most package tours will take you on. A few good local Mekong Delta cycling tour operators include:
Forage at Fruit Orchards
The fertile soil of the Mekong Delta has blessed the region with some of the sweetest and juiciest fruit I’ve ever tasted – it’s no wonder the area has earned the nickname, “the fruit basket of Vietnam.” You can search for a nearby fruit orchard on Google Maps and make your way there to sample some for yourself. The orchard will charge you a small entrance fee, but once you pay it you’ll be able to enter and pick tropical fruits to your heart’s content.
The Mekong Delta was the first time I encountered tropical fruits like star apple (vú sữa), sapodilla (hồng xiêm), and rambutan (chôm chôm). I also had the best mango I’ve ever had in my life there.
Some fantastic fruit orchards in the Mekong Delta include:
Explore Tra Su Cajuput Forest
Tra Su Biosphere, which is near Chau Doc and about a 3.5-hour drive Northwest from Can Tho, is perhaps the most immersed in nature I felt during my whole time in Vietnam. The forest is thick and deep green, and countless species of colorful birds and other wildlife can be found along its narrow dirt paths.
You can also pay a small fee to be rowed down the stream leading through the mangroves in the biosphere. The waters of the stream are covered with floating lilies and moss, so it looks like your boat is cutting through the greenery as if floats through the water.
Maybe the most memorable part of the park, though, is the boardwalk over the water that is lined on either side with neon green and electric orange tea trees. It’s one of the most spectacular nature walks I’ve ever taken.
Take a Cooking Class
The Mekong Delta has a unique cuisine inspired by the extraordinarily fertile soil in the area, and taking a cooking class there is a fun way to gain a window into local culture. As a bonus, you get lunch out of the deal!
There are high-quality cooking classes available all over the Mekong – ask your hotel or homestay about local ones.
Sample Mekong Delta Food
As I mentioned, the Mekong Delta has many specialties that are better there than anywhere else in Vietnam. From exotic delicacies like grilled fieldmouse or water coconut pudding to better-known dishes like Vietnamese pancakes (bánh xèo) or savory Vietnamese cupcakes (bánh khọt), Mekong locals love their food.
A street food tour is a cheap evening activity that gives you a window into local culture while filling your stomach. They’re cheap, too, and you can easily find one online or ask at your hotel or homestay. My personal favorite is the Can Tho exotic food tour, which is only $7 (other than the cost of the food). I encourage you to leave a tip if you enjoy the tour, though.
Take a Trip to Can Tho
If you’re not already, try to spend at least one night in Can Tho (pronounced cun-tuh with the emphasis on the second word) for at least one night. It’s the capital city of the Mekong Delta and has most of the modern amenities you’d expect. It’s also got tons of activities like museums, parks, and nightlife that will appeal to both kids and adults. That’s not to mention that Can Tho is home to Cai Rang, the largest floating market in Asia.
All that being said, it’s much quieter than large Vietnamese cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The traffic is mellower, the people are friendlier, and there’s not as much noise pollution. Plus, the fresh fruits and vegetables that the Mekong Delta is known for are still available at outdoor stalls all around the city.
Final thoughts
So that’s a brief overview of what I’ve learned about the Mekong Delta. Everyone who visits Southern Vietnam should go there, and I’m hoping that this guide covering what to expect from the trip, how to get there, where to stay, and what to do there will help make your Mekong Delta trip a stress-free experience. Please let me know in the comments if you have any great Mekong Delta travel tips that you don’t see mentioned here!
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Posted JUL 08, 2024