Private Mekong days from Saigon
Destinations
Four places a day or a night can reach
These are the places our trips go to, chosen because they can be reached from Saigon in a day, or in one night for Can Tho. Each page says what the place is today, how long it takes to reach by boat or by car, what it costs on the ground, and when to leave it out.
The four places side by side
| Place | From central Saigon | How we go | Nights | Go for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Saigon River route | From the city centre | Private speedboat, about 1 h 20 min to the canals | 0 | The city from the water, then the upper-delta canals |
| Ben Tre | About 85 km | Private car, about 1.75–2.25 h | 0 | Coconut canals, workshops, orchards |
| Cai Be | About 108 km | Private car, about 2–2.5 h | 0 | River traffic, old wooden houses |
| Can Tho | About 171 km | Private car, about 3–3.5 h | 1 | Cai Rang floating market at dawn |
Distances are road kilometres from central Saigon; times are planning ranges that include leaving the city. The speedboat time is from a published operator timetable.
Sources: OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), road km from Ben Thanh; Les Rives, Mekong Delta speedboat day (published itinerary) · checked .
What changed in 2025
If you are reading older guidebooks, the map has changed. In June 2025 Vietnam's National Assembly merged provinces, and the new provinces began operating on 1 July 2025. Ben Tre is now part of Vinh Long province. My Tho and Cai Be, which were in Tien Giang, are now part of Dong Thap province. Can Tho city now also takes in the former Soc Trang and Hau Giang provinces. Long An, where the speedboat canals are, is part of Tay Ninh province.
Town names have not changed, and everyone on the ground still says Ben Tre, My Tho and Cai Be. On these pages we use the town names and say "the former Ben Tre province" only where the difference matters, for example on a sign or a ticket.
Sources: Resolution 202/2025/QH15, Dai bieu Nhan dan, 12 Jun 2025 · checked .
How to choose a place
If you have one day and want the least time in a vehicle
Take the Saigon River route by speedboat. You leave from the centre and are in the canals in about eighty minutes. The trade is that you reach the upper edge of the delta, not the big river.
If you have one day and want the Mekong of the photographs
Choose Ben Tre for quiet canals and coconut groves, or Cai Be for river traffic and old houses. Both mean about two hours in a private car each way.
If you can spend one night away
Go to Can Tho. It is too far for a comfortable day, but with one night you can be at the Cai Rang floating market at six in the morning, which is the only time it is worth seeing.
Places we do not cover, and why
Some of the delta's well-known places are not on this site because a day or a single night from Saigon does not do them justice. Chau Doc and the Tra Su forest are about four and a half hours or more by road; the Plain of Reeds, Sa Dec's flower villages and the Khmer pagodas of the south need more time than we sell. If those are what you want, you need a multi-day trip, and we are the wrong people for it.
We also do not send people to floating markets that exist mainly in old photographs. Cai Be's market has faded to a few boats early in the morning, and others in the region have largely stopped. Cai Rang in Can Tho is the one that still trades every morning, smaller than it was, and it is the only one our trips are built around.
Sources: Bao Van Hoa, floating markets that no longer float, 12 Aug 2024 · checked .
What the places have in common
Tide sets the day
Every place here sits on tidal water. The tide decides which canals a boat can enter and when, and our plans are set around it.
Dry is easier
December to April is dry and the easiest time for boats. May to August brings fruit; June to October is the wettest stretch, September most of all.
Mornings matter
Midday is hot all year. Our days put the boats in the morning and the lunch in the shade.
The when to go page has the month-by-month detail, and the trips page shows which product goes where.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Which Mekong Delta place is closest to Saigon?
By road, My Tho and the islets in the Tien River opposite it, at about 71 km. By water, the canals of the upper delta, about eighty minutes by speedboat from the city centre.
Is Ben Tre still a province?
No. Since July 2025 the former Ben Tre province is part of Vinh Long province. The town and the name are still in everyday use.
Can we see a floating market on a day trip?
Not one worth the drive. The surviving market at Cai Rang is busiest around six in the morning and is three hours from Saigon, so it needs an overnight in Can Tho.
Do you go to Chau Doc or Tra Su?
No. They are too far for a day or a single night from Saigon, which is all we sell.
Related
Read next
Destinations · By water
The Saigon River route
Leaving Saigon by water: the river, the canals and the tide that governs them.
View this journey
Destinations · Day trip
Ben Tre
Coconut canals and orchards about two hours from Saigon by private car.
View this journey
Destinations · Day trip
Cai Be
Tien River traffic, workshops and old wooden houses, about two hours from Saigon by car.
View this journey
Destinations · One night
Can Tho
Can Tho on the Hau River and its surviving floating market, three hours from Saigon.
View this journey
Plan · Seasons
When to go
Month-by-month guide to boat days, heat, fruit and tides around Saigon and the delta.
View this journey
Tours
Tours
Four private Mekong trips from Saigon compared by transport, reach and door-to-door time.
View this journeyStart planning
Tell us the day you have in mind
A date, how many are travelling and where you start, a hotel, an airport or a ship, are enough to begin. We reply by email with questions or a written plan with door-to-door times.