Private Mekong days from Saigon
Destinations · One night
Can Tho: worth one night, not a day
Can Tho is a large working city on the Hau River, and the home of Cai Rang, the floating market that still trades every morning. It is three hours or more from Saigon by road, which is why we only go there with a night in between.
Can Tho in brief
Sources: OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), road km from Ben Thanh; redBus Vietnam, Saigon to Can Tho; Resolution 202/2025/QH15, Dai bieu Nhan dan, 12 Jun 2025 · checked .
What Can Tho actually is
Can Tho is a working city of the delta, not a village. Its centre is the Ninh Kieu riverfront: a promenade, a pedestrian bridge built in 2016, hotels and restaurants facing the Hau River, and a night market that opens after four in the afternoon. Most visitors come for one thing, the Cai Rang floating market, and most of them arrive too late to see it properly.
Cai Rang is about 6 km from the centre, thirty to forty minutes by boat from the Ninh Kieu side. Its floating market culture was recognised as national intangible cultural heritage in 2016. In 2020 the city's tourism department counted about 750,000 visitors a year, and in the same year experts warned that road building and new embankments were shrinking the market's space. Published guides now disagree on how many trading boats remain; all agree it is far fewer than at its peak, and that a growing share of the boats on the water are tourist boats.
Even so, it is the one floating market in the delta that still trades every morning on a scale worth an early start. Wholesale boats hang a sample of what they sell from a tall pole, small boats sell coffee and noodle soup to the traders, and between about six and half past seven the market is at its fullest. After eight it thins out quickly.
Sources: Doanh nghiep Hoi nhap, Cai Rang heritage and decline, 20 Oct 2020; vietnamtourism.com (private publisher), Can Tho floating market guide, 27 May 2026; VnExpress, 48 hours in Can Tho, 27 Oct 2023 · checked .
Why one night, and not more
A day trip to Can Tho from Saigon spends six to seven hours in the car and reaches Cai Rang hours after the market has thinned. That is why we do not sell one. With one night, you arrive for lunch, see the city in the afternoon, and are on the water at Cai Rang by six the next morning.
A second night lets you go further, to the smaller Phong Dien market about 20 km south-west, the orchards and the canals. That is a different kind of trip, built around staying in the delta, and not one we sell. For travellers who can give one night, our Can Tho in one night is built around the dawn market.
Sources: vietnamtourism.com (private publisher), Can Tho floating market guide, 27 May 2026 · checked .
When to go
Can Tho is warm all year. The figures below are long-term monthly averages for the city, useful for choosing a month; any given week can differ.
| Month | Average high / low °C | Rain, mm | For the dawn market |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30.2 / 22.3 | 10 | Dry, cool mornings |
| February | 31.2 / 22.7 | 3.8 | Dry; Tet traffic some years |
| March | 32.7 / 23.9 | 15 | Dry, warming |
| April | 33.9 / 25.0 | 42 | Hottest month; mornings still fine |
| May | 33.2 / 25.2 | 223 | Rains begin, mostly later in the day |
| June | 32.0 / 24.6 | 310 | Wet season; dawn often dry |
| July | 31.4 / 24.3 | 336 | Wet season |
| August | 31.2 / 24.4 | 338 | Wet season |
| September | 31.1 / 24.4 | 451 | Wettest month |
| October | 31.0 / 24.4 | 301 | Wet; high tides can flood riverside streets |
| November | 30.7 / 24.3 | 137 | Drying out; high tides |
| December | 29.7 / 23.0 | 42 | Dry and coolest |
The flood season brings the highest water of the year. In 2025 the government's bulletin forecast peaks at Can Tho in mid-October and early November tied to high tides, and noted that riverside streets in Can Tho flood at the peak tides. On those dates we plan the evening walk and the boat times around the tide.
Sources: Wikipedia, Can Tho climate table; Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Mekong flood bulletin, 3 Oct 2025 · checked .
Getting there
| How | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Private car | About 3–3.5 h | About 171 km, expressway almost all the way |
| Bus from Saigon | About 4 h | Fares about VND 170,000–260,000; shared limousine services listed from VND 165,000 |
| Air | Domestic flights only | Can Tho airport is about 9 km from the centre; check the airline's schedule |
The road has improved. The My Thuan to Can Tho expressway, which starts from the My Thuan 2 bridge over the Tien River, opened on 15 December 2023, so the drive is now expressway from the edge of Saigon almost to the city. The Can Tho bridge over the Hau River opened in 2010.
The bus services between Saigon and Can Tho are frequent and run round the clock. Several carry the word limousine, which here means a shared minibus with larger seats. They are good value if you travel alone and light; they do not get you to Cai Rang at six.
Sources: OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), road km from Ben Thanh; redBus Vietnam, Saigon to Can Tho; MoMo, Phuong Trang bus tickets; Sai Gon Giai Phong, Mekong expressway overview, 20 Jan 2026 · checked .
Costs on the ground
- Binh Thuy ancient house: VND 15,000 per adult, set by the family that owns it; open 08:00–12:00 and 14:00–18:00, as published in 2023, so check locally. Built in 1870, it was used as a set for the film L'Amant.
- Boats to Cai Rang: a 2-hour basic boat from Ninh Kieu about VND 200,000–300,000; a private guided boat of 4–5 hours about VND 500,000–800,000 per person. These are a private publisher's estimates from May 2026, and it does not say whether the basic boat is priced per boat or per person; there is no official tariff.
- Hotels: rooms around Ninh Kieu averaged about VND 500,000–800,000 a night in 2023 figures; the upper-end hotels publish their own rates and are far above that.
- Food: noodle soup on the market boats for breakfast, and duck stewed in fermented tofu, the city's own dinner dish.
On our trip the boats, the guide, the entrance fees, the room and lunch are included.
Sources: VnExpress, 48 hours in Can Tho, 27 Oct 2023; vietnamtourism.com (private publisher), Can Tho floating market guide, 27 May 2026 · checked .
Where to stay for one night
For a single night, a hotel close to the Ninh Kieu riverfront shortens the dawn start. The Nam Bo Boutique Hotel stands on the Ninh Kieu pier and has seven suites. Victoria Can Tho Resort is a garden resort on the Hau River with a riverside pool. Legacy Mekong, Can Tho, Autograph Collection, on a private islet in the river, has 86 bungalows and pool villas; it opened in 2018 as Azerai Can Tho, left that brand in October 2024 and was announced in Marriott's portfolio in December 2025. Confirm the current name when you book.
Every hotel mentioned here is described from its own website or from published trade press, read on the date shown under the section. A mention is information for choosing, not a sign of any agreement between us and the hotel. Room prices are the hotel's own on the day you book.
Sources: Nam Bo Boutique Hotel, operator page; Victoria Hotels & Resorts; Lodging Magazine, 1 Dec 2025; Marriott Careers, Legacy Mekong Can Tho posting · checked .
Gallery
When to skip it
- If you cannot spend a night; the day trip misses the market and spends most of the day in the car
- If you will not get up before half past five; later boats see a thin market and many tour boats
- If you expect hundreds of trading boats; that market no longer exists
- In the wettest weeks of September, if rain would spoil the trip for you
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Is Cai Rang floating market still worth seeing?
Yes, if you are there by about six in the morning. It is much smaller than it was and has many tour boats, but it still trades every morning, which most other delta markets no longer do.
How far is Can Tho from Saigon?
About 171 km by road, three to three and a half hours by private car, or about four hours by bus.
Can we fly to Can Tho?
Can Tho airport has domestic flights. Check the airline's current schedule for your date; routes change.
Is the former Azerai Can Tho still open?
The resort left the Azerai brand in October 2024 and was announced as Legacy Mekong, Can Tho, Autograph Collection in December 2025. Check its current name and services when booking.
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