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How to get to the Cu Chi tunnels from Saigon
The easiest way to visit the Cu Chi tunnels is a private car that takes you there, waits, and brings you back. They’re about 60–70 km north-west of central Saigon, 1¼ to 2 hours each way, and the road out of the city is the slow part. Leave by about 8 am and you will be on site before the tour minibuses.
The choice is between a group tour (the common one, with a guide and a schedule), the public bus (cheap, with two changes) and a car. For one person on a budget the tour or the bus is the sensible choice. For a family or a small group, the car works out close to the cost of the seats, and you choose the site, the start time and how long you stay.
Ask for the car to wait: the driver stays at the gate while you visit, then drives you back to your hotel or on to the airport. Waiting is an extra you add when you book. You can also add a stop on the way and a SIM or eSIM in the car if you want to be online as you leave.
Ben Dinh or Ben Duoc?
Both are part of the same Cu Chi tunnel network, about 13 km apart, with different characters. Ben Dinh is closer to Saigon and busier, and is where almost every group tour goes. Ben Duoc is further, larger and quieter.
Ben Dinh
Ben Dinh is the one to pick on a half-day with limited time. The tunnels here have been widened and reinforced so that visitors can fit, there is a firing range, and the site shows trap displays, hidden entrances and underground rooms. It’s the easier site for children and anyone who dislikes tight spaces. The cost is crowds: mid-morning, tour buses cluster here.
Ben Duoc
Ben Duoc suits a longer visit built around history. The tunnels are narrower and less modified, the groups are smaller, and a memorial temple, the Ben Duoc Temple, sits on the site. It takes longer to reach, so you need a car or a tour that names it. When you book a tour, check which site it’s going to: many listings say only “Cu Chi tunnels”.
Cu Chi entry fee, opening hours and costs
As of 2026 a foreign visitor pays 135,000₫: 35,000₫ historic-site admission plus a 100,000₫ visitor service and guide fee (published rates from 1 February 2026). Children pay a lower rate; check at the gate. The tunnels open from 7 am to 5 pm every day, with the ticket desk closing at 4 pm.
Extra costs are the firing range (ammunition is charged separately, by the round), food and drink, and any guide tips. Bring cash, water and a hat.
What the Cu Chi tunnels are
The Cu Chi tunnels are the remains of an underground network dug by hand by Vietnamese fighters, which was extended over decades and used as a base during the war with the United States. The network is commonly put at about 120 km (75 miles), and some Vietnamese sources give higher figures. They had living rooms, kitchens, hospitals and command posts on several levels, hidden by trap doors and booby-trapped against searchers.
Digging began in the 1940s during the fight against French colonial rule, and the network grew in the 1960s as the war with the US escalated. American and allied troops that went into the tunnels were called “tunnel rats”. Heavy bombing, gas and grenades did not destroy them.
Today the tunnels are a museum site. Guides lead visitors through the widened sections, and you can try a short crawl. It’s a war site: for the wider story of the war, see our museums page, Saigon’s museums, and the War Remnants Museum in particular.
It’s also fair to say that this is a tourist version of history, run for visitors. Some people leave thinking Vietnam is only its war. If you have time, it’s worth following Cu Chi with an afternoon in Saigon itself, to see what the country looks like now.
What to expect on the day
You buy the ticket at the gate and are assigned a guide, or you walk with the group you arrived with. Allow 2 to 3 hours. The route shows hidden entrances, trap displays and underground rooms. The tunnel crawl is optional. At Ben Dinh you can try cassava and tea, and the shooting range is loud enough to hear across the site.
Wear shoes that can get muddy and dusty, light clothes and a hat. In the dry season it’s hot and dry, in the wet season it can rain hard in the afternoon, so go in the morning. Sunscreen and water help in both.
Which car for Cu Chi
A sedan or electric VinFast is fine for two people. A family, anyone tall and anyone with luggage should take a 7-seater, and groups can book the VIP limousine van or the 16-seater. Child seats are available on request when you book. Our cars are non-smoking, with calm drivers, and that matters on a trip that can be 3 to 4 hours in the car in total.
Is Cu Chi worth it?
Yes, if the war history matters to you, or if you want to understand how people lived underground for years. It’s less interesting if you’re only after a “photo with a tunnel”. Combined with the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, it gives a fuller picture. For nature or the countryside instead, Can Gio is the better day out, and Tay Ninh is the one for temples and mountain views.