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When visiting Vietnam, the Cu Chi tunnels are on everyone’s bucket list. Many travelers who are staying in Ho Chi Minh City turn to a tour company to visit the tunnels on a half-day/one-day Cu Chi Tunnels tour. You can, however, have a more authentic experience visiting the Cu Chi tunnels from Ho Chi Minh, if you decide to take public transportation and pay a visit like the locals do. It is not only more authentic but also much cheaper than a tour and you can do the whole trip at your own pace.
The Cu Chi Tunnels are an extensive network of tunnels located in Ho Chi Minh Vietnam in the rural district of Cu Chi. They were dug just after World War II during Vietnam’s fight for liberation from French colonization but became of significant importance later on during the Vietnam War.
They were used as hiding spots and supply routes by the communist Vietcong soldiers to combat American forces in the south of Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive in 1968, The United States suffered great losses and started pulling back American forces gradually which eventually led to victory for the Vietcong and the communist north.
The Vietnamese government has turned the site into a war memorial park and it has become a huge tourist attraction.
All of the companies that offer tours to the Cu Chi Tunnels go to Ben Dinh. Ben Dinh is specifically designed to cater to Western tourists. The tunnels are mostly reconstructions and have been enlarged so Western tourists who are often larger in size than the local Vietnamese can fit in. Since all the tour companies go here this site can get very crowded which is something I like to avoid as a conscious traveler.
What a lot of people don’t know is that there are actually two tunnel sites. Ben Duoc is located 12 kilometers from Ben Dinh and this is the place where all the locals go. This site is not crowded. I visited this site in high season and only 15 other tourists were there attending the tour and there was no one else around except the employees.
The tour was very relaxing and quite fun and the information provided by the guide was extensive and he was very knowledgable. English was well-spoken.
If you are a slow traveler, you will love this guide about how to visit the Cu Chi tunnels like a local. Below, I will explain to you how to get to Cu Chi tunnels using only public bus transport.
When you visit Ho Chi Minh City it is likely that you stay in District 1. From your accommodation navigate to Cong Vien 23/9. It is a park located on a street named Pham Ngu Lao. When you enter this in Google Maps you can see two bus stops on that street. Navigate to one of them and take bus 13 which has a sign that says “Cu Chi”. Take this bus all the way to the terminal. It should take about 1h30m. Tickets are sold on the bus and cost 10,000 dong (march 2020).
When arriving at the terminal at Cu Chi look for bus 79. You don’t have to go near the offices, you will see a lot of buses lined up in the parking area. If you need to use the bathroom you can find them opposite the offices. Look around for number 79 and take a seat.
Ho Chi Minh to Cu Chi: Bus to Cu Chi tunnels
After a short while the bus will take off. A ticket for this part of the trip costs 7000 VND. Pay it to the bus boy when he approaches you and say you want to get off at Ben Duoc. He will tell you when you need to get out and show you what street you need to take to get to the entrance. If you don’t feel comfortable relying on the bus boy you can also track the route with Google Maps or Maps.me.
To get back after your visit, wait for the bus at the really small store on the corner of the street opposite from where you got off the bus when you arrived. Different buses are passing this route so make sure you get on the right one.
Here are the websites I personally use whenever I travel to Vietnam:
Booking.com: For the best cheap guesthouses, homestays or small hotels
Hostelworld: To find the best hostels located in the cities
Homestay: For unique immersive homestays in the cities as well as in the Vietnamese countryside
12GO and Bookaway: The best transport websites for long-distance buses and train travel in Vietnam
GRAB: for taxi rides in cities and nearby attractions
Skyscanner: For affordable flights to Vietnam
Eatwith: Dine with locals inside their home for an immersive foodie experience
Withlocals: Experience cities in Vietnam with local people that show you around. This is a good idea if you want to stray off the beaten path!
Viator and Get Your Guide: For (vegan) food tours, street food tours, and tours in general
Get your Visa for Vietnam online through the Evisa website
If you’re looking for travel insurance, the one with the best benefits online is without a doubt Heymondo! It’s very easy to ask for a quote on the website and if you book with this link you’ll get 5% off!
Get access to mobile data straight away when entering the country with a Vietnam E-sim or an Asialink E-sim when traveling through multiple countries.
When you enter Ben Duoc you have a restaurant with a nice view of the river to your right. Although the food is not the best you can get in Vietnam and it’s slightly overpriced it is still a good place to hang out before or after the tour because of its scenic location. When you turn left you will find the ticket booth to enter the tunnel complex. An entrance ticket costs 90,000 VND.
Then follow the road until you arrive at a forested area. There you will find a second ticket booth. They will check your tickets and direct you to the meeting point where the tour will take off. You may have to wait a bit until enough people have arrived to participate (my tour was +/- 15 people).
They first let you watch a short movie about the tunnels and the Vietnam War. After that, your guide takes you to see the tunnels and provides very in-depth information about the whole site. You can walk inside the tunnels if you are up to it. The longest accessible tunnel is 45 meters.
Ho Chi Minh to Cu Chi tunnels
You will also see punji pits and other booby traps, grenades, and some pictures. Around the site are set up scenes with mannequins showing life in and around the tunnels. After the tour, you can visit the gardens and temples around the memorial park to let it all sink in.
→ Also read: Can You Drink Tap Water in Vietnam?
This whole day will set you back 124 0000 dong ($ 5,35 or € 4,51). Cheap, right?
Cost breakdown:
Entrance: 90 000 dong ($3,88 or € 3,28)
Bus 13 (x2): 20 000 dong ($ 0,86 or € 0.73)
Bus 79 (x2): 14 000 dong ($ 0,60 or € 0,51)
There you go! Now you know how to get to the Cu Chi tunnels from Ho Chi Minh as the locals do! Taking the bus from Ho Chi Minh to Cu Chi tunnels is a great way to dive deeper into the Vietnamese culture and learn more about its horrific past at Ben Duoc.
A great next stop on your Vietnam itinerary is Hoi An. Read this comprehensive Ho Chi Minh to Hoi An transport guide to learn about the various options on how to get there.
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or drop me a message through my contact page.
Also, don’t forget to check out my resources page with my favorite booking platforms and tips to start planning your trip. Additionally, have a look at my favorite travel gear if you want to pack more consciously!
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links. If you click on them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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Krista
Now this is the kind of thing I love to check out! I actually hadn’t heard of the Cu Chi tunnels before reading your post, but they are going on my list now!
Rhonda
I don’t know which of the Cu Chi tunnels I visited, but they were quite small. It was the bats in the tunnel that got to me more than the size.
Shafinah
This puts me in such a mood to travel! I’ve been to HCMC twice but never thought to do Cuchi Tunnels by public transport, always just opted for day trips for convenience.. but this is definitely inspiring me to be a little more intrepid!
Dany
Thanks for the tips! Was easy to reach the tunnel using your guide. I just want to highlight again for everyone that it requires a loooot of time (4 hours from hotel to the tunnel in our case) so consider to spend more and book a tour (usually 6 hours) if you don’t have enough time for this cheap but really slow experience
annelies_degelas
Hey Daniela! Yes, I know, it takes a while to get there and back. But, for slow travelers as me, that’s the beauty of it all. 🙂 Have you seen any tours to Ben Duoc? Most tours visit the touristy tunnels of Cu Chi.