My Tho, Ben Tre and Vinh Long: three Mekong Delta towns in 2026

The map changed on 1 July 2025. After the administrative reform, Tien Giang province, home to My Tho, merged into Dong Thap, and Ben Tre and Tra Vinh merged into Vinh Long. Districts no longer exist and towns are split into wards. The towns themselves haven't gone anywhere, but addresses now read "phường Mỹ Tho, tỉnh Đồng Tháp" or "phường Bến Tre, tỉnh Vĩnh Long". Below we use the old province names as geography, so it's clear which place we mean.

The three towns at a glance

My Tho suits a first visit to the delta on a single day. Ben Tre suits independent travellers happy to get on a bicycle or scooter. Vinh Long suits anyone who wants An Binh island and a homestay without the show. My Tho and Vinh Long are about 65 km apart, an hour or so by car.

Pick My Tho if

You have one day. Out from HCMC in the morning, back in the evening: My Tho is the only town you can physically fit in. The routine is well worn: bus, boat, coconut candy, lunch, home. Group tours on platforms like Klook start at around $25 per person.

Pick Ben Tre if

You have two days and don't mind cycling or riding a scooter. You'll see what group tours skip: country lanes between plantations, family workshops, a home-cooked dinner at your homestay for 100,000 to 150,000 VND (~$4 to $6).

Pick Vinh Long if

You're on a tight budget and want to sleep at a farm. Vinh Long itself is a stop between HCMC and Can Tho. You get off the bus, take the ferry, and a few minutes later you're on an island of orchards and canals.

Map of 12 places

The map has three clusters. Around My Tho: Vinh Trang pagoda, the islands in the Tien River and Rach Mieu bridge. Around Ben Tre: the town and Phu Tuc commune. Around Vinh Long: the town, the ferry, An Binh island and the Mang Thit brick kilns. The far ends are about 45 km apart as the crow flies.

• My Tho (Mỹ Tho): 70 km from HCMC — Market and riverfront, hu tieu noodles
• Vinh Trang Pagoda (Chùa Vĩnh Tràng): Free entry, donations welcome — Giant Buddha statues
• Unicorn Island (Cồn Thới Sơn): Main stop for group tours — Orchards, sampans
• Phoenix Island (Cồn Phụng): Former Coconut Monk community — Small entry fee
• Rach Mieu Bridge (Cầu Rạch Miễu): 2,868 m, My Tho to Ben Tre — Opened 2009
• Ben Tre (Bến Tre): 85 km from HCMC — Coconut country
• Phu Tuc commune (Xã Phú Túc): Coconut orchards and workshops — Near Phoenix Island
• Vinh Long (Vĩnh Long): 135 km from HCMC — Ferry to An Binh
• An Binh Ferry (Phà An Bình): A few minutes across the river
• An Binh Island (Xã An Bình): Orchards, canals — Homestays
• Mang Thit Brick Kilns (Lò gạch Mang Thít): Hundreds of domed kilns — Best at sunset
• My Thuan Bridge (Cầu Mỹ Thuận): Tien River crossing — On the Vinh Long to HCMC road

Tours from Ho Chi Minh City · Private Mekong Delta tour with a guide

My Tho, the Mekong veteran

My Tho sits 70 km from HCMC on the Sông Tiền (Tien River) and has lived off tourism longer than anywhere else in the delta. The main sights are the islands of Cồn Thới Sơn and Cồn Phụng, Vinh Trang pagoda, and hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho noodles. One big downside: almost everyone arrives on a day trip from Saigon, and everything is built around groups.

The town was founded in the late 17th century by Chinese settlers loyal to the fallen Ming dynasty. Since July 2025 it has been the administrative centre of the enlarged Dong Thap province. It's an ordinary Vietnamese town with a market, a riverfront and a couple of colonial buildings. The islands, a few minutes away by boat, are the reason to come.

The islands off My Tho

Four islands in the river opposite town are named after sacred animals: Dragon (Cồn Tân Long), Unicorn (Cồn Thới Sơn), Phoenix (Cồn Phụng) and Tortoise (Cồn Quy). Tours mostly show you Unicorn and Phoenix. Phoenix and Tortoise technically belong to the Ben Tre side.

Thoi Son (Unicorn Island) is where most groups land: a jetty, an orchard, a tasting of mango and dragon fruit to live đờn ca tài tử folk music. Then you switch to a sampan, a narrow rowing boat, for a ride through channels lined with water palms. It feels staged, but this is the "classic Mekong" most people come for.

Phung (Phoenix Island) was home to Đạo Dừa, the community of the "Coconut Monk", Nguyen Thanh Nam. The story goes that he lived on coconuts for years, meditated on a stone slab and preached a peaceful end to the war. The community was dissolved after 1975 and he died in 1990. A platform with dragon-wrapped columns and a small display remain. There's a small entry fee.

Tan Long (Dragon Island) sees few groups. Farmers and boatbuilders live here. Hire a boat directly at the jetty and you'll see the rural Mekong without a script. Expect around 300,000 VND (~$12) for a couple of hours, and bargain.

Quy (Tortoise Island) is mostly orchards and farms.

Vinh Trang Pagoda

My Tho's main temple, Chùa Vĩnh Tràng, is on the eastern edge of the centre. It was founded in the first half of the 19th century and rebuilt in the early 20th, mixing Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer and French colonial styles. In the garden stand large standing, seated and reclining Buddha statues, each over 20 m.

Inside is an altar hall with carved wood and lacquered columns. Entry is free; there's a donation box by the exit. For other temples worth a detour, see our round-up of Vietnam's temples and pagodas.

Hu tieu My Tho noodles

The local dish, and a good reason to stay for breakfast. Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho is thin, chewy rice noodles in a clear pork-bone broth, topped with pork, shrimp, sometimes liver and quail eggs, spring onion and fried garlic. A bowl costs 40,000 to 50,000 VND (~$1.50 to $2).

Look for it in the morning near the market: a "Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho" sign and a queue of locals is a good sign. To order it mild, say "Một tô hủ tiếu, không cay".

As a snack, try bánh giá, fried patties with shrimp and bean sprouts, around 15,000 VND (~$0.60).

Where to stay in My Tho

Prices are 2026 guide rates from booking sites and go up at Tet and on weekends. My Tho is so close to HCMC that people mostly stay only to get on the river early, before the tour buses.

Getting there

The HCM–Trung Lương expressway made the trip predictable: about 1.5 hours on weekdays, up to 2.5 on a Sunday evening. Buses leave from Bến xe Miền Tây (Western Bus Station). Many limousine companies pick up in central HCMC for a small surcharge. How to reach the station is covered in our Ho Chi Minh City transport guide.

The downsides of My Tho

Mass tourism, mainly. From mid-morning groups arrive one after another, the channels jam with sampans and there's a queue at the fruit tasting. For a quieter visit, sleep in My Tho and be on the water by 7am, before the Saigon buses.

Then there's the water level. From February to April the narrow channels get shallow and boatmen sometimes pole the sampan along the bottom.

And the town goes to sleep early. There's no nightlife, and most cafes close early. After Saigon, you notice.

If a tour lists a "coconut candy factory", it's usually a shop with a short demo. The real production is in Ben Tre.

Ben Tre, coconut country

Ben Tre is a town and a former province spread over three large islands between branches of the Mekong. Coconut is the main crop: plantations cover a big share of the land, and Ben Tre is Vietnam's largest coconut producer. For visitors it's less a town than a web of villages that you ride between, homestay to homestay. Since July 2025 it has been part of Vinh Long province.

Until 2009 the only way in was by ferry. Then the 2,868 m Rach Mieu bridge opened, and in August 2025 a second one, Rach Mieu 2, joined it. Weekend traffic out of the delta got noticeably easier.

Coconut everything

Ben Tre makes everything that can be made from a coconut: oil, fibre for mats and rope, bowls and spoons from the shell, charcoal, growing medium for seedlings. The palm leaves go into roofs and baskets.

Workshops are scattered through the villages around town, for example in Phu Tuc commune near the bridge. You can walk into most of them: the owners show you the process and don't push you to buy. Shell and fibre crafts start at a few tens of thousands of dong. Similar places around the country are in our guide to Vietnam's craft villages.

Away from town, Chợ Lách and Cái Mơn are nursery villages growing fruit tree saplings and ornamental plants. Go for the gardens and the countryside.

Coconut candy workshops

Kẹo dừa, coconut candy, is Ben Tre's signature souvenir. In family workshops you see the whole process: coconut milk boiled with sugar and malt, cooled, cut into bars and wrapped in rice paper. It takes about twenty minutes, followed by a tasting and a shop.

Common flavours:

• Plain coconut and sugar
• Cocoa
• Durian (the smell is an acquired taste)
• Peanut
• Pandan

A pack costs noticeably less at the workshop than in Saigon souvenir shops or at the airport, so buy here. Check the date on the pack: without preservatives the candy doesn't keep long.

Cao Dai temples in Ben Tre

Small Cao Dai temples stand in many delta villages; you'll know them by the Divine Eye on the facade. Caodaism is a Vietnamese religion founded in 1926 that blends Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity and spiritism. Its main temple is in Tay Ninh, northwest of HCMC. The village temples in Ben Tre are worth a quick stop if you won't make it to Tay Ninh.

Cycling and how to do it

Ben Tre works in two ways:

• Cycling tour with an operator: 1 to 3 days on country lanes with a guide and a homestay night. Saigon agencies and booking platforms sell these; prices depend on length and group size.
• On your own by scooter: renting in HCMC costs $7 to $10 a day. Only do it if you have a valid licence (a Vietnamese licence or a 1968-convention International Driving Permit) and experience riding in Vietnam. Travel insurers often refuse claims otherwise.

There's nothing to do on foot. The centre is small and the good stuff is 10 to 30 km out.

Where to stay in Ben Tre

Prices are guide rates from booking sites; check before you go. Some village homestays are on Booking and Agoda, others book through the owner's Zalo or WhatsApp.

Getting there

With both Rach Mieu bridges open, the drive is steadier: about 2 hours, except on Sunday evenings.

Ben Tre food

Coconut here isn't a garnish, it's the base.

• Gỏi củ hủ dừa: salad of coconut palm heart with shrimp and pork. Crunchy, slightly sweet.
• Tôm kho nước dừa: shrimp braised in coconut water.
• Nước dừa: a fresh coconut with a straw, 15,000 to 20,000 VND (under $1).
• Bánh xèo: a crispy pancake with shrimp and sprouts, wrapped in herbs. About 50,000 VND (~$2). More in our banh xeo guide.
• Chuột đồng: field rats fried with lemongrass. Normal village food in the delta, where the animals feed on rice in the paddies. Not for everyone.

The downsides of Ben Tre

Without a bicycle or scooter it's dull. Everything interesting is in villages 10 to 30 km out, too far to walk, and a taxi for the day runs 1,000,000 VND (~$38) or more.

Homestays in the rainy season (June to October) test your patience. Dirt lanes turn to mud, rooms get damp and there are more mosquitoes. In summer, consider a hotel with air conditioning.

Small homestay owners don't always reply quickly or in English. Message early and have a backup.

Vietnamese cuisine by region · Craft villages · Renting a motorbike in Vietnam

Vinh Long and An Binh island

Vinh Long is 135 km from HCMC, by My Thuan bridge over the Tien River. Since July 2025 it's the capital of an enlarged Vinh Long province that absorbed Ben Tre and Tra Vinh. The town itself is a stopover between Saigon and Can Tho: grey buildings, a riverfront, a market. The logic is simple: walk to the ferry, cross, and a few minutes later you're on An Binh island.

An Binh is orchards, narrow canals and homestays that have hosted foreign guests for years. There are hardly any cars: people get around by scooter and bicycle on concrete paths between the gardens.

An Binh island

The island lies in the Tien River opposite Vinh Long, where the Cổ Chiên branch splits off. Most people here grow fruit: rambutan, longan, mangosteen, pomelo, durian.

Út Trinh Homestay is one of the island's better-known stays: bungalows by a canal and bicycles for guests. Expect 500,000 to 600,000 VND (~$19 to $23) a night.

There are dozens of simpler family homestays too, at 300,000 to 500,000 VND (~$12 to $19) with breakfast. The host cooks dinner: rice, river fish, vegetables from the garden.

Orchards. Many gardens let visitors in for a small fee and let you pick fruit off the branches. The peak season runs from May to August. What's what is in our guide to Vietnamese fruit.

Morning markets. The island has small village markets that start at dawn with the night's catch and garden vegetables. Breakfast costs 20,000 to 40,000 VND (~$1 to $1.50).

The ferry from Vinh Long runs often from early morning into the evening. Tickets cost a few thousand dong per person, a bit more with a scooter, and you pay on board.

Mang Thit brick kilns

About 15 to 20 km southeast of Vinh Long is Mang Thít, the "kingdom of red bricks". Domed kilns of red clay line the river, used to fire bricks and pottery. Each is the height of a two or three storey house and shaped like a beehive. When they're fired, smoke drifts over the water and the air smells of burnt clay.

Most kilns no longer work and are slowly crumbling, but a few hundred still smoke. It's one of the most photogenic places in the delta, especially at sunset.

A taxi from Vinh Long with waiting time costs about 600,000 VND (~$23), or ride there yourself. There's no way without transport.

Phuoc Hau Pagoda

Chùa Phước Hậu is an old Buddhist pagoda near Tra On (Trà Ôn), about 30 km from Vinh Long, known as a centre of Buddhist learning in the delta. Entry is free. It pairs well with the Tra On floating market on the same road.

Tra On floating market

A small local market on the Hau River near Tra On, about 30 km from Vinh Long. Trading happens early, from dawn. It isn't Cai Rang: there are almost no guides or tourist boats. Agree a price with a boatman at the landing (around 300,000 VND, ~$12, for a couple of hours) and he'll take you between the trading boats.

Go if you've already seen Cai Rang or want to avoid the tourist version.

Where to stay in Vinh Long

The rule is simple: if you come to Vinh Long, sleep on An Binh, not in town. Stay in town only if your bus arrives late and you leave early.

Getting there

Vinh Long is on the HCMC to Can Tho road, and most people drive straight past. If you're heading to Can Tho, stop for a day, sleep on An Binh and carry on in the morning: Can Tho is about 35 km away, under an hour.

The downsides of Vinh Long

The town is the dullest of the three. Concrete, few trees, nowhere to stroll in the evening.

An Binh works best with a bicycle or scooter. It's a big island on foot and there are almost no taxis. Homestays usually lend bicycles.

Mang Thit and Tra On are out of reach without your own transport; local buses are irregular.

Transport: getting there and between towns

All three trips start on the HCM–Trung Lương expressway. From there, the Rach Mieu bridges lead to Ben Tre and My Thuan bridge to Vinh Long. Buses leave from Bến xe Miền Tây; limousine vans often pick up in central HCMC. Riding yourself is an option only with a valid licence and experience of Vietnamese traffic.

From HCMC to My Tho, Ben Tre and Vinh Long

A limousine van is the sweet spot for couples and families: air conditioning, reclining seats, 9 to 11 places, often a hotel pickup. Phương Trang (Futa) sells tickets at futabus.vn and in its app; for other operators, 12Go and Vexere are the easiest places to compare and pay with a foreign card.

Regular buses are cheaper but slower, with more stops. Sleeper buses only make sense beyond Vinh Long, to Can Tho or Chau Doc.

Between the three towns

Local buses also run between towns for 30,000 to 50,000 VND (~$1 to $2). They're often full and there's no English, but they're cheap.

Where to board in HCMC

Bến xe Miền Tây, the Western Bus Station, is at 395 Kinh Dương Vương, An Lac ward. It's a long way from the tourist centre: about 100,000 VND (~$4) by Grab from the Ben Thanh area and 30 to 60 minutes depending on traffic. But buses leave from here for every corner of the delta.

Limousine vans: many companies have offices downtown and pick up around the city. Easier: you board near your hotel.

Sleeper buses to Can Tho also leave from Mien Tay. Not worth it for Vinh Long, which is only about three hours away.

Scooter vs van vs driver

Families with kids: car with driver. Backpackers: limousines plus the odd taxi. Riders: your own scooter, but stay off intercity roads in a downpour.

Metro, Grab and bus stations in HCMC · Ho Chi Minh City travel guide · Getting around Vietnam

Where to stay, from $12 homestays to $100 resorts

Accommodation in the delta comes in five types. A village homestay is the most local option, 300,000 to 700,000 VND (~$12 to $27) with breakfast. A riverside resort is the most expensive, from 2,500,000 VND (~$96). In between are canal bungalows, 3-star town hotels and 4-star resorts. The choice depends on trip length, budget and whether you're on a tour or on your own.

Named places by town

My Tho: Mekong My Tho Hotel (4★, from ~$46), Song Tien Annex Hotel (3★, from ~$31).

Ben Tre: Bến Tre Riverside Resort (4★, from ~$62), Hung Vuong Hotel (3★, from ~$23), Mango Home Riverside (homestay, from ~$27).

Vinh Long and An Binh: Saigon Vinh Long Hotel (3★, from ~$27), Cuu Long Hotel (3★, from ~$23), Út Trinh Homestay (bungalows, ~$19 to $23).

When to book

Dry season (December to February): two weeks ahead. Tet (Lunar New Year): a month or more, and some homestays close over the holiday. Rainy season (June to October): same day is usually fine.

Hotels and resorts are easy on Booking, Agoda and Trip.com. Village homestays are partly there, partly via the owner's Zalo or WhatsApp.

What a homestay is like

If you book a village homestay, expect:

• A simple room with a bed, mosquito net and fan; air conditioning isn't a given
• A shared or private bathroom, often without a shower cubicle
• Breakfast of noodles or eggs and coffee with condensed milk
• Dinner for 100,000 to 150,000 VND (~$4 to $6) per person, several dishes cooked by the host
• Eating with the family, which is part of the deal rather than a paid extra

Many people spend the first and last night in Saigon; areas and prices are in our Ho Chi Minh City hotels guide.

Food: noodles, coconut, fried fish

Each town eats differently. My Tho means hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho noodles and fruit. Ben Tre means coconut in salads, braised shrimp and candy. Vinh Long and An Binh mean river fish, above all cá tai tượng chiên xù, deep-fried giant gourami. Street food everywhere costs 30,000 to 80,000 VND (~$1 to $3).

My Tho: hu tieu and street breakfast

Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho is the reason to get up early. Thin rice noodles, clear broth, pork and shrimp, a pile of herbs. About 40,000 to 50,000 VND (~$1.50 to $2). The best places open at dawn and often close by noon.

Bánh giá, fried shrimp and sprout patties, cost around 15,000 VND (~$0.60) and go well with coffee.

The central market sells fruit. Mango, rambutan and dragon fruit average 30,000 to 60,000 VND (~$1 to $2.30) a kilo depending on season; mangosteen costs more. Most fruit is in season from May to August.

Ben Tre: coconut in every form

Palm heart (củ hủ dừa) goes into salads, coconut milk and water into soups and braises, grated coconut into desserts. Spend a day in Ben Tre and coconut turns up in every other dish.

• Gỏi củ hủ dừa: palm heart salad with shrimp
• Tôm kho nước dừa: shrimp braised in coconut water
• Bánh xèo: crispy stuffed pancake
• Coconut ice cream served in half a shell
• Kẹo dừa: coconut candy, the classic souvenir

Then there's chuột đồng, field rat with lemongrass. A village delicacy, not for everyone.

Vinh Long: fish

The star is cá tai tượng chiên xù, a giant gourami ("elephant ear fish") fried whole until the scales crackle. It's often served standing upright on a rack, with rice paper, herbs, noodles and dipping sauce. You pull off the flesh, roll it in rice paper with herbs and dip. For two, about 300,000 to 400,000 VND (~$12 to $15), depending on the fish.

Cháo cá, rice porridge with fish, is the usual breakfast by the ferry landing, 30,000 to 40,000 VND (~$1 to $1.50).

The former Tra Vinh province, now also part of Vinh Long, has a large Khmer community. From there come Khmer sweets made with flattened green rice, cốm dẹp.

How eating works in the Mekong

Street food winds down by 9pm. Late dinners are hard to find in the provinces.

Ho Chi Minh City street food · Vietnamese street food · Vietnamese coffee

Itineraries: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 days

A day trip from HCMC covers only My Tho, and only on the surface. Two days add Ben Tre with a homestay night. Three days cover all three towns in turn. Four add Can Tho and the Cai Rang floating market. A week makes a big loop through Chau Doc and Ha Tien, flying back from Phu Quoc.

1 day: My Tho only

A typical group tour (from $25 per person):

• 7:00 to 8:00: hotel pickup in HCMC
• 9:00 to 9:30: My Tho, riverfront jetty
• 9:30: boat to Thoi Son, orchard, fruit tasting, folk music
• 10:30: sampan through the channels
• 11:00: stop at a coconut candy workshop
• 12:30: lunch on the island, often fried elephant ear fish
• 14:00: boat back
• 15:00: drive to HCMC
• 17:00 to 18:00: drop-off at your hotel

On your own: morning bus to My Tho (80,000 to 110,000 VND), taxi to the jetty (about 50,000 VND), boat to the islands (about 300,000 VND for a couple of hours, cheaper if shared), lunch at a cafe (about 150,000 VND), evening bus back. Roughly 600,000 to 700,000 VND (~$23 to $27) per person, and you set the pace.

2 days: My Tho and Ben Tre

Day 1:

• Morning: limousine from HCMC to My Tho (1.5 h)
• Noon: hu tieu noodles, Vinh Trang pagoda
• Afternoon: boat to the islands, Phoenix Island
• Evening: taxi over Rach Mieu bridge to Ben Tre (30 min), homestay, family dinner

Day 2:

• Morning: cycling through plantations, coconut candy workshop
• Afternoon: villages around Phu Tuc, coconut workshops
• Evening: limousine back to HCMC (2 h)

Budget for two: about $120, including transport, homestay and food.

3 days: all three towns

Day 1:

• HCMC to My Tho (1.5 h)
• Islands, Vinh Trang pagoda, noodles
• Over Rach Mieu bridge to Ben Tre, homestay

Day 2:

• Morning: cycling Ben Tre's plantations
• Afternoon: candy, workshops
• Evening: transfer to Vinh Long (1.5 h), ferry to An Binh, homestay

Day 3:

• Morning: village market and orchards on An Binh
• Afternoon: Mang Thit brick kilns
• Evening: back to HCMC (3 h)

Budget for two: about $180.

4 days: three towns plus Can Tho

Add Can Tho to the three-day route:

• Vinh Long to Can Tho (under an hour), check in by the riverfront
• Evening: Ninh Kieu riverfront, dinner
• Morning of day 4: Cai Rang floating market (leave around 5:00, back by 8:00 or 9:00)
• Afternoon: back to HCMC (3.5 to 4 h)

Budget for two: about $260.

7 days: the Mekong loop

A big loop, flying home at the end:

• Day 1: HCMC to My Tho to Ben Tre
• Day 2: Ben Tre by bicycle
• Day 3: Ben Tre to Vinh Long to An Binh
• Day 4: An Binh to Can Tho, evening on the riverfront
• Day 5: Cai Rang at dawn, transfer to Chau Doc (Châu Đốc), Sam Mountain
• Day 6: Chau Doc by bus to Ha Tien (Hà Tiên), fast ferry to Phu Quoc
• Day 7: fly from Phu Quoc to HCMC or onwards

Budget for two: $700 to $900. If you want to stay on the island after the loop, start with our Phu Quoc travel guide.

Vietnam tours · Southern Vietnam in 7 days · Private Mekong Delta tour

Seasons and weather: when to visit the Mekong Delta

The best time to visit the Mekong Delta is December to March: dry, with daytime highs of 28 to 32 °C. From September to November comes "mùa nước nổi", the floating water season, when rivers spill over the fields in the upper delta near Cambodia. April is the hottest month. May to October is the rainy season, usually a short downpour in the afternoon.

Dry season (December to April)

Days of 28 to 32 °C, nights of 22 to 25 °C. Little rain and lower humidity than summer. It's peak season: more groups, and homestays fill up faster. Tet (late January to February) is the high point of domestic travel; some homestays close and hotel prices go up.

The catch: from February to April the channels near My Tho get shallow, and sampans sometimes have to be poled. April without air conditioning is hard going.

Rainy season (May to October)

Days of 30 to 32 °C and rain almost every day. Sunny mornings, clouds building after lunch, a wall of water for 30 to 60 minutes, then clear again.

It's not a disaster: the downpours are short and the road to My Tho is paved. But Ben Tre's dirt lanes turn to mud and homestays get damp. The An Binh ferry can pause briefly in strong wind.

Fewer visitors, and rooms are cheaper than in the dry season.

Floating water season (September to November)

Mùa nước nổi isn't a disaster, it's part of delta life. After the monsoon in Laos and Cambodia the Mekong rises, and in the upper delta (An Giang and northern Dong Thap) rice fields go under water for months. Fishermen set nets right over the paddies, and fish from the floodwater and yellow điên điển flowers turn up on menus. Water lilies bloom.

For photographers it's the best time. For logistics it's harder: some country roads in the upper delta disappear under water, and a few places are reachable only by boat.

Around My Tho, Ben Tre and Vinh Long you'll barely notice the flood; this is the lower delta, closer to the sea. To see the floating water season at full strength, go to Chau Doc or Long Xuyen in October.

Month by month

Figures are long-term averages for Can Tho and neighbouring provinces.

Vietnam weather · Ho Chi Minh City weather by month

Money: budget, ATMs, cards

A day in the delta costs from $15 (homestay and street food) to $200 or more (boutique resort and restaurants). Most people spend $30 to $60 per person: buses instead of taxis, homestays instead of hotels, lunch at the market. Visa and Mastercard work mainly in hotels and bigger restaurants.

ATMs and cards

Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank and Sacombank ATMs are in the centre of all three towns. Don't count on one on the islands near My Tho or on An Binh.

Visa and Mastercard work in 4-star hotels and resorts, in some 3-star hotels, and in chain cafes and supermarkets in town. Homestays, markets, street cafes and small shops are nearly always cash only.

The per-transaction ATM limit is usually 2 to 10 million VND depending on the bank. Foreign cards pay a withdrawal fee of roughly 20,000 to 110,000 VND (~$1 to $4) plus whatever your bank charges. A card with no foreign transaction fees saves real money on a longer trip.

How much cash to carry

For three days in the delta:

• 3 to 5 million VND (~$115 to $190) for two
• A few US dollars as a backup
• Small notes of 10,000 to 50,000 VND for markets, ferries and taxis: stalls often can't change a 500,000 note

Dong exchange rate and where to change money · Vietnam trip budget

Useful numbers

A quick reference. Prices are for 2026; distances are by road.

Sample trips and what they cost

Four typical trips, costed with the prices in this guide. These are models, not anyone's trip report, so treat them as a guide and add a margin.

Family of four, 4 days

Limousine to My Tho, the islands and noodles, a taxi over the bridge to Ben Tre (~250,000 VND). A canal-side homestay (~700,000 VND a night with breakfast), a day on the hosts' bicycles, workshops and candy. Taxi to Vinh Long (~700,000 VND), ferry to An Binh, a bungalow (~600,000 VND). Next morning, a taxi to the Mang Thit kilns (~600,000 VND), then the limousine back. With food, boats and souvenirs it comes to about 8 to 10 million VND (~$310 to $385) for the family.

Backpacker by bus, 7 days

Bus to My Tho (~100,000 VND), a guesthouse night (~400,000 VND). Local bus to Ben Tre (~40,000 VND), two nights in a simple homestay (~400,000 VND a night). Bus to Vinh Long (~60,000 VND), two nights on An Binh (~400,000 VND). Bus to Can Tho (~60,000 VND), two nights in a hostel (~300,000 VND). Sleeper bus back (~200,000 VND). Food from markets at 200,000 to 250,000 VND a day. Total about 5 to 5.5 million VND (~$190 to $210) for the week, around $28 to $30 a day. More on stretching a budget across the country in our backpacking guide.

Couple on a scooter, 3 days

Scooter rental in HCMC ($8 × 3 = $24), fuel about $15. Day 1: My Tho, the islands, Rach Mieu bridge, a homestay in Ben Tre (~700,000 VND). Day 2: plantations, candy, on to Vinh Long, a bungalow on An Binh (~600,000 VND). Day 3: the island's orchards and the ride home, about 3 hours. Food from markets and homestays. Total about $150 to $180 for two. The main risk is getting caught in a downpour on the highway.

Agency cycling tour, 2 days

A package: transfer from HCMC, bicycles, a guide, a night in a family homestay, meals and entry fees. The route follows Ben Tre's country lanes with a stop on the islands. The schedule is fixed, but there's zero logistics. Agency prices vary a lot, so compare what's included: the night, all meals, the boat.

Top attractions in Vietnam · Vietnam with kids

FAQ: the Mekong Delta towns

Trip checklist

Before you land, see our guides to SIM cards and eSIMs and the Vietnam arrival QR code; common first-timer mistakes are in our Ho Chi Minh City tips.

Read next: Cai Rang and Can Tho · Mekong Delta tours from HCMC · A weekend in Vung Tau · Cat Tien National Park

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