Are you planning to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam during your stay in Ho Chi Minh City?
If so, you can do it in 2 ways: paying for a group tour, or spending a fraction of the money buying a bus ticket and doing it on your own. This post is all about the latest.
Which Cu Chi Tunnels to Visit (Ben Duoc vs Ben Dinh)
Most guided tours you’ll find around Ho Chi Minh City drive tourists to Ben Dinh. The Ben Dinh tunnels are the ones that were reconstructed and widened by the Vietnamese government so tourists could fit in there.
On the other hand, the tunnels in Ben Duoc are a part of the authentic Cu Chi network of tunnels used during the war — the real deal. Plus, you can quickly get there by public bus, so you should definitely visit the ones in Ben Duoc.
Public Bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels
The bus trip from Ho Chi Minh City to the Ben Duoc Cu Chi Tunnels will take around 2h10.
Go to the Ho Chi Minh Bus Station at the western end of Backpacker Street (Pham Ngu Lao) in District 1. Hop on Bus Nº13 to Cu Chi Station (buses leave every 30 minutes, more or less).
The tickets are purchased inside the bus and cost 20.000 VND / €0.78 / $0.84 USD per person. This is the first part of the trip and it’ll take 1h20.
When you reach the Cu Chi Station — and if you want to keep saving money — you’ll have to swerve around the horde of taxi drivers offering their services to the tourists that got off the bus. They’ll say there are no more buses onwards and taking a taxi is the only alternative. That’s not true.
Smile, and look around for Bus Nº79.
Hop on Bus Nº79 and buy the ticket to Ben Duoc from the ticket agent. This ticket will be a further 20.000 VND / €0.78 / $0.84 USD and the trip will take around 40 minutes. We asked the ticket agent to let us know where we needed to get off and he did.
Nonetheless, after 40 minutes you’ll reach an intersection with two blue traffic signs pointing to Ben Duoc (left) and Ben Dinh (right). The bus will turn left and ten minutes later (around 3kms) you’ll have to hop off. Here’s the spot:
After hopping off, cross the road, and walk 0.5kms to the ticket booth and then another 0.5kms walk to the ticket checking.
If you have any doubts, ask a local! They’re super friendly and know that if you’re on Bus Nº79, you plan to visit the Ben Duoc tunnels. As we mentioned before, only group tours go to Ben Dinh.
Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels
Cu Chi tunnels entrance fee: €3.95 / $4.80 USD
Tickets will include an English-speaking guide.
After buying the tickets we were directed to a wooden gazebo to watch a short video on the Vietnam War and the key role the tunnels had during war operations.
Our guide for the day introduced himself and explained how the tunnels were dug and the underground living conditions the Viet Cong troops had to endure for months.
More aware of what we were about to see, the guide took us on a little journey through the forest, showing us:
- Bomb craters
- Booby traps
- Missiles
- Tunnel ventilation systems are scattered in between trees.
We were all invited to crawl inside sections of the tunnels and it was nerve-racking (especially for two tall guys like Nuno and me).
Inside the tunnels, the air was thin and hot. The lights were dim and fruit bats kept flying through people’s hair. If you’re claustrophobic or anxiety-prone, don’t even.
Here’s a short video we made that day:
Afterward, we were called to taste what Vietnamese soldiers ate back then: boiled manioc dipped in salt, sugar, and crushed peanuts.
If you’re willing to pay some extra you can fire an AK-47 rifle on a shooting range. In our case, we decided to visit the buildings and gardens around the memorial park. It was nice to see that a battlefield where so many people were killed, now grows beautiful orchids as a form of tribute.
Why were the Cu Chi Tunnels Built?
They’re an underground tunnel system dug by the Vietnamese during the fight for independence against French colonists, then used and developed to fight Americans during the Vietnam War (or American War as the Vietnamese call it). At its pinnacle, the tunnels became a complex anthill with several floors deep, hospitals, living quarters, and communication routes that stretched for more than 250 kilometers long.
Nowadays they’re a reminder of Vietnam’s underground warfare, the determination of its people, and a famous tourist attraction.
Returning to Ho Chi Minh City
Now that you know how to get to the Cu Chi tunnels by bus, you’ll also need to know how to head back from Ben Duoc to Ho Chi Minh City.
First, have in mind that the last Nº79 bus of the day to HCMC is at 5:30 PM. After that, you’re on your own!
Catch it on the same road you hopped off. Then, at the Cu Chi Station get on the Nº13 all the way back to District 1.
Looking for things to do in HCMC? Check out the post Waking Up in Ho Chi Minh City.
It’s important to mention that the bus rides to and from Ben Duoc were really enjoyable! Experiencing public transports in Vietnam is something you shouldn’t miss, it will make you feel like one of the gang. It’s a great way to chat with locals and meet travelers alike.
On our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we met an Israeli family of 5: mom, dad, and 3 kids with 13, 8, and 4 years old. It was their first time in Vietnam.
The family was traveling for 3 months and the parents were super stoked to be sharing this experience with their kids.
(We’re sharing this to inspire all those parents believing they can’t travel anymore because they have a child. Obviously, travel logistics will be different and WAY more demanding, but it goes to show that it’s possible!)
Why we avoided the Guided Tours
At the reception of our hotel, we saw a bunch of flyers for organized group tours to the Cu Chi Tunnels starting at €6,50 for half a day (entrance fees were not included). Meaning that we would be paying the “tourist fee” for transportation plus getting a time constraint. And even though €6,50 is not that much money, we knew we could do it for at least a third of the money — and actually did it for way less.
If you have any questions or some extra info to share that everybody can benefit from, leave it down in the comments!
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Thanks for the post! It was very useful 🙂 A few notes:
– As of March 2023, bus n. 79 back to Cu Chi station seems indeed to go until 17:30. BUT n. 13 back to HCM Bus Station runs only until 17:00. If you arrive at Cu Chi station after 17:00 you can take n. 74 until the last stop (which is a pretty big bus station) and then n. 65 back to HCM Bus Station
– My trip to Ben Duoc was very nice because there was almost nobody there. On the same day a friend went to Ben Dinh and said it was flooded with tourists. However, I’m not sure it’s true that Ben Duoc tunnels have not been widened for tourists while Ben Dinh ones were. Two guidebooks (including the Lonely Planet) seem to suggest the opposite. I suppose the truth is in somewhere in the middle: both sites have both widened and original tunnels. But Ben Dinh might have the longest original one (140 meters apparently)
– The full trip from HCM Bus Station to the entrance of the tunnels easily takes 2.5 hours in total, possibly even longer
– Apparently the weapons at the shooting range are fixed (you can’t really hold nor aim) and they’re charged like 2-3$ per bullet. Clearly not worth it
I hope this is useful, thanks again!
It’s super useful!
Thank you for the feedback 😃
Hey the cost of the bus to Cu Chi is now 20 000 VND. I was surprised at the price after reading your article, but I watched other locals pay that amount.
I’m on the bus right now as I write this reply lol.
Thanks again for the info.
Thank you for the new info! We’ll make sure to update it.
We hope you enjoyed your visit to the tunnels 😃👍
Excellent description helped us a lot.
First part of the trip took us only 1 hour and 15min.
Wait for the bus to leave could be as long as 30min.
Bus 79, “The bus will turn left and two minutes later you’ll have to hop off. ”
The drop off is about 3kms after turning, so it took about 10min.
After hop off, cross the road, and there is almost a 0.5kms walk to the ticket booth and another 0.5kms walk to the ticket checking.
Thanks, Ken! Glad we could help you get to Cu Chi.
We will consider your feedback and adjust the timings of things to make the post more accurate.
We really appreciate it. 🙂
Hello, just big thank you for all your information’s ! We did it yesterday, exactly how did you explain and it was fantastic! We just grabbed the 13 bus on the road so it was 10k VND by person and after the bus 79 only 7k VND by person. But really thank you! So good explication about everything! You did a great job, thank you!
Happy to hear that Anna 😃
Thank you for your feedback!
Excellent instructions. We followed them and they were what you said. March 2023 the bus 13 was 20,000 VND, the 79 was 7,000 VND and the entrance was cash only and we paid two fees: 90,000 and 35,000. We don’t understand the fees, but it totals about 5USD
Glad it all worked out as planned!
And thanks for the updated info 😃