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The Cu Chi Tunnels are one of the most famous spots for Tourists traveling to Vietnam. So if you are going to Ho Chi Minh city, you may be asking yourself – is it worth doing the tour? The short answer is, absolutely! In this blog we will tell you everything you need to know about visiting the Cu Chi tunnels.
And if you’re interested in seeing our experience there, we made a video below ⬇️
First, what are the Cu Chi tunnels?
They are underground tunnels built by the Vietnamese people between the 1940s and 1960s to protect themselves against the French and American armies. The tunnels are super narrow and go up to 12 meters down, and for years, Vietnamese people lived down there. The most incredible thing is that some of them are still well preserved and you can actually go inside. We did 20 meters meters inside one of the tunnels and… WOW! It’s hot, humid and dark! I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt living there for years
How do I get to the Cu Chi tunnels?
The only way to get there is by car, and although you can technically rent one, we highly recommend you to take a tour. The site of the tunnels is located about 1 hour drive away from Ho Chi Minh City. However, given you will have to pick up other passengers as part of the tour, and account for a little bit of traffic, it should take closer to 2 hours.
Where can I book the Cu Chi Tunnels Tour?
Although they don’t have a great online presence, we can safely recommend Tugo Travel, the agency we booked with. They are located in Ho Chi Minh city (in the street of the Ben Thanh Market) and we advise you to book it in person at their lovely offices. You can also book online, for example here.
How much does the Cu Chi tunnels tour cost?
The Tour cost us USD 20 per person because we booked it in person at their agency in the center of Ho Chi Minh. You can also book it online in a trusted website like TripAdvisor, but the price will most likely be a little higher. This price was for the half-day tour that picked us up from our hotel in the morning, took us to the Cu Chi the tunnels, and brought us back at about lunch time.
What does the half-day tour include?
The Cu Chi tunnels tour is excellent for not only seeing the tunnels, but also learning about Vietnamese history. It’s more than just the tunnels, the Tour is structured in the following way:
1 – They will pick you up in the van in the morning with a group of around 10-14 people.
2 – You will start heading towards the Tunnels, but about 1 hour into the drive, you will stop at the “Handcraft shop”. This is a place where you can see people who have been affected by the war, building beautiful crafts which you can buy. They are a little bit expensive in our opinion, with the smallest plate costing about USD 30, but nevertheless, beautiful.
3 – After a 30-minute stop to see the handcrafts, you will then take your sit in the van again, and head to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Prior to entering the site, you will see some of the bombs and weapons used during the war.
4 – You will enter a “recreation” of a Vietnamese basecamp, where they will play you a video inside a cabana. This is to give you more insight about the history behind why the Cu Chi Tunnels were built. The video takes 15 minutes and shows you some clips from the Vietnamese people in the 1960s and 70s.
5 – You will then start walking around the site and be taken to the first tunnel entrance. This is a place where most tourists get to go inside and take pictures, and IT’S SUPER NARROW! Nas went inside as you can see from the picture below, and he could barely fit!
6 – As you walk along the site, you will be taken to a section dedicated to Human Traps. These were ground traps built by the Vietnamese people around the tunnels, to defend themselves from the American army. They used metal from the american bombs that didn’t explode to create these. And although most of them were not deadly, they caused significant damage.
7 – You will then be taken to a shooting range within the premises. You can buy some bullets and experiment shooting an AK-47 among other weapons. If you don’t like guns (like us), you can sit on the side and grab a refreshing drink or ice-cream.
8 – It’s finally time! You will be taken to the main tunnels where you can actually go in. You will be given an option to do between 10 and about 50 meters, and there’s an exit every 10 meters. The catch is that the longer you go, narrower it gets! We were only able to do 20 meters as the tunnel is very narrow and humid. But the experience was incredible!
9 – After you exit the tunnels, you will be treated with some local Tapioca with peanuts. This was one of the most consumed foods by Vietnamese people back in the day, so it’s pretty awesome to try it.
10 – And that’s it! You will get on the van and head back to your hotel. We actually asked our guide to drop us in the center if the city so we could grab some lunch.
Is it worth doing the Cu Chi Tunnels tour?
In our opinion, this is one of the best tours you can do in Vietnam, so YES! The tour has such a great mix between history, sight-seeing and adventure. The experience was so immersive that we left it absolute no regret of doing the tour.
The Best part about it was being able to go inside the actual tunnels. They give you the flexibility to be able to go as far as you want on the inside. And one thing is to see them from the outside, but going in is a completely different ball-game! We loved it!
The Worst part was the shooting range. The whole group had to wait while some people were shooting guns, and it was SO LOUD! We had to move away a bit from the site.
Overall, the tour was great and we would do it all over again! Want to see more of our adventures? Check out our Youtube Channel where we take you to some of the most incredible places around the world! And if you’re planning a trip to Vietnam, check out our itinerary!
