Cargo barges moored along a muddy river lined with palms, viewed from a wooden boat deck in the Mekong Delta.

Southern Vietnam

The half of the country we know best

Hot all year, flat, and the easiest part of Vietnam to move around. It is also where most travellers spend the least time, which is usually a mistake by about two days.

Plan my trip Southern tours

The region

What the south is

Everything below Nha Trang: the city, the enormous flat delta of the Mekong, a strip of coast that runs from the dunes at Mui Ne down to the Gulf, the cool hill town of Da Lat, and two very different islands. The distances are short, the roads are good by Vietnamese standards, and the weather does one of two things — dry, or a heavy shower in the afternoon.

Aerial night view of Ho Chi Minh City skyscrapers glowing with neon lights along the Saigon River.

Vendors and boats loaded with tomatoes and bananas gather at a floating market in the Mekong Delta.

Ho Chi Minh City · Cai Rang, Can Tho

Places

Where to go, and for how long

2-3 nights

Ho Chi Minh City

Two nights minimum. Loud, excellent food, and the best coffee culture in the country.

1-3 nights

Mekong Delta

One night at least. Day trips see the stage set; a night sees the delta.

1-2 nights

Can Tho

The delta base worth sleeping in, and the market that still works.

3-5 nights

Phu Quoc

The island with flights and resorts, and a quiet north if you look.

3-4 nights

Con Dao

The island for people who want nothing to happen. Hard to reach, worth it.

2 nights

Da Lat

Cool air, coffee farms and pine forest, two hours above the coast.

The delta

The delta, and how not to do it

The delta is the single most misunderstood part of a Vietnam trip. The standard day trip out of Saigon goes to My Tho, ninety minutes each way, and delivers a coconut-candy workshop, a rowing boat through a narrow channel and a man playing traditional music at lunch. It is not a scam — it is simply a stage, and everybody on the water that day is a visitor.

The delta that people remember is two hours further on, around Can Tho and Chau Doc, and it needs a night. Sleep there and you can be on the water at half past five when the Cai Rang market is wholesale boats trading with each other rather than tourist boats watching. One night changes the entire experience; two makes it a proper leg of a trip.

Our honest recommendation

If you only have a day, do Cu Chi in the morning and keep the afternoon in the city. If you have a night, go to Can Tho and skip My Tho entirely.

When to come

Timing in the south

The south has two seasons and neither of them ruins a trip. December to April is dry and hot, with the pleasant end of it in December and January. May to November brings rain, almost always as a heavy shower in the late afternoon rather than a wet day — you plan around it by doing the outdoor half of the day before two in the afternoon. The delta is at its most beautiful in the wet months, when the water is high and everything is green.

Best months overall: December to March.
Best months for the delta: September to November, when the floodwater is up.
Phu Quoc: dry and calm November to April; the sea is rough and the ferries unreliable July to September.
Con Dao: March to June is the calm window; the boat crossing is uncomfortable outside it.

Not for everyone

Who the south does not suit

If you came for mountains and cool air, the south has only Da Lat and it is a two-hour climb from the coast. If you want historic architecture, the centre has far more of it. And if heat is a problem for you, be honest about it now: this region sits between 26 and 35 degrees all year with high humidity, and there is no month when that is not true.

Common questions

Questions travellers ask most

Is one day enough for the Mekong Delta?

For a look, yes. For the delta people talk about, no — that needs a night at Can Tho or Chau Doc and a start before six.

Phu Quoc or Con Dao?

Phu Quoc if you want resorts, restaurants and easy flights. Con Dao if you want an empty island with three good places to eat and almost nothing to do.

How long in Ho Chi Minh City?

Two nights for the city itself; three if you want a delta day or Cu Chi without cutting into it.

Can I get to Cambodia from here overland?

Yes — Chau Doc to Phnom Penh by river is a genuinely good day, and Moc Bai by road is the fast way. Both need the right visa for the gate, which we arrange.