Regulus K Our Cu Chi Tunnel Review provides you with tunnel experience, maps, traps, gift shops, transport, and other information to plan a day trip there.
Cu Chi Tunnel is currently a national monument consisting of the Ben Duoc Tunnel and Ben Dinh Tunnel and other exhibitions/attractions in the area. The tunnel is a network located about 70 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City Center, used during the Vietnam War.
Nowadays, it serves as a tourist attraction and one of the most unique icons in the world.
It is the most worthwhile attraction in Ho Chi Minh or even Vietnam. The entrance fee is just 90k VND (less than 4 USD) and you can spend a whole day there.
What to expect there
There are multiple attractions there. Luckily, you can find “The Plan Of Visiting Points” board inside the area to guide you through. My recommendation is to use a local tour guide or book a tour with an online travel agency beforehand. I did it during my visit, it is not expensive and this is the site that you want someone to navigate for you.
Cu Chi Tunnel map
From the map of the Cu Chi Tunnel below, you can see all the attractions are clearly pinned on the map. In short, there are two categories of attractions inside namely exhibitions and experiences.
For exhibitions, it includes documentary files about the Cu Chi tunnel, trap exhibitions i.e. bamboo trap, tank, military, bunker, and other exhibitions related to the operation of the tunnel during wartime.
For experiences, you can get into the tunnel and cover it (like getting into a well) or crawl in the tunnel. There are also other paid experiences including gun firing which we explored in another blog post.
Experience in the tunnel
You can expect two experiences in the tunnel. First, the local tour guide will ask you to get into a rabbit hole (as part of the tunnel), then cover the ceiling with a lid plus leaves of it as a camouflage.
This is the signature experience for the tunnel tour and most people take photos.
Another experience is where you can go (crawling) under the tunnel from 20 meters to 100 meters with the guidance of a local guide. It takes some stamina to finish the whole 100-meter journey but you can exit in every 20-meter checkpoint.
These two experiences are included in all of the tunnel tours. If you wish to join (and you should), your clothes will get dirty with all the climbing. Also although the tunnel for tourists has been enlarged with safety checks, it is still narrow with around 0.5 meters in width and 1 meter in height. So if you are too tall or too big, you cannot get in.
If you have claustrophobia or are afraid of darkness, you may need to give it a pass too.
Cu Chi Tunnel Trap Exhibitions
There are a lot of Cu Chi Tunnel trap exhibitions including the bamboo trap, the rolling trap, the death end hole trap, and the door trap. Some traps need to be explained by the tour guide like the reverse walking trap where the locals would wear the sandals reversely to confuse the footprint chasers during the war time.
Other Exhibitions
Apart from the trap exhibitions, you will also find other exhibitions there including US Army tanks that the Vietnamese captured during wartime. The wartime kitchen and their secret hole for the smoke ventilation; the wartime weapon factory and camps during the wartime. Again it is better if you have a local tour guide to explain that to you.
Shooting Range
Shooting range is also available near the souvenir shop and exit. For details, you may check our post for the detailed shooting range review.
Cu Chi Tunnel Gift Shops
There is a gift shop near the exit. There are multiple souvenirs including bullet tanks, local art, t-shirts, key chains, and hats. I would not recommend the products though. Based on my experience, it is around double the price as compared to the Ho Chi Minh City center.
How To Get There
Joining a day tour is the best way to get to the tunnel. The departure is usually around 8 am from Ho Chi Minh City center and you will get back at Ben Thanh Market around 4 pm. Based on my experience this is the most valued way to check out the tunnel. First, the average tour cost is less than 20 USD. Also, it includes transport and, a tour guide and you can pay extra to fire in the shooting range. Time-wise it takes less than 2 hours to reach the attraction as compared to 3.5 hours plus for taking a bus from Ho Chi Minh City Center.
Getting To The Tunnel By Bus
Not to mention the route is very complex for taking the bus there. For example, there are four suggested bus routes by the officials.
- Bus route from Ben Thanh Market to Cu Chi Tunnel: From Ben Thanh Market, take Bus 13 to Cu Chi Bus Station. From Cu Chi Bus Station, take bus 79 to Cu Chi Tunnel
- Bus route from An Suong Bus Station to Cu Chi Tunnel: From An Suong Bus Station, take bus 122 to Tan Quy Bus Station. From Tan Quy Bus Station, take Bus 70 to Cu Chi Tunnel
- Bus route from Cho Long Bus Station To Cu Chi Tunnel: From Cho Lon Bus Station, take Bus 94 to Cu Chi Bus Station. From Cu Chi Bus Station, take Bus 79 to Cu Chi Tunnel
- Bus route from An Suong Bus Station to Cu Chi Tunnel: From An Suong Bus Station, take Bus 74 to Cu Chi Bus Station. From Cu Chi Bus Station, take Bus 79 to Cu Chi Tunnel
So from the above, you should know that it probably takes more than 3.5 hours one way to the tunnel not to mention the transit time required. So if you insist not to take the day tour, at least you should consider using Grab for time-saving sake.
Is Cu Chi Tunnel Worth Going To?
As a conclusion, based on my experience, it is worth going. The experience in the tunnel is worth more than the ~ USD 20 you pay for the whole tour fee including the transport. Not to mention you can also top-up to have a real-gun firing experience.
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