Just a short bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City, Ben Tre is located in the Mekong Delta; one of the most beautiful, unspoilt and authentic provinces of Vietnam. The province of Ben Tre, the capital of coconuts in Vietnam, is so close to Saigon that the contrast between the hustle and bustle of the city and the tranquility of Ben Tre is unbelievably great. The province’s main town, also called Ben Tre, shows simple Vietnamese small-town life. With only a handful of restaurants and hotels, the city has retained the charm of traditional Vietnamese life
Best things to do in Ben Tre
1. Boat trip
Ben Tre is an ideal place to take a boat trip through the Mekong Delta. Boat trips can be arranged through your hotel or along the waterfront in Ben Tre. When you stand by the side of the river and look like a tourist, they often find you. You can rent a boat yourself or go on an organized boat tour, this costs approximately between 100,000 and 300,000 VND.
During a boat trip you can visit local villages, fruit orchards and islands. You can see how local life uses the rivers for collecting and distributing coconuts in particular. With an organized boat tour you often go further and visit various islands with orchards and coconut candy factories. When you rent a small boat yourself, you can go more into the small canals where you can enjoy the lush beauty of the area.
2. Cycling
Ben Tre is a good place to explore by bicycle. Large and flat with many rice fields to cycle around, this is a very nice place in the Delta. From the town of Ben Tre, cross the river and go east and just keep going. The further you go the nicer it gets and the roads are pretty good with little traffic. Although you need a motorbike to get far, the immediate area is well worth exploring by bike. You can rent a scooter or bicycle in most accommodations in the city.
3. Experience local life
Around Ben Tre you will find many local craft villages and ecotourism zones. In each village they have their own craft. Below a small selection:
- For fruit and orchards you can visit Cai Mon and Tien Long. You will find rice, corn, pineapple, apples, durian and mango here.
- Traditional rice paper villages are My Long and Son Doc.
- Phu Le is also called the alcohol village. Here you will find the Phu Le wine factory where rice wine is made in traditional ways. The distillers are happy to show you how they do this. In Phu Le you will also find an old temple that is worth a visit.
- Hung Phong is a coconut handicraft village on an island in the delta. Here they make baskets and other things from the coconut trunk and shell of a coconut.
4. Vam Ho bird sanctuary
Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary is a submerged forest area that many birds call home. The reserve consists of dense forests, plants and grass, including mangroves, coconut palms and reeds. It is an ideal nature reserve where birds and other animals.
In total there are more than 80 different bird species. During the breeding seasons from April to October there are around 500,000 storks here. They come here to breed and raise their young until they are big enough to fly. Especially in the early morning and late afternoon it is a spectacular moment when thousands of storks fly away or return in the afternoon. The best way to explore the reserve is by boat trip.
5. Markets in Ben Tre
Ben Tre Market is an excellent example of a typical Vietnamese market. Here you will find fresh products, meat, fish, and lots of fresh fruit and cut flowers. There is a night market every night in Ben Tre. Here you will find clothes, handmade souvenirs and a huge range of stuff made from the coconut. You can also get delicious fresh fruit directly from the local orchards.
6. Ben Tre Revolutionary Museum
Ben Tre was instrumental in the Vietnam War. The city was made famous by a controversial statement by a US major when questioned about the 1,000 civilian deaths and countless victims in the area: “It was necessary to destroy the city to save it,” referring to the making of the disastrous decision to kill the citizens of Ben Tre instead of having them run by communists. In the Ben Tre Revolutionary Museum you will find more information about this and is certainly worth a visit.
7. Tuyen Linh Temple
Tuyen Linh Temple is a small temple in Ben Tre, but a visit is a nice change from all the boat trips. The temple was originally made in 1861 from bamboo. It is not so much the style of the temple that makes this place special, but it is the history. This place was visited a number of times by Nguyen Sinh Sac, the father of former president Ho Chi Minh.
It was also here where Nguyen Sinh Sac met some of the first members of Ben Tré communist party. During the wars this place was bombed a number of times, but was rebuilt every time.
8. Cai Be floating market
The Cai Be floating market is not in Ben Tre, but in Cai Be, but it is still just 50 km from Ben Tre town. If you have enough time in Ben Tre you can visit this floating market, otherwise it’s okay to skip. The floating market in Cai Be has shrunk considerably due to the improved road network. If you would like to see a very lively, go to the Cai Rang floating market near Can Tho.
How to get there?
Ben Tre is less than 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, on the route to Can Tho. Buses run daily from both Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre. Alternatively, you can also rent a car with a driver, so you can visit sights along the way.
How to get around Ben Tre?
Ben Tre itself is only a small town, but the Ben Tre province is quite extensive. If you want to see a lot, it is useful to have arranged transport.
The hundreds of canals, rivers and islands are best explored by boat. Ben Tre is also very peaceful and perfect for exploring by bicycle. Most hotels and homestays have bicycles to borrow for free. As an alternative to the bicycle, you can also rent a scooter / motorbike to ride around the area. For longer distances it is possible to arrange a car with driver.
Accommodation in Ben Tre
Ben Tre may not be as frequented visited as Can Tho or My Tho, but there are plenty of accommodations here. For the best experience, it is best to find a homestay or lodge outside the city. It is wonderfully peaceful when you are in the countryside and a perfect base to hop on a bicycle and explore the area. Many accommodations are also located directly on a river or canal, which is not only convenient for getting around by boat, but also great to watch life on the river go by directly from your homestay or lodge.
Best time to visit
The best time to visit Ben Tre is in the dry season, from December to May. In the rainy season there is more change for flooding, but the summer months June to August is also a great fruit season.
