5 Days: Family Saigon, Mekong Delta and Coast

A five-day loop built for shorter attention spans

This itinerary keeps two ideas in view. First, that a family trip does better on short, predictable days than on ambitious ones. Second, that Ho Chi Minh City sits between two travel worlds that do not connect to each other directly: the Mekong Delta to the south-west and the coast to the south-east. Rather than force a straight line between them, this route treats the city as a hub, going out to the delta and back, then out to the coast and back.

That means the plan below stays deliberately modest. It reaches My Tho and Ben Tre, the closest and easiest parts of the delta, rather than Can Tho or the deep delta further south. It reaches Vung Tau, the closest seaside town, rather than Mui Ne or the Con Dao islands.

Those further options exist and are covered in other guides, but they ask for longer transfers and firmer schedules than a family with young children usually wants. See our notes on choosing a Mekong Delta departure point and on Vung Tau versus Mui Ne for the beach if a different balance appeals more.

Everything here runs by private car rather than fixed-departure coach, which is what allows the days to stay short and the mornings to stay unhurried. For the reasoning behind that choice, see group tour versus private tour in southern Vietnam. Accommodation is left out of this page on purpose: where a family should sleep each night depends on budget and taste far more than the route does, and our neighborhood guide to Ho Chi Minh City covers that separately.

Day 1: Settling into Ho Chi Minh City

The first day is arrival and orientation rather than a packed sightseeing list. Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest city and its economic centre, though not the capital — that is Hanoi, far to the north and outside the scope of this route entirely. Locals and visitors alike still call the city Saigon, especially its central districts, and both names are correct.

A gentle first afternoon works well around District 1: a walk down the Nguyen Hue pedestrian street, a look at the exterior of Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon (currently under long-running restoration, so the facade is often behind scaffolding rather than fully visible), and a stop at the nearby Central Post Office. Ben Thanh Market, with its landmark clock tower, gives children something to look at and adults something to browse, though the narrow aisles and insistent vendors can wear thin quickly with younger kids in tow — a short visit tends to work better than a long one.

For families who want a broader first-day option, our guide to Ho Chi Minh City’s classic city tour lays out a fuller route, and family-friendly day trips from Saigon gives a wider sense of what suits children specifically. End the day early: the delta trip on Day 2 benefits from a rested start.

Day 2: My Tho and Ben Tre, the near delta

This is the Mekong Delta day, and it stays close by design. My Tho, the closest delta town to the city, and Ben Tre, just across the river and known for its coconut groves, form a natural pair that a private car can cover comfortably in a single day out and back.

The appeal for children is mostly sensory rather than historical: small boats moving along narrow canals, coconut candy being made by hand, and orchards that smell distinctly different from the city. A rowboat passage through a canal, shaded by water coconut palms, tends to be the part that sticks with kids longest, more than any single sight along the way.

a private, comfort-oriented day tour through My Tho and Ben Tre handles the boat transfers and stops without the fixed timing of a large group departure, which matters when a nap or a slow lunch reshuffles the afternoon. Families who prefer an evening element instead can look at a My Tho and Ben Tre outing that includes the delta’s firefly displays after dark, though a late return suits older children better than very young ones.

For more on why this pairing beats pushing on to the deep delta with kids, see is a Mekong Delta day trip worth it and My Tho versus Can Tho for the Mekong Delta. The day trip returns to Ho Chi Minh City by evening — there is no direct road from the delta to the coast, so the loop closes back at the city rather than pushing onward.

Day 3: Back through Saigon, on to Vung Tau

This is the day that makes the confusion worth naming plainly: My Tho, Ben Tre and Vung Tau are not in the same province, and they do not sit on the same road out of the city. The delta lies south-west of Ho Chi Minh City; Vung Tau lies south-east, on the coast. There is no route between the two that skips the city, so this itinerary treats Day 3 as a transfer day, returning to Saigon overnight-adjacent territory before heading out again toward the coast.

A private car makes this changeover far easier than juggling two separate group bookings, since the same driver and vehicle can simply continue on to Vung Tau rather than requiring a new pickup. Families who want the whole loop bundled into one booking can look at a multi-day private tour that links the city, the Mekong Delta and Vung Tau together, which avoids re-arranging logistics mid-trip.

Vung Tau itself is a modest seaside city, easygoing rather than dramatic, with a hilltop Christ of Vung Tau statue as its best-known landmark and a relaxed seafront that suits an unhurried evening walk after a day on the road. It is a working beach town for local visitors as much as a tourist destination, which keeps it low-key. For a side-by-side comparison with other coastal options, Vung Tau versus Mui Ne for the beach explains why the closer, calmer choice fits this itinerary’s pace.

Day 4: Vung Tau and the Can Gio mangroves

The fourth day splits between the coast and a stop that neither the delta nor the beach quite covers: Can Gio, a mangrove biosphere reserve recognised by UNESCO in 2000, sitting between Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau. It is worth being precise about what that designation means, since it is often confused with the World Heritage List — no site in this entire territory is inscribed on that list. Can Gio and Cat Tien further inland are Biosphere Reserves instead, a separate UNESCO programme, and the nearest actual World Heritage Sites lie in central and northern Vietnam, well outside this route.

For children, Can Gio’s appeal is straightforward: a boardwalk through replanted mangrove forest, monkeys that are used to visitors and unbothered by them, and a landscape that looks nothing like the delta orchards from Day 2 or the city streets from Day 1. A morning here, folded into the road back toward Ho Chi Minh City, breaks up what would otherwise be a long, undifferentiated drive.

The afternoon in Vung Tau itself can stay loose: a walk along the seafront, a look at the fishing harbour, or simply time on the beach rather than a fixed list of stops. Families curious about pairing Vung Tau with a wartime history stop nearby can look at a Vung Tau-based outing to the Long Tan and Long Phuoc tunnel sites, though that leans more toward older children and adults with an interest in the subject. Background on the reserve itself is in our guide to the Can Gio mangrove biosphere reserve, and on Can Gio’s monkeys and wildlife specifically.

Day 5: Return to Ho Chi Minh City

The final day is a return drive to Ho Chi Minh City, left deliberately light. Rather than scheduling a last full activity, it works well to treat this as a buffer: a late checkout in Vung Tau, an easy drive back, and whatever remains of the afternoon spent on something already familiar from Day 1 — a rooftop view, a last walk down Dong Khoi, or simply rest before onward travel.

Families with an extra day to spare, or who want to swap one of the near-delta stops for a firefly evening or a longer Can Gio visit, can look at how many days in southern Vietnam for how this five-day frame stretches or compresses. For a shorter version of the same idea, the two-day Saigon and Vung Tau coast itinerary covers just the coastal half, and the three-day family-friendly, easy itinerary offers a shorter city-based alternative for a shorter trip.

What this itinerary leaves out, and why

Three destinations sit just outside this route on purpose, each for a different reason. Can Tho and the deep delta, including the Cai Rang floating market, ask for either an early pre-dawn start or an overnight stay to be seen properly — workable for adults, harder to justify with young children on a five-day frame. Mui Ne, on the north-east coast, is a different road entirely from Vung Tau and would require its own multi-day allocation rather than fitting alongside the delta. Con Dao is reached only by air or fast ferry, never by road, which puts it in a different planning category altogether — worthwhile, but not something to bolt onto a car-based family loop.

None of that means the near delta and Vung Tau are a compromise. For a five-day trip with children, staying close on both ends and letting a private car absorb the return trip through Saigon tends to produce a calmer trip than a more ambitious loop would, without giving up either half of what makes southern Vietnam worth visiting beyond the city itself. For more on adapting the pace further, see southern Vietnam with kids.

FAQ: five-day family trip through Saigon, the delta and the coast

Is 5 days enough to combine the Mekong Delta and the coast with children?

Yes, if the delta stays close (My Tho and Ben Tre) and the beach stays close (Vung Tau), with a private car handling the transfers. Going further, to the deep delta or to Mui Ne, stretches the days past what suits younger children.

Why does this itinerary go back through Saigon instead of driving directly from the delta to the coast?

My Tho and Ben Tre sit south-west of Ho Chi Minh City in the Mekong Delta, while Vung Tau sits south-east on a different road entirely. There is no direct route between them that avoids Saigon, so the loop returns to the city before heading out again.

Does this route include Can Tho or the Cai Rang floating market?

No. Can Tho and Cai Rang belong to the deep delta, further south-west, and are better suited to a longer or more demanding itinerary. This route keeps to the near delta towns of My Tho and Ben Tre instead.

Is Con Dao or Mui Ne part of this trip?

Neither. Con Dao is an island reached only by air or fast ferry, and Mui Ne lies further along the coast to the north-east. Both suit a different, less family-paced itinerary and are left out here on purpose.

Do we need a private car for this itinerary?

A private car is what makes the short, flexible days possible, since it avoids fixed group-tour schedules and lets naps or slow mornings shift the plan without losing the day.

What is Can Gio and why is it in a coastal itinerary?

Can Gio is a mangrove biosphere reserve south of Ho Chi Minh City, on the way toward Vung Tau. It gives the trip a nature stop that breaks up the road time between the city and the beach.

Should we book delta and coast activities as private or group tours?

For a family pace, private arrangements generally work better than fixed-departure group tours, since they can start later, skip an activity that is not landing well, and linger where the children are engaged.