What to Expect in the Cu Chi Tunnels

A visit to the Cu Chi tunnels is mostly a guided walk through forest above ground, with short, optional crawls through tunnel sections open to visitors. The tunnels are small, and nobody has to go in: if small spaces worry you, stay above ground and you still see the trapdoors, the traps and the film. Kim Travel’s Ho Chi Minh City: Cu Chi Tunnels Morning or Afternoon Tour includes one crawl for those who want it, with the entrance fees, from $16 in current promotion (usually $17) a person (checked November 2026).

The calendar above is Kim Travel’s half day, about 6 hours 30 minutes, with 8,185 reviews (checked November 2026).

The short answer

Go, even if small spaces worry you: most of the visit is above ground, on forest paths, and nobody is made to go underground. The tunnel sections open to visitors are short, and you can walk above them instead. Wear closed shoes and clothes you do not mind getting red dust on, take water and insect repellent, and bring cash for drinks and the optional range.

How small the tunnels are

The managing body gives the wartime network as over 250 km long, on three levels about 3 m, 6 m and more than 12 m below ground, and describes parts of it as so narrow that only slim people could pass. It publishes no width or height for the sections open to visitors. TNK Travel describes the section its groups crawl through as widened for visitors. The crawls on the half days are short, and you go through bent over or on hands and knees.

Claustrophobia, fitness and who should skip the crawl

The crawl is optional on every tour here; on TNK Travel’s small-group half day you can walk above ground while others go in. Several tours mark themselves unsuitable for people with claustrophobia, back problems or heart problems, and for pregnant travellers. Hana Tourist’s Ben Duoc tour adds that the narrow sections do not suit people with severe mobility problems, and the tours that state it are not suitable for wheelchair users. The rest of the visit is two to three hours on foot on unpaved forest paths, in heat and humidity.

If you are unsure, watch the first group go in, look at the entrance, and decide there.

Check dates for the half day, crawl optional

What to wear and bring

• Closed, comfortable shoes: the paths are packed earth and leaf litter, and the tunnel floors are clay.
• Light clothes that can get dirty: the tunnels are dug in bare earth, and you crouch or crawl through them.
• Insect repellent and a sun hat: the site is forest, and both are on the packing list of Kim Travel’s half day.
• Water: most tours include one bottle; take more on a hot day.
• Cash in Vietnamese dong: for drinks, souvenirs and the shooting range, which is never in the tour price.

Children

Kim Travel’s half day is free for children under 5 with an adult, and children must be accompanied. On Viator, Vietnam Adventure Tours’ half day charges a child fare for ages 3 to 9: $14 on the standard group, against $14.90 for an adult (checked November 2026). The range is for adults only, 18 and over. Whether a child goes into a tunnel is up to the parents and the guide on the day.

When to go, and the weather

The site is open every day from 7 am to 5 pm. Southern Vietnam has two seasons, rainy from May to October and dry from November to April, in the words of Vietnam’s building climate standard (QCVN 02:2022/BXD). At Tay Ninh, the nearest station in it with monthly figures, about 55 km north-west of Ben Dinh in a straight line, it is warm all year: a mean of 25.7 C in December and 29.0 C in April. Rain falls on about 2 days a month in January and February but on more than 20 a month from July to October, and September is the wettest month, with 334.5 mm. From May to October, take a light rain jacket and expect muddy paths.

Is it worth it?

For most visitors to Ho Chi Minh City, yes: it is a half day, and it costs about $16 in current promotion (usually $18) with the entry, a guide and the transport (checked November 2026). Go knowing it is a war memorial as much as a sight: many people died in and around these tunnels, and the memorial temple at Ben Duoc honours them. Behave as you would at any memorial. In central Vietnam, the Vinh Moc tunnels near the former Demilitarized Zone are a different tunnel system; dmzvietnamtour.com covers the DMZ day from Hue.

Ben Dinh or Ben Duoc compares the two sites, and the Cu Chi half day is the tour this site follows.