Cu Chi Tunnels

The Americans spent $US 7 billion carpet-bombing Cu Chi district and 250 kilometres of tunnels survived underneath it

The Cu Chi tunnel network began as a Viet Minh project in the late 1940s, dug to resist the French occupation. By the time the American war escalated in the 1960s, the network had grown to cover approximately 250 kilometres under Cu Chi district, 40 kilometres northwest of what was then Saigon. The tunnels housed command centres, weapons factories, hospitals, kitchens, and living quarters for thousands of fighters. The district directly above was designated a free-fire zone and subjected to the heaviest concentration of bombing in the entire war. The tunnels mostly survived. At points, Viet Cong fighters were operating from dugouts while B-52 strikes hit the ground metres above them.

This is not a comfortable historical narrative and you should not expect the Cu Chi site to present it as one. The visit begins with a 1950s propaganda film that frames the war in terms designed for a Vietnamese audience in 1975. It is grainy, uncritical, and worth watching for what it tells you about how this history is officially framed here. After that, a guide takes you through camouflaged tunnel entrances, replica booby traps, and a section of the tunnel network that you can physically enter.

Ben Dinh vs Ben Duoc

Two sites are open to visitors. Ben Dinh is closer to Ho Chi Minh City and receives the majority of tour buses. Ben Duoc is 10 kilometres further, significantly quieter, and preserves the tunnels in a more original state. The tunnels at both sites have been widened for tourist access – the original passages were 60-80 centimetres wide; the current tourist sections are around 120 centimetres – but Ben Duoc involves fewer crowds and a more considered guide experience. If you’re arranging your own transport or joining a small-group tour, Ben Duoc is the better choice. Most large group tours go to Ben Dinh by default.

Entrance to either site costs around 110,000 VND (approximately $4.40 USD) in 2026. The sites are open 7am to 5pm daily.

What the Tunnels Feel Like

You will squat and crawl through a passage roughly 50 metres long in partial darkness. This is more physically demanding than it sounds, especially for taller visitors or anyone with back or knee issues. The 120cm height means sustained crouching, not comfortable walking. The tunnel is warm, close, and genuinely disorienting in a way that makes the intellectual fact of 10,000 people living in this network for years feel suddenly non-abstract. Bring water and don’t wear anything you care about.

Above ground, the site shows bomb craters, destroyed American tanks, and the ventilation chimneys (disguised as termite mounds) that allowed cooking fires to be lit underground without revealing the network’s location from the air. The cooking ventilation system was one of the engineering solutions that most consistently defeated aerial surveillance. The guides tend to be good on these details.

Getting There

Cu Chi is about 40 kilometres northwest of Ho Chi Minh City and takes 1.5-2 hours by road depending on traffic. Organised half-day tours from Ho Chi Minh City (departing around 7:30am, returning by 1pm) are the standard and practical approach – around $15-25 including transport and guide. Bus 13 from Ben Thanh station reaches Cu Chi town; local connections continue to the sites. The independent bus route involves two changes and about 2.5 hours each way; the tour price is worth it for the time saved alone.

The Broader Context

The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (District 3, around 40,000 VND entry) is the essential companion to the Cu Chi visit. The museum’s Agent Orange exhibition and photographic documentation of the war’s civilian impact are confronting in a way that the tunnels aren’t – the tunnels show military ingenuity; the museum shows the costs. Combining both in a single day gives a far more complete picture than either one alone.