Welcome to Can Tho! Discover the best of Can Tho with VeMekong, the ultimate guide to Can Tho attractions, tourist information center, tickets & offers. In this guide, we will show you what to do and see in Can Tho. If you’re not able to visit just yet, plan ahead to make the most of your wish-lists.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | Official Can Tho Visitor Guide
1. What to Do in Can Tho
Cai Rang Floating Market
Ticket: Free
Spend-time: An hour (approx)
Hours: Dawn – dusk
Food: Yes
Shop: Yes
Parking lot: Yes for boat, coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/cai-rang-floating-market-can-tho/
Address: Cai Rang Bridge, Cai Rang District, Can Tho City. About 6 km from Can Tho city center.
Recognition(s): was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage in June 2016. The UK’s Rough Guide selected Cai Rang Floating Market as one of the ten most impressive markets in the world, characterized by colorful boats selling tropical agricultural products.
Added values: It is considered as one of the gems worth discovering for those who are passionate about simplicity and uniqueness and originality of the cultural Mekong river life now and then.
Cai Rang floating market is one of the most famous and biggest floating markets in the Mekong Delta. It is also a living museum of the southern traditional culture that has been fostered by the Mekong Delta’s interlacing waterway systems. The market is on the Cai Rang river. It is five kilometres by road from the centre of Can Tho. It is a wholesale market, selling fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products from Can Tho city as well as from 13 neighbouring provinces in the Mekong Delta region.
Cai Rang floating market is much more geared towards locals than tourists; therefore, it doesn’t have souvenir stalls like the other mainland markets. Unlike the mainland markets, the shops and stalls at Cai Rang floating market are boats of different sizes. The market was born hundred years ago (many French sources recorded in 1899) from the local people’s habit of travelling and doing business by boat on the region‘s interlacing waterway systems. In the south-western region, boats and rafts are important means of transportation, like motorbikes and cars are in other regions. Cruising through the river in a boat, local vendors conduct all their business right on the water. All the goods are transported to the market by rafts (not much now), sampans and boats. The floating market is not only a place where rural products are sold but also unique features of life are found on these boats. The market constitutes a “canal civilization” with many traders living on the river and some link their lives with their boats. On the deck of the boats, visitors can see generations of one family, children or babies, and even some dogs, chickens and gardens, as the boats are the familys’ mobile homes… Read more info & pictures
Phong Dien Floating Market
Ticket: Free
Spend-time: Half an hour (approx)
Hours: Daily 5:00 am to 7:30 am
Food: Yes, tiny floating food boat serves fruits, food, hot noodle soup, coffee, soft drinks
Shop: Yes
Parking lot: Yes for boat
Blog: https://vemekong.com/phong-dien-floating-market-can-tho/
Address: Tay Do Bridge, Nhon Ai, Phong Dien District, Can Tho City. About 17km from Can Tho city center.
Added values: You can explore Can Tho’s countryside, cool villages, and small canals by Can Tho sampan.
As a local expert, we do know that the Phong Dien floating market will be no more after 7:30 am. Because this one is very small and very local, there are about more or less 45 boats and sampans at this market, you can watch our drone video 4k to know more. Let’s tell you, we inspect this market a lot and it is always busy and real touching is at the sunrise and the locals start to go home about 6:45a.m. Top tip: Best enjoying time to be right at the spot is from 5:30am-6:30am. I hope you have an amazing sunrise on the Mekong Delta river.
The Phong Dien floating market absolutely stays on the river. The best way to discover this market is by boat or sampan. Anyway, there is a bridge nearby the market which gives you a bird’s eye view of this stunning market as well. So that you can get to Phong Dien by boat, scooter or car and locate where the market is. It is about 17km away from Can Tho center and takes about 2 hours by boat and 45 minutes by car or scooter. After the market the sampan will take you to many villages and small canals in Phong Dien. Top tip: The best experience is to see the floating market from the sampan… Read more info & pictures
Binh Thuy Ancient House
Ticket: 20,000VND
Spend-time: Half an hour (approx)
Hours: Daily 7 am to 12 pm & 2 pm to 6 pm
Food: a small coffee shop
Shop: a painting shop
Parking lot: Yes, for coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/binh-thuy-ancient-house-can-tho/
Address: 144 Bui Huu Nghia Street, Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City. About 6km from Can Tho city center.
Recognition(s): was recognised as a National architectural and artistic monument in 2009.
Added values: The most amazing thing is the locals still make all fresh noodles in manual ways from mixing, making, drying, cutting noodles, packing…all done by hand. You can explore Can Tho’s countryside, cool villages, small canals, local roads and gardens by walking or cycling.
The Binh Thuy French-style house, the privately owned house, was built in 1870 by the Duong family and still managed by the eighth generation. The house was famously used in the 1992 movie “L’Amant” (“The Lover”) based on the novel of the same name by French author Marguerite Duras, directed by Jean Jacques Annaud, telling the story of a young Marguerite Duras and her lover Huynh Thuy Le, set during Indochina times.
The Duong family’s house is a rare model of an old house remaining quite intact in Binh Thuy, Can Tho, local people used to call this place Binh Thuy ancient house, Binh Thuy orchid garden old house. The Duong family came to settle in the South around the end of the 18th century, until Mr. Duong Minh Hien was the 6th generation, the first house was built by Mr. Duong Van Vi in 1870 with precious wood and roof tiles to worship the ancestors. The house you are visiting today was built by Mr. Duong Chan Ky (also known as Mr Landlord 3) between 1904 and 1911… Read more info & pictures
Can Tho Rice Noodle Factory
Ticket: Free and flexible
Spend-time: Half an hour (approx)
Hours: Dawn – dusk
Food: Yes
Shop: Yes
Parking lot: Yes for coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/can-tho-rice-noodle-factory/
Address: Lo Vong Cung Street, An Binh Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City. About 6,5km from Can Tho City center.
Added values: The most amazing thing is the locals still make all fresh noodles in manual ways from mixing, making, drying, cutting noodles, packing…all done by hand. You can explore Can Tho’s countryside, cool villages, small canals, local roads and gardens by walking or cycling.
The best time to visit it is before 10 am because if you come after 10 am, you may miss the opportunity to see with your own eyes, experience with your own hands and get noodles. Because at this time, most of the fresh cakes have been left to dry in the sun for the next process. Top tip: Still open and run the factory in the wet season but less colors and less noodles than the sunny days. It is more fun and eye-opener to check in this place during the flood season.
The best way to see this place is by boat, you should combine it with the Cai Rang floating market & rice noodle factory in your biking tour.
The cheapest way to discover Can Tho rice noodle factory is by bicycle or scooter, because this hidden gem is in Can Tho village and along many small paths and canals which are so cool and worthy of your full exploration. Top tip: If you plan to extend your Can Tho biking tour to the homestay, do not forget to bring mosquito repellent cream.
There are some interesting things about this place. The most amazing thing is the locals still make all fresh noodles in manual ways from mixing, making, drying, cutting noodles, packing…all done by hand. Most tourists are welcome to help make the noodles with the locals. The noodles here are so colorful and super yummy with their home cooked “noodle pizza”. Top tip: So much educational and fun to interact with the local’s hospitality…. Read more info & pictures
2. What to See in Can Tho
Can Tho Wildlife & Forest
Ticket: 50,000VND (visit a part) or 100.000VND
Spend-time: An hour (approx) or stay overnight
Hours: Dawn – dusk
Food: Yes, local restaurant
Shop: Not really
Parking lot: Yes for coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/can-tho-bird-sanctuary/
Address: 927 Road, Hoa An, Phung Hiep, Hau Giang, Vietnam. About 40km to the South of Can Tho City.
Recognition(s): Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Reserve is known as the “green lung” of the Mekong Delta But also one of the most unique biodiversity conservation areas of Vietnam.
Added values: Birdwatching or birding in Mekong Delta, Lung Ngoc Hoang forest is one of the most beautiful places for birding in the early morning and afternoon, in the dry and the wet season.
About 40 kilometers from Can Tho city, the wetland conservation is one of Can Tho hidden gems for anyone who loves to see a real Mekong Delta beside Can Tho floating market. Only best way to explore this place is to take the boat! Wonderful natural green canals and feeling like nowhere in Vietnam. Top tip: Trekking or staying overnight will bring you chances to explore nature & wildlife.
If you are a true nature lover, you would love to be in nature any time like us! Best time for Mekong is in the dry season from December to April, but the best time to visit this wetland is in the flooding and raining season when the fish, foods, birds come back & wake up nature and wildlife. When the flood comes, the water lettuce covers the whole area of the forest and wild canals, this makes the destination such unforgettable landscapes. For other times of the year, especially during the dry season, visitors will see nature’s beauty in different ways as true nature explorers… Since 2016, 2017 the forest has attracted tourists. However, it wasn’t until 2019 the local bridge and road official upgraded so much better. Top tip: The first week of November is top-notch.
Is it safe to visit it during the wet season? The more you know about wildlife the more you respect nature and our rainforest in Mekong Delta. Totally fine! The forest opens all year round! There are even more elements to see during the wet time! As a real traveller, we believe that you will love nature at any time of the year… Read more info & pictures
Can Tho Fruit Garden
Ticket: Free or 20,000VND (for some gardens)
Spend-time: One and a half hour (approx)
Hours: Dawn – dusk
Food: Yes, local fruits
Shop: Fresh fruits
Parking lot: Yes and a short walking
Blog: https://vemekong.com/can-tho-fruit-garden/
Address: There are many fruit gardens in Cai Rang, Phong Dien floating market. About 10km to 20km from Can Tho city center.
Added values: Most of the amazing tropical orchards are organic and environmentally gardens. The visitors always enjoy the fresh seasonal fruits from the gardens. You can explore Can Tho’s countryside, cool villages, small canals, local roads and gardens by walking or cycling.
Fruit is seasonal. If you really look for a beautiful fruit garden, you should plan to see it during the wet season. When the rain comes, the flowers blossom and the yummy fruit grows. Top tip: It is prettier to see the garden in the morning.
Boat, bike, scooter, and car are some means of transportation to reach the Can Tho fruit garden. It just depends on your styles and how much time you have. Because the garden is in the countryside and the small road you go to, the authentic garden you will see. As a local, we prefer taking a small boat, sampan or bicycle to go. Top tip: Making a ride of your life around the Mekong canal and fruit garden by bike or scooter is a great and amazing trip… Read more info & pictures
Can Tho Sampan Ride and Small Canals
Sampan is one of the authentic and traditional boats that the Mekong peoples used to have for the markets, floating markets, traveling around, loading goods and even for the wedding.
Can Tho sampan have both engine and hand rowing and the foldable roof to avoid sunny and raining. Sampan in Can Tho is pretty bigger than normal so that it can carry more things and used for tours as well.
Sampan in Can Tho can accommodate about 4 adults with the small size, and 8 adults with the bigger one.
Renting a sampan by yourself is about 250.000vnd [~11$] for 2 or 3 people for about 12km. This price is about the tour from Ninh Kieu pier to Cai Rang floating market. It is about double the price for both Cai Rang and Phong Dien floating market. It costs a bit extra if you ask for small canals and other fruit gardens along the way.
If you are not sure about the negotiation of sampan prices, you can ask the hotel for help… Read more info & pictures
Truc Lam Phuong Nam Zen Monastery
Ticket: Free
Spend-time: Half an hour (approx)
Hours: Dawn – dusk
Food: Yes, big vegetarian restaurant
Shop: Yes
Parking lot: Yes for coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/truc-lam-phuong-nam-zen-monastery-can-tho/
Address: 923 Road, My Khanh, Phong Dien District, Can Tho City.
Added values: If you make an attempt to discover, you will find that temples are usually built where there is abundant positive energy which helps your soul and beliefs a lot better.
The monastery was built on an area of nearly 4 hectares, started construction on July 16, 2013 and completed after 10 months of construction. On May 17, 2014, the inauguration ceremony of Truc Lam Phuong Nam Zen Monastery was solemnly organized by the Buddhist Board of Can Tho.
The entire building has a tiled roof structure, ironwood pillars, brick walls, floors and walkways. Besides the main hall, the campus is balanced with about 20 work items such as: ancestral house, spacious hall for teaching and studying for about 500 monks, Buddhists, 9-storey stupa, drum tower, bronze bell tower, monks’ quarters and guest houses, monasteries, libraries and medicine rooms, water houses, etc., were built around them, forming an architectural complex imbued with cultural and historical significance… Read more info & pictures
3. What to Eat in Can Tho
Cong Cake (Banh Cong)
Find them: De Tham Street and Ly Tu Trong Street, An Cu Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City
Best time: After 2pm
Don’t miss: Spring roll
Local’s pick: Banh Cong Co Ut
Tourist’s pick: Many Cong cake local restaurants in Can Tho city center.
It’s called “Banh Cong” because people use a “Cong” to cook. A “Cong” has a long handle and looks like a small metal milk bottle. In the Mekong Delta, people still use “Cong” as a unit of measures in dealing at the market. “Cong” has many sizes: ½ “xị”, 1 “xị” (4 “xị” equal to 1 liter), ½ liter, 1 liter and the biggest size is 2-liters Cống.
The “Cong” used to make Bánh Cong has only one size with diameter 5 cm, height 5cm with the handle about 1 span. The “Cong” used to fry Bánh Cống does not have cylinder shape like the “Cong” used for measuring, it has the bottom a little smaller than the topping, it helps Banh Cong to float up once it is done.
Banh Cong is made with rice flour mixed with wheat flour to keep Banh Cong soft and crispy. You can use rice flour or soak rice then grind to make Banh Cong. Rice flour grinded is always better than buying rice flour from the market because it keeps the fragrant flavor. If you don’t know how to select rice flour at the market you can easily get old, moudy flour and make your cake sour and bitter.
Banh Cong is always served with sweet-sour fish sauce, lime and minced chili. Fish sauce adds more shredded cucumber, carrot and radish. Aromatic herbs are fish mint, lettuce, basil, herb mint… Read more info & pictures
Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli in Can Tho
One of Can Tho’s best authentic foods is Ut Dzach fine rice vermicelli (Vietnamese name: Bánh hỏi mặt võng Út Dzách Cần Thơ) where a real food lover always adds it in their wishlist. It is a very fun activity to give a try, and super yummy to go for this authentic food.
Absolutely, you will see the real Can Tho villages and local life on the way to Ut Dzach family. The owner will serve you the home cooked fine rice vermicelli which is about VND 50,000 – VND 70,000 per person. Top tip: Do not forget to explore a lovely backyard garden.
Banh Hoi is considered by the government as an authentic and traditional cuisine of Can Tho people. That means a lot for the Can Tho food culture and its values. What a responsible place for the locals and tourists to come and understand more about this food. Top tip: Many news and media talk about this secret food and its flavor… Read more info & pictures
4. What to Buy in Can Tho
Muoi Cuong Cacao Farm and Home-made chocolate
Ticket: 50,000VND
Spend-time: An hour (approx)
Hours: Daily 7 am to 12 pm
Food: Cacao drink, chocolate.
Shop: Yes
Parking lot: Yes for coach
Blog: https://vemekong.com/muoi-cuong-cacao-farm-can-tho/
Address: My Khanh, Phong Dien, Can Tho. About 12km from Can Tho city center.
Added values: Foreigners have learned about the stages of chocolate processing in factories a lot, but for manual processing they have never seen, so they want to learn very much by visiting villages.
The Mười Cương Cacao Garden has an area of 1,2 hectares, planted with 2000 Cacao trees, was built in the 1960s and has been maintained until now. Cacao processing has been a traditional family business since 1960. In the beginning, Cương’s father went to Malaysia to bring seeds to Vietnam and grew them. In his hometown, there has been more and more farmers growing after 3 years. When the trees were so fruitful, but the locals did not know how to use their fruits, they ruined all of them. Apart from Cuong’s family, the father asked his children not to cut down trees and had his children find information from books and documents to know how to make chocolate, then they tried to make it from Cacao. At that time, Cuong came across a French book, his sister and he read and studied. Fortunately, they made excellent chocolate products (1963). He still holds the book until now. This family is one of the first families in Vietnam growing and processing Cacao… Read more info & pictures
5. Free and Fun Things to Do in Can Tho
Can Tho Giant Ficus Tree – Secret VC base
The Gian Gua relic site, with its giant ficus trees over 100 years old, is a tree that represents the wetland ecology of the Mekong Delta. This site used to have a very large area, but due to the destruction of war bombs and the impact of the environment, now only about 2,700 m2. Coming to Gian Gua relic, visitors feel surprised and overwhelmed by a solid primeval rig, with many trees and branches interwoven and intertwined like a giant net, so sometimes the tourists don’t know which is the root, where is the branch. There are branches still imprinted with traces of war with cuts and patches caused by bombs and bullets. However, with intense vitality, those ficus trees still sprout and stretch to radiate shade. This is probably the one-of-a-kind ficus giant tree in Vietnam. Currently, it has spread over an area of about 4,000m2.
In particular, this place was also the site of revolutionary activities during the two periods of resistance against the French colonialists and the American empire. During the anti-American era, many meetings took place here to implement resolutions and directives of the Party Committee of the District and Provincial Party Committee; In 1961 – 1965, this site was a secret facility to open training courses, to train special forces in the inner city of Can Tho. Gian Gua Can Tho is also a place where weapons and ammunition are stored, contributing with the armed forces and the people to defeat the war strategies of the US… Read more info & pictures
Can Tho Paddy Rice Fields & Off the Beaten Track
As Mekong Delta build up over the years, they get formed in the shape of a triangle and the deposits in this formation are of rich alluvium, which are ideally suited for growing wet rice, as is done now extensively in the Mekong Delta where farmers and fishermen live to pursue their vocation of farming and aquafarming. Walking around the green or saffron yellow rice fields and learning deeply about the “white gold” in Vietnam are fantastic and educational experiences in Can Tho. Top tip: Free entrance, hours: Daily. Best time to see Can Tho and its rice fields is March, April, May. Off the beaten track with Can Tho scooter tours is a must… Read more info & pictures
6. Pro Tips
If you plan to extend your travel to Can Tho homestay, do not forget to bring mosquito repellent cream.
Visit Can Tho or do any customized tours, please choose reputable providers with boat trips equipped with lifebuoys, jackets, motorcycle and cycling tours with the helmets and. Safety is a priority! Choose Can Tho responsible tours which help you give back while traveling. It’s a cliché, but it’s true.
Can Tho food & drink guide ranges from street food, authentic, fancy to fusion foods. As a tropical land of many fresh vegetables and homegrown gardens, which always make Can Tho cuisines fresh, close to nature and very traditional. If you are a food lover, don’t hesitate to put other bites onto your food lists such as Cong cake in Can Tho, Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli…
Bring your hat, sunglasses, and sunblock, scarf to wear when visiting temples, pagodas, and the cathedral.
Bring the raincoat if you’re planning a trip to Can Tho in the rainy season, as Can Tho always looks fantastic in the full rain and full sun.
Can Tho tourist attractions are magnificent itself, but if you have enough time, don’t forget to put other places onto your bucket lists such as Can Tho Wildlife & Forest, Binh Thuy Ancient House, Organic Cacao farm, Can Tho Floating Markets, Can Tho Small Canals & Sampan Ride, Can Tho Fruit Garden, Can Tho Paddy Rice Fields, Can Tho Giant Ficus Tree – Secret VC base, Can Tho Rice Noodle Factory, Cai Rang floating market, Can Tho Old Market, Phong Dien floating market, Truc Lam Phuong Nam Zen Monastery, Can Tho to Con Dao – Express boat, Son Islet – Community-based Tourism…
Hopefully, the above tips will help you to come up with a great plan for your adventure in Can Tho, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Have a safe trip!
“Sleep less, travel more, respect more” – Thomas Vietnam – Local travel expert.
Thank you
