Mekong Delta homestays, 2 to 4 days
Destinations
Where the host families live
Four places where Delta families take guests into their homes, each with a profile of the rooms, the bathrooms, the way in, what the households actually do, and when you should choose somewhere else.
The places at a glance
Vinh Long
An Binh islet
One of the first homestay islets, opposite Vinh Long town. A wide choice of rooms.
An Binh profile
Can Tho
Con Son & Phong Dien
A cooperative islet for the day, orchard homestays for the night.
Con Son & Phong Dien profile
former Ben Tre province
Ben Tre villages
Coconut lanes and the Cai Mon nursery gardens. Quiet, green, short drive.
Ben Tre profile
Vinh Long
Vinh Long town
The gateway to An Binh, and the hotel night when a homestay is not right.
Vinh Long notesThe homestay profiles compared
| An Binh | Con Son / Phong Dien | Ben Tre villages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overnight | Yes, more than 20 houses | Con Son day visits; sleep in Phong Dien | Yes, village and garden homes |
| Typical room | Fan room in the house to air-con bungalow | Garden rooms, fan or air-con | Simple wooden room to garden room |
| Bathroom | Private or shared, often across the yard | Mostly private in garden rooms | Shared in simpler houses |
| Access | Short ferry from Vinh Long | Boat to Con Son; road to Phong Dien | Road over the Rach Mieu bridges |
| What families do | Fruit gardens, hosting | Fish rafts, cakes, gardens | Coconut work, nurseries, fruit |
| Drive from HCMC | About 2.5–3 h | About 3–3.5 h | About 1.75–2.25 h to Ben Tre town |
| Skip it if | You need total quiet | You want a night on the islet itself | You want river traffic and boats |
Drive times are estimates from route distances plus traffic. Room descriptions are the range we see in each place; the quote for your trip names the actual house and room.
Sources: Nhan Dan, 3 Jul 2023 — An Binh homestay awards; Sai Gon Giai Phong, 9 Nov 2025 — a day on Con Son; Mia.vn, 17 Feb 2024 — Ben Tre homestays; OSRM / OpenStreetMap route distances, queried 11 Oct 2026 · checked .
What these places have in common
All four sit on the lower Mekong's distributaries: the Tien, the Co Chien, the Hau and the Ham Luong. Life runs on water: fruit gardens are cut by ditches that fill and drain with the tide, houses face a canal, and until recently the way to the next village was a boat or a monkey bridge. Much of that has changed. Press reports from 2023 list new roads, sluice gates, concrete bridges and river embankments as reasons the countryside looks different, and engine noise as one reason it sounds different.
What has not changed is that households here earn from gardens, fish and small workshops, and some of them have opened their homes to guests to add to that. That is the trip. It works when you arrive curious, accept that you are in a working house, and stay long enough for the work to resume around you.
Sources: Tuoi Tre, 13 Nov 2023 — community tourism in the west · checked .
The 2025 province changes
In June 2025 the National Assembly merged most Delta provinces, with the new provincial governments in place from 1 July 2025. Ben Tre and Tra Vinh became part of Vinh Long province; Soc Trang and Hau Giang became part of Can Tho city. On this site we keep the travel names people use, Ben Tre, Phong Dien, An Binh, and say 'the former Ben Tre province' where it matters for maps and tickets.
Sources: Resolution 202/2025/QH15 (Dai bieu Nhan dan) · checked .
Which trip goes where
- An Binh, 2 days — An Binh, via Vinh Long
- Con Son & Phong Dien, 2 days — Can Tho
- Ben Tre villages, 3 days — Ben Tre town area and Cho Lach
- Two homestays, 4 days — Vinh Long, An Binh, Con Son, Phong Dien
Before choosing, read what a homestay night is really like.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Which islet is quietest at night?
Phong Dien gardens and the Cho Lach villages are usually quieter than An Binh, which faces busy river channels. None is silent: roosters and frogs are everywhere.
Which is easiest to reach?
The Ben Tre villages, at about 85 km from central Ho Chi Minh City. An Binh adds a short ferry from Vinh Long; Con Son a short boat from Can Tho.
Is Cai Be or My Tho a homestay place?
Both have garden visits and a few rooms, but they are mostly day-trip territory from the city. We base our homestay nights further in, where evenings are quieter.
Can we combine the Ben Tre villages and An Binh?
Yes. A route from Cho Lach via the Dinh Khao ferry reaches An Binh; we can build it as a four-day trip.
Related
Read next
Destinations · Vinh Long
An Binh islet
An early homestay islet: room types, bathrooms, ferry, seasons and the erosion question.
View this journey
Destinations · Can Tho
Con Son & Phong Dien
Con Son's cooperative households and Phong Dien's garden homestays, profiled honestly.
View this journey
Destinations · former Ben Tre province
Ben Tre villages
Coconut lanes and Cai Mon nursery villages: rooms, access, seasons, salinity and costs.
View this journey
Destinations · Vinh Long
Vinh Long
Vinh Long town: the An Binh ferry, Van Thanh Mieu, tides, and when to sleep here instead.
View this journey
Tours
Tours
Four private homestay trips compared: nights, drive time, room types and the work you share.
View this journey
Before you go
A homestay night
Hour by hour: rooms, shared bathrooms, nets, noise, roosters, dinner, dawn.
View this journeyStart planning
Tell us which family home you have in mind
A trip, a month and how many of you are travelling are enough to start. We reply by email with questions or a first suggestion that names the house, the room and the bathroom.