RTW Trip Day #25: Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels with Kids

andrewsco3
7 hours ago
5 min read

23 October 2025

Steps: 6,262

The Cu Chi tunnels are by far the most popular tourist attraction in Ho Chi Minh City, and Evelyn in particular was keen to see the underground network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, especially as the kids learnt about the war at the War Remnants Museum the day before.

Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels with the Kids

We decided to get a Grab taxi to the Cu Chi tunnels with the kids, rather than getting a tour, as we’d read a few blogs where others had found Grab easy enough, plus it was quite overwhelming trying to find the best tour as there are so many!

The taxi ride was around 2 hours, which was great apart from when Jess got car sick and threw up. Luckily she’s a pro at it now, and has her sick bag ready and makes very little fuss. Poor girl. It cost 600k VND one way, which is around $30 CAD, so a pretty reasonable fare.

After passing through a ticket check station, we started walking through the trees and there is a pretty obvious to path to follow.

We had intended to just explore the tunnels by ourselves, but once we had walked a little way into the trees, there are people ushering you into an information centre, where you have to watch an old 70’s propaganda video about the war, and afterwards are assigned a tour guide and you make your way to the first tunnel.

The first tunnel was one of the easiest, as the steps down to the tunnel were quite wide, and the tunnel was only around 10-15 meters to the exit. It was hard for me to walk crouched, but could just about manage it, but it was very hot and stuffy down there.

WARNING. If you are claustrophobic I really don't think you will like going through the Cu Chi tunnels - especially with kids

The second tunnel was a lot more scary as you need to drop down the hatch, which is the famous photo that most people get when visiting here.

There are two different sizes of hatch you can go down. The smallest is the original size used by the Viet Cong, and the second is slightly larger for tourists, but let me tell you, they are tight!

Susie and Evelyn went through the larger of the two hatches, and she thought I would have been crawling on my hands and knees to get through to the exit - no thanks!

Evelyn inside the tunnels — This was Evelyn in the first tunnel

The third tunnel led to a medical station and was a lot easier. This was one of the benefits of having a guide as he gave Jess the confidence to give this one a go. She didn't exactly love the experience, but she did it!

The final tunnel led to the commander's office, and from there you could choose to one of two different exits. The first was a really easy set of steps (which we all took), or for the brave, you could continue on for another 30m to a second exit, although our guide warned us this was the tightest one.

Looking at the people that emerged from the longer tunnel exit, it looked pretty horrendous. One of the people going through had struggled a bit, and there was a bit of a backlog, and everyone came out dripping in sweat, so be warned! It is incredibly hot and stuffy down there.

We were initially a bit disappointed to find out we were part of a tour, as we’d hoped to explore at our own pace and avoid the crowds. But in the end, having a guide made a big difference.

He explained which tunnels were easier or harder and how long each one was, which really helped us decide which ones to try. I don’t think we would have felt as comfortable doing the tunnels without that guidance, especially with young children.

Our tour guide was also really engaging, funny, and informative. He told us that at one point there were around 250 km of underground tunnels, which is just mind-blowing to think about!

He also explained that the tunnels were often built three levels deep and even had special smoke tunnels to divert smoke from cooking fires. They’d also set traps inside the corners of tunnel “rooms,” knowing that US troops would instinctively move there for cover.

It was incredibly clever - everything was so well thought out, and it’s easy to see why the US troops found it so difficult.

After the final tunnel, you come out by a small café where you can try some steamed cassava with nuts and salt, which is included in the ticket price.

It was a staple food for the Viet Cong during the war, and it was actually quite nice - it tasted a bit like chestnut to me. The kids, of course, managed to convince us to get them an ice cream too.

Just after the exit there are a few information huts. One shows the different types of traps used, which was pretty terrifying to see.

Another workshop demonstrated how the Viet Cong made sandals from rubber tyres because they were so cheap and durable. There were also some fascinating photos on the walls, including ones showing that children still went to school during the war, which Jess couldn't believe.

Last of all, there’s the option to shoot an AK47 if you’re so inclined. It’s charged per bullet, but our girls would have hated the noise so we gave it a miss.

There are a few small cafés where you can get food, though nothing particularly special, so we decided to book a Grab back to Ho Chi Minh City. There were plenty available, and we only had to wait a few minutes.

Ben Nghe Street Food Market

After enjoying our meal here so much last night, we decided to come back again. We loved that everyone could pick exactly what they wanted to try. I had a banh mi and a huge pork and shrimp pancake, Susie went for a Thai curry, Evelyn chose some sushi, and Jess got a hamburger.