My Tho, the nearest river town

My Tho is a provincial town that happens to be the closest point on the main river to Ho Chi Minh City. Since the 2025 merger it is reported as the seat of the enlarged Dong Thap province (the merger resolution itself names no seats). It was a market and river town long before tourism, and away from the riverfront it still is: traffic, schools, shops and markets.

The riverfront is different. Because My Tho is the nearest place to put visitors on a boat, it has become one of the most used departure points in the delta for day trips. Boats leave from the riverfront for Thoi Son and the neighbouring islets all morning, and the islet stops, with their honey farms, fruit tables and music, are set up to receive group after group. If you come expecting a quiet village, the morning jetty will surprise you. If you come expecting a well-organised first look at the Mekong, it delivers exactly that.

On the edge of town, on the Bao Dinh canal, Vinh Trang pagoda stands in a 2-hectare garden. It was completed in 1850, according to published histories, and its triple gate was added in 1933 by craftsmen from Hue. The façade mixes European and Asian styles, and inside are eighteen carved wooden arhat statues from 1907. Dress to cover shoulders and knees. We have not been able to confirm a current entrance fee or fixed opening hours from an official source; check on the day.

My Tho has a noodle soup named after it. Hu tieu My Tho uses thin, dry, chewy rice noodles, traditionally made from Go Cat rice grown on the town's outskirts, in a broth of pork bones with dried squid and dried shrimp, topped with pork, pork roll, shrimp and crackling. A bowl was about VND 20,000 to 40,000 in 2023. If you arrive early by private car, a bowl in town makes a good start to the day.

No. My Tho is close enough to Ho Chi Minh City that a night adds little the day does not already give you. The one argument for staying would be to see the riverfront early, before the day-trip boats arrive, and that is easier to achieve with a private car leaving the city at 07:00. If you want a night in the delta, spend it in Can Tho, where the early morning has a market to show for it.

By car or tour vehicle the route is the Ho Chi Minh City–Trung Luong expressway, 62 km, and a short run into town from its end, about 1.5 to 2 hours from the centre in ordinary traffic. Weekend and holiday queues at the junctions near My Tho can add an hour.

Public buses run from the Mien Tay (Western) bus station; travel guides gave fares of about VND 60,000 to 90,000 in 2021 to 2023. Grab lists service in the area under its old name, Tien Giang.

• If you have been on a Mekong day trip before: My Tho is the classic first visit and rarely surprises a second time
• If crowds at a jetty would spoil the day for you — go to Cai Be or take a private day on the Ben Tre side
• If a floating market is the reason you are going — My Tho has none on the usual routes; go to Can Tho
• On holiday weekends, when the road and the wharf are at their busiest

The My Tho and Ben Tre day starts here, with Vinh Trang pagoda and the motorboat to Thoi Son, as a join-in or private day. If you want the same canals without the busy wharf, the private Ben Tre day crosses by road instead.