Best Things in Can Tho

Can Tho is one of the largest city in Mekong Delta, Vietnam. It's not only famous as a thriving economic center of the Mekong provinces but also a beautiful destination for tourists. It's a buzzing town along the Mekong river, with many fresh fruits gardens, and colorful streets. Together with Cai Be, Can Tho is well known for its floating market, many travelers have visited the town with boat tours thru tiny canals and rivers leading out of town, however, you can't complete your trip without checking the best things to do here,

What to Do?

First thing, I must mention is Cai Rang Floating Market. From Can Tho, you either book a tour or come directly to Can Tho Pier to book your own boat. It costs around 10 USD for a half-day trip which I think it's enough to do. Another option is sharing a boat with others people and the fee will be cheaper (about 2-3 USD/ person). To experience the best things at Cai Rang, I advise you to go in the early morning (from 4:30-5 am), then you will see how the local market looks like from the beginning, which is almost local purchasing together and everything is still full. We were a bit late and we saw mostly tourists instead. Fortunately, we got a good foodie team with us, especially the tour guide. She was a wizard of hospitality there, she took us to the best place for food and attractions.

We had chance to taste the most delicious Hủ tiếu on boat.

She taught us how to sail the local boat in the canals.

She showed us one of the most famous fruit gardens with a smart ecosystem where you can see how locals plant and produce their homemade noodles, coconut candies, honey, etc, and heaven of free fruits to eat.

She was very good at photography as well. After the trip, we had tons of nice pictures to share with friends.

The Mekong Non La - Vietnamese's Famous Conical Hat is always so attractive with beautiful drawings.

End of the tour, everybody was so happy and didn't want to say goodbye to her.

Where else visit?

A city tour is highly recommended. There are many places to visit, you can check a map first and make a list of your beloved places to go so that you can save time and finish a day tour without getting tired. The same as the floating market, you can book a tour too, or take a scooter to move between destinations. There are some beautiful pagodas and historic places to visit, such as Ong Temple which was originally built in the late 19th century to worship Kuang Kung, a deity symbolizing loyalty, justice, reason, intelligence, honor, and courage, among other merits. src

We had a picture to keep as a memory there.

This is a Vietnamese heritage tree that played an important role during War-Time.

In the evening, we did an easy walk along the river and visited Can Tho market where you can find a lot of handmade things made by traditional local handicrafts there and modern stuff from Thailand, Cambodia, and other countries, it reminded me about Chak Tuk Chak market in Thailand.

We passed a pagoda that had a rich influence on Chinese culture with all letters in Chinese and colorful architecture with highlights of red and golden. There is a big Chinese community living there as well.

What to Eat

This is always my favorite part to share with you the best local food in Vietnam. I love to try different things wherever I travel, which keeps me the most unforgettable memories. My recent trip to Can Tho, I had some local friends and they took me to paradise food places which I can't remember names of all, however, I would love to share with your my 4 recommendation food to try there,

Goi Ca Linh - Special Fish Salad which is only in Mekong River. We were lucky to meet the season for that.

As living near the river, field crabs are so popular there and stronger color and richer calcium than other crabs.

Hotpot with many different flowers, veggies, and special fish sauces will not make you disappointed.

Banh xeo - a Vietnamese crepes were created in different colors. I used to share in another post about this speciality.

Many things to explore in Mekong Delta, it's a rich cultural town for those who love diversity and local tradition. I hope you enjoy it and experience it on your own one day.

Have a great week ahead ☘️