Cycling & Island Backroads in the Mekong Delta
A visual guide from the Mekong Delta travel guide — see all posters in Visual Guides.
The delta may be Vietnam's best easy cycling: dead flat, shaded by fruit trees, and stitched together by concrete lanes that carry more school bicycles than cars. Pedal an island like An Binh near Vinh Long or the orchard islets between My Tho and Ben Tre and you cross plank bridges, wave back constantly, and roll onto small ferries whenever the path runs out of land.
Where to Ride
An Binh island is the classic: a grid of orchard lanes, garden cafés and homestays a five-minute ferry from Vinh Long. Around Can Tho, guided rides loop through Phong Dien's canals and back-gardens; around Ben Tre, levee paths run between coconut groves and rice fields. Most homestays lend bicycles, and day tours from Can Tho or Ho Chi Minh City bundle cycling with boats.
Riding Comfortably
Distances are short but the sun is serious: ride early or late, carry water, and plan a fruit-and-hammock stop through the midday heat. Lanes are shared with scooters — keep right and ring your bell early at blind orchard corners. In the September–November high-water months a few low paths can flood at spring tides; locals will point you to the dry way around.