Biên Hòa travel guide
River island temples and a Temple of Literature beside Saigon
A large industrial city on the Dong Nai River, north-east of Ho Chi Minh City. Visitors come for a few hours to see the temples of Cu Lao Pho, the Van Mieu Tran Bien and the Buu Long quarry park. The dry season from December to April is the most pleasant. Costs are low.
Bien Hoa sits on the Dong Nai River north-east of Ho Chi Minh City, linked to it by the Hanoi Highway. It was long the capital of Dong Nai and one of the largest cities in Vietnam, built on factories and industrial parks. In mid-2025 it lost its status as a separate city when district-level government was abolished, though the name is still in everyday use.
Few travellers stay, but the river has history. Cu Lao Pho, an island in the Dong Nai, was a busy trading port founded by Chinese settlers in the late 17th century, and old temples remain from that time. On the edge of town, the Van Mieu Tran Bien is a Temple of Literature dating from the early 1700s, rebuilt in recent decades.
Buu Long, a park built around a flooded quarry with a pagoda on its slopes, is where local families go at weekends. Treat Bien Hoa as a half-day outing from Ho Chi Minh City, not a base.
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Top things to do in Biên Hòa
Old river-port temples, a Temple of Literature and a quarry-lake park.
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Best time to visit Biên Hòa
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Sunny and hot, with March and April the hottest months.
Afternoon storms most days; mornings are usually fine.
Buu Long and the riverside parks fill with local families on Sundays; go on a weekday for quiet.
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Getting there
Hanoi Highway, Suoi Tien metro or Bien Hoa station
Bien Hoa lies about 30 km north-east of central Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai River, and almost everyone arrives from there. The direct way is a Grab or taxi up the Hanoi Highway, part of National Route 1: around an hour outside rush hour, much longer at 7 to 9am or after 4pm, when factory traffic floods the road. A cheaper hybrid is Metro Line 1 from Ben Thanh to its terminus at Suoi Tien, about 30 minutes, then a short Grab across the river into town. Bien Hoa station sits on the North-South railway, so some Reunification Express trains stop here, handy if you are heading north towards the coast without going back into Saigon. Long-distance coaches use the city's own bus station.
- By road
- Grab or taxi along the Hanoi Highway, about an hour off-peak
- Metro and Grab
- Line 1 from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien, then a short ride over the Dong Nai
- By rail
- Bien Hoa station on the North-South railway
- Airport
- Tan Son Nhat (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City
- Leave Saigon after 9:30am and head back before 4pm; the Hanoi Highway is gridlocked at shift changes.
Getting around
Grab hops between Cu Lao Pho and Buu Long
Use Grab or a metered taxi between Bien Hoa's sights, which sit in different corners of a sprawling industrial city, with each hop taking 10 to 20 minutes outside rush hour: the Van Mieu Tran Bien and the Buu Long quarry park lie to the north-west along the river, while Cu Lao Pho is an island in the Dong Nai reached by bridge from the city centre. On the island itself, the old temples are close together and pleasant to walk between along the quiet lanes. City buses run on main roads but are geared to factory commuters, and signage is in Vietnamese only. If you hired a car and driver in Saigon for the day, keep them; it saves a lot of waiting for rides on the city edge.
- Grab
- The simplest way to link Cu Lao Pho, the Van Mieu and Buu Long
- On foot
- Between the temples on Cu Lao Pho island
- Car with driver
- Best value as a full day out from Ho Chi Minh City
- Carry water and a hat for Buu Long; the quarry paths have little shade.
Know before you go
What makes Biên Hòa worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Cu Lao Pho, a river island where Chinese traders built a port more than three centuries ago.
- Van Mieu Tran Bien, a Temple of Literature for the south, founded in the early 1700s.
- Buu Long, a pagoda above a flooded quarry lake with walking paths.
Good to know
- Hanoi Highway traffic is heavy at peak hours, so time trips for mid-morning.
- Few hotels aimed at tourists; most visitors return to Ho Chi Minh City the same day.
- Heat builds fast in March and April; plan the park for early morning.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Biên Hòa, month by month
Month-by-month climate figures for Biên Hòa are being researched.
Van Mieu Tran Bien, Cu Lao Pho and the Buu Long quarry lake
A day trip to Bien Hoa takes in the Van Mieu Tran Bien, the first Temple of Literature in the south, the old Chinese river port on Cu Lao Pho island and Buu Long, a quarry lake park. Leave Ho Chi Minh City around 9:30am, after the Hanoi Highway rush, and head back before 4pm.
Go first to the Van Mieu Tran Bien. Founded in 1715, it was the first Temple of Literature in the south, built to honour Confucius and scholars as Vietnamese settlement pushed into the region. The original was destroyed in the colonial period, and what you see is a careful rebuild completed around the turn of the millennium, with a lotus pond, a stone gate and halls dedicated to scholars. It is quiet on weekdays.
Next, cross to Cu Lao Pho, an island in the Dong Nai River. In the late 17th century Chinese refugees loyal to the fallen Ming dynasty settled here and built a busy river port that traded with ships from across Asia, before war in the 18th century ruined it. The most striking survivor is the Chua Ong temple, also called That Phu Co Mieu, with its curved tiled roofs and carved figures. Walk the lanes around it to see old houses and small shrines.
End the afternoon at Buu Long, a former stone quarry turned park, where a path loops around a deep green lake beneath cliffs and a pagoda sits on the slope above. Families picnic here at weekends.
Bien Hoa glazed pottery, stone carvers and Tan Trieu pomelos
Bien Hoa is known for glazed pottery in deep blues, greens and glossy brown, for stone carving near Buu Long and for the sweet pomelos of Tan Trieu. Workshops still make vases and garden pots, carvers work at the roadside near the quarry, and pomelo stalls are busiest before Tet.
Its glazed ceramics, known across Vietnam as Bien Hoa pottery, developed in the early 20th century around a local art school, and combine deep blues, greens and a glossy brown glaze with relief decoration. Workshops around the city still produce vases, garden pots and figurines, and the pieces turn up in old pagodas and homes across the south. Ask locally which workshops welcome visitors.
Near Buu Long, stone carving has been practised for generations, using the hard rock of the hills along the river. Workshops along the roads near the quarry turn out statues, lions and temple decoration, and you can watch carvers at work from the roadside.
The other local product is fruit. The Tan Trieu area, just upriver, is one of Vietnam's best-known pomelo districts, its orchards growing large, sweet, pale-fleshed fruit on the alluvial islands of the Dong Nai. Families buy them as offerings for Tet. For lunch, riverside restaurants along the Dong Nai serve grilled and hotpot river fish; choose a busy one.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Biên Hòa.
Getting there
About an hour by Grab or taxi outside rush hour, and much longer at morning and evening shift changes.
Bien Hoa lies about 30 km north-east of central Ho Chi Minh City, across the Dong Nai River, and almost everyone arrives from there. The direct way is a Grab or taxi up the Hanoi Highway, part of National Route 1: around an hour outside rush hour, much longer at 7 to 9am or after 4pm, when factory traffic floods the road. A cheaper hybrid is Metro Line 1 from Ben Thanh to its terminus at Suoi Tien, about 30 minutes, then a short Grab across the river into town.
General
Not all the way. Ride it from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien, about 30 minutes, then take a short Grab across the Dong Nai River.
For half a day, if you like temples and local history. It is an industrial city with few tourist hotels, so stay in Ho Chi Minh City.
Chinese settlers loyal to the Ming dynasty, who founded a river port on the island in the late 17th century. Chua Ong is the best-known temple left from that time.
It was founded in 1715 as the south's first Temple of Literature. The present buildings are a rebuild finished around 2002.
Walk the path around the flooded quarry lake, climb to the pagoda on the slope and watch local families picnic at weekends.
It lost its separate city status in July 2025, when Vietnam abolished district-level government, but the name is still used for the urban area.
Glazed ceramics with deep blue, green and brown glazes and relief decoration, made locally since the early 20th century.
Some North-South trains do, which saves going back into Saigon if you are heading north up the coast.
Use Grab or a metered taxi between Bien Hoa's sights, which sit in different corners of a sprawling industrial city, with each hop taking 10 to 20 minutes outside rush hour: the Van Mieu Tran Bien and the Buu Long quarry park lie to the north-west along the river, while Cu Lao Pho is an island in the Dong Nai reached by bridge from the city centre. On the island itself, the old temples are close together and pleasant to walk between along the quiet lanes. City buses run on main roads but are geared to factory commuters, and signage is in Vietnamese only.
Biên Hòa is best known for:
- Cu Lao Pho, a river island where Chinese traders built a port more than three centuries ago
- Van Mieu Tran Bien, a Temple of Literature for the south, founded in the early 1700s
- Buu Long, a pagoda above a flooded quarry lake with walking paths
Timing & weather
They are sold most of the year, but peak supply and quality come in the weeks before Tet, when pomelos are bought for family altars.
Visa & documents
Citizens of a number of countries, including the UK and many EU states, can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. All nationalities can apply for a single or multiple-entry e-Visa valid for up to 90 days on the official portal.
Health & safety
Vietnam is generally safe. Traffic is the main hazard, and bag snatching from motorbikes occurs in cities.
