Rạch Giá travel guide
Fast boats to Phu Quoc, Khmer pagodas and gulf sunsets
A port town on the Gulf of Thailand, used mainly for hydrofoils to Phu Quoc but with Khmer pagodas, the Nguyễn Trung Trực temple and sunset seafront if you stay. December to April is the dry season. One night is enough. Costs are low, and the e-Visa covers all nationalities.
Rạch Giá faces west across the Gulf of Thailand from the edge of the Mekong Delta, about 250 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. Most foreigners see only its ferry terminal, because this is the main mainland port for fast boats to Phu Quoc. That is a pity if you have half a day spare.
The town has a strong Khmer presence, best seen at Phật Lớn, a Khmer Theravada pagoda, while the temple to Nguyễn Trung Trực honours the fisherman who led resistance to the French in the 1860s and is buried here. The Kiên Giang Museum fills in the regional story. Evenings are for the seafront, where the sun drops into the gulf, and for street stalls selling bún cá, the local fish noodle soup.
Buses run from here to Hà Tiên and the Cambodian border, as well as to Can Tho and Long Xuyên, so the town works as a junction between the delta and the islands.
Explore Rạch Giá by theme
Find your kind of trip: 24 travel themes, each with the packages in Rạch Giá.
Rạch Giá at a glance
The essentials first-time visitors ask about, in one place.
Explore more of Vietnam
Pick a place by travel style: beaches, nature, cities, heritage, hills, islands.
Nothing in that category yet.
Top things to do in Rạch Giá
A port stop with Khmer pagodas, a hero's temple and the seafront at sunset.
No things to do in Rạch Giá are listed yet. Browse all things to do
Best time to visit Rạch Giá
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Dry and sunny, the most reliable time for ferries.
Afternoon downpours; rough seas sometimes cancel boats to Phu Quoc.
Ferries to Phu Quoc sell out around Lunar New Year and on long weekends, so book a day or two ahead at those times.
Packages in Demand
A Journey to Remember
Tours, activities and day trips in and around this destination, with the details you need before booking.
No packages in Rạch Giá are listed yet. Browse all packages
Create Your Custom-Made Trip to Rạch Giá
Traveling to Rạch Giá? Chat with a Local Travel Specialist in Rạch Giá Who Can Help Organize Your Trip.
START HEREOur Travel Experts are Recommended by
Plan your trip
Practical answers before you go. Pick a topic.
Getting there
VKG flights, FUTA coaches and Phu Quoc hydrofoils
Travellers reach Rạch Giá by plane, coach or boat. Rạch Giá Airport (VKG) lies a short taxi ride out of town, with Vietnam Airlines flights from Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc that each take under an hour, and metered taxis meet arrivals. Coaches, FUTA among them, use the bus station near the central market. FUTA, the Phương Trang company, throws in a free shuttle to your hotel if you show the staff the address. Two piers matter: the main port for Phu Quoc boats, and the Rạch Meo terminal about 2 km south of the centre for the afternoon boat to Cà Mau.
- Rạch Giá Airport (VKG)
- Flights to Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc, both under an hour; taxi into town
- Coach from Ho Chi Minh City
- About 6 hours; FUTA includes a hotel shuttle
- Delta minibuses
- Long Xuyên about 1½ hours, Can Tho about 3, Hà Tiên and Hòn Chông about 2½
- Hydrofoil to Phu Quoc
- Several operators, roughly hourly from about 7:00 to 15:00, 2½ to 3 hours
- Boat to Cà Mau
- One afternoon sailing from the Rạch Meo terminal
- The green Mai Linh minibuses skip roadside pickups and are quicker than the local bus on the Hà Tiên run.
Getting around
Xe ôm runs between the market, bus station and piers
Rạch Giá stretches along a long strip of coast and canal, so walking only works within a few streets of your hotel. Beyond that, use a xe ôm: riders wait near hotels, the market and the bus station, know both ferry piers, and expect you to agree the fare before you climb on. Metered cabs, mostly Mai Linh, gather in front of the market about 300 m east of the bus station and are the better choice with a backpack or in rain. Cycling along the seafront promenade is pleasant in the cooler hours if your hotel lends bikes.
- Xe ôm
- Motorbike taxi for short hops; settle the price first
- Taxis
- Rank by the market, 300 m east of the bus station; ask for the meter
- For a 7:00 hydrofoil, ask your hotel the night before to book a cab; few drivers wait on the street before dawn.
Know before you go
What makes Rạch Giá worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Sunset over the gulf from the seafront, with the fishing boats heading out.
- Phật Lớn pagoda, a Khmer temple that feels a world away from the ferry crowds.
- A bowl of bún cá from a street stall before an early boat.
Good to know
- Wait for the minibus at a cafe on the road out of the bus station; it crawls round town for passengers before leaving.
- Check which terminal you need: Cà Mau boats leave from Rạch Meo, 2 km south, not the Phu Quoc pier.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Rạch Giá, month by month
Rạch Giá sits on the Gulf of Thailand, where the dry months bring the calmest seas for the Phu Quoc crossing. Tap a month for long-term averages.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Rạch Giá (Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology, via Wikipedia).
Phật Lớn, Nguyễn Trung Trực temple and a gulf sunset before the island boat
One night in Rạch Giá, between a delta bus and the island boat, is enough for Phật Lớn, the Nguyễn Trung Trực temple and a sunset over the gulf. Arrive by early afternoon, drop your bags and take a xe ôm to Phật Lớn, the Khmer Theravada pagoda whose saffron-robed monks and tiered roofs show Kiên Giang's Khmer side.
Keep shoulders covered and shoes off inside the sanctuary.
Late afternoon, move on to the temple of Nguyễn Trung Trực. The fisherman-turned-rebel fought the French in the 1860s, burned a French ship on a delta river and was executed here; locals still bring incense to his tomb, and the anniversary of his death draws big crowds. If you have time before closing, the Kiên Giang Museum fills in the province's story, from early settlement to the wars of the last century.
Finish on the seafront. The sun sets straight into the Gulf of Thailand, fishing boats slip out as the light goes, and families gather with plastic stools and iced coffee. Eat at the stalls, go to bed early and catch a morning hydrofoil, which leaves room to switch to a later sailing if wind cancels yours.
Bún cá Kiên Giang and herring salad along the gulf front
Bún cá Kiên Giang is the dish to eat in Rạch Giá: rice noodles with chunks of local fish in a turmeric-yellow broth scented with lemongrass, served with raw greens and bean sprouts. Stalls near the market sell it until about 9:00, and it sits light enough to make a good last meal before a long boat ride.
Being on the gulf, the town also eats a lot of gỏi cá trích, raw herring cured in lime and tossed with coconut, onion and herbs, then rolled in rice paper with greens and dipped in a peanut-chilli sauce. Order it in the seafood places along the coast road in the evening, where you can also point at live squid, crab and clams and have them grilled or steamed.
Fish sauce from Phu Quoc, across the water, turns up on every table. Rạch Giá has no great restaurant scene; its strength is the sheer number of street stalls, small rice shops and cafés, so wander, sit where locals are sitting and eat what the next table is eating.
Travelers are asking
No questions yet about Rạch Giá. Ask the community or our travel team, and the answer will show here once it is published.
Our travel desk answers questions about Rạch Giá
How we research our Rạch Giá travel guide
This Rạch Giá page follows what a traveller needs between bus and boat; we check flights, ferry piers and temples against the city's Wikipedia record and Vietnam Travel, and visa rules against Vietnam's official e-Visa site.
Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Checked against trusted sources:
Vietnam official e-VisaVietnam Travel
See all 2 sources
Before You Go...
Discover Trips & Info
A Travel Network Connection Travelers and locals
Incredible Event & Festival, Don't Miss!
Most Popular Event & Festival of Rạch Giá
Festivals and events in this destination, with dates, venues and ticket details where available.
No upcoming festivals or events in Rạch Giá are listed right now. Browse all events
Memorable Experiences
Where to Go (& NOT Go) In Rạch Giá!
Roaming the World one Adventure at a Time: Travel Tales, Tips, and Inspiration for wanderlusters.
Subscriber
Popular car hire destinations
Explore more options to hire a car for cheap
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Rạch Giá.
Timing & weather
About 2½ to 3 hours, with departures from several operators roughly every hour from around 7:00 until mid-afternoon.
Around 6 hours by road. FUTA coaches add a free shuttle to your hotel at the Rạch Giá end.
The best time to visit Rạch Giá is Dec to Apr. Dry season, with calmer water for the Phu Quoc boats.
- Best: December - April (Dry and sunny, the most reliable time for ferries)
- Wet season: May - November (Afternoon downpours; rough seas sometimes cancel boats to Phu Quoc)
April is the warmest month in Rạch Giá, with average highs of 34°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 22°C. August is the wettest month, at about 336 mm of rain; February is the driest. Rạch Giá sits on the Gulf of Thailand, where the dry months bring the calmest seas for the Phu Quoc crossing.
General
Yes. Rạch Giá Airport (VKG) has Vietnam Airlines flights from Ho Chi Minh City and from Phu Quoc, each under an hour, and taxis run into town.
One night works well: it lets you see Phật Lớn pagoda and the Nguyễn Trung Trực temple, watch the gulf sunset and take an early boat with a later one in reserve.
From the Rạch Meo terminal about 2 km south of the centre, not from the Phu Quoc pier. There is one afternoon departure.
He was a fisherman who led resistance against the French in the 1860s and was executed here. His temple and tomb remain a pilgrimage site for people across the delta.
A turmeric-tinted fish and rice-noodle soup with lemongrass and plenty of raw greens, eaten mainly at breakfast from stalls near the market.
December to April. January and February average barely 10 to 15 mm of rain, while July to October each bring around 300 mm.
Rạch Giá stretches along a long strip of coast and canal, so walking only works within a few streets of your hotel. Beyond that, use a xe ôm: riders wait near hotels, the market and the bus station, know both ferry piers, and expect you to agree the fare before you climb on. Metered cabs, mostly Mai Linh, gather in front of the market about 300 m east of the bus station and are the better choice with a backpack or in rain.
Cancellations & changes
They can in the wet season, roughly May to November. Morning boats give you a fallback if a crossing is called off.
Getting there
Minibuses run to Hà Tiên in about 2½ hours; Mai Linh's green vans are quickest. From Hà Tiên you continue by moto to the border.
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.
