LTT-CT25: Vietnam Culinary Tour – 13 days from Ho Chi Minh
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The tour program is suitable for those who want to travel, but are not clear about the attractions, do not know how to arrange a reasonable itinerary, or simply have not found a travel companion.
This Vietnam culinary tour offers a deep dive into the country’s diverse and delicious cuisine. Over 13 days, journey from the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City to the serene beauty of Halong Bay, savoring authentic flavors and learning the secrets of Vietnamese cooking.
Destinations: Ho Chi Minh – Mekong Delta – Hoi An – Hue – Hanoi – Halong Bay
Highlights: Vietnamese cuisine in Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An, and Hanoi. Explore the Mekong Delta, enjoy a Royal dinner in Hue, and cruise Halong Bay with onboard cooking.
Vietnam Culinary Tour – 13 Days from Ho Chi Minh – Itinerary:
| Condition | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Advanced Booking | – Up to 2% discount for 60 days advance booking |
| Group Booking | – Up to 5% discount for group with more than 8 travelers |
| Loyal Discount | – Up to 2% discount for booking more than 2 tours at Le Toan Travel (Accumulate for next travel) |
| Elder Discount | – Enjoy from 2% to 6% discount when there are 1, 4 or 8 elders that is over 50+ years old |
| *Contact us to know more about promotion | |
It is worth to travel to Vietnam once in your lifetime as it will be really more different and interesting than just reading in the books, learning in the movies and hearing from the others. Vietnam is now far beyond your imagination with modern and dynamic cities, exotic and marvelous landscapes, famous natural and cultural World Heritage Sites. With efforts from our experienced travel consultants, it will be so quick and easy to plan your Vietnam tour packages.
Being welcomed at Tan Son Nhat airport (Ho Chi Minh) by our experienced English speaking guide and driver and to a brief introduction of your beautiful Vietnam tour when we are on the way to hotel for check-in.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh.
After breakfast, we transfer you to Saigon cookery center for an other interesting cooking experience where Even inexperienced cook can create tasty dishes within a few hours.
This course is a hands-on initiation to the Vietnamese Cuisine Art, giving you the opportunity not only to learn how to cook them and reproduce them once you return to your home country, but also to taste our delicious dishes. Besides the hands-on learning, it’s fun, entertaining and informative.
Back to your hotel after lunch. Time at lesiure and overnight in a Ho Chi Minh hotel.
Around 08:00, our tour guide picks you up at your hotel lobby, then driving 90Km (2hrs) to Ben Tre. The boat will cruise along the Ham Luong river (a branch of the Mekong) and stop off at various local workplaces including a brick works, a coconut processing workshop and a mat weaving house. The boat will then stop at a quiet village where you can have a short walk to experience real Delta village life and take a bicycle ride through dense coconut plantations. Continue to Can Tho – the heart of Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
Check in on your arrival, time at leisure and overnight in a Can Tho hotel.
In the morning, we make the boat cruise to see the Cai Rang floating market (the nicest one with heaps of rowing boats), truly highlights of any Vietnam Tours where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals and later, you will roam through the village to visit a rice husking mill, a rice noodles making shop which are nice chances to discover the daily life of Vietnamese people in Mekong Delta. Around noon, transfer back to the airport for flight to Da Nang.
Upon your arrival at Da Nang airport, pick up and transfer to Hoian for check-in.
We start the day (8.15am) with a welcome drink at Hai Café (98 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hoi An Ancient Town, Tel: 3863210) – our meeting point.
Visit Hoi An’s colourful market, and experience the amazing sights, sounds and aromas of this busy market. We will have the opportunity to interact with the local sellers and learn about all the ingredients to be used in the cooking lesson later.
We board the Red Bridge boat for a leisurely cruise (25 minutes) along the Hoi An River to the Red Bridge Cooking School. This is a chance to view local river life, so make sure your camera is handy.On arrival, we explore the cooking school’s herb garden, before learning about some of Hoi An’s and Vietnam’s well-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about 2 hours – the Red Bridge chefs first demonstrate each dish before we prepare the same dish ourselves. Included in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration). After the lesson, we sit down and eat what we have cooked.
Bring your swimsuit and after the cooking tour has finished relax and enjoy free use of our new 20 metre swimming pool.
Overnight in a Hoi An hotel.
After breakfast, leave Hoi An for Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, well-known for magnificent architecture, pagodas and royal tombs laid in small villages and surrounding hills and one of the most popular cities for all the Vietnam Tours. En route have a look at the famous Danang Beach and visit Cham Museum which contains the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world.
Upon your arrival at Hue city, check in hotel if the room is available. Time at leisure and overnight in Hue.
A full day trip to visit the old capital city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty ruled from 1802 to 1945, with first stop at the Imperial Citadel giving you a better understanding of the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture.
Then we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. It is located on the banks of poetic Perfume River with typical traditional architecture of Hue pagodas and famous for the event that buddhist monk from this temple, Thich Quang Duc, burn himself to death for anti-government protest in 1963.
The next stops will be King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.
Overnight in Hue.
Time at leisure until our private tour guide and driver transfer you to Hue airport for flight Hanoi (operated by Vietnam Airlines). Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam with more than 1000 years of history and culture. Hanoi is also well-known for its beautiful lakes with the image of local Tai Chi in the early morning, tree-line boulevards, flowers on bicycles and delicious dishes.
If you have chance to stay in Hanoi at the weekend, it is worth joining the interesting night market near Hoan Kiem Lake, featured with walking streets, beautiful red lanterns, local street foods and Vietnamese style souvenirs.
Overnight in Hanoi.
The old quarter in Hanoi is over one thousand years old and today retains much of the old flavor that made the area special in earlier times, each street was the exclusive domain of one trade (guilds) so there are whole streets of blacksmiths, silver shops, paper shops, headstone makers and more.
This morning, our tour guide will meet at your hotel and take a walk around Hanoi’s old quarter to enjoy the food tour experience.
Firstly, we will visit one of the local markets in the city to see all different kinds of food that used for a Vietnamese breakfast, lunch, dinner and understand more about life of Vietnamese.
Secondly, we will try Pho – Nice Noodle, a must for many Vietnamese, highlight of Vietnamese cuisine and its name has been known all over the world. Sit down, enjoy the taste of Pho, taste of life and get to know about the history of Vietnamese culture, cuisine…
Next, we walk to explore everyday life of Hanoian, try some more different dishes which are very special, popular and favourite such as;
1. Banh Trung – sticky rice cake
2. Banh Ran – Sticky rice pancake
3. Banh Cuon – rolled sticky rice cake
4. Xoi – Sticky rice with pork
4. Fried Tofu and Vermicelli Shrimp Sauce
5. Bun Cha – Hanoi Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork
6. Bia Hoi – Draught beer
7. Trung Vit Lon – Fertilized duck eggs
8. Banh Chuoi – Banana pancake
9. Vietnamese coffee
10. Mix fruits
Time at leisure in the afternoon and overnight in Hanoi.
After breakfast, we transfer you to Hanoi cooking center.
09:30 Meet at HCC, enjoy a special “La Han” Vietnamese welcome tea
09:40 Brief introduction to Vietnamese cuisine, highlighting the contents of tradition meal.
09:50 Take a short walk to the Chau Long Market – Enjoy a tour of the market highlighting the ‘wet’ / unusual fruits / livestock / silk worms, with HCC chefs
10:20 Back to HCC and commence cooking class with HCC chefs, take home printed recipes as well as samples of some local fruit, green bean cake, quail eggs, etc.
12:00 On completion of the cooking class, enjoy the meal and a chance to chat with Tracey Lister and Linh , relax in the comfort of the HCC dining area and enjoy a local beer or wine or lemon juice
13:00 Finish Class, receive going home gift and visit the HCC shop with Vietnamese Culinary tools, books, spices etc available for purchase.
The rest of the day is spent at your leisure. Overnight in a Hanoi hotel.
Halong tour must be the most beautiful tour in Vietnam for any Vietnam Holidays. We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. At half way, we’ll have a visit to a handicraft workshop with fine clothes, embroidered paintings, stone statuettes and all kinds of gems mined in Vietnam such as star rubies or sapphires… Our destination is the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay. The bay offers some 3000 mountain islands and islets towering in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Vietnam Sea.
Upon arrival, you’ll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you’ll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we’ll stop some times for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Top white sand beach before anchoring for the night.
Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.
It is said that your Vietnam Tours will not be complete without a tour to Halong Bay and spending one night on romantic Halong Cruise. People describe Halong Bay as majestic and mysterious, inspiring and imperious and words alone cannot do justice to the natural wonder that is Halong Bay, a priceless collection of unfinished sculptures hewn from the hand of nature.
After breakfast, we’ll take a little sampan to visit a secret lagoon of Ha Long Bay while the surrounding mountains are just waking up. After that our cruise takes us further into the Bay of Bai Tu Long traveling past the Human Head Island, the Turtle Island, and the Duck Islet… to the studio site where the famous Indochine film was shot. Around noon, our junk travels back to the harbor, pick up and drive back to Hanoi.
Overnight in Hanoi
Time at leisure for you to wrap up your memorable Vietnam Holiday until Le Toan Travel’s private guide will see you off at the airport with the sincere thanks for your travel to Vietnam and with Le Toan Travel. We hope that you have enjoyed your Vietnam trip and look forward to welcoming you back for your next Vietnam Tours, goodbye and see you again!!!!
ABOUT Le Toan Travel
Le Toan Travel is a local, trustworthy and professional Vietnam tour operator, offering a wide range of Vietnam and Indochina tour packages to the most exciting destinations at most competitive price. Our Business License Number is 0104000493 and our International Tour Operator License Number is 01 – 258. We are very pleased to be a member of Vietnam Administration of Tourism with financial guarantee – a deposit of 1.000,000,000 million Vietnam Dong (US$ 50,000) in a bank of Vietnam. Besides that, we are also official members of VISTA (Vietnam Society of Travel Agents), PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) and higky recommended on Tripadvisor.
Are you planning your Vietnam Holiday, but not sure how to arrange the trip? Getting lost in many tour options? Being sick of searching…? Just leave your troubles behind to read our Vietnam travel guide and send us your requests. Your private travel consultant at Le Toan Travel will help you design a perfectly suggested tour itinerary and quote which are tailor made to suit your wishes and budget.
* How to plan my Vietnam tour with you?
1. Send us an inquiry by submitting one of our online tour inquiry forms (Click). Tell us as much information as possible. For examples;
– Please tell us how many people will be traveling with you?
– Please tell us your preferred hotels, level of hotel (3, 4 or 5 stars), type of hotel, type of room…
– Please tell us your type of travel, length of travel and activities that you are interested in. For example; Family with kids, Couple’s vacation, Honeymoon, Friends, Shopping, Sightseeing, Leisure and Relaxing, Cuisine & Cooking, Kayaking, Caves & Grottoes, Fishing, Swimming, Hiking, Minority, Adventure & Discovery…
– Please tell us where and what you want to visit. If you do not know much about Vietnam and Indochina, just give us your travel plan and ideas and we will create a suggested tour for you.
– Most of our tour guides are English speaking tour guides, but if you want another language like French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese… we can always arrange. Please tell us what you do you expect from your guides, for example; you want a guide with sense of humor? Good knowledge in history & culture? Male/Female guide? Talkative/untalkative? Young/Old guide?
– Please advise if you want breakfast included only or also lunch and dinner. Please let us know if you are a vegetarian, the food you can eat or can’t? If you want local food in local restaurants or western food in tourist restaurant…? Actually, you do not have to send us all information, but the more we know, the better we plan your holiday.
2. After having received your inquiry, one of our professional Vietnam travel consultants will email and give you a proposal.
3. If you accept the proposal (you may modify it till you are satisfied with it), we will calculate the tour cost and send you the tour price. If you accept it, please confirm that you would like to book it.
* How Travel Experts at Le Toan Travel Service you?
“Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty” is the core value of each specialized team at Le Toan Travel.
Everyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.
1-on-1 Travel Consultant
After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.
Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in Vietnam and Indochina, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.
* How to proceed to book Vietnam and Indochina tour with you?
When you decide to book your Vietnam and Indochina holiday with us, please send us your full names (name on passport) for hotel and domestic flight reservations, and your international flight details in and out Vietnam/Indochina for airport transfers / pick up & see off.
* How to pay the deposit and the balance?
Deposit: When the booking is completely confirmed, we will send you confirmation details including confirmed itinerary, invoice, voucher then deposit request of about 30% of the total tour cost (can be less). You can pay by credit cards (via onepay gateway, pay online), make wire transfer, western union. The deposit is used to pay the flight tickets, hotels, train tickets in advance.
Balance: You can pay the rest 2 weeks before your arrival, or you can pay us on your arrival in Vietnam by credit cards, cash (AUD, USD, EUROS, VND…)
* How to enjoy the tour?
Our job is to make your holiday a memorable experience. To make sure you will have a great time, there are something that we should share;
When you request the tour: Please let us know your personal interests so our travel consultants will design and include in the itinerary, or take notes for the hotels, tour guide, restaurants…
Before you come: One week before your arrival. we always send our clients an email to update about the weather and climate, booking status, and remind you to prepare/check the documents, visa…for the holiday.
When on tour: The tour is fixed, but you can always discuss with us if you want to make it more flexible. For example, you want to make some changes in the itinerary, restaurant (meals), tour guide… please just let us know, we will do the best for you.
Tour guide: Please let us know what do you expect from your tour guides and we will arrange the right ones for you.
* Can you buy the international flight tickets for us?
Yes, we do. However, we advise you to buy the flight tickets in and out Vietnam from your end as it is always cheaper than if booked in here.
* Do you offer any discounts?
Yes, we offer discounts for;
– Family with kids and children < 12 years old – Disable people – Old people (> 65 years old)
– Second trip with us
– Big group
* How can I pay you the money?
1) Credit card; (secure online payment gateway via Onepay)
ONEPAY – ONLINE PAYMENT GATEWAY (VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX & JCB ACCEPTED)
Like PayPal, OnePAY is a payment gateway but specialized in Vietnam where the PayPal has not yet reached. This is a perfect and the first payment processor which gains reputation among clients about its efficiency and timely friendly support.
OnePAY in cooperation with biggest bank in Vietnam – Vietcombank which has been implemented this service among many tour operators in Vietnam.
OnePAY is approved by MasterCard for this payment collection on the behalf of us. OnePAY uses SSL Verisign® over internet transaction under 3D-Secure program by respective creditcard companies so you are free from worries your card information disclosed. OnePAY payment portal also meets standards of international financial system such as PCI DSS of PCI Security Standards Council, 3D-Secure of Visa, MasterCard and JCB.
2) Wire transfer (bank transfer)
3) Cash
4) Western union
5) Combination
* Is there any charge if i change my travel plan such as travel dates, tour itinerary, hotels,…?
We are happy to work on your requests, and will not charge you any money. However, if it is too urgent and the date is too close, the hotels or airlines may chare you some money, in this case we will let you know.
* What is the latest time that I can make my reservation?
We suggest you make reservations at least one month before the departure date. If you decide to travel to Vietnam in May, September or October which is peak season, we recommend you make the reservations two months (at least one) before your departure date. Late reservations can not be guaranteed for the availability of domestic flights, hotel rooms, etc.
However, we DO accept late reservations, things are possible at Le Toan Travel.
* What about Cancellation policy?
In case of cancellation, we will not impose any charges if we are not being charged and possible to get refund from our suppliers but if our suppliers apply charges for cancellation, you will have to pay those charges that apply. Cancellation policies vary, depending upon the type of service, the time of year, and the reason for cancellation. We will pass on to you all details of any cancellation policy with our transparent reply upon demand.
General cancellation charges that applied by travel services in Vietnam and Indochina.
– Domestic flights: 25% of the fares
– 3 star hotels, no charge if you cancel 5 -7 days before your arrival. (FIT)
– 4 star hotels, no charge if you cancel 10 – 15 days before your arrival (FIT)
– 5 stars hotels, no charge if you cancel 15 – 20 days before your arrival (FIT)
However, in peak season, we may have to pay the hotels one month before your arrival to secure the booking, and in this case, the cancellation policy will be based on the hotels’ cancellation plolicies.
* Can we get refund?
For the unused services, Le Toan Travel will refund you the money.
* How do I get a visa?
Vietnam Visa – For those who would like to avoid the perhaps lengthening visa procedures with their local Vietnam’s Embassies, the service of Vietnam Visa On Arrival is available for help. It is legitimated and supported by the Vietnamese Immigration Department. We recommend that you choose visa upon arrival, as picking up visa at the Vietnam int’l airport/border is quite simple, easy, no additional charges and no fail.
Steps to obtain Visa on arrival
a) Please provide the following information for us to apply for your visa.
1) Full name on passport
2) Passport number
3) Date of birth
4) Nationality
5) Date of arrival
6) Date of issue
7) Date of expire
8) Please make sure that your passport is still valid for 6 months
You can apply Vietnam visa online through our www.vietnamvisaprovider.com.
b) How long does it take?
It will take 2-3 days (Normal process), 01 day (Urgent process) to get the “Visa Approval Letter” which we will send you via mail. What you need is to print it out and take it along to get the stamp at airports/borders
c) Get the stamp
Upon arrival, you will need to fill in a certain form with your personal information, get the stamp and visa will be done. For this process, you will need to prepare 02 photos (4*6) and $25 USD each in cash which is stamping fee.
* Do our tour guides and drivers have meals with us?
The guide and the driver in each destination will dine at the same restaurant as yours. But, they will not join you unless you invite them.
* Where can I exchange our money into Vietnam currency?
We advise you to stop in any of a Vietnamese bank during the tour (Our tour guides will take you to the bank), you can also exchange money at your hotel, but the exchange rate is not really good.
* Can I use credit cards in Vietnam?
Major credit cards such as Master Card, Visa, Diner’s Card, American Express and JCB can be used to purchase goods in large shopping malls and stores in the big and medium cities, to pay for hotel rooms and for meals in some of the fancier restaurants, and to buy plane tickets with them.
Note: If you are to travel to those small cities or even remote rural areas, only cash in Dong can be used.
* Do I need to bring my medical record with me?
Yes, we suggest you take your medical record with you in case that you need it in the event of an emergency, and please also take with you your doctor’s name, address and phone number, emergency contact name and phone number, and your insurance company’s name, address and phone number.
* When I finish my tour in Vietnam, if I still have some local money, what can I do?
Upon leaving Vietnam, if you still have some local money, you can change them back to foreign currency with your passport and the exchange memos given by the banks or money exchange counters. So please keep those exchange memos well whenever you change money.
* Tipping
Tipping is not compulsory, but expected by your tour guide and driver. We advise you to tip as below:
– US$10 – $15 per day for tour guide
– US$7 – US$10 per day for driver
Note:
– Tipping can be more or less or nothing that depends on how big is the group? And how do you enjoy our services?
– Other tipping for tuktuk, sampan boat, cyclo,… please check with your tour guide during the tour.
* Shopping
Le Toan Travel guarantees “no shopping tour”, which means we protect you from the tourist shopping centers or traps. However, if you want to buy something, our travel consultants, tour guides will give you suggestions, advices and help you buy to avoid being overcharged.
Bargaining is a “Must” when buying something in Vietnam and Indochina.
LTT-CT25: Vietnam Culinary Tour – 13 days from Ho Chi Minh
Tour Price:
Contact for more USD
