(No availability) 12 Days North to South Culture and Food Holiday Tour in Vietnam
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Outstanding Vietnam Food Tour
With this 12-day private tour from North to South Vietnam, you will have a chance to taste local food all around Vietnam, visit highlight places and learn how to cook local food. This is a fascinating journey that will allow you to discover Vietnam's beauty, friendly people and its fabulous - never boring - cuisine.
Highlights
- Walking street food tour in Hanoi
- Learn to cook special food in Hanoi
- Cooking class in Hue, Hoian and Ho Chi Minh
- Attend a Vietnamese cooking demonstration on boat
- Visit iconic highlights of Hanoi - Temple of Literature and One Pillar Pagoda
- Airport transfer and transportation included
- Visit Hoian ancient town and Hue city
- 11 nights accommodation
Skill level
- Beginner
Accommodation
- Two nights at a good 3-star hotel in Hanoi
- One night in Halong Bay with 4-star cruise
- Two nights in Hoian
- Two nights in Hue
- Three nights in Ho Chi Minh
- One night Mekong Delta
Program
Day 1: Welcome to Hanoi
Arrival in Hanoi. Your guide and driver will wait for you at the airport to transfer to a hotel. You have time to relax at the hotel before starting the tour on the next day.
In the late afternoon, your guide will take you to walk around Hanoi's old quarter and join the Hanoi street food tour. The walk then continues along both high streets and back streets exploring beaten corners in Hanoi Old Quarter that you never known by walking yourself, enjoying elegance Hanoi through tranquility French quarter with birds singing. You will taste the food, drink - endless local beverages while chatting with street vendors.
The purpose of this tour is to provide you with a unique opportunity to experience and learn about exciting history, exceptional culture, as well as the distinctive architecture of Hanoi following its unique cuisine trail. Your guide ensures the food is hygienically handled and provides a comfortable venue for the tastings. Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.
- Included meals: Dinner
Day 2: Hanoi cooking class - half day tour
In the morning, you will join a cooking class. The Chinese culinary influence remains in the capital and the Northern Highlands, but the dishes are truly Vietnamese. In this class, you will not only prepare some old Hanoian favorites like caramel pork, but will also explore some lesser-known dishes from the highlands.
In the afternoon, you will have a half-day tour of Hanoi city, where you will visit some of the iconic highlights of the city such as the Temple of Literature and the One Pillar Pagoda.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 3: Hanoi to Halong Bay
- 09:00 Pick up at hotel then transfer to Pier to take cruise
- 12:00 Rest at the harbor as the V’Spirit Premier Cruise completes its final preparations. You can board shortly after this and enjoy a welcome drink.
- 13:00 - 15:15 Sit down in the dining room for a delicious lunch and a scrolling view of the wonderfully unique limestone towers outside the windows. On sampan boats, some residents of the bay will show you their home by taking you to the Dark & Bright caves, two gorgeous caverns with a vast and enclosed lake on the other side. Swimming is also available here.
- 17:00 Return to the V’Spirit Premier Cruise to catch the daily spectacle of a gorgeous sunset, as well as happy hour at the bar.
- 19:00 Along with a fantastic dinner, there is a very special performance of traditional Vietnamese music in the dining room or on the top deck. Before you retire to your cabin tonight, perhaps you would like to head to the bar, the spa (book in advance) or join the crew for some squid fishing.
- Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 4: Halong Bay - Flight to Danang - Hoian
- 06:00 Begin your new day with the Tai Chi session on the top deck, run by an onboard Tai Chi teacher as the sunrise greets you from behind the mountains
- 07:00 - 08:15 Enjoy breakfast in the fresh air and peaceful beauty of the Bay
- 10:00 Experience some fantastic kayaking to discover the lovely Tra Bau area. Visit a fishing farm and socialize with the resident fishermen in order to know more about their life and how they work every day.
- Return to the ship and enjoy the cooking demonstration put on by our talented chef as they give you an insight into Vietnamese cuisine, then sit down for a lovely lunch buffet, on your approach to the harbor. Then transfer to Hai Phong airport for flight to Danang - Hoian.
- Arrival in Hoian. Your guide and driver come to pick up to a hotel to check-in. Overnight at the hotel in Hoian.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 5: Cooking class and Hoian city tour
This morning, you will join a cooking class to learn how to cook traditional food in Hoian and taste it for your lunch. In the afternoon, you will visit Hoian ancient town, a walking tour of this World Heritage Site. Along the way, visit the Japanese Covered Bridge which features a Buddhist pagoda attached to one side and the town's most famous landmark, a beautiful Chinese Assembly Hall built in 1740 as a meeting place for all Chinese residents of the town. The hall is lavishly decorated with murals and a replica of a Chinese ship, and Phuoc Kien Pagoda - also called Kim Son Pagoda - built in 1697 by Chinese Phuoc Kien merchants at Hoi An.
Conclude your tour at the Central Market, where you will find everything from fruit and flowers to tailor-made clothes and silk lanterns, whose flexible bamboo frames are designed to collapse, so they're easily transported home as a souvenir, overnight at hotel in Hoian
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 6: Hoian - Danang - Hue
Have breakfast at the hotel then driver and guide come to pick up you to Hue. On the way, you can see Marble Mountain, Hai Van Pass, and Lang Co beach. Arrival Hue in afternoon, visit Ming Mang tomb and Thien Mu Pagoda. Overnight at a hotel in Hue.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
- Day 7: Hue cooking class
This morning, you will join cooking in Hue. First, you are going to the local market. There, you can see all fresh herbs, seafood area, butchers, fresh fruits. There are many tasty Hue street food at the market that you might want to try. Its time for taking pictures and learning about Vietnamese food culture and history. The chef will teach you how to cook food and enjoy it for lunch. At the end of the cooking class, you will be transferred back to the hotel to relax. Free and overnight at the hotel in Hue.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 8: Flight to Ho Chi Minh - walking food tour
Have breakfast at the hotel then a driver comes to pick up to the airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh. Arrival at Ho Chi Minh, your guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to a hotel to check-in. Relax at the hotel until late afternoon you will join a walking food tour.
At 5:30 p.m., your guide will come to pick up you to walk around walking streets and taste local food. Tours that delve into the culture, history, and food of this exciting and crazy metropolis. All street food tours are seasoned with stories that will help you understand the country’s unique history and culture, and how these intersect in the food. At the end of the tour, the guide will take you back to the hotel. Overnight at your hotel in Saigon.
- Included meals: Breakfast and dinner
Day 9: Cu chi tunnel - cooking class
Have breakfast at the hotel, then you start to visit Cu Chi Tunnel. Your guide will drive you to visit Cuchi tunnels, this network of tunnels, which stretched for over 200 kilometers, became legendary during the 1960s. The Cu Chi tunnels played a vital part in the US - Vietnam War in that they allowed the Viet Cong to control a large rural area only 30 to 40 kilometers from Saigon. At its height, the tunnel system stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border. The network, parts of which were several levels deep, included innumerable trap doors, specifically constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers, and kitchens.
Today, the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction giving the visitor a unique experience and feel of what underground life during the war must have been like. The tunnels have been widened for our benefit (otherwise we would not be able to enter them!). For those interested, there's even the opportunity to try an AK47 or MK16 at the nearby rifle range.
In the afternoon, you will join a cooking class tour. In a warm atmosphere, participants cook all together following step by step from a chef and everyone has their own material and ingredients for a better understanding of cooking techniques. You will discover Vietnamese kitchenware to cook and enjoy a tasty four-course meal. The menu can be adapted to vegetarians or for people with food allergies. Just let Indochina Best Travel know your booking in advance so they can accommodate you. At the end of the cooking class, you will be transferred back to the hotel to relax. Overnight at the hotel in Saigon.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 10: Ho Chi Minh - Mekong Delta
Leave Ho Chi Minh City, enjoy the scenic journey along the National Highway bordered by green rice fields. On arrived at My Tho, visit Vinh Trang pagoda, take a leisurely boat ride along the river, view stilt houses, fruit plantations and fishing villages along the river bank.
Proceed to Tortoise islet, have lunch in the orchard garden. Then a boat ride to An Khanh - a less touristy attraction in Ben Tre, enjoy cruising on a hand-rowed sampan under the shade of the water coconut trees along natural canals, then enjoy seasonal fruit and honey tea to the sound of "Southern Vietnamese folk music", performed by the locals. Visit a family business that epitomizes the idyllic rural lifestyle and taste delicious coconut candy, and observe the pastoral life as you roam through fruit plantations and villages. Proceed to Can Tho.
- Included meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 11: Mekong Delta - back to Ho Chi Minh City
Wake up in the early morning at 05:00 a.m. to take a boat trip to explore the picturesque of Mekong Delta then proceed to visit Cai Răng floating market, which is the liveliest in the whole religion. Then transfer back homestay for breakfast. After that, you can check out to transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City. Overnight at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Included meals: Breakfast
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh departure
- Breakfast at hotel
- You are free until the driver comes to pick up to the airport for flight departure
- End of services
- Included meals: Breakfast
Included excursions
- Hanoi City half-day tour
- Halong Bay cruise
- Hoian city tour
- Ho Chi Minh walking food tour
- Cu Chi Tunnel visit
- Mekong Delta visit and boat rides
Location
Discover Vietnam's unique gems on this 12-day culture and food tour with Indochina Best Travel, which will take you to the best holiday destinations in Vietnam including Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoian, Hue, Ho Chi Minh, and Mekong Delta.
Food
During this holiday, you will have a great opportunity to taste and learn to cook Vietnamese cuisine from some parts of Vietnam, with their unique and distinctive flavors. While you enjoying the food tour, your guide will ensure that the food is hygienically handled and provides a comfortable venue for the tastings. Vegetarian food and other dietary requirements can be accommodated on request.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Other dietary requirements on request
What's included
- Air-conditioned transportation
- 11 nights accommodation at 3-star hotels based on double/twin sharing
- Meals as mentioned
- English speaking guide on tour
- Entrance fees to indicated sights
- Halong Bay cruise with kayaking
- Flights from Haiphong to Danang and Hue to Ho Chi Minh
- Bottle of mineral water
What's not included
- Other meals not mentioned
- Tip, drinks on meals
- Airport tax
- Personal expenses
- Travel Insurance
- International flights
- Visa to Vietnam
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Noi Bai International Airport
17 km
Transfer included
Cat Bi International Airport
98 km
Transfer included
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) or Cat Bi International Airport (HPH). Transfer from and to any of these airports is included. Indochina Best Travel will pick you up from the airport. Transfers are also included upon arrival in Hue, Danang and Ho Chi Minh.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 20 days before arrival.
