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It’s worth spending 12 days in Vietnam tasting various kinds of delicious foods and joining special cooking classes with professional chefs. There are many dishes of Vietnamese cuisine are mentioned in the book “1000 Places to See Before You Die” such as Cha Ca La Vong, Spring Rolls… Go with Viet Vision Travel and enjoy the food art that make your Vietnam tour packages more memorable and meaningful.
General Information
Tour Route: Ho Chi Minh City – Cu Chi Tunnels – Mekong Delta – Hoi An – Hue – Hanoi – Halong Bay
Duration: 12 Days/ 11 Nights
Date: No fixed departure dates. You may go whenever you wish
Start/ End: Ho Chi Minh City/ Hanoi
Tour Type: A food tasting and cooking tour
Tour Customizable: Absolutely! (Tell us your specific requirements in the inquiry form)
Active level: Easy & Regular itinerary
Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City Arrival (Saigon) – Saigon After Dark by Vespa (D)
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City Tour & Cooking Class (B, L)
Day 3: Mekong Delta Tour & Cai Be town (B, L)
Day 4: Cu Chi Tunnels - Fly to Danang - Hoi An (B)
Day 5: Hoi An Walking Tour & Cooking Class (B, L, D)
Day 6: Hoi An – Hue – Royal Dinner (B, D)
Day 7: Hue City Tour & Taste Outstanding Vegetarian Foods (B, L)
Day 8: Hue – Fly to Hanoi – Evening Food Tour (B, D)
Day 9: Hanoi City Tour & Taste Special Dishes as Locals (B, L)
Day 10: Hanoi – Halong Bay (overnight on deluxe junk cruise) (B, L, D)
Day 11: Halong Bay – Hanoi (B, L)
Day 12: Hanoi Departure (B)
Full Itinerary
Viet Vision Travel's tour guide will be ready to welcome us upon arrival. The experienced and friendly driver will transfer us to the hotel after that. The tour guide will help us check-in and we take a short rest before riding the Vespa tour with the driver at 6.00pm.
The tour will take us around Saigon city which is not touristic and we will explore the local food which is safe for foreigners. First, enjoy cocktails and appetizers at Café zoom (quoted by The Lonely Planet), street seafood, cold drink, Banh Xeo…, and various other local foods. The expert tour guide will explain each in detail for each dish. Then stop at a Saigonese-style coffee shop to both drink coffee and listen to music as a local. Before ending this amazing tour, head to a lively bar, relax, and enjoy some drinks. Overnight in Saigon.
This morning, join a hands-on cooking class at the Saigon Culinary Art Center with Grand Chef. He will lead us to the Ben Thanh market to purchase all ingredients for the coming cooking lesson. We are all back to the restaurant, and start practicing cooking three Vietnamese course meals. After 3 hours of cooking, we sit down and enjoy what we cooked before.
In the afternoon, we venture into this big vibrant city with all the tourist highlights such as the Reunification Palace where the tour guide takes us back to the war history when there was President. We also know the place where old Southern Vietnam people run away from Vietnam by Helicopter from the top of the building. And the Reunification Palace nowadays is rebuilt as a conference hall where many parties and events are organized. We will also visit the War Remnant Museum nearby where will we see any information, photos, or items of war. Later we take a short drive to the famous Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral for visiting and take nice photos and shop around in Ben Thanh market. Back to the hotel and relax. Overnight in Saigon.
Today, travel to the heart of the Mekong Delta to explore Cai Be town. We will be recommended to leave the hotel a little bit early in the morning to be able to join the local market when it is busiest. Our boat will cruise us among the barges of fruits, food, and other local products. We will meet many friendly sellers and buyers who are doing their exchanges in peace. The tour guide will help us to buy anything that we want.
Later, the cruise will take us to the handicraft villages where they produce rice-net (cover of spring rolls), fish sauce, soya sauce, cooking salt, and sewing coconut leaves for cottage roofs…. We stop for lunch at an old house then take a rowing boat deeper into the villages. We come closer to the local people by biking along the narrow paths or chatting with them. The cruise will end at Cai Be pier where our awaiting vehicle transfers us back to Saigon. Overnight in Saigon.
This morning, we take a short visit to Cu Chi Tunnels before leaving for Hoi An by flight. Cu Chi Tunnel is located in Cu Chi District, 70km from Saigon. We will enjoy a short video about the Tunnel's history and then discover the real tunnels which are reconstructed for tourists. We taste a special local food that the people here ate during the war and we will stop at the shooting range (upon request) to try to shoot the real bullet one time in life.
We are back to Saigon at noon time and take a short flight to Danang. Welcome up on arrival by local guide and then we all transfer to hotel in Hoi An. Free to explore Hoi An Ancient town by night.
Today, we walk around the World Culture Heritage Site to visit all the main sites that are set up for visitors. We start from the Cantonese Congregation then walk to the Pottery Museum, the Japanese Covered Bridge, Tan Ky old house, and the last point at the Handicraft workshop to enjoy 15 minutes traditional music performance. There are some other open places and we can ask the tour guide stops if we want to take a look.
In the afternoon, we join a cooking class the chef will take us to the local market; introduce all things related to the dishes that we cook later, then purchase. There will be a lot of fun in the market and we can practice some simple Vietnamese to buy. The cooking class lasts 3 hours then we do all things with guiding of the chef. After the class, we enjoy exactly what we cooked before. Overnight in Hoi An.
This morning, we farewell Hoi An and transfer to Hue. On the way, we will stop and take a short visit to Danang city with Cham Museum, Non Nuoc stone carving handicraft village, Marble Mountain, Lang Co Beach, and Hai Van pass. Arriving in Hue in the afternoon, we will explore this famous peaceful city by enjoying a one-hour cyclo tour. The driver will bring us around the old city wing and stop at Trang Tien Bridge. There are many chances for photos during this a cyclo tour.
Tonight we enjoy almost special dishes that Kings and Queens had in the past at a special Royal Dinner. We will also dress like a King and Queen. Overnight in Hue.
There are approximately 108 Buddhist pagodas in Hue. The city citizens are almost Buddhism. The monks are strict vegetarians and Buddhism can follow vegetarian 2, 4 to 6 days a month or they can keep a vegetarian diet like monks. Under the feudal dynasty, Kings were asked to follow a vegetarian diet for one week when they organize the Earth, Heaven Scarify. Cooks had to process food as well as possible to attract Emperors. That is the reason why Hue vegetarian food is developed and preserved until now. The vegetarian dishes are made with raw materials mainly from groups such as rice starch, cassava, potatoes ...; green leafy vegetables; soya beans, peanuts, sesame, and fungi, but when processed into the cuisine.
After breakfast this morning, we take a boat trip along the Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda located on the top of the Hill, and then the driver will take us to Tu Duc Emperor's tomb. Before our outstanding vegetarian lunch at a pagoda, we have a short stop at two handicraft villages of Colonial Hats and Incense nearby. In the afternoon, we will discover the Citadel and Forbidden City, the home and headquarter of old Emperors and their dynasties. We also have a short visit to Dong Ba market where all the ingredients for restaurants are being sold. Overnight in Hue.
Hanoians are not only famous for their elegance but for their communications and culinary also. The gentle, finical beauty and quality of each food become the specific art food of Hanoi. Hanoians know well how to choose the right places for their eating and they become loyal customers if they really enjoy that kind of food.
Today, we take a morning flight to Hanoi. Welcome upon arrival with the tour guide who is waiting for us at the airport then we transfer to hotel in the city. We take a short relaxation and then join with tour guide for our Hanoi food tasting tour. We will have a chance to taste many kinds of local street food that is very special and well-checked for foreigners. We finished our great tour at a corner coffee workshop to enjoy both the Hanoi city view and the special coffee or fruit shake in Hanoi. Overnight in Hanoi.
"Cha ca La Vong" – Grilled fish with rice noodles, peanut, herbs, and fish sauce is one of the specialties in Hanoi. It was created by a Doan family in Hanoi in 1871 and now it's very famous. Almost visitors want to go there to try this delicious dish one time.
Today, we will explore Hanoi with all the main highlights that Viet Vision Travel tailors for first-time visitors to Hanoi and enjoy the delicious lunch at an old Hanoi house with Cha Ca La Vong. They are Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, New National Assembly House, Presidential Palace, One Pillar Pagoda, and his House on stilt with fish pond….After this complex is the Temple of Literature which is known as the first University of Vietnam under the Feudal Dynasties and now is a temple.
The Museum of Ethnology is a place where we will have ideas about all minorities living in Vietnam with their culture, people, and characters. Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son Temple makes our day more memorable with a nice view in the late afternoon. Lastly, we enjoy one hour of a Vietnamese traditional performance of a water puppet. It's full of traditional music and art. Overnight in Hanoi.
Halong Bay is not only famous for the landscape but also for the fresh seafood. Meals on the boat are often fabulous with all tourists. We will join the cooking demonstration or fruit carving demonstration on a boat at sunset time with the chef. The crew team will make in-house guests surprised by every service.
The crew team will welcome us on board and we join all the activities like kayaking, swimming, boating, fishing, and relaxing… with other passengers. The boat will take us around the Heritage area and we will see thousands of islands and islets of different shapes. We also stop to visit one of the most wonderful caves in Halong Bay in the afternoon or the next morning depending on the weather or timing of the day. We have all our meals at a restaurant on the boat. Overnight in Halong Bay.
We are recommended to get up early today to get peaceful, fresh sunrise time on the tranquil Bay and join the Tai Chi sessions with Master. Later, we enjoy breakfast with a combination of western and Vietnamese food. We will take part in the rest activities on the boat and check out at 10h00. We relax on the sundeck or restaurant, enjoy last lunch, settle the bill, and farewell Halong bay at midday. The tender takes us back to the pier where our awaiting vehicle transfers us back to Hanoi.
Tonight, we are free for last-minute shopping and picking our favorite dinner in Hanoi. Overnight in Hanoi.
At the appointed time on the last day, we will farewell Hanoi and depart to the airport for our departure flight. Trip ends.
