Culinary Odyssey to Vietnam – 15 Days

Being an experienced travel consultant of Viet Vision Travel & a young mother with the huge passions of cooking to have the various good food to the beloved family. We deeply prefer to research the culinary in our whole country in many years, we well understand the own culinary of each region. In general each has the outstanding culinary & the regional cuisine is flavorful, colorful and extremely healthy. You can find the food in the north which tends to be milder and lighter than that found in the rest of Vietnam but it is spicy and well-seasoned & heavily influenced by the imperial court cuisine of Hue in the centre. Combination of 3 above regions, Southern cuisine is the most varied of the three. Rich in vegetables, rice and seafood, it has incorporated French, Cambodian and Thai influences into a style that is distinctively its own. It is generally more heavily seasoned, tropical and spicier yet sweeter than northern food. Contact & travel the trip with us who the West meets Asia, which the two come together for a cuisine in a perfect balance of tastes and textures.

General Information

Tour Route: Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh city, Mekong Delta
Duration: 15 days
Date: No fixed departure dates. You may go whenever you wish.
Start/End: Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City ( Saigon )
Tour type: Deeply Tasting, Landscape and Nature, Culture and History
Tour Customizable: Absolutely! (Tell us your specific requirements in the inquiry form)
Active level: Cooking, walking, tasting, boating…

Brief Itinerary

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival
Day 2: Hanoi City tour – Taste of Cha Ca La Vong special dish
Day 3: Quang Ba wholesale colorful fresh flower market – Halong Bay
Day 4: Halong Bay – Hanoi
Day 5: Hanoi Cooking Class & Food Tasting tour
Day 6: Hanoi – Fly to Hue
Day 7: Hue city tour – Taste of an Outstanding Vegetarian Food
Day 8: Hue – Danang – Hoi An – Cooking class at Vy’s market restaurant
Day 9: Hoi An street-tasting food
Day 10: Hoi An – Danang – Fly to Ho Chi Minh city
Day 11: Saigon City tour & Saigon After Dark by Vespa
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh – Cu Chi Tunnel
Day 13: Ho Chi Minh – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Ho Chi Minh
Day 14: Ho Chi Minh – Cooking class
Day 15: Ho Chi Minh – Departure

Full Itinerary

Day 1: Hanoi Arrival (D)

Welcome up on arrival in Hanoi by local tour guide and driver then we transfer to hotel. On the way to the hotel, we will stop at a local restaurant to enjoy the first taste of Vietnam “Pho” (Beef or Chicken Noodle). We then relax in the rest of the day. Tonight, we enjoy welcome dinner at Ngon restaurant where is served all Vietnamese local food. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 2: Hanoi City tour – Taste of Cha Ca La Vong special dish (B, L)

After breakfast at hotel, we venture Hanoi unique city with the first destination of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Ba Dinh square, Ho Chi Minh Museum, One Pillar Pagoda, the Presidential Palace and the Temple of Literature. Later on, we return to the Old Quarter, taste the second best specialty of Hanoi “Cha Ca La Vong” (Grilled fish with noodle, herb, peanut, special fish source….). Patricia Schultz put this food to his book of “1000 Places to See Before You Die”. In the afternoon, we drive to the Museum of Ethnology to visit all 54 minorities with cultures of Vietnamese from the past. After that, we travel back to the center to enjoy cyclo tour around the Old 36 Hanoi streets and see the water puppet show. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 3: Quang Ba wholesale colorful fresh flower market – Halong Bay (B, L, D)

It’s a chance for us to see the different Hanoi by waking up at 4h30am then tour guide and driver will bring you to one of the biggest wholesales colorful fresh flower market in Hanoi. There are so many opportunities to hunt the best captions for each own gallery. At 7 am, we return to our hotel for breakfast and check out for our two-day Halong Bay trip. After a long driving from Hanoi, we arrive at the pier in the middle day then we check in the cruise which takes us to untouched Bai Tu Long Bay. This is time for us to discover natural beauty and local life in a limited time schedule. We will also have chance to visit cave, go kayaking and visit floating village. We enjoy our delicious lunch and dinner on board then join all activities and services available. Overnight on the cruise.

Day 4: Halong Bay – Hanoi (B, L)

Sunrise moment is the best time ever in Halong Bay that should not be missed. Getting up little early this morning we enjoy the morning view with a cup of tea or coffee then have breakfast. After that, we visit VungVieng fishing village by a rustic row-boat, meet the local people, and pass the village’s school and fish farm. On the way back to the cruise we may have chance to see the tide out. Checking out while cruising back to the pier, we have our last delicious a la carte lunch later on.

At midday of the second day, we disembark and the driver take us to Yen Duc village in Dong Trieu province where we enjoy the water puppet show performed by local artists in the open theater. Keeping on journey to Hanoi and trip ends at around 17h30 at the lobby of hotel. Tonight we are free to pick our favorite food at local restaurants. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 5: Hanoi Cooking Class & Food Tasting tour (B, L)

Today we have options to learn how to cook Vietnamese dishes with one of the most famous chefs in Hanoi, Madam Anh Tuyet or Mr Didier Corlou – The Old Chef of Sofitel Metropole Hotel in Hanoi.

For option of Madam Anh Tuyet, we join a traditional Vietnamese cooking within 3 hours in her restaurant. Firstly, we visit the local market to buy ingredients and herbs that used for cooking class later. Then we head back to restaurant, start the hands-on cooking lesson and preparation for lunch. Once ready, we enjoy exactly what we cooked before. For option of Mr Didier Corlou – The Old Chef of Sofitel Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, we starts at 9h30am with welcome drink at restaurant and market tour with chef. After 30 minutes shopping herbs and ingredients, we back to restaurant and start cooking demonstration with 5 dishes (Vietnamese banana flower salad, Hanoi nems (deep fried spring rolls), Grilled chicken with lemon leaves, Bun cha – roasted grilled pork & noodle, Sautéed pumpkin branches). End of cooking lesson, we enjoy all cooked food.

In the afternoon, we start our food tasting tour at 15h30 to explore Vietnamese cuisine. We walk down on the Hanoi streets, enjoy local food and discover the food culture. Firstly, we go to Café Pho Co, chat with tour guide while seeing Hoan Kiem Lake from building and enjoying very special Hanoi Egg coffee. Then we walk down on the street to Banh Cuon Hang Ga where we can get the food information in English on the wall. Keeping on walking to Bia hoi workshop at Lo Ren street, taste the local draught beer with local people and followings to Dong Xuan wholesales market. This is a right place for us to see all the ingredients and food. Ends of the day, we stop at Rue Lamblot restaurant for our light dinner with Spring rolls, fried rice cake, banana flower salad. We return hotel and relax. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 6: Hanoi – Fly to Hue (B, D)

Today we take our short domestic flight to Hue. Welcome upon arrival after one hour flight, we then transfer to hotel and take the dragon boat trip upstream the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda. From this place we can catch all the panorama of romantic Hue city. After Thien Mu pagoda, we visit Minh Mang Tomb, one of the best tomb of old Nguyen’s King in 18th century. Tonight, we will be the King and Queen during our Royal dinner and discover all the food that served for Kings and Queen under the Nguyen Dynasty. Overnight in Hue.

Day 7 Hue city tour – Taste of Outstanding Vegetarian Food (B, L)

Today we enjoy an outstanding vegetarian food lunch in a pagoda in Hue after a morning visiting the Imperial Forbidden City and Dong Ba market. We will also visit colorful interesting incense, colonial hat making villages. And if we like the adventure, we will take “xe om” motorbike taxi to Thanh Toan Bridge and the countryside overview… Before ending the day tour, we have a thirty minutes to enjoy the local coffee at Vi Da Xua café workshop. Overnight in Hue.

Day 8: Hue – Danang – Hoi An – Cooking Class at Vy’s Market restaurant (B, D)

Today we travel southward to Hoi An via Danang City with stop at Hai Van pass, Cham Museum and Marble Mountain. Later we join the special cooking class with local market shopping all ingredients for our lesson. We then boat to Vy’s Market restaurant where we can see, smell, hear, taste, touch and interact with many different food making processes. We can try samples from over 10 different food counters including banh my, dumplings, pickles, weird….Then we start our 2,5 hour cooking lesson with the chef and enjoy all the food that we cooked before. The gift after the lesson is a copy of the recipes and a Vietnamese cooking utensil to take home. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 9: Hoi An street tasting food & Walking tour (B)

Today we try all Hoi An local specialties with local experts. This is a combination food tasting and walking tour around the ancient town. All food stalls or restaurants use sanitary cooking practices and fresh ingredients. During this tour, we will have chance to enjoy 10 dishes. Each of our unique food tasting is combined with fun insights and anecdotes on food culture and local traditions. In the afternoon, we have a walking tour in Hoi An town – one of the World Culture Heritages of Vietnam. This quaint riverside town still boasts a wealth of century’s old traditional architecture. The influences of several Asian cultures can be seen in the old houses and waterside buildings. It is also famous as a place to be instantly created inexpensive tailored outfits. Overnight in Hoi An.

Day 10 Hoi An – Danang – Fly to Ho Chi Minh city (B, D)

After breakfast, we relax in Hoi An before we transfer back to Danang airport for our short domestic flight to Ho Chi Minh city or Saigon. Welcome up on arrival and we are relax in the rest of the day. Early evening, we are welcome on board to Bonsai Cruise for our deluxe dinner with music and dance performance while cruising along Saigon River. Cruise ends around 21h30 then we transfer back to hotel. Overnight in Saigon.

Day 11: Saigon City tour & Saigon After Dark by Vespa (B, L)

This morning, we visit the Reunification Palace, the former Presidential Palace for the president of the South of Vietnam. After that, we will visit War Remnant Museum, where we can see countless artifacts, photographs and pictures documenting about the second Indochina war. Before our lunch, we stop at Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Post.

We spend the afternoon time to visit Chinatown and Binh Tay market before shopping at Ben Thanh market. Early evening today, we discover Saigon in different way, by Vespa and driver. We stop at Café zoom to “watch the world goes by” (quoted by The Lonely Planet) and enjoy cocktail and appetizer (inclusive) before adventuring into favorite local eating spot. We will experience the nightlife of Saigon the way locals do, all from the back of a vintage Vespa scooter. We will enjoy street seafood and cold drinks, Banh Xeo, specialty of Saigon and southern food with locals…we also taste the Saigon-style coffee shop while listening music as a local. Happy ending place is a lively bar then back to hotel. Overnight in Saigon.

Day 12: Ho Chi Minh – Cu Chi Tunnel (B)

This morning, we will leave Saigon for the Cu Chi tunnels. On our way there we will drive through pleasant countryside; rubber plantations and rice paddies. Before entering the tunnels, we will see a short introductory video showing how they were constructed, followed by an exploration of the maze of tunnels, some of which have been widened to allow tourist access. Also on display are various mantraps and the remains of an American tank as well as numerous bomb craters made by 500lb bombs dropped by B52 bombers. After that, we transfer back to Saigon. Relax and overnight in Saigon.

Day 13: Ho Chi Minh – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Ho Chi Minh (B, L)

We start our tour little bit early today to have explore full of Cai Be floating market in Mekong Delta where is about 2,5 hour driving from Saigon. The boat will take us among the local barges full of fruits and farmers’ products. There are many opportunities of photo shoots in the one of the most beautiful floating markets in Mekong Delta. We then stop at local workshops to see the rice paste, coconut candy and pop rice, pop-corn are made. Later we take the rowing boat entering deeper into the countryside on the smaller canals where we can see the traditional houses made of wood and palm tree leaves, the local daily life…. After lunch at a local house, we take bikes along the village paths to see the farms, houses and the ancestral ways to pick up fruits in Mekong Delta. Later, we cruise back to the city and our awaiting vehicle will take us to Saigon. Overnight in Saigon.

Day 14: Ho Chi Minh – Cooking class (B, L)

Cooking class at one of the best home restaurants Hoa Tuc – the Saigon Culinary Art Center is our best choice for the Vietnam Culinary trip. During some hours, we discover the culture of Vietnamese culinary art with the guide of Grand Chef. The cooking class including market visit with chef and have all food that we cooked before. After the lesson, we will receive a “Certificate of Recognition”, a handbook with all recipes and a souvenir gift from the Saigon Culinary Art Center. Rest of the day, we are free at leisure. Overnight in Saigon.

Day 15: Ho Chi Minh – Departure (B)

Today our awaiting vehicle will take us back to the airport for our departure flight. Trip ends.