Archive | Vietnam

This private culinary tour is an in-depth exploration of Vietnam’s most authentic food and cultural experiences. Enjoy highlights such as:

• Special meals featuring regional specialties
• A vegetarian lunch and cooking demonstration with local nuns at an ancient pagoda
• Market tours and cooking classes with renowned chefs
• A visit to a rice noodle factory and farming village
• Tours of markets and specialty food and cooking ware shops

Begin in Hanoi, Vietnam’s artistic and intellectual capital. Enjoy a private welcome dinner of northern Vietnamese specialties at one of the city’s leading restaurants. One morning, tour the local markets, then learn to prepare regional dishes in a cooking class with a local expert. Another day, help nuns at a local pagoda prepare a vegetarian lunch, and learn about their way of life. During cultural touring with your private guide, explore the fascinating Old Quarter, where street stalls feature favorite local dishes, and hundreds of specialty shops sell cooking utensils, lacquerware, silk clothing and more. Visit Hanoi’s main cultural attractions, including the Fine Arts Museum and Temple of Literature. Walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, watch a performance of water puppet theater, and ride in a cyclo to dinner in a French colonial villa converted into a gourmet restaurant. You might also like to shop for modern art in the city’s many galleries.

Take an overnight excursion to beautiful Halong Bay. Feast on fresh seafood while cruising in a luxurious boat among the bay’s dramatic limestone islands.

Next, fly to Hue, the former imperial capital, in central Vietnam. Learn to prepare refined imperial-style cuisine during a cooking demonstration in a private home that once belonged to a royal princess. During private cultural touring, visit a rice noodle factory and the imperial Citadel where the emperor and his concubines lived. Cruise the Perfume River to a pagoda to meet local monks and learn how they farm rice and vegetables. Tour the open-air produce market, and learn about local ingredients and recipes.

Drive down the coast to atmospheric Hoi An, a UNESCO-listed riverfront town crammed with historic homes, tiny museums, cafes, and bustling silk and fish markets. One day, visit a local farming community famous for its vegetables, and have a lunch of regional specialties in a local home. Stay at a luxury resort on the beach, and see the best of the town during private touring with your expert guide.

Continue to dynamic Saigon. During private touring, visit a local market with a renowned chef, then learn to prepare southern Vietnamese specialties during a private cooking class. Also tour cultural highlights such as Chinatown, the Reunification Palace, art galleries, open air markets, and a variety of dining venues.