Mekong Delta 2-Day Homestay: Cooking Class & Ben Luc Village

You learn to cook Vietnamese dishes from a local family in their kitchen.

A 2-day small-group tour of the Mekong Delta based in a Ben Luc Village homestay, where you bike through orchards and rice fields, take a cooking class with your host family, and travel by boat and bus from Ho Chi Minh City. The homestay overnight and included meals (breakfast, lunch, barbecue dinner and the cooking class itself) let you eat and sleep inside the rhythm of village life instead of returning to the city each night.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1: Travel and explore Mekong Delta

• Pick up at hotel
• Travel to Mỹ Tho - Bến Tre
• Boat trip on the river
• Visit bee farm and taste honey tea
• Row boat on quiet tributaries
• Visit local cultural house and listen to Dan Ca Tai Tu
• Visit coconut candy craft villages
• Lunch with Vietnamese dishes
• Check in homestay Family Tiny Garden
• Free time: fish, canoe, play volleyball
• Watch sunset over rice fields
• Dinner with barbecue and camp-fire
• Overnight at Family Tiny Garden

Day 2: Countryside tour and return

• Breakfast at Family Tiny Garden
• Bicycle tour to orchards and rice fields
• Join cooking class of local dishes
• Lunch at restaurant
• Car transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City
• End of tour at pick up point

The experience

The tour starts with an 8am pickup from your Ho Chi Minh City hotel and a drive to Mỹ Tho. By 10am you're on the water, first stopping at a honey farm where you taste honey tea with bee pollen and sample tropical fruits grown in the delta. A quiet boat ride through narrow tributaries takes you to a local cultural house to listen to Dan Ca Tai Tu, traditional Southern music, then to a coconut candy craft village where you see how every part of the coconut becomes oil, candy, soap, drink or building material. Lunch is Vietnamese cuisine at a local restaurant.

You check into a family homestay in Ben Luc Village in the afternoon, free to fish, canoe or play volleyball before watching the sunset over rice fields. Dinner is barbecue and campfire with your host family. The next morning, you explore the countryside by bicycle, pedaling through orchards of dragon fruit, grapefruit, oranges and guava, and past the open rice fields. At 10:30am you join a cooking class where you learn to prepare local dishes in the family kitchen, then eat what you've made for lunch. The car returns you to Ho Chi Minh City by 2:30pm.

Hotel pickup and drop-off in District 1, all meals, bottled water and landing fees are included. A live English or Vietnamese-speaking guide travels with the group throughout.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off in District 1.
• breakfast, lunch and barbecue dinner.
• a cooking class with your host family.
• boat rides through tributaries and a honey farm visit.
• a coconut candy craft village.
• bicycle tours of orchards and rice fields.
• overnight homestay in Ben Luc Village.
• bottled water and landing fees.
• live guide in English or Vietnamese.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 08:00

Book up to1h before

AgesAdult (10 to 80 years) · Child (4 to 9 years) · Infant (under 4): free

GroupUp to 12

Live guideEnglish and Vietnamese

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 2 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 4 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by mekong cruises tours

Is this one for you?The overnight homestay is what makes the cooking class and the village exploration possible. You're based there instead of commuting back to the city, so you eat dinner with your host family, wake up in the village, and learn to cook in their kitchen the next morning.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Vietnamese.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (4 to 9 years); Infant (under 4): free.

What is the cooking class like on the Mekong Delta tour?

The cooking class happens at your homestay on the morning of day two, where you learn to prepare local Vietnamese dishes in the family kitchen with instruction from your host family, then eat the food you've cooked for lunch before heading back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Do I bike around Ben Luc Village, or is it just a walking tour?

You explore Ben Luc Village by bicycle on the second morning, pedaling through orchards growing dragon fruit, grapefruit, oranges and guava, and past the rice fields surrounding the village.

What happens on the boat ride through the Mekong Delta tributaries?

The boat ride on day one takes you through quiet tributaries to a local cultural house where you listen to Dan Ca Tai Tu, a traditional form of Southern Vietnamese music, then continues to a coconut candy craft village where you see how coconut is processed into multiple products.

Is hotel pickup included in the Mekong Delta tour price?

Yes, pickup and drop-off at your hotel in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City are included. The tour starts at 8am and returns by 2:30pm on day two.

What meals are included over the 2 days?

Breakfast, lunch and a barbecue dinner on day one, plus lunch on day two after the cooking class are all included. You also taste honey tea and tropical fruits at the honey farm.