Vegan Street Food Walking Tour in Ho Chi Minh City

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/37

Duration3h

GroupUp to 6

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Vietnamese vegan street food tastes nothing like what tourists eat.

A three-hour vegan walking tour through Ho Chi Minh City led by a local guide, moving through Ban Co Market, a historic apartment block, and neighborhood alleys to taste 7–8 authentic vegan dishes at family-run spots. The itinerary shifts with what's fresh and open that day; you'll walk around 7,000 steps and receive the guide's personal recipes afterward. Minimum age 18; public transport is available near the meeting point.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Saigon's vegan street food

Meet at starting location
Wander through Ban Co Market
Visit old apartment complex
Eat vegan BBQ and dumplings
Taste tropical and exotic fruits
Try traditional chè desserts
Enjoy noodles, bánh cống, and juice
Sample various vegan dumplings
Have crispy bột chiên and drinks
Visit Chè Hiển Khánh for sweets

The Experience

You meet your guide Spring at a set point in the city, then head into Ban Co Market—a real local market, not a tourist version. The stalls are crowded with produce, fresh herbs, tofu, mushrooms, and spices that make Vietnamese cooking work without meat. You'll taste seasonal tropical fruits as you walk through, learning how locals actually shop and what ingredients show up in the dishes you'll eat later. From there you move into one of Ho Chi Minh City's oldest apartment complexes, a neighborhood most visitors never see. Narrow alleyways connect the units; families have lived here for generations. Your guide shares the history and stories of the community, and you get a glimpse of everyday Saigon that has nothing to do with guidebooks.

The eating starts at a family-run spot serving smoky vegan BBQ, handmade dumplings, and soft steamed rice cakes from Central Vietnam—the kind of food locals order without thinking twice. Then a fruit shop where you taste whatever is fresh that day: some fruits sweet, some sour, some you won't recognize even if you've traveled in Asia. A street-food stop for traditional chè—the colorful sweet desserts Vietnamese people grew up with, maybe banana chè or taro chè or sweet corn, depending on what's available. A noodle bowl with grilled vegan "meat" and crispy bánh cống at a neighborhood spot where you sit down for a bit instead of rushing through. Another family-run place for vegan dumplings, where your guide tells you about Saigon's Chinese community and how their food became woven into the city's own cooking. Crispy bột chiên with a cold drink, eaten sitting down on the street, soaking in the everyday rhythm. And finally Chè Hiển Khánh, a spot with history, serving classic Vietnamese sweets like lotus seed chè and bánh cốm that have been made the same way for generations. By the end you'll have eaten a lot—the guide warns you upfront—but you'll have walked roughly 7,000 steps, so the math feels less guilty. Afterward, Spring sends you her personal vegan recipes for the dishes.

The itinerary is a starting point, not a script. What's fresh that day, what's open, what the group feels like eating—any of that can shift the route. You get water and soda included, plus alcoholic drinks if you want them. The tour runs three hours. English-speaking guide, minimum age 18. Public transportation options are nearby if you don't have a car or aren't staying within walking distance.

What’s included

Seven to eight different vegan street food dishes across multiple stops.
bottled water and soda.
alcoholic beverages if you want them.
personal vegan recipes from the guide sent after the tour.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Spring Saigon Tours

Is this one for you?The tour starts at a fixed meeting point with public transport nearby, so you don't need a car or a hotel in a specific neighborhood to join. If you're staying anywhere in Ho Chi Minh City and want to eat the way locals do—not the famous dishes, just the everyday comfort food—this route works whether you arrived yesterday or live here.