★★★★★
Bigdog702
“I booked way in advance, and had a hotel change a week before the cruise, but all I did was whats app them the new hotel, and all was good.”
Tripadvisor, May 2026
Private tourNEW 2026Ho Chi Minh CitySmall group · Local experience
Ben Tre 3 Days 2 Nights: Eco Lodge, Cooking Class and Night Food Tour
Three slow days in the coconut country of Ben Tre, with two nights at a small riverside eco lodge with a pool. Day one... Ava Travel price: from $206.
Questions before you book? Message us on WhatsApp or send an email. Phone +84 904 251 545. Ava Travel Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Style
Private tour
Ho Chi Minh City
Duration
3 days · 2 nights
Pickup support available
Book this tour
Live prices for the date and group size you pick. Ava confirms your departure and pickup within 1 hour of booking.
Prices are the total for the travellers and the date you pick. Ava reconfirms the departure and the pickup point within 1 hour.
Tour optionWhat's includedPrice
Private tour
Your group onlyPriced for your group size, so each person pays less in a bigger group
✓ Local English-speaking guide✓ Meals as listed✓ Entrance tickets included
—total · 2 travellers
Secure checkout
- We confirm your departure and pickup within 1 hour
- Cancel more than 30 days ahead at no cost
- No booking fee. The price shown is the price you pay
Full refund if you cancel more than 30 days before check-in
- More than 30 days before check-inFree
- 30 to 11 days before check-in15% of total
- 10 to 7 days before check-in30% of total
- Less than 7 days, or no-show100% of total
A change of travel date counts as a cancellation and a new booking, and the same scale applies.
If the operator cancels the cruise, or in case of severe weather or force majeure, we move your date free of charge, or refund you in full if we cannot reschedule.
Price includes all taxes and service charges.
Ho Chi Minh City tour overview
Why this trip
- Three slow days in the coconut country of Ben Tre, with two nights at a small riverside eco lodge with a pool.
- Day one is the boat day: your own boat, a bicycle, a sampan and a motor trishaw, then a rice wine maker and a cooking demonstration before dinner.
- On day two you make sticky rice cake by hand with a village family, then take a sunset boat into Ben Tre town for the night market and a street food tour on the back of a motorbike.
- Day three has no plan at all. There is a bicycle and a map if you want to explore, and a hammock if you do not.
An honest note: the evening food tour is on the back of a local driver's motorbike, and the car from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and back is not in this price. We add the car when you book, and the road takes roughly two hours each way.
At a glance
| Duration | 3 days, 2 nights |
| Start and finish | Meeting point in Ben Tre at 10:00 on day 1, check-out at 12:00 on day 3 |
| Group size | Private, your group only, up to 10 guests |
| Walking | Short village walks and about 4 km of flat cycling on day 1, a short walk on day 2, day 3 free. You step on and off boats that can sit up to 1 m above the dock |
| Best for | Travellers who want to slow down, food lovers, couples and families |
| Guide | Local English-speaking guide |
Price
Private departure. Your own guide and vehicle, your own pace. The total falls per person as your group grows.
| Group size | Total | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $351 | $351 |
| 2 people | $461 | $230 |
| 3 people | $690 | $230 |
| 4 people | $919 | $230 |
| 5 people | $1080 | $216 |
| 6 people | $1296 | $216 |
| 7 people | $1447 | $207 |
| 8 people | $1654 | $207 |
| 9 people | $1861 | $207 |
| 10 people | $2067 | $207 |
Children. Children under 4 travel free. From 4 to under 11 they pay 70 per cent of the adult price, and from 11 they pay the adult price. Tell us the ages when you book and we apply it before you pay.
How it works
- Book and confirm. Pay at checkout or message us on WhatsApp first. We confirm your date, pickup time and guide within one hour.
- Pickup. Meet your guide in Ben Tre at 10:00 on day 1. Car from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) not included.
- On the day. 3 days, 2 nights, 10:00 on day 1 to 12:00 on day 3. Your guide keeps the timings loose enough for photographs and questions.
What's included
Local English-speaking guidePrivate boat trips as described, including the sunset cruise to Ben Tre townBicycle, rowing sampan and xe loi ridesTwo nights in a deluxe room at a riverside eco lodge, twin or doubleTwo breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners (the second dinner is the street food tour)Cooking demonstrationGuided night market walk and motorbike street food tourEntrance fees and all activities in the programVAT
Your itinerary
Saigon to Ben Tre: canals, rice wine and a cooking demonstration
Meals: lunch, dinner. Overnight: deluxe room at a riverside eco lodge in My Thanh village.
- 10:00 meet your local guide at the meeting point and walk through the village to the pier, then cruise the smaller tributaries for about 30 minutes.
- Stop at a coconut garden for a fresh coconut and at a coconut processing yard, then cycle about 4 km around the village to a brick kiln that still works by hand.
- A rowed sampan through the water coconut canals to a local garden for green tea and coconut candy, then a xe loi trishaw ride along the lanes.
- Five-course lunch at the lodge restaurant, then a 500 m bicycle ride to Mr Ba Tai's house to see rice wine being made.
- Back at the lodge for the pool or a quiet seat by the river.
- A local cooking demonstration, followed by a set dinner on the waterfront.
Sticky rice cake, sunset boat and Ben Tre street food
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner (street food tour). Overnight: same lodge.
- Breakfast on the waterfront, then a walk along the village road to Mrs Sau Tuong's house to make traditional sticky rice cake by hand.
- Back to the lodge for the pool or a hammock, and a set lunch.
- Around 17:00 meet your guide at reception and board the boat for a sunset cruise to Ben Tre town.
- Walk through the town centre and along the main street to the night market.
- Ride on the back of the team's motorbikes to a local restaurant for banh xeo, then to the food street for a beef dish at a restaurant built of straw, with frog for anyone who wants to try it.
- Grilled nuong at another restaurant nearby, and to finish, ca phe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk) and dessert at a coffee shop.
A free morning and back to Saigon
Meals: breakfast.
- Breakfast at the restaurant, and the rest of the morning is yours.
- Stay by the pool, in the garden or in a hammock, or ask for a bicycle and a map to explore the villages on your own.
- 12:00 check out, and your car takes you back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for planning this trip with Ava Travel.
No. You meet your guide in Ben Tre at 10:00 on day 1 and check out at 12:00 on day 3. We can add a private car from your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and back, priced separately.
On the food tour you sit behind a local driver, you do not drive. If you would rather not ride at all, tell us when you book and we check another way to reach the food stops.
A small riverside eco lodge with a swimming pool and gardens in My Thanh village, Giong Trom district. You sleep in a deluxe room, twin or double. We confirm the name when we confirm your booking.
Yes. Choose one traveller in the booking box and the price adjusts, because a room costs the same whether one or two people sleep in it.
The group price is per person. The private price is the total for your party and the table on this page shows it for every group size. Prices are in US dollars and include taxes and service charges, and there is no booking fee or card surcharge, so the total at checkout is the total you pay.
Within one hour. We come back to you with the pickup time, the meeting point and your guide, and tell you what to bring.
More than 30 days before departure costs nothing. From 30 to 11 days we keep 15 per cent, from 10 to 7 days 30 per cent, and inside 7 days or a no-show is charged in full. Changing your date counts as a cancellation and a new booking. If we cancel, or weather makes the tour unsafe, we move your date at no cost or refund you in full.
What guests say about Ava Travel
5.0Tripadvisor rating
These are real Tripadvisor reviews of Ava Travel as your booking agent, quoted word for word. They are not reviews of Ben Tre 3 Days 2 Nights: Eco Lodge, Cooking Class and Night Food Tour itself.
★★★★★
Kehren Eade
“She made the process SO easy, SO manageable, we felt we were in great hands at all times, even though everything was done by remote!”
Tripadvisor, August 2026
★★★★★
Arshia Z
“Whenever we had questions or needed assistance, the response was prompt, helpful, and reassuring.”
Tripadvisor, June 2026
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