Mekong Delta & Cai Rang Floating Market 2-Day Tour: Discover Local Life and Cuisine from HCM City

Explore Cai Rang, the largest floating market in the Mekong Delta. Tour a rice noodle factory and create traditional Vietnamese pancakes on this 2-day excursion from Ho Chi Minh City.

Duration: 2 days
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • My Tho - Day 1. HCMC - My Tho - Ben Tre - Can Tho (stay at 3-star hotel) - Around 7:45am. Get picked up at your centrally located hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and head to the Mekong Delta by bus. Your onboard tour guide will tell you everything about the culture of the locals while you can sit back, relax and enjoy the landscapes and scenery of…
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup & drop off in central District 1
  • Meals including 2 lunches and 1 hotel breakfast (vegan options)
  • All boat trips included
  • 1-night stay at a 3-star hotel (options available)
  • Experienced English-speaking tour guide
  • Air-conditioned van/bus transfers
What's Not Included
  • Tip (Optional)
Additional Information
  • A room is typically used for 2 adults (but you can request a triple room to accommodate for 3 adults with no additional charge)
  • A supplemental fee is only applied for those who book an odd number of guests (such as 3, 5, or 7) to request a single room. The supplement for the 3-star hotel is 20 USD
  • It is possible to upgrade to a 5-star hotel and if you would like to do this, please contact the activity provider after booking
Location
123 Lý Tự Trọng
Lý Tự Trọng
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(766 Ratings)
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Grandtour07963020489
May 16, 2025
Dat the successful man - Had an amazing time with our amazing tour guide dat, a hot day but a comfortable experience, sharing every bit of information including the toilet location and a cheat sheet on what to expect, made me feel safe in an unknown country, would totally recommend it and if you are lucky hope you get to met dat too ! Cheers 🍻
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Escape364488
May 13, 2025
Excellent tour - Linda was an excellent guide. She was organised and gave us lots of information. The tour was interesting. Highlights for me were the Sampan ride , early morning market in Cân Tho and the bike ride. The food was good and the hotel comfortable. Thanks again Linda 😊
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Leesree_and_subbi
May 9, 2025
You'll have nothing but good weather with Sunny as your guide! - We knew we wanted to visit the Mekong Delta on our 3 week(ish) long trip to Viet Nam. Sabrina had visited 20 years ago, 16 years ago she and I ran out of time to visit, and this was Kathy's first visit to Viet Nam. We wanted to visit the Vinh Trang Pagoda, do a boat ride on the Mekong River, check out some local industry and take a small boat ride through the canals surrounded by sea coconuts. We had thought about doing a day trip until we saw a couple of YouTube vlogs about the 2-day, 1 night tour with Vietnam Adventure Tours. By taking this tour, we would also get to visit the Cai Rang Floating Market, which, while a scaled back version from its heyday, has a long history. We were collected from outside our hotel and welcomed to our wonderful guide Sunny. Sunny's young, bright, and vibrant - she's friendly, enthusiastic and a lot of fun. Sunny maintained high energy throughout the two-day tour, sharing history and stories about our stops along the way. She knew when to let the group rest (on sometimes long drives, waking people with a gentle 'it's time to wake up Sunny's family), and kept the group energy high. Sunny was very good at letting us know when tipping would be expected (boat captains, rowers on the small boats, traditional singers) and what was a reasonable tip (making sure we weren't pressured in to paying too much). When Sabrina gave feedback that the rowers on her boat (for the small boat ride through sea coconut tree lined canals) was pushy about tips, Sunny gave feedback (as apparently the rowers have been told not to do this). We had the chance to chat with Sunny out of ‘tour guide’ mode during down time, and when we inadvertently met up with her during our free time in Can Tho. She’s honestly a really nice person, naturally friendly, and very easy to talk to. We enjoyed that the tour was a combination of guided sightseeing, with some free exploration. For example, at the Vinh Trang Pagoda Sunny gave us a brief history of the temple, then allowed us time to explore on our own (we had a great group with everyone returning to the gathering point on time). We visited various industries on the Mekong Delta islands at My Tho. At the honey production place, the honey tea was excellent, and while we and the hosts would have liked us to buy some, they understood that coming from Western Australia that wasn't possible. The same location also included hand crafted chocolate - we got to see how cacao grows, smell the beans prior to production and taste the chocolate - it was delicious. As with all boutique chocolate, it wasn't cheap, but I felt it was worth the price for the quality and unique flavours. The coconut candy place offered more than just coconut candy (the peanut, banana and ginger candies were delicious, some of those came home with us) - much of which was delicious. It was so impressive watching the factory staff wrapping the coconut candies by hand - they were SO fast. We were also fed on the tour. We were served delicious fresh fruit at one stop, accompanied by some traditional music. The music was pleasant and the fruit lovely - such a variety too (dragon-fruit, pineapple, jackfruit, watermelon, and pomelo served with a spicy salt which goes surprisingly well with sweet fruit). Lunch was more than sufficient. We had spring rolls, deep fried fish, a delicious braised pork dish, banh xeo, rice and a tasty soup. We rolled away from that meal. After lunch we had free time to just relax or stroll around the small island. We wandered the raised walkways for around 20 minutes before heading back to the boat, to return to main pier and our bus for the longish drive to Can Tho (about 4 hours, which went by comfortably). For our accommodation we chose not to take the upgrade to 5-star, staring at the 3-star Senior Hotel 2. The hotel was metres from the waterfront and a short stroll to the Can Tho Market and night market. We had contacted the tour provider ahead of the trip to request twin beds (for Sabrina aka Mum and I), while Kathy paid the US$20 single supplement for her own room. Sabrina and I were given a triple room with a double bed and single bed - others on the tour hadn't requested specific bedding ahead, which meant some friends were stuck sharing a king bed as there were no twin rooms available – it’s worthwhile getting in touch early if you need certain accommodations as we found Vietnam Adventure Tours were happy to assist where they could. The hotel lobby and the hotel rooms were very prettily presented. The beds, linens and towels were very clean while the rest of the room was surface clean (no dust, but the walls and floors needed a wash, as did the bathroom – soap scum in the shower and a bit of mould in the corners). Our room had a fridge (not super cold), and a TV (though we couldn’t get it to connect to channels). A/C was OK. Our bathroom had both a free-standing shower plus a bath with shower over tub; and was enormous. Unfortunately, at best we had luke-cold showers (cooler than luke-warm) - even checking the water temp late at night or early morning and running it for a long time. As noted above, we had free time in Can Tho - after our arrival and check-in at the hotel. We wandered along the waterfront and visited the night market which spread across two city blocks between widely spaced roads. We also stopped by Can Tho's market - many stalls were still open into the evening. We found that souvenir prices here were much cheaper here than in Sai Gon (really, anywhere else on our Viet Nam visit). The stall holders were not aggressive, and didn't hike up the prices simply so customers would have to haggle back down. Many items were fixed price, with prices clearly displayed. Many of the popular or well rated restaurants in Can Tho were very busy – the waterfront area is bustling (there are even some very brightly lit, kind of gaudy, floating restaurants where you can get a buffet meal while cruising the river). We found a quiet little local place a block or so back from the waterfront selling Bun Cha Ha Noi which was simple and delicious! Day two started with a very early wakeup call (4:30am for a 5am start), as the Cai Rang floating market is said to be at its busiest and best before dawn. We had read reviews of some tours that started later and, in all cases, reviews complained that the market was sparse, just filled with tour boats - not a problem in our case as we arrived at the Cai Rang floating market before the sun was up. While the size of the Cai Rang floating market has dwindled over the years (road transport has become more prevalent, cheaper and more reliable, which puts the market at risk of disappearing entirely), it's still very interesting to see the large barges selling fruits and vegetables in bulk – I’ve never seen so many pumpkins piled up in my life. Our floating market tour included fresh juice or coffee from a small boat vendor, and the option to buy hot noodles from another (balancing in their small boat with two very large puts of boiling broth). Sabrina and I enjoyed the delicious pork noodles as an early pre-breakfast. As well as cruising among the big boats, you also stop at a rice noodle factory. It was interesting to see them making fresh noodles, and of course there are noodles for sale - what made them different is they came in a range of colours, orange, blue, purple, green; all using natural colours such as taro and pea flower. After the floating market we visited a local wet market, with many small stall vendors, lots of locals doing their morning shop, and plenty of vibrant colours - perfect for anyone who loves taking photos, a nice and unexpected stop. Back to the hotel to eat breakfast, pack, and hop on the bus to make our way back to Ho Chi Minh City. Breakfast was included in the hotel stay, served at rooftop cafe space. Breakfast comprised one choice from an a-la-carte menu with western egg options and Vietnamese noodle options. Tea, coffee, and fruit were set out for all guests to self-serve (unfortunately one couple in our group took ALL of the fruit and it was not refilled). It was certainly sufficient to start the day. After breakfast we reboarded the bus to make our way back to Ho Chi Minh City. To break up the roughly 4 hour drive we stopped enroute at 10 Vo Ancient House which is where we would enjoy our lunch and a mini cooking class. First, though, anyone who wanted had the opportunity to take a bike ride along the narrow pathways through the village. Sabrina and Kathy sat this out, but I decided to give it a go even though I haven’t been on a bicycle in over two decades. It was fun riding through the village, though I think I spent more time focussing on the path than the sights – a long time off bikes, and also an unfamiliar bike with no option to adjust properly for my height meant I was more unstable than I probably want to admit. Back at the Ancient House we were broken up into two groups, so we could each take our spot in front of a wok and learn to make Banh Xeo, a kind of egg-pancake-omelette dish filled with bean sprouts, chicken, and shrimp. This wasn’t the only food served for lunch – we were also served spring rolls, deep fried and stuffed zucchini flowers, fish, a vegetable soup, rice, braised pork, and quail egg dish, bok choy, and fresh jackfruit. It was all delicious. We really enjoyed this tour. It was well organised, there were a variety of activities, plenty of good food, comfortable transport, some options to shop if you wanted (but really no pressure to buy), beautiful scenery, a comfortable hotel, some free time to explore, and a great guide! It’s not the cheapest thing you’ll do but we felt it was value for money and would happily do it all over again.
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619szymons
Apr 29, 2025
Mekong 2days Trip/ Simon Poland - An incredibly interesting trip. It is perfectly planned and has no weak points. At every step you will be surprised. Two days for this type of trip is an optimal choice that will definitely meet your expectations. The guide Alex turned out to be extremely funny, well-read and ensuring good humor all the time. His empathy, eloquence, commitment and vast knowledge of his (as he put it) country make us follow his propaganda without hesitation. I definitely recommend it
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Gael
Apr 28, 2025
Amazing - Amazing experience! We did so many things and share some great moment. Thank you to our guide Alex Who make it even better! I recommand it 👍
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47rahelk
Apr 25, 2025
Insightful experience of local living in the Mekong delta - We enjoyed the trip to the mekong delta very much! There were various stops at touristic sights during the car ride to the hotel. We had a lot of opportunities to try local food, see small villages and had different modes of transport, including bicycles and a boat tour on a small arm of the river. The main experience was the floating market in cai rang which was also an insightful experience. Our guide, Tommy, was cheery and helpful and gave us a lot of information, and we could also ask him anything we had in mind to the local culture and way of living. In the end he even arranged that my scarf that I lost in the car was brought back to our hotel! Thanks a lot!
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Kimberly
Apr 25, 2025
Great experience! Experienced so much! - This was such a well organized tour!! Danny was absolutely wonderful as a guide, especially since he grew up in the Mekong area. He was a friendly and so knowledgeable about the area. He was super helpful making sure everyone’s dietary needs were taken care of and that everyone was accounted for at all times. We fit in so many activities over the 2 days, yet I never felt rushed. He always let us know the itinerary and how long each activity would be, making sure we knew how long until meals and bathroom stops (the essentials!). The hotel was so much nicer than I expected. It even had a pool! (Not sure if they always use the same hotel, but I really wasn’t expected something that nice!) The breakfast was great and we had plenty of time to explore the town on our own before bed. I would highly recommend this tour! I really loved
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723markuss
Apr 24, 2025
Great tour that more than met our expectations - We really liked the tour. Everything was top organized and our guide Tommy was very friendly and told a lot of exciting things. The group size was pleasant. It has been stated that we will stay in a 3 star hotel. But it was more in line with the European standard of a 4-star hotel. Price-performance ratio also top. We can only recommend the tour.
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Reginarq376sj
Apr 23, 2025
Tour with Phil was amazing - I can only recommend this tour. Super interesting lots of variety lots and lots of fantastic food and the hotel was really nice. Our guide Phil was wonderful. Thank you!
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Dmsmuc
Apr 29, 2025
Nice trip, bus uncomfortable - Tommy gave as very good impressions for Mekong and Vietnam. Tour itself is interesting, but also pretty touristic. All well organized, hotel and lunches very good. Bus should be more luxury too small seats for European (-1*).
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From $86
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).