Uyen Luu

Experience the Vietnam I grew up with: markets in Phan Thiết and family style home-cooked lunch at my aunt’s house, drinking coconuts from freshly picked from the trees. We will have hands-on cooking classes in Mui Ne and Hội An, and a farewell dinner in Saigon. Small group, real access, real food.

Nine days through southern and central Vietnam, spent in my company from arrival to farewell dinner. This isn’t a trip where you meet the host once and follow a guide the rest of the way. I’m with you at the markets, in the kitchen, on the road to Huế, and at the table every evening.

Bring your camera! You’ll learn the basics of food photography as we go, how to read light in a market stall, how to frame a bowl of phở so it looks the way it tastes. We’ll talk about food writing too, how I’ve written my cookbooks and how you can too, and there’ll be time to journal your own version of the trip: recipes as you learn them, notes from the beach in Mui Ne, whatever the day gives you.

In Phan Thiết we go out to the countryside to my aunt’s house, where you’ll eat with her and my mother, who’s joining this trip. This is where you find out what home cooking actually looks like in Vietnam, not a demonstration kitchen but a family one, with the techniques and shortcuts that make up the real Vietnam.

From there, Hội An for more cooking and market time, a day trip to Huế for its imperial history and Bún Bò Huế, and a last night in Ho Chi Minh City at Anan Saigon before you fly home (or decide to stay longer).

There will be plenty of down time to relax too.

This trip runs in partnership with Intrepid Travel, who handle all bookings and queries, so you’re backed by an established operator with a local team on the ground throughout.

Dates: 21 February – 1 March 2027 (9 days / 8 nights)
Price: £3,600 per person, twin share

Price includes:

• 1 Intrepid local tour leader throughout
• Transfers/ In-land Flights/ Local Travel
• Breakfasts and meals where specified

Itinerary breakdown

21 Feb – Ho Chi Minh City. Arrival, welcome meeting, dinner at Bờm’s Kitchen and Wine Bar.

22 Feb – Phan Thiết/Mui Ne. Transfer from HCMC, seafood lunch en route, check in at Anantara Mui Ne.

23 Feb – Phan Thiết/Mui Ne. Local market and street food, then lunch at Uyen’s aunt’s house and a visit to a family home to learn about ancestor worship traditions.

24 Feb – Phan Thiết/Mui Ne. Free morning, hands-on cooking class with Uyen in the afternoon, group dinner.

25 Feb – Mui Ne to Hội An. Fly HCMC to Da Nang, transfer to Hội An, free time to explore or relax.

26 Feb – Hội An. Market visit and street food, cooking class with Uyen, lunch together.

27 Feb – Huế day trip. Salt coffee, Thiên Mụ Pagoda, lunch of Bún Bò Huế, the Imperial Citadel, return to Hội An.

28 Feb – Hội An to Ho Chi Minh City. Fly back to HCMC, free time, farewell dinner at Anan Saigon.

1 March – Departure.