Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
About us
A small agency, and what that means for you
Ben Thanh Travel is the travel arm of Nam Phuong Travel, based in Ho Chi Minh City. We are small enough that the person who plans your trip is the person who answers when something moves.
Who we are
What we are
Ben Thanh Travel is a tour agency operating in Ho Chi Minh City under Nam Phuong Travel. Our work splits in two. In the south we are an operator: our own vehicles, our own guides and our own boats on the day trips out of Saigon and through the Mekong Delta. Everywhere else in Vietnam we are an agency, working with a short list of operators in Hue, Hanoi and Ha Giang we have used long enough to know which of their guides we want.
We say which is which on every page, because the difference matters when something goes wrong. Where we operate, we fix it ourselves that afternoon. Where we do not, we are the person chasing it on your behalf, which is slower and worth knowing about in advance.
Our rules
Three things we do not do
- Shopping stops
- No lacquerware factory, no jade showroom, no "handicraft village" that is a shop with a loom by the door. They are how a cheap day tour is subsidised, and they cost you two hours.
- Invented reviews
- There are no testimonials on this site. When we have something real to quote we will quote it with a name and a date; until then a blank space is more honest than a stock photo with a first name under it.
- Prices that hide the hotel tier
- A per-person price means nothing without the standard of room it assumes. Ours always states it, and we quote three tiers side by side so the comparison is yours.
History
How we got here
The company grew out of running day trips for guests of small hotels in District 1 — the kind of work where you hear the same complaint three times a week and eventually do something about it. Two complaints shaped most of what is on this site: days that ran two hours longer than advertised, and itineraries written by someone who had never driven the road in question.
That is why every tour page carries a finish time and a driving time, and why we do not sell a route we have not travelled. When we add a region we go and travel it first, which is slower than buying a supplier catalogue and is the only way we know to write pages that are true.
People
The people you will deal with
You get one planner, by name, from the first email to the last transfer. They write your itinerary, they hold your bookings, and they answer the 24/7 number while you are travelling — not a rota, not a call centre, and not a chatbot with a Vietnamese name.
Our guides are licensed, local to the region they guide, and paid a day rate rather than a commission on what you buy. That single arrangement removes most of the reasons a guide would want to take you somewhere you did not ask to go.
Responsible travel
Responsibility, without the badge collection
We do not have a sustainability certificate and we are not going to buy one. What we do is smaller and checkable: we use family-run guesthouses where the alternative is a resort with no local ownership, we do not book elephant rides or any attraction that puts a wild animal in front of a camera for money, we refuse the plastic-bottle-per-person-per-day arrangement most operators still run, and we pay guides for cancelled days that are cancelled at our end.
Our long routes involve internal flights, and flights are the largest part of any trip carbon budget. We can build most itineraries overland instead and we will show you the time cost of doing so, but we are not going to pretend a two-week route with three flights is a low-impact holiday.
Contact
Company details
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
08:00 - 18:00, Mon - Sat (GMT+7)
- Sales and enquiries
- +84 766 045 399
- 24/7 while you are travelling
- +84 766 045 399
- Enquiries
- info@benthanhtravel.com
- Bookings and payment
- contact@benthanhtravel.com
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Are you a licensed tour operator?
We operate under Nam Phuong Travel, registered in Ho Chi Minh City. Licence and tax details are on your booking confirmation and invoice; if you need them before booking, ask and we will send them.
Who do I actually talk to?
One planner, by name, from the first email onward. If they are on leave you will be told who is covering and introduced before it happens.
Do you take agency bookings from overseas operators?
Yes, on the southern day tours and Mekong programmes, which are the parts we operate ourselves. Write to the enquiries address with your usual terms and we will answer with ours.
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Contact
Contact
Reach a planner in Ho Chi Minh City.
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How we book
How we book
Deposits, balances, cancellations and payment safety.
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Tours
Tours
Day trips, regional routes and full-length itineraries.
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Tailor-made
Tailor-made
How a private itinerary gets built, step by step.
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Start planning
Tell us about the trip you have in mind
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.
Or talk to us:+84 766 045 399