Delta trips led by people with a craft
Destinations · Vinh Long
Ben Tre, a place that makes things from coconut and rice
The closest of our four places to Ho Chi Minh City, in the former Ben Tre province, now part of Vinh Long. Its crafts come from what grows here in quantity: coconut palms, sedge and rice — baskets, fibre, candy, mats, rice paper and puffed rice cakes.
Ben Tre in brief
What Ben Tre is, plainly
Ben Tre is coconut country, and its crafts show it. Around Hung Phong, families have woven baskets from coconut-leaf stalks since 1992. Around An Thanh, coconut-fibre production began in 1980 with two workshops and has grown to more than forty establishments and several companies employing thousands of people. Smaller workshops process other coconut products, and the coconut candy of Mo Cay, cooked from coconut milk, malt and sugar, comes in plain, peanut and durian versions.
Coconut is not the only material. Hand mat weaving continues around Nhon Thanh, close to Ben Tre town. Rice paper in the style of My Long is spread thin and grilled over charcoal. Son Doc-style puffed rice cakes are made from sticky rice pounded with coconut milk and sugar, dried in the sun and puffed on a grill.
It is also a place many visitors only pass through on the day-trip circuit from My Tho, which crosses the river for an islet boat ride and a candy workshop and goes back. Staying a night is what turns the crafts from a stop into a session.
Sources: Mia.vn — six craft villages of Ben Tre, 11 Oct 2023; VnExpress — Ben Tre specialities, 5 Jun 2018 · checked .
How many nights, and why fewer goes wrong
One night. It gives you an afternoon with the coconut and mat workshops and an early morning with rice paper and puffed rice cakes, which are made while the sun is low and the racks are going out. A day trip from Ho Chi Minh City catches neither the early morning nor the unhurried afternoon.
Two nights make sense only if you add the Cho Lach orchards and the Cai Mon flower village, more than 40 km from Ben Tre town, in fruit season or before Tet.
Sources: Mia.vn — Cho Lach orchards and Cai Mon flowers, 13 Oct 2025 · checked .
When to go
Dry months suit the sun-dried crafts. Orchards around Cho Lach are heaviest from May to August.
The dry season, December to April, is the reliable time for rice paper and puffed rice cakes, which need sun; too much sun makes them hard and rain spoils them, so makers watch the sky. From May to August the Cho Lach orchards are at their heaviest — rambutan, durian, longan, guava. Before Tet, the Cai Mon flower village is second only to Sa Dec in the plants it supplies, and its buds set in the second half of the twelfth lunar month.
Sources: VnExpress — Ben Tre specialities, 5 Jun 2018; Mia.vn — Cho Lach orchards and Cai Mon flowers, 13 Oct 2025 · checked .
Getting there
About 85 km from central Ho Chi Minh City, roughly two hours. The road crosses the Tien River at Rach Mieu, where a second bridge opened in August 2025; the temporary ferry that ran during its construction stopped the next day. From Ben Tre to Cai Be is about 57 km, a little over an hour.
Sources: Doanh nghiep Hoi nhap — Rach Mieu 2 bridge opens, 19 Aug 2025; OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap, queried 11 Oct 2026 · checked .
Where to sleep
The option we use is Ben Tre Riverside Resort, on the Ham Luong River a short walk from the centre, with an outdoor pool, a riverbank restaurant and bicycles. An agent listing gives it 81 rooms, opened in 2015 and renovated in 2023. It is a comfortable mid-range resort, not a luxury one; for Ben Tre that is the honest ceiling.
Hotels are named as public facts read on the hotel’s own site or an agent listing, with the date we read it. Naming a hotel does not mean we hold a contract or a special rate there. Your quote names the hotel and room category we can confirm on your dates.
Sources: Tour Compass — Ben Tre Riverside Resort; Trip.com — Ben Tre Riverside Resort listing · checked .
What it costs on the ground
Ben Tre’s workshops usually do not charge entry; they sell what they make. Coconut candy, rice paper and puffed rice cakes are inexpensive — a bag of ten Son Doc-style cakes was priced from 55,000 VND in a 2018 newspaper photograph, and prices have moved since. On our trips, each workshop’s fee for its time appears as its own line on the quote; what you buy, you pay the maker directly. The pricing page explains the rest.
Sources: VnExpress — Ben Tre specialities, 5 Jun 2018 · checked .
Pictures
Trips that stay in Ben Tre
Craft Villages of the Delta spends its first night here, with four sessions: coconut stalks and fibre, mats, coconut candy, and rice paper with puffed rice cakes the next morning. The craft villages explained page tells the story of each craft.
When to leave Ben Tre out
- You have two days and food is the point; go to Can Tho instead
- You want a high-end resort; Ben Tre’s is comfortable but mid-range
- Your only dates fall in a week of heavy rain and the sun-dried crafts are your main reason to come
- You have already seen coconut candy made elsewhere and crafts are not your main interest
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Is Ben Tre still a province?
No. Since the 2025 merger the former Ben Tre province is part of Vinh Long province. The town and the name are unchanged.
Can we try weaving?
Yes, at the basket and mat sessions. The families decide how much to hand over; a few rows on a loom is usual.
Is there a ferry to cross the river?
Not any more on the main road. The second Rach Mieu bridge opened in August 2025 and the ferry stopped.
When is fruit season?
The orchards around Cho Lach are heaviest from May to August.
Related
Read next
Example journey
Craft Villages of the Delta
Three days with weavers, rice-paper makers and popped-rice families around Ben Tre and Cai Be.
Destinations · Dong Thap
Cai Be
Cai Be: popped rice, the old houses of Dong Hoa Hiep, the river at dawn, nights and costs.
Understand · Crafts
Craft villages explained
What a delta craft village is, how each craft works, how it is changing and how to visit well.
Understand · Seasons
When to go
When to go: Tet flowers in Sa Dec, summer fruit, dry-season dawns and flood-season boat yards.
Catalogue
Experiences
Every session we arrange: who runs it, duration, season, group limit and cancellation logic.
Places
Destinations
Sa Dec, Cai Be, Ben Tre and Can Tho compared: what each is for, nights, distances and seasons.
Start planning
Tell us which session or trip you have in mind
A month, how many are travelling and the session or trip that interests you are enough to start. We reply by email with questions or a draft plan that names each session by role, each hotel and every price line.