Booking Terms
Last updated: November 11, 2026
These terms apply to every tour booked on nightmarkethochiminh.com, operated by Ho Chi Minh Night Market Private Food Tours (“we”, “us”), Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. By completing checkout or confirming a booking on WhatsApp you accept these terms. A short summary of cancellations is on our Cancellation and Refund Policy page.
1. What you are booking
All four tours are private, for groups of 1–4 guests, and priced per group, not per person. The price shown at checkout is final and includes: a private car with driver for your group; a private licensed local food guide who speaks fluent English; hotel pickup and drop-off in central Ho Chi Minh City: the former Districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10, Phu Nhuan and Binh Thanh; every dish at every stop; one drink at each stop (water, a soft drink, fresh juice, coffee, or a local beer for guests 18 and over); and bottled water in the car.
Not included: extra drinks beyond one per stop, anything you buy for yourself at the markets, optional tips, the transfer surcharge for hotels outside the free pickup area (section 9), and travel insurance. Groups of five or more are quoted separately on WhatsApp.
These are not pure walking tours: the private car carries you between areas, and in each area you walk a few hundred metres.
2. Sample menus and tailor-made tours
The routes and menus on this site are samples. Every tour can be tailored on request: tell us what you do not eat and what to add, skip or linger over, and we confirm the plan and an all-inclusive price in writing before you book. A tailored tour can cost more or less than the sample.
Street stalls keep their own hours, so your guide chooses the stalls that are open and cooking well on the day, and can adjust the order and pace within the time booked.
3. Operation and licensing
Tours are designed and sold by us and operated together with licensed Vietnamese partner operators holding international tour-operator licences. Your guide is a licensed local guide from Ho Chi Minh City. Your booking contract is with us, and we remain your single point of contact before, during and after the tour.
There are no shop stops and no arrangements with any stall or restaurant: we earn from the tour price alone.
4. Payment
You can pay in one of two ways. In full online: the whole price in USD by card, at our secure checkout or through a secure payment link we send on WhatsApp. 30% online, the rest in cash: a 30% deposit paid online to confirm the booking, and the remaining 70% in cash to your guide on the day of the tour, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong; your confirmation states the exact balance due.
Your booking is confirmed when the online payment completes and you receive a written confirmation with your pickup time and your guide’s name.
5. Cancellation and refunds
Free cancellation up to 3 days (72 hours) before your scheduled pickup time — everything you have paid is refunded to your original payment method, normally within 5–10 business days depending on your bank.
Within 3 days of departure, including no-shows, 30% of the tour price is charged, because the car and guide are already committed. If you paid in full, we refund the other 70%; if you paid the 30% deposit, the deposit covers the charge and nothing more is due.
Rescheduling is free up to 3 days before departure, subject to availability.
6. Rain, storms, closed stalls and changes by us
Ho Chi Minh City’s rainy season usually runs from May to November, with short, heavy showers in the afternoon or evening. Rain does not cancel a food tour: the private car carries you between stops, and your guide moves the meal to stalls with a roof and keeps the menu as close to the sample as possible. Because the tour still runs in full, there is no partial refund for rain. If you would rather wait for a dry evening, you can move to another date free of charge.
Storms and official weather warnings: we move your tour to another date; if no date suits you, we refund 100% of what you have paid.
Closed stalls and sold-out dishes: street stalls close for holidays and sell out. When that happens your guide swaps in the nearest equivalent and tells you on the spot. We never quietly downgrade a tour.
If we have to cancel a tour for any other reason, you choose between a new date and a full refund.
7. Food, allergies and alcohol
Tell us about allergies and dietary needs when you book, so the menu can be rebuilt before the day. Street kitchens share woks, grills and oil, so we cannot guarantee that any dish is free of traces of an allergen. Guests with severe allergies should carry their own medication.
The Ben Thanh and morning tours can be fully vegetarian and the Cholon tour partly; the Vinh Khanh seafood tour cannot be made vegetarian. For Muslim guests we plan a Muslim-friendly menu and your guide checks every broth for pork bones, but we do not promise certified halal stalls.
Beer is served only to guests aged 18 and over.
8. Your responsibilities
Please be ready in your hotel lobby at the confirmed pickup time. Your guide waits in the lobby for 20 minutes and messages you on WhatsApp; after 20 minutes the booking counts as a no-show. A late start shortens the tour rather than extending it.
You are responsible for your own travel insurance, and for telling us about dietary needs, allergies or mobility limits when you book.
9. Pickup area and transfer surcharge
Pickup and drop-off are free at any hotel in central Ho Chi Minh City: the former Districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10, Phu Nhuan and Binh Thanh. Hotels in Thao Dien, An Phu and Phu My Hung are served for a flat transfer surcharge per group, shown at checkout before you pay. For any other area, message us before booking.
10. Children and accessibility
Children are welcome. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest.
Each area involves a few hundred metres on foot, sometimes on busy pavements, and many stalls seat you on low plastic stools. Tell us about strollers, mobility needs or anyone who finds low seats difficult, and we plan the stops around them.
11. Tips
Tips for your guide and driver are never expected, always welcome.
12. Liability
We operate with licensed partners and insured vehicles. To the extent permitted by Vietnamese law, our liability for any claim is limited to the amount paid for the booking. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
13. Contact
WhatsApp +84 368 938 081 (24/7, usually within minutes) · [email protected] · Ho Chi Minh Night Market Private Food Tours, Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.