Hoi An Food Tour: 5 Days of Markets, Cooking and Street Food

Your driver is waiting at Da Nang International Airport and takes you south along the coast to Hoi An, a ride of about 45 minutes. Nothing is scheduled once you arrive, so the day belongs to you.

Ships from China, Japan and Europe once anchored at Hoi An, and the old town they left behind, a UNESCO site since 1999, is a small grid of wooden shophouses, assembly halls and lanes running down to the Thu Bon River. If you have energy after the flight, walk it before the lanterns come on, or sit by the water and watch the boats (optional, at your own cost). The first food day starts tomorrow.

The chef meets you at Hoi An Market and you shop together for the herbs, fish and vegetables you will cook. A boat then carries you down the river through the water coconut palms to Cam Thanh, where a round bamboo basket boat takes you along the palm channels.

At the cooking school you make seven dishes at your own station: green papaya salad, Hoi An spring rolls, the local rice pancake, aubergine with spring onion oil, clams grilled with egg, fish in a clay pot with rice, and fruit to finish. You eat what you made and keep the recipe booklet. Our chefs say the clay pot fish is the one most guests cook again at home.

In the afternoon you drive north to the Marble Mountains, five hills with Buddhist and Hindu grottoes cut into the rock, and descend into Am Phu Cave, a walk through the underworld. The day ends at Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra, below the white Lady Buddha, before the drive back.

The day is yours until the late afternoon. Common choices (all optional, extra cost): a morning on the sand at An Bang Beach, east of the old town; the Precious Heritage Museum, where the photographer Réhahn shows portraits and costumes of Vietnam's ethnic groups; a bicycle ride to the villages across the river; a Vietnamese coffee workshop; or a spa treatment.

From 5 pm your driver takes you to the show park on the river, where you have the run of the mini heritage villages and can try the hands-on craft stations before the performance. The Hoi An Memories Show itself runs from 7:30 to 8:45 pm: an outdoor stage the size of a street, a cast of hundreds and a story that follows the town from its days as a trading port. Your ticket is in the price, and you are back in the old town before the lanterns go out.

Another open day. Hoi An is known for made-to-measure clothes, and visiting the tailors today leaves time for a fitting before you fly; a boat on the river, the markets and the cafes along the water are the other usual choices (all optional, extra cost).

In the evening a short transfer drops you at the edge of the Ancient Town and your food guide takes over on foot, through the lanes and the food markets, with six or more stops. You taste banh mi from a street cart; cao lau, the thick noodle only made in Hoi An, with pork, greens and a little broth; com ga, turmeric rice with shredded chicken and herbs; grilled pork rolled in rice paper; and banh bot loc, tapioca dumplings filled with shrimp or mung bean. The brave can add a balut egg or a grilled chicken egg. Bottled water is included, and the guide explains how people here order, share and eat.

The final morning is free until your driver comes. If your flight is late in the day, use it for a last walk through the early streets, a Vietnamese coffee by the river and a final round of the shops for souvenirs (optional, at your own cost).

The transfer back to Da Nang International Airport takes about 45 minutes, and the tour ends there. If you would like more time in the centre of the country, we can add nights in Hoi An or Da Nang, or a day trip to My Son or Hue before you fly home.