Vietnam’s Table: A Culinary Journey

Arrive into Ho Chi Minh City, still known to locals as Saigon, where your guide will be waiting to welcome you and transfer you to your hotel, around 30 minutes from the airport. Once known as the Pearl of Indochina, the city wears its colourful history in layers, from pagodas and colonial architecture to a fast-growing skyline of glass and steel. This evening, if timing allows, treat yourself to dinner at AnAn, the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City to receive a Michelin star, at your own expense (reservations recommended well in advance). Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Spend the morning exploring the city's historic centre on foot with a local guide: the architecturally splendid City Hall, historic Dong Khoi Street, the Continental Hotel and the Saigon Opera House, then step off the main road into a heritage building reimagined by the city's creative generation, now filled with independent shops, cafes and art spaces. Continue past the Central Post Office and the former CIA building, site of one of the last helicopter evacuations in 1975, then stroll through leafy 30 April Park to Reunification Palace, its war rooms and basement preserved like a moment frozen in time, before finishing at the bustling Ben Thanh Market. Round out the morning with a deep dive into Vietnam's national dish, well beyond the everyday bowl. In one cosy, hands-on session, taste six distinct and sometimes rare styles of pho, from crispy fried to dry-style, learning the story behind each one. The afternoon and evening are free; ask your guide for restaurant recommendations. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Trace the story of Vietnamese coffee through the city's streets and cafes. Coffee arrived with the French in the late nineteenth century, and Vietnam quickly became one of the world's leading exporters as swathes of the highlands were turned over to the crop; today, Vietnamese coffee culture has a flavour and ritual all its own. Wander through a buzzing residential neighbourhood, watching locals read the paper or catch up with friends over a slow cup, then visit a ninety-year-old coffee shop, the oldest in the city, to learn the traditional brewing method. Continue to a beautifully restored shophouse in the old trading district for a hands-on lesson in ca phe trung, Vietnamese egg coffee. As evening falls, climb aboard a vintage Vespa for a ride through the city's back streets. Queue for banh mi at a small, much-loved stall, then pause at a characterful coffee shop for a briefing over fresh juice or tea. Continue to a hidden restaurant for a home-cooked tasting meal, then wind through an old apartment block turned bustling night market for a taste of local dessert. The evening finishes at a hidden bar, with a signature cocktail and a hands-on lesson in mixing a Vietnamese-inspired drink of your own, before the final ride back to your hotel. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Transfer to the airport for a flight to Central Vietnam, then continue around 50 minutes by road from Danang to Hoi An, one of Vietnam's most picturesque towns and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, once a major Asian trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries. Afternoon and evening at leisure; ask your guide for restaurant recommendations. Overnight in Hoi An.

Spend half a day in Hoi An's rural outskirts learning the region's signature dishes, built on fresh, fragrant herbs. Begin with coffee at a riverside restaurant in the old town, then stroll to a local wet market to see the produce that shapes the region's cooking, from farm to sea. A short ride by electric buggy leads to a beautifully set cooking venue, where centuries of farming tradition have shaped rich, fertile soil, silted by the river and fed by natural algae fertiliser, and produce is grown without chemicals or pesticides. After a short massage to unwind, join the chef for a hands-on cooking class, then sit down to enjoy everything you've made. In the evening, set out on a cocktail tour through four of Hoi An's most distinctive bars, from a hidden alleyway spot to a rooftop with views over the Thu Bon River. Learn how local herbs, spices and spirits come together in each bar's signature drink, and finish with a hands-on lesson in mixing a Vietnamese-themed cocktail of your own. Overnight in Hoi An.

Spend a half day with one of Central Vietnam's most celebrated chefs, the name behind three of Hoi An's best-loved restaurants. Having fled Vietnam as a teenager in the 1970s and built a life abroad, he returned to Hoi An in 2003 and has since become a fixture of the city's food scene, appearing on international food and travel programmes along the way. Begin with a visit to a local market with your guide for a quick introduction to the region's produce, watching locals shop from the seat of their motorbikes; in Vietnam, life moves fast, in cooking as much as anywhere else. Continue to the chef's rural home and cooking studio for a private demonstration, then sit down to a lunch prepared by the chef himself. Afternoon at leisure. Overnight in Hoi An.

Take a morning flight north to Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, a city of contrasts: modern and traditional, chaotic and serene, and always a little unexpected. As evening settles in, stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake, the Lake of the Returned Sword, its waters tied to a legend of a magic blade and a golden turtle, then continue through the Old Quarter to a quiet, century-old French-style villa. Sip strong green tea, as the locals like it, and hear about the generations of family life this house has seen. Dinner tonight is at Madame Hien, a Hanoi institution set inside a beautifully restored French villa, serving Hanoi specialities from celebrated chef Didier Corlou. Finish the evening with a handcrafted cocktail at a hidden bar overlooking St. Joseph's Cathedral, a striking piece of French Gothic architecture at the heart of the Old Quarter. Overnight in Hanoi.

Spend the morning on a guided tour of Hanoi's highlights, starting at the Temple of Literature, founded in 1076 as Vietnam's first university and in use for eight centuries to educate the country's royalty and elite. From here, choose between the Vietnam Women's Museum, celebrating the role women have played in Vietnamese society, or the Hoa Lo Museum, once a wartime prison for American POWs and known to many as the Hanoi Hilton, before a stroll through the Old Quarter's tangle of 36 historic guild streets. Alternatively, spend the morning at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, the stilt house where Ho Chi Minh lived from 1958 to 1969, and the eleventh-century One Pillar Pagoda. This evening, disappear into the Old Quarter after dark. Start with a quintessential Hanoi favourite, egg coffee, then wind through backstreets tasting local specialities such as banh da tron, a dish of flat brown noodles, and bun with rice paddy crab, a northern classic. Wander through narrow, privately shared alleyways rarely seen by outsiders, stopping at a historic home tucked behind the shopfronts to hear about Old Quarter life from a longtime resident. Continue through a streetside market to Dong Xuan Market's food alleys, then to a shop on the old medicinal street to sample traditional herbal rice liquor, considered the soul of the Old Quarter. Finish at a family-run pho enterprise that has supplied the neighbourhood with Vietnam's staple noodle for generations, before a final wander through one last hidden alley. Overnight in Hanoi.

Drive around two and a half hours to Halong City and board your boat for a cruise into Bai Tu Long Bay, sharing the same dramatic limestone karsts and emerald water as neighbouring Halong Bay, but with far fewer crowds. Much of the bay is protected as part of Bai Tu Long National Park, an ASEAN Heritage Park, and is home to traditional floating fishing villages. Settle in as lunch is served while the boat glides past striking karst formations, then spend the afternoon exploring by kayak through calm water beneath towering cliffs. The boat anchors for the night in a peaceful bay. As evening falls, enjoy a multi-course dinner, followed by optional squid fishing, meditation or board games. Overnight on Bai Tu Long Bay.

Start the day with an optional Tai Chi session on deck or a quiet moment of meditation on a nearby islet, followed by breakfast amid the bay's spectacular rock formations. The morning excursion leads to Thien Canh Son Cave, a gentle 100-step climb rewarded with sweeping views and a chandelier-hung prehistoric cavern, then on to Vung Vieng, a floating village where locals still make their living from fish and pearl farming. Back on board, enjoy lunch while sailing further into the bay, then join an oyster-harvesting or traditional phin coffee-making workshop. As the day winds down, anchor off a secluded beach for a barefoot afternoon: swim, sip a sundowner, or simply watch the light fade. Dinner is served onboard, with the evening free. Overnight on Bai Tu Long Bay.

Rise early for an optional Tai Chi session on deck and a light breakfast of pastries as the boat sails back toward Halong Bay, with the option to rest instead. A fuller breakfast is served as the boat completes its return to the marina, with final views over the bay before disembarking and transferring to the airport for your onward flight, bringing your culinary journey through Vietnam to a close.