Imperial Hue and Hoi An

Arrive into Hue, where your driver and guide will be waiting to welcome you into the former imperial capital in comfort. The rest of the day is yours to settle in before the journey begins in earnest tomorrow.

Spend a full day tracing the story of Vietnam's former royal capital, starting within the walled grounds of the UNESCO-listed Imperial Citadel, including Kien Trung Palace, once home to Vietnam's last emperors and beautifully restored in recent years. Continue by cyclo, a form of rickshaw unique to Vietnam, past a tranquil lake where kings once rested through the summer heat, to a private museum of royal treasures, then to Thien Mu Pagoda on the beautifully named Perfume River, perhaps Hue's most iconic landmark. After a local Hue-inspired lunch, journey into the outskirts to the tomb of Emperor Minh Mang, a ruler known for his opposition to French rule and his decadent tastes, its imposing architecture set within a gorgeous forest setting. Continue to the very different tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh, where traditional Vietnamese design meets European influence in a way found nowhere else among Hue's royal tombs.

Leave Hue for Hoi An, a major trading port in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries whose relaxed pace and historic architecture have changed little since. The route passes through the photogenic fishing village of Lang Co before climbing over the Hai Van Pass, one of the world's great coastal drives, with the road tracing the ridgeline high above the sea. Descend into Danang and stop at the Cham Museum, home to the world's finest collection of Cham sculpture, before continuing to Hoi An for an afternoon walking tour of the old town: former merchant houses, the four-hundred-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge, and the town's colourful market.

Spend the morning at My Son, once the religious and political heart of the Champa Kingdom and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set in a lush green valley around 40 kilometres from Hoi An, dozens of red-brick towers and sanctuaries date from the fourth to the thirteenth century, a striking reminder of a civilisation that once bridged cultures and trade routes across the region. On the way back to Hoi An, stop at a local home to learn the traditional craft of rice-paper making from a welcoming host. The afternoon is free to relax back in Hoi An.

Transfer to Danang Airport for your onward flight, bringing your journey through Central Vietnam to a close.