Your holiday to Vietnam begins with a crash course in Vietnamese food culture, designed to get you involved from the word go. Start with a guided visit to a local market for a noodle-soup breakfast, then head to the Old Quarter to sip sweet iced coffee and browse stalls decked out with ceremonial cakes. The next day, team up with a former Masterchef finalist to buy ingredients at a local wet market, then learn to slice, dice and cook them in her home kitchen. In between these food-focussed experiences, tour Hanoi’s famous sites with a guide to find out how its ancient temples, colonial-era history and Communist monuments add to its rich and unique flavour.

Less than two hours’ drive from Hanoi but a world away in every other sense, the traditional village of Ky Son is a place where nature still sets the schedule. Start with a cooking lesson and you’ll begin to see how food here differs from in the city, and how its cultivation dictates the rhythms of countryside life. Over the next couple of days, you’ll get to know your hosts as you explore the village, stopping in for cups of tea with the locals, helping with the planting and ploughing, or just relaxing with a traditional steam bath. You'll also have the chance to visit one of the oldest villages in Vietnam, whose brick houses and pre-colonial courtyards feel like stepping back in time.

We could happily spend a lifetime in Hoi An – it's that kind of place – but when you can't stay forever, this is our ideal two-day visit. Flipping the usual routine, you’ll start by heading out of the World Heritage town centre and into the rural outskirts, where you'll enjoy lunch in a local house, chat to the village elders, and visit an organic farm to see how green agriculture and ecotourism is supporting the community. Then, head back into town to soak up the atmosphere of the lantern-strung streets and markets – and eat in some of the finest restaurants and cafes in Vietnam. Contrasting bustling, lantern-lined streets with laid-back, rural life, this is the absolute best of Hoi An.

If there’s one place in Vietnam that can claim a real culinary pedigree, it’s Hue. This former imperial capital was the home of Vietnam’s last royal dynasty, the Nguyens, so its food is quite literally fit for kings. After you've toured the Citadel by cyclo, stop for a sumptuous lunch at one of the city’s Garden Houses – the beautiful former residences of 19th-century aristocrats. For us, the foodie highlight of any visit to Hue is an exhilarating street-food tour on the back of a vintage Vespa. Zip through the streets, grabbing grilled pork skewers, rolling your own banh beo cakes, and getting to know some hidden local spots you’d never have found on your own.

As you journey south and the weather gets hotter, Vietnamese cuisine gets sweeter and spicier. Ease into it with a slow boat cruise through the coconut groves and rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, stopping to drink honey tea, eat tropical fruit, and listen to stories of riverside life. Then, return to Vietnam’s biggest city for a cooking lesson with Chef Hong. Just like you did with Chef Ai in Hanoi, you’ll go shopping at a wet market before heading to Hong’s home kitchen for your lesson – this time getting an insight into the very different flavours, techniques and customs of the south. It’s a wonderful contrast, and a fitting end to a delicious journey through Vietnam.