Son Tra Peninsula Exploration

Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel in a private air-conditioned car. The peninsula starts about 10 km north-east of the city centre, and the road climbs into the forest within minutes.

The white radar domes near the top of the peninsula were built by the US military during the Vietnam War and are still a military site, so you see them from the viewpoint outside the fence. Your guide explains why this hill mattered so much, with the whole of Da Nang and the East Sea laid out below.

A flat landing pad left from the war, now an open platform with views along the coastline and back over the mountains. Your guide fills in more of Son Tra's wartime story here.

A drive through the forest to Ban Co, the 'chessboard' peak, named for the legend of a fairy and an old man playing chess on the summit — their statue still sits at the top. On a clear day you see the city, the Hai Van Pass and the open sea at once. A few steep steps lead to the top.

Son Tra is home to macaques and to the red-shanked douc langur: grey body, white forearms, an orange-yellow face and chestnut 'stockings' on its lower legs. It is endangered and protected, and Son Tra holds one of the largest remaining groups. We slow down on the forest roads where they feed. Only in good weather, and sightings are never guaranteed — these are wild animals.

Da Nang's best-known pagoda, opened in 2010 on the peninsula's southern slope. Walk the quiet grounds, see the 67-metre Lady Buddha (Quan Am, the Goddess of Mercy) that local fishermen pray to for safe voyages, and look back across the bay to the city. No entrance fee; shoulders and knees covered.

Lunch at a local restaurant, central Vietnamese dishes such as mi Quang (turmeric rice noodles with a little rich broth), banh trang cuon thit heo (pork, herbs and rice paper you roll yourself) or bun cha ca (fish-cake noodle soup). Tell us about vegetarian needs or allergies when you book.

A short, relaxed drive back to your hotel in Da Nang to finish the tour.