Routes & Day Trips
Tra Que Vegetable Village Hoi An: Entrance Fee, UN Tourism Award and What to Do (2026)
Routes & day trips · August 2026
Tra Que Vegetable Village is 3 km from Hoi An Old Town, costs 35.000₫ to enter, and in November 2024 UN Tourism named it one of the 55 best tourism villages on earth — the only Vietnamese village on that list. This is the destination guide: what the ticket buys, what the experiences really cost, the 400-year story behind the name, and what to do once you are standing in the herb beds.
- Tra Que Vegetable Village entrance fee and real costs in 2026
- Why UN Tourism named Tra Que Vegetable Village one of the world’s best
- Four hundred years of Tra Que Vegetable Village, and the name
- The river algae: why Tra Que Vegetable Village herbs taste different
- Things to do at Tra Que Vegetable Village
- Cau Bong: the Tra Que Vegetable Village festival, run for the village
- What to eat at and around Tra Que Vegetable Village
- Practical tips for visiting Tra Que Vegetable Village
- A half day at Tra Que Vegetable Village, hour by hour
- Frequently asked questions
№ 01Tra Que Vegetable Village entrance fee and real costs in 2026
The Tra Que Vegetable Village entrance fee is remarkably low for what you get, and it is the only price in the village that is fixed. Everything else is set by individual households, which is why quotes vary and why you should agree a number before you start.
| Item | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance ticket | 35.000₫ (~$1.35) | Village access, walking the herb beds, photos, watching farmers work |
| Children under 1.2 m | Free | — |
| “Farmer for a day” | 200.000 – 400.000₫ | Farmer’s shirt and conical hat, hoeing, watering with a bamboo yoke, sowing, harvesting (2–3 hrs) |
| Cooking class in the garden | 350.000 – 700.000₫ | Pick your own herbs, cook 3–4 Hoi An dishes, eat on site |
| Herbal foot soak | 50.000 – 100.000₫ | Warm medicinal-leaf water, usually with ginger tea |
| Bike parking | 5.000 – 10.000₫ | Car park at the village gate |
№ 02Why UN Tourism named Tra Que Vegetable Village one of the world’s best
On 14 November 2024, at a ceremony in Colombia, UN Tourism — the body formerly known as the UNWTO — announced its Best Tourism Villages 2024. Fifty-five villages made the list, chosen from more than 260 applications across upwards of 60 member states. Tra Que Vegetable Village was the only village in Vietnam on it.
Four things stand behind that decision, and each of them is visible when you walk in.
1. The sustainability is real, not a slogan
Four centuries of continuous farming and the soil is still productive, because the village never switched to chemical fertiliser or pesticide. The inputs are river algae and well-rotted organic compost, and that is the whole list.
2. The community actually keeps the money
Tourism did not push the farmers out and replace them with staff. The 326 farmers are the ones teaching visitors to hoe, carry water and cook, so the income lands in the households that own the beds.
3. The craft is protected heritage
On 4 April 2022 Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision 784/QD-BVHTTDL, entering vegetable growing at Tra Que on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list under folk knowledge and traditional crafts. It is the farming method that is listed, not the scenery.
4. Nothing here is staged
No concrete gateway, no theme-park add-ons, no costumed performance on a timetable. You walk between working herb beds and meet the people who work them. That is rarer in Vietnamese village tourism than it sounds.
№ 03Four hundred years of Tra Que Vegetable Village, and the name
Here is what most visitors never learn: Tra Que Vegetable Village did not begin as a farming village at all.
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| 16th century | The first settlers were fishermen living along the river who came to clear this alluvial flat. They lived by net and line, not by the hoe. |
| The switch | They found the riverside silt extraordinary for aromatic herbs and gradually turned to farming — a living the village has kept for more than 400 years since. |
| First name | The village was originally called Nhu Que, meaning herbs that smell as sweet as cinnamon bark. |
| Gia Long era | Legend has it that Emperor Gia Long, tasting a dish made with the village’s herbs, was struck by the aroma — “fragrant as tea, warm as cinnamon” — and renamed the land Tra Que: tra for tea, que for cinnamon. |
№ 04The river algae: why Tra Que Vegetable Village herbs taste different
Every grower at Tra Que Vegetable Village will tell you the same thing is that it is the fertiliser, and they mean it literally.
Instead of manure or chemical feed, the beds are dressed with rong — algae dredged out of the river and lagoon beside the village, rinsed, then spread and worked in. It is bulky, heavy, and has to be carried in by hand, which is exactly why almost nobody else in Vietnam farms this way any more.
What it produces is a smaller, denser leaf with a much stronger aroma than the same herb grown commercially. Hoi An restaurants buy from here specifically for that: it is the reason a bowl of cao lau or a plate of banh xeo in the Old Town smells the way it does. If you take one thing home from Tra Que Vegetable Village, take a bag of herbs.
№ 05Things to do at Tra Que Vegetable Village
You can see the whole of Tra Que Vegetable Village in forty minutes. What follows is what turns it from a walk into a morning.
Walk the beds at first light
Free, and the best thing at Tra Que Vegetable Village. Between about 06:00 and 07:00 the mist is still on the rows and the growers start watering with the bamboo yoke — two cans on a shoulder pole, the image every photographer comes for.
“Farmer for a day”
The most booked experience in the village. Shirt and conical hat, then two to three hours of hoeing, sowing, watering with the yoke and harvesting. It is genuinely hard work and children love it.
Cooking class in the garden
Pick your own herbs from the bed, then cook three or four Hoi An dishes and eat them on site. The farm-to-table version of the standard Hoi An cooking day, and shorter.
Herbal foot soak
Warm medicinal-leaf water and a glass of ginger tea, usually 50.000–100.000₫. Best booked after the farming, not before.
Ride or cycle the brick lane
The paved lane through the herb beds is the prettiest short ride in Hoi An. Slow, flat, and lined on both sides with green.
Buy herbs at farm prices
Cut at the bed, sold by the handful. If your homestay has a kitchen this is the most useful souvenir in Hoi An, and it costs almost nothing.
№ 06Cau Bong: the Tra Que Vegetable Village festival, run for the village
On the 7th day of the Lunar New Year, Tra Que Vegetable Village holds Cau Bong, its agricultural festival. Offerings are made for a good growing season, there is a procession, and the beds get their ceremonial first turning of the year.
It is not staged for tourists, which is precisely why it is worth timing a trip around. If you are in Hoi An in the week after Tet — when much of the Old Town is shut and travellers complain there is nothing on — this is the thing that is on.
№ 07What to eat at and around Tra Que Vegetable Village
Tra Que Vegetable Village is not a restaurant district, but it does two things better than anywhere in Hoi An because the ingredients are growing ten metres away.
Banh xeo and tam huu
The local pairing: a crisp rice-flour pancake, and tam huu — prawn and pork rolled with a chive stem, a Tra Que speciality. Both are eaten with a fistful of the village’s own herbs, which is the entire point.
Whatever the cooking class made
If you booked the garden class, lunch is included and eaten on site. It is generally the best-value meal of the day here.
Ten minutes away
The Old Town is 3 km back, An Bang beach is 4 km east, and the Cam Thanh coconut forest is a short ride south. None of them is far enough to be a decision.
№ 08Practical tips for visiting Tra Que Vegetable Village
Go early or go late
06:00–08:00 or after 16:00. The middle of the day is hot, flat-lit and empty of the farmers you came to see.
There is no single main gate
Several lanes lead into Tra Que Vegetable Village, each with a green leaf signboard. Ticket sellers sit at the main ones. If you arrive very early you may walk in before anyone is there — find the booth and pay on the way out.
Cash, in small notes
35.000₫ is an awkward number to break and the households do not take cards. Bring 20s and 50s.
Cover up rather than strip down
There is no shade anywhere in Tra Que Vegetable Village. A hat and a long-sleeved shirt beat sunscreen here.
Ask before photographing people
The farmers are used to cameras and most will nod, but they are working. A gesture and a smile costs nothing and changes the answer.
Buy something
A bag of herbs, a drink, a foot soak. The 35.000₫ ticket is not much for 326 households to share.
№ 09A half day at Tra Que Vegetable Village, hour by hour
This is the Tra Que Vegetable Village schedule we give our own rental customers — balanced between walking, photos and food, and finished before the sun turns harsh.
| Time | What you are doing |
|---|---|
| 05:30 | Bike delivered to your hotel. Head north out of the Old Town. |
| 05:45 | Reach a lane entrance, park, buy the 35.000₫ ticket. Still cool, mist still on the beds. |
| 06:00 – 07:00 | Walk the beds in golden hour. Growers start watering with the bamboo yoke — the best ten minutes of the day. |
| 07:00 – 08:30 | Farming experience or cooking class. If you only want to wander, skip both and keep walking. |
| 08:30 – 09:00 | Banh xeo and tam huu, or eat what you cooked. |
| 09:00 | Buy herbs, then ride on to An Bang beach or back to the Old Town before the heat. |
If you are combining Tra Que Vegetable Village with other stops, the natural pairings are An Bang beach 4 km east, the Bay Mau coconut forest south, or the Cam Dong bamboo bridge further west if you want a full morning of countryside.
№ 10Frequently asked questions
How much is the Tra Que Vegetable Village entrance fee?
35.000₫ per adult, about $1.35. Children under 1.2 m are free. That ticket is the only fixed cost; farming experiences, cooking classes and foot soaks are priced by each household and range from 50.000₫ to 700.000₫.
How far is Tra Que Vegetable Village from Hoi An Old Town?
About 3 km, roughly ten minutes by motorbike or bicycle. Full route details, parking and the best hours are in our Tra Que by motorbike guide.
Why did UN Tourism award Tra Que Vegetable Village?
It was named one of 55 Best Tourism Villages on 14 November 2024 at a ceremony in Colombia, chosen from over 260 applications across more than 60 member states, and was the only Vietnamese village on the list. The panel cited genuine chemical-free farming, income staying with the 326 farming households, national heritage protection of the craft, and the fact that nothing about the village is staged.
What is the best time of day to visit?
06:00 to 08:00. The mist is still on the beds, the light is soft and the growers are watering with bamboo yokes. Late afternoon after 16:00 is the second-best window. Midday is hot, flat-lit and largely empty of farmers.
Why are the herbs at Tra Que different?
They are fertilised with algae dredged from the river and lagoon beside the village rather than manure or chemical feed. That produces a smaller, denser, much more aromatic leaf, which is why Hoi An restaurants buy from here.
Is Tra Que Vegetable Village worth visiting?
Yes if you arrive early and treat it as a working farm rather than an attraction. It is 18 hectares of hand-worked beds, not a park, and there is no show. Visitors who turn up at eleven expecting entertainment are the ones who leave unimpressed.
When is the Cau Bong festival?
The 7th day of the Lunar New Year, so it moves between late January and mid-February depending on the year. It is the village’s own agricultural festival, not a tourist event.
Can I do a cooking class at Tra Que?
Yes. Garden cooking classes run 350.000–700.000₫, include picking your own herbs from the beds, cooking three or four Hoi An dishes and eating on site. Agree the price and what is included before starting.
Prices were checked in August 2026 and are set household by household, so treat them as a range rather than a quote. The UN Tourism listing and the 2022 national heritage decision are matters of public record. Anh Khoa Hoi An Motorbike Rental, 84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An · Zalo 0935 439 306 · WhatsApp +84 935 206 306.
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