A trading port frozen in time
Hoi An's old town fills with day-trippers from ten until four. We arrange your time around that: the lanes at seven in the morning when the shophouses open, a cooking class in a village across the river at midday, and the riverfront after dark when the lanterns are lit and the coaches have gone.
Layer upon layer of history survives along Hoi An's short streets, ranked by UNESCO among Southeast Asia's finest-preserved trading ports: timber-framed shophouses built by Chinese merchants, the landmark Japanese Covered Bridge, and stucco facades left over from the French colonial period all stand within a few paces of each other.
Since the Ancient Town has no airport of its own, everyone arrives and leaves through Da Nang, some 45 minutes away on the Thu Bon River. A full-day excursion out of a Da Nang hotel covers it well, though staying one or two nights lets you watch the quarter transform after dark, when paper lanterns replace the streetlights.
Made-to-measure tailoring is Hoi An's signature trade, and dresses, suits and shoes here are routinely finished and fitted within a day. Once each lunar month, on the 14th, the town dims its electric lights for the Lantern Festival, when candlelight takes over the old quarter instead.
What fills the days here
Ancient Town evening walk
Riverside cafes, the Japanese Covered Bridge and glowing paper lanterns make the streets worth returning to once the sun goes down.
Tailor shopping
Custom clothing finished the same day or the next is one of the things Hoi An is best known for.
Thu Bon River lantern boat ride
Floating paper lanterns downriver at dusk, a popular activity for couples.
An Bang Beach
A quieter beach alternative a short ride from the old town.
Hoi An Night Market
Street food, lanterns and souvenirs along the riverside each evening.
Cooking classes
Half-day classes combining a market visit with hands-on Vietnamese cooking.
The practical bits
| When to come | February to April is dry and mild; October to December is the rainy season and the old town can flood |
| Getting in | Through Da Nang International Airport, about 45 minutes by road |
| Getting about | On foot and by bicycle in the pedestrian old town; car for An Bang beach and the villages |
| Best hour | After dark by the river, and before eight in the morning in the lanes |
| Money | Vietnamese Dong |
Our trips that pass through Hoi An
6D/5N Ho Chi Minh City & Da Nang
Includes a Hoi An old-town excursion from the Da Nang base.
Any Da Nang-based trip can swap the Hoi An day trip for an overnight stay instead. Tell us your dates and how many are travelling, and we will send a day-by-day plan with hotel options.