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Hoi An, Vietnam, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
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Top 10AsiaVietnam

Top 10 Things To Do in Hoi An

Country
Vietnam
Best months
Feb · Mar · Apr
Population
~150K
Language
Vietnamese
Budget / day
$45–80
Quick answer

The best things to do in Hoi An are the Japanese Covered Bridge, the Fujian Assembly Hall, Tan Ky House, the night market and lantern boats on the Thu Bon, and the Cham ruins at My Son. The Ancient Town streets are free to walk; one ticket admits you to five of the 22 ticketed monuments inside it. Give the town three days: the old quarter, the craft villages and beach, then My Son.

Hoi An on Foot

▶ Video guide

Hoi An traded under the name Faifo, and for two centuries it was the port where Japanese, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese merchants met the traders of the Thu Bon river. It survived because it failed: the river silted, the business moved to Da Nang, and nobody had a reason to knock the warehouses down.

The 10 best things to do in Hoi An

Cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An, Vietnam
1

Cross the Japanese Covered Bridge

Landmark· Tran Phu Street at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hoi An, Da Nang

Chua Cau is the image the town sells itself on, and the reason is structural rather than scenic: a covered bridge with a temple built into its northern side, put up in the early 17th century to link the Japanese quarter to the Chinese one. It reopened in August 2024 after a 19-month restoration. Photograph it from the Bach Dang bank.

Time15 min
CostAncient Town ticket
Best atBefore 8am
TipThe 20
Map
Fujian Assembly Hall, Hoi An, Vietnam
2

Fujian Assembly Hall

Temple· 46 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An, Da Nang

The richest of the five Chinese congregation halls, founded in 1697 by merchants from Fujian and given over to Thien Hau, the sea goddess who was supposed to bring their ships home. A triple gate, a courtyard, then a main hall of gilded timber under coils of incense. Read it as a trade guild that happened to worship.

Time30 min
CostAncient Town ticket
Best atMid-morning
TipShoulders and knees covered. It is a working temple, not a museum piece.
Map
Tan Ky House, Hoi An, Vietnam
3

Tan Ky House

Historic house· 101 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hoi An, Da Nang

Two hundred years old and lived in by seven generations of the same family, which is why the guide showing you round is usually a descendant. The frame is the lesson: a Japanese roof, Chinese carved beams and Vietnamese hardwood columns in one house. Look for the flood marks on the wall by the stairs.

Time30 min
CostAncient Town ticket
Best atMorning
TipAsk which floor the furniture goes to in flood season
Map
The night market and the lantern boats, Hoi An, Vietnam
4

The night market and the lantern boats

Market· Nguyen Hoang Street, An Hoi, Hoi An, Da Nang

Cross the An Hoi footbridge after dark and the street turns into several hundred metres of silk lanterns for sale, lit and hung in rows. It is unashamedly a tourist market and still the best hour of the day here, because the light is the town's own product. Best on the 14th day of the lunar month, when the electric lights go off.

Time1 hr
CostFree to walk
Best atAfter dark
TipSettle the price and the length of the trip before you step into a boat.
Map
Hoi An Central Market, Hoi An, Vietnam
5

Hoi An Central Market

Market· Tran Phu Street at Bach Dang, Hoi An, Da Nang

The market that feeds the town, which is a different thing from the market that sells to it. Produce, herbs, fish and butchers under one roof from first light, and a food court at the river end doing cao lau and com ga for a fraction of the restaurant price. Go at seven, before the heat sets in.

Time45 min
CostFree
Best at7am
TipEat at the stall with the most locals sitting at it, then buy herbs on the way out.
Map
My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An, Vietnam
6

My Son Sanctuary

Ruins· Duy Phu, Da Nang (about 40 km southwest of Hoi An)

The Cham built and rebuilt this valley of brick temple towers from the 4th century to the 13th, and it was the religious centre of a kingdom that ran the central coast for a thousand years. The damage is part of the story: bombing destroyed the largest tower and the craters are still there. The brickwork is laid without visible mortar.

TimeHalf day
CostTicketed
Best atFirst entry of the day
TipTake the earliest shuttle. The site is unshaded and the coach groups arrive mid-morning.
Map↗ Website
Tra Que Vegetable Village, Hoi An, Vietnam
7

Tra Que Vegetable Village

Village· Tra Que, Hoi An Tay, Da Nang (about 3 km north)

Forty or so families growing herbs on a few hectares of sand between the river and a lagoon, fertilised with weed dredged out of the water rather than with chemicals. That is why the mint and coriander on your cao lau taste stronger here. Most visitors book a session and end up hoeing with a shoulder yoke for two hours.

Time2 hr
CostTicketed
Best atEarly morning
TipCycle out. It is flat, it is 20 minutes, and the ride is through rice paddy the whole way.
Map
The Bay Mau coconut palm forest, Hoi An, Vietnam
8

The Bay Mau coconut palm forest

Nature· Cam Thanh, Hoi An Dong, Da Nang (about 5 km east)

A stand of nipa water palm in the brackish channels where the Thu Bon meets the sea, planted by Mekong settlers and later used as cover by the Viet Cong. You see it from a round bamboo basket boat. Be clear what you book: mid-morning trips come with amplified music, the early ones are quiet water and kingfishers.

Time2 hr
CostTicketed
Best atFirst light
TipAsk for the early slot and say you do not want the spinning-boat show.
Map
Thanh Ha Pottery Village, Hoi An, Vietnam
9

Thanh Ha Pottery Village

Village· Thanh Ha, Hoi An Tay, Da Nang (about 3 km west)

Potters have worked this bank of the Thu Bon for around 500 years, and the village supplied the tiles and bricks the old quarter still stands on. The workshops will put you on a foot-driven wheel for as long as you want to embarrass yourself. Pair it with Kim Bong across the water for a half day of craft villages.

Time1.5 hr
CostTicketed
Best atLate afternoon
TipThe village is on the way back from nowhere
Map
Precious Heritage Museum by Réhahn, Hoi An, Vietnam
10

Precious Heritage Museum by Réhahn

Museum· 26 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoi An, Da Nang

The French photographer Réhahn spent a decade reaching all 54 recognised ethnic groups in Vietnam, and the result fills four rooms of a 19th-century house: portraits at scale, more than 60 collected costumes, and recordings of languages some of these communities have almost stopped speaking. Free, quiet, and about the country rather than the town.

Time45 min
CostFree
Best atAfternoon
TipPhan Boi Chau is the old French quarter and worth the walk on its own.
Map↗ Website

5 of the 10, mapped

Hoi An · 5 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Hoi An travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Hoi An?+
Three. The first covers the Ancient Town on foot, the second the craft villages and a beach, the third My Son or the coast road to Da Nang. Two works if you skip My Son. One means seeing the old quarter and nothing that explains it.
Do you have to buy the Ancient Town ticket?+
Not to walk the streets, which are public. The ticket, sold at booths around the edge of the old quarter, admits you to five of the 22 ticketed monuments: the assembly halls, the old houses, the museums and the covered bridge. If you intend to go inside anything, you need one.
When is the Hoi An lantern festival?+
The 14th day of every lunar month, so roughly once a month, all year. The Ancient Town switches its electric lights off from about sunset and runs on lanterns until around ten. The February full moon, Nguyen Tieu, is the largest of them.
What is the best time of year to visit Hoi An?+
February to April: warm, dry and before the summer heat, which pushes past 35°C from May. Avoid October and November, when the typhoon season brings the heaviest rain and the Thu Bon has flooded the old quarter more than once.
Is Hoi An still in Quang Nam province?+
No. Since 1 July 2025, Quang Nam has been merged into Da Nang city and Hoi An is administratively part of Da Nang, split across three wards. Older maps, signs and booking sites will say Quang Nam for years yet, and the place itself has not moved.
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Hoi An

Eight kitchens, from the banh mi counters to the river terraces.
All 8 restaurants →
Morning Glory Original Ancient Town

Morning Glory Original

Vietnamese

Trinh Diem Vy's flagship, and the room that made the case that Hoi An street food deserves a proper kitchen. Book, or queue.

Map↗ Website
Banh Mi Phuong
The queue one
Ancient Town

Banh Mi Phuong

Banh mi

A market stall since 1990 that Anthony Bourdain filmed in 2009. The pate and the house sauce are what separate it. Expect a line most of the day.

Map
Madam Khanh, The Banh Mi Queen
The local one
Ancient Town

Madam Khanh, The Banh Mi Queen

Banh mi

The other banh mi, five minutes north and usually five minutes faster. Fried egg, herbs and a homemade mayonnaise, made in front of you.

Map
Nu Eatery Near the Japanese Bridge

Nu Eatery

Modern Vietnamese

A handful of tables in a house near the bridge, and a menu short enough to read in a minute. Steamed bao, pork belly, banana blossom. The cooking is the argument.

Map
Ancient Town

Miss Ly Cafeteria 22

Hoi An classics

Family-run since 1993 and the reliable place to order the four local dishes back to back. No frills, no river view, consistently good.

Map
Vy's Market Restaurant An Hoi

Vy's Market Restaurant

Food hall

A market recreated indoors: stalls around a courtyard, each cooking one thing, so a table of four can eat across central Vietnam in an evening.

Map↗ Website
Mango Mango An Hoi riverfront

Mango Mango

Modern Vietnamese

Chef Duc's river terrace opposite the old quarter, doing Vietnamese flavours through a Western technique. The view of the lit bank is half of it.

Map↗ Website
Ancient Town riverfront

Cargo Club

Cafe and patisserie

The breakfast and cake half of the Ms Vy group, with an upstairs terrace over the Thu Bon. Come for the pastry counter and the coffee rather than the dinner menu.

Map↗ Website
Made to measure

Best tailors in Hoi An

Four houses with their own cutters and workrooms rather than a shopfront and a subcontractor.
All 4 tailors →
Ancient Town

Yaly Couture

Suits and dresses

The largest name in town and the safest first stop, with three showrooms and its own production floor. The fittings are where the money goes.

Map↗ Website
Tran Hung Dao

A Dong Silk

Suits and shirts

Tailoring here since 1997, with in-house tailors and a second shop on Le Loi. Strong on men's suiting and the place to have fabric explained.

Map↗ Website
Bebe Tailor Tran Hung Dao

Bebe Tailor

Suits and coats

Three shops and the broadest fabric wall in Hoi An, which matters if you arrived with a photograph and no idea what it should be made of.

Map↗ Website
Kimmy Tailor Tran Hung Dao

Kimmy Tailor

Suits and dresses

Long-established, family-run and quieter than the big three, which usually means a shorter wait for a second fitting. Keep the same cutter.

Map
Coffee and a drink

Best cafes & bars in Hoi An

Six rooms for the hours between sights.
All 6 cafes & bars →
Reaching Out Teahouse Ancient Town

Reaching Out Teahouse

Tea house

A social enterprise staffed entirely by deaf servers, so the room is silent and you order by passing wooden word blocks. The quiet is the reason to come.

Map↗ Website
Faifo Coffee Ancient Town

Faifo Coffee

Roastery cafe

Three floors of a Tran Phu shophouse with its own roaster downstairs and the best rooftop view of the tiled roofs. Go the hour before sunset or not at all.

Map
Mia Coffee Cam Chau

Mia Coffee

Speciality coffee

Arabica from the Vietnamese highlands, roasted on site since 2012, poured on a shaded veranda a few streets out of the crush. The flat white is the order.

Map
Ancient Town

Hoi An Roastery

Coffee chain

A local chain with branches all over the old quarter, which makes it the reliable air-conditioned fallback rather than the discovery.

Map
Ancient Town

Dive Bar

Bar

The town's long-running bar, with a garden courtyard, pool tables and live bands on Tuesday and Saturday. It has outlasted every trend that arrived after it.

Map
Ancient Town

Q Bar

Cocktail bar

A dark, Japanese-styled room doing proper cocktails on a street that mostly does buckets. Open late, which in Hoi An is worth noting.

Map
Inside the old town

Best heritage houses in Hoi An

Eight more of the 22 ticketed monuments, beyond the three in the Top 10.
All 8 heritage houses →
Phung Hung House Ancient Town

Phung Hung House

Historic house

Two hundred and thirty years old, still in the same family, and built with a hatch in the first floor for hauling goods up when the river comes in.

Map
Quan Thang House Ancient Town

Quan Thang House

Historic house

A Chinese merchant's house of the late 17th century, narrow at the street and long at the back, with beams carved by Kim Bong craftsmen.

Map
Duc An House Ancient Town

Duc An House

Historic house

A bookshop for most of the 19th century, then a meeting point for the independence movement, which is why the cases hold pamphlets not porcelain.

Map
Tran Family Chapel Ancient Town

Tran Family Chapel

Ancestral hall

Built in 1802 by a mandarin of the Tran family and kept as an ancestral worship house ever since. A descendant explains the boxes on the altar.

Map↗ Website
Cantonese Assembly Hall Ancient Town

Cantonese Assembly Hall

Congregation hall

Founded in 1786 by merchants from Guangdong, and the one with the dragon fountain in the courtyard. Quieter than the Fujian hall a few doors down.

Map
Trieu Chau Assembly Hall East of the old quarter

Trieu Chau Assembly Hall

Congregation hall

Built in 1845 by the Chaozhou community and given to the deities of wind and wave. The woodcarving is the finest in Hoi An, and it is off the crowd.

Map↗ Website
Quan Cong Temple Ancient Town

Quan Cong Temple

Temple

Standing since 1653, dedicated to the general Quan Van Truong and used by merchants swearing to deals. It sits opposite the market.

Map
Museum of Trade Ceramics Ancient Town

Museum of Trade Ceramics

Museum

An old timber house holding the ceramics dredged from wrecks and dug from the town, mostly 15th to 17th century. It explains why the port existed at all.

Map
The coast

Best beaches in Hoi An

Four beaches within a short ride of the Ancient Town.
All 4 beaches →
An Bang Beach About 4 km northeast

An Bang Beach

Swimming

The beach Hoi An actually goes to: sand loungers, seafood shacks and a genuine swimming break, 20 minutes by bicycle. Come for sunrise or after four.

Map
Tan Thanh Beach Next to An Bang

Tan Thanh Beach

Bars and sunsets

An Bang's quieter neighbour, with beach bars in the dunes and fewer loungers. Erosion has eaten into it in recent years, so the sand shifts season to season.

Map
Ha My Beach About 8 km north

Ha My Beach

Quiet sand

Halfway to Da Nang and mostly fronted by resorts, which has kept the public stretches empty. The one to ride to when An Bang is full.

Map
Cua Dai Beach About 5 km east

Cua Dai Beach

Sunset walk

Once the town's main beach and now the cautionary tale: upstream dams and sand mining stripped it. Go for the walk and the sunset, not for the swim.

Map
Learn something

Best workshops & classes in Hoi An

Five half-days that send you home with a skill rather than a photograph.
All 5 workshops & classes →
Red Bridge Cooking School Cam Thanh

Red Bridge Cooking School

Cooking class

The long-standing one, three kilometres downriver: a walk through the market, a boat down the Thu Bon, then a herb garden and the kitchen.

Map↗ Website
Taste Vietnam Cooking School An Hoi

Taste Vietnam Cooking School

Cooking class

Ms Vy's school, run from a dedicated floor above Vy's Market. Central Vietnamese technique taught by the group whose restaurants you have probably already eaten in.

Map↗ Website
The Handicraft Workshop Ancient Town

The Handicraft Workshop

Lantern making

A 200-year-old Chinese trading house where artisans make silk lanterns and embroider at the back, with a short music and dance set at the front.

Map
A morning in Tra Que About 3 km north

A morning in Tra Que

Farming session

Hoeing, watering with a shoulder yoke and planting on the sand beds, then cooking what you picked. Physical, unglamorous and entirely clear.

Map
Kim Bong carpentry village Across the river

Kim Bong carpentry village

Woodwork

Six hundred years of boat and house building on the far bank, national intangible heritage since 2016. The workshops cut the replacement beams for the old quarter.

Map
Out of town

Best day trips in Hoi An

Six trips inside a morning's drive.
All 6 day trips →
Da Nang About 30 km north

Da Nang

City

The city Hoi An lost its trade to, and now the region's capital: the Han river bridges, the Cham Museum and My Khe beach. Forty-five minutes by road.

Map
Marble Mountains About 20 km north

Marble Mountains

Caves

Five limestone hills rising out of flat coast, hollowed into Buddhist cave shrines and pagodas. There is a lift up the main hill and many steps after it.

Map
Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge About 45 km northwest

Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

Cable car

A French hill station turned theme park, reached by one of the longest cable cars in the world, with a bridge held up by two giant stone hands. Go at opening or skip it.

Map
Cham Islands About 20 km offshore

Cham Islands

Snorkelling

Eight islands and a marine protected area, 30 to 35 minutes by speedboat from Cua Dai. Boats do not sail in rough weather, so it is a dry-season trip.

Map
About 120 km north

Hue

Imperial city

The Nguyen dynasty capital, its walled citadel and the emperors' tombs along the Perfume River, listed by UNESCO in 1993. A long day, and better as an overnight.

Map
North of Da Nang

The Hai Van Pass

Coast road

Twenty-one kilometres of switchbacks over the spur where the weather changes, with a fort at the top. Trucks take the tunnel, so the road is almost empty.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Hoi An (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan/Feb

Tet Nguyen Dan

Lunar New Year, and the biggest week of the Vietnamese calendar. Many shops and kitchens close for several days. Book far ahead.

Feb

Nguyen Tieu, the first full moon

The 15th day of the first lunar month, national intangible heritage. Offerings at the assembly halls, and lanterns in numbers.

Feb/Mar

Cau Ngu, the whale worship festival

The fishing villages honour the whale spirit and ask for a safe season, with boat processions and hat boi opera.

Mar

Ba Thu Bon Festival

The 12th day of the second lunar month, upriver at Duy Xuyen, honouring the river goddess in a rite with Cham roots.

Monthly

Full moon lantern night

On the 14th day of every lunar month the electric lights go off and the streets run on silk and candle lanterns until ten.

May

Vesak, Buddha's birthday

The 15th day of the fourth lunar month. Lantern displays and ceremonies at the pagodas, and a procession in the largest years.

Sep/Oct

Tet Trung Thu, the Mid-Autumn Festival

The 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the children's festival. Lion dance troupes work down Tran Phu, drumming at each shop.

2 Sep

National Day

Vietnam's independence day and a public holiday, so the town is at its busiest with Vietnamese visitors. Book early.

Getting around

Hoi An transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
DAD

Da Nang International Airport

The only airport for Hoi An, about 30 km north and 45 minutes by road. There is no airport bus to Hoi An, so it is a car either way.

Map↗ Website
Reunification line

Da Nang railway station

Hoi An has no station. The nearest is in Da Nang, on the north to south line. The Hue to Da Nang leg along the Hai Van cliffs is the most scenic rail in the country.

Map↗ Website
Public bus

Yellow bus route 1

The cheap way in: the yellow public bus runs between Da Nang and Hoi An bus stations, an hour and a half against 45 minutes in a car. It does not serve the airport.

Map
In town

Grab, taxis and bicycles

Grab covers Hoi An and Da Nang and is the simplest way to price a car. In town you will not need it: the Ancient Town closes to traffic for set hours and most hotels lend bicycles.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Hoi An, Vietnam

The classics to order before you leave.

Cao lau

Thick chewy noodles, five-spice pork, greens from Tra Que and fried crackling, in barely enough broth.

White rose, banh bao banh vac, Hoi An (Wimup travel guide)

White rose, banh bao banh vac

Translucent steamed rice dumplings pinched into a rose shape, filled with shrimp under fried shallot.

Mi Quang, Hoi An (Wimup travel guide)

Mi Quang

Flat turmeric-yellow noodles under pork and shrimp, a shallow intense broth, peanuts and herbs.

Hoanh thanh chien, Hoi An (Wimup travel guide)

Hoanh thanh chien

Fried wonton squares under a topping of tomato, shrimp and herbs. The standard old-quarter opener.

Com ga Hoi An

Rice cooked in the poaching stock until yellow with turmeric, shredded chicken, pickles and broth.

Banh mi, Hoi An (Wimup travel guide)

Banh mi

Hoi An's version leans on pate, char siu pork and a house sauce, in a roll that shatters rather than tears.

Banh dap, Hoi An (Wimup travel guide)

Banh dap

A grilled rice paper over a soft steamed one, smashed flat at the table and dipped in anchovy sauce.

Che bap

Sweet corn pudding, thickened with tapioca and served warm or over ice. The end of a hot afternoon.

Hoi An fact sheet

Hoi An at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Vietnam
Region
Hoi An ward, Da Nang city (Quang Nam province until July 2025)
Population
About 150,000 in the former Hoi An city (2018)
Founded
Cham river port from the 2nd century; international trading port from the 16th
Nickname
Faifo, the name European merchants traded under
Language
Vietnamese
Currency
Vietnamese dong (₫)
Time zone
ICT (UTC+7)
Calling code
+84 235
Airports
Da Nang (DAD), about 30 km north
Power
220V, plug types A, C and F
Emergency
113 police, 114 fire, 115 ambulance
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
On foot, by bicycle, by Grab
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • UNESCO inscribed Hoi An Ancient Town in 1999 as an exceptionally well preserved traditional Asian trading port.
  • The town survived because the trade left. The Thu Bon silted up and business moved to Da Nang, so nobody rebuilt the shophouses.
  • The Japanese Covered Bridge appears on the 20,000 dong banknote. It reopened in August 2024 after a 19-month restoration.
  • My Son, 40 km inland, was listed by UNESCO in the same year. Its Cham brick towers were built without visible mortar.
  • On 1 July 2025 Vietnam cut 63 provinces to 34. Hoi An was reorganised into three wards of Da Nang.

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