Of all the places we visited in Vietnam, Hoi An was the one I was most excited for. It is in many ways what one might imagine when picturing the magic and mysticism of the cities of the East. The ancient lantern-lined streets of the Old Town feel like something out of a fairytale, the cafes and shops punctuated with Buddhist temples, ornate Japanese bridges, and grand Chinese assembly halls. The blend of historical influences and cultures is remarkably well preserved, with Hoi An being awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999.
As the sun comes down, the throngs of multicoloured lanterns that sway from every street corner and shopfront illuminate the streets, and the city comes to life. Hoards of visitors flock to the riverfront to board the traditional boats that light up the water. The night market is in full swing, the street sellers are practising their pitches. It feels like the world revolves around this little old merchant port.
We dedicated a full 6 nights to Hoi An, to really soak up every inch of The Lantern City. As such, I'd like to think that we really got to know it pretty well, from the hacks to getting tailored clothes made, to the best in banh mis. Read on for the can't miss experiences in this ultimate guide to the best things to do in Hoi An.
HOI AN 101
Best time to visit Hoi An: Typhoon season is the one to avoid in coastal Vietnam, which generally runs from August to November. Spring and Summer are considered the best time to visit Hoi An, although rainy season in the country starts from around June, so you may catch the odd downpour beyond this. The best months for an overall Vietnam trip are usually February-April/May.
Getting to Hoi An: If you're flying into Hoi An, your nearest airport is Da Nang International Airport. From here, it's around 40 minutes by car or 1 hour bus to Hoi An. Your best choice is ride-hailing app Grab (similar to Uber, and very popular in South East Asia), with which you can easily organise rides. Likewise, if you're planning on travelling by train, Da Nang is your nearest station. Vietnam's train service runs along the East Coast, connecting Da Nang to destinations such as Hanoi, HCMC, and Nha Trang. Lastly, you can travel via coach, most easily booked via 12Go Asia. Do make sure you read reviews before choosing your operator, as not all coach operators in SE Asia are created equal!
Getting around Hoi An: For longer journeys, Grab is again your best friend. However cars are not allowed in the old town, so drivers will have to pick up and drop off around the fringes of town. Within the old town itself, Hoi An is very walkable, as most of the main sights are within a fairly small radius.
Mobile service in Hoi An: Your cheapest option is generally to grab a local sim when you arrive at the airport. The main provider in Vietnam is Vietell, and you'll see plenty of kiosks selling these. Or if you prefer a more convenient option, organise an eSim in advance of your trip.
What to pack for Hoi An: Like the rest of Vietnam, you can pretty much wear what you want in Hoi An. However I'd keep in mind that it's respectful to cover up for any religious sites. Comfortable shoes are a necessity, as you'll mostly be on your feet for exploring the old town. If you're travelling during rainy season, a poncho and / or umbrella is a must.
Where to stay in Hoi An
Namia River Retreat
I've written a full review on Namia River Retreat for your reading pleasure, so I'll keep this one fairly brief. Vietnam is so much fun in its intensity and buzz and bustle, but sometimes you need an escape. We stayed two night here towards the end of our Hoi An adventures, and what a retreat it was. Namia is the perfect place to escape the crowds of Hoi An, yet is still within a 10 minute drive from both the Old Town and nearby An Bang beach. With all pool villas, it's an entirely decadent stay. Yet, as a wellness retreat, you feel like you're doing your body good. There's morning yoga, mindful walks, and 90 minutes complimentary spa experiences daily. Between all that, soaking up the rays by your own private pool is a true moment of bliss.
More Hotels in Hoi An
Budget Hotels in Hoi An
- Betel Garden Villas: Spacious rooms and a picturesque pool at this affordable hotel.
- An Villa Boutique Resort: Another budget friendly option with a lovely pool area.
- Hoianese Heritage Hotel: Simple, well furnished rooms and friendly staff in the heart of Hoi An.
- The Muse House: Well located with large rooms and helpful staff at prices that are kind to the purse-strings.
- Green Tea Villa: A stylish stay away from the bustle of the Old Town
Mid Range Hotels in Hoi An
- RiverTown Hoi An Resort and Spa: Riverfront setting with pool, tranquil garden, and spa facilities.
- La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa: For those who like the comfort of a big box hotel, with a well rated buffet breakfast.
- Hotel Royal Hoi An: Not one but two pools (complete with rooftop views!) at this fully equipped Hoi An hotel.
Luxury Hotels in Hoi An
- Namia River Retreat: A peaceful wellness inclusive resort with private pool villas (pictured) and excellent F&B. Read my full review here.
- Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai: A sleek luxury stay for those who prefer sunning on the beach to the bustle of the city.
- Anantara Hoi An Resort: The luxury chain's Hoi An outpost overlooks the river with chic, stylish interiors.
Things to do in Hoi An
Hội Quán Phước Kiến
Hoi An is home to a number of beautiful Chinese assembly halls dotted throughout the ancient streets. One of the most striking is Phuc Kien, built by Chinese merchants in the 17th century. The temple is dedicated to the sea goddess Matsu, the protector of seafarers who assured safe passage to reach Vietnam. The entrance gate (pictured) is unique from an architectural angle, and a popular photography spot in Hoi An. Beyond this, the main hall provides space for worship, as well as community activities. It can get busy with tour groups, so I'd recommend avoiding peak hours by visiting earlier in the day.
See the Japanese Bridge
Chances are you'll find yourself crossing a particularly elaborate covered bridge at some point during your Hoi An explorations. This is the Japanese Covered Bridge, a 16th century construction connecting the Old Town with the Japanese Quarter. According to legend (and Wikipedia), the bridge is topped with a temple to placate the earthquake-inducing monster Namazu. It's a beautiful symbol of Hoi An's diverse history, and looks particularly magnificent lit up at night as boats ferry tourists across the river beyond.
Discover Hoi An's Cafe Culture
Vietnam has an excellent cafe culture, making it a bit of a paradise for coffee enthusiasts. This dedication to all things caffeine (paired with a tasty cake or two, of course) is in full display in the streets of Old Town Hoi An, where you're never more than about 5 yards from a coffee break.
For those who like their coffee with a bit more pizazz than a black Americano, you're in luck. Vietnam has a number of unique coffee flavours to try. The most popular of these are egg coffee (kind of tastes like a creme brulee), salt coffee (salted caramel vibes), and coconut coffee (pretty self explanatory). I'm not the biggest fan of coconut but the latter became my go-to, so step out of your comfort zone and try them all!
One of the most famous cafes in Hoi An is Faifo (pictured), thanks to the views it affords over the rooftops of the Old Town. Another spot with a view from its first floor balcony is Hoi An Roastery Espresso & Coffee House. It wasn't my favourite coffee, but it was a great people watching spot with its vantage point overlooking the street below. If that's still not enough rooftop views for you, try 92 Station Restaurant and Cafe, which has a number of alfresco floors, and serves up a full food menu.
Take a Day Trip
If you've gotten your fill of shopping and eating your way around Hoi An's old town, there's plenty to explore further afield. Just a short 10-15 minute drive from the centre of town will find you out at Hoi An's coastline, where a slew of beaches await. An Bang is the best known and most touristy, however a local also recommended nearby Cửa Đại. There's plenty of restaurants and cafes in the area to keep you occupied for a full day of beach chilling. I didn't quite get to it, but had Rao Cafe earmarked en route - do let me know if you go and if it's any good!
Alternatively, about an hour's drive inland you'll find My Son Sanctuary. The site is home to a collection of ancient temples constructed by the Champa civilisation between the 4th and 13th centuries. The red brick structures are well conserved, depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. It's similar in style to the better known Angkor complex in neighbouring Cambodia. Opening times at time of writing are 6am-5pm.
Read More: The Perfect Vietnam Two Week Itinerary
Shopping in Hoi An
There's a lot spoken of the range of tailoring options in Hoi An, however it's actually just a great shopping destination all round. Alongside the tailors, there's also a flourishing leather goods industry, offering both custom and ready made bags and shoes. Adam had a couple of pairs of shoes made - if I'm honest, they weren't quite as perfect as he'd hoped, but perhaps we picked the wrong place!
There's plenty of souvenir shopping to be done, with many shops selling posters, prints, and various other gift-friendly goods. There are also some rather lovely crockery shops, selling beautiful painted plates, mugs, and tea and coffee sets. If I had the suitcase space, I would have loved to have indulged in a few pieces! I won't bother to list these as you'll find them at regular intervals throughout the main streets - and hunting them down is part of the fun!
For ready-made clothing, there's plenty of market stalls flowing out from the riverside and beyond with the usual tourist linens and elephant pants. You'll also spot the odd boutique brand here and there amongst the tailors' shops. Look out for Sunday in Hoi An for home goods and swim, Cloth Shop Tú Quyên for printed pieces, and Huulala for beautiful embroidered pieces. But there's so many more to be discovered just wandering the streets of the Old Town!
Tailoring in Hoi An
If there’s one thing Hoi An is known for, it’s the custom tailoring shops that line the streets of the old town. I’ll be honest, I knew it was a popular thing to do here, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer number of tailoring businesses on every corner. It’s quite overwhelming deciding where to go!
Both Adam and I wanted to get some bits tailored - him, a linen suit, me some clothes for our upcoming China trip. We decided not to put all our eggs in one basket, and go to a few different tailors. At first, we were diligently checking reviews (see my note below) and researching online, but after a while we were just going off vibes.
I actually visited a few different tailors for different pieces, and had positive experiences across all of them. Of the three pieces I had made, I was probably most impressed quality wise by Yaly Couture, where I had this dress made. It's one of the bigger outfits in town, but this means they have a vast selection of fabrics, and my tailor was excellent.
My top tip for choosing a tailor would be to trust your instinct. For example, I decided not to go with shops where I found the shop assistants pushy, or if it felt like there was a miscommunication when I tried to explain what I wanted. I would also ask for pricing at a couple of different places to get a sense of costs, and whether I was being ripped off.
The most important thing is whether they have the right fabric for what you envisage. Fabric choice is everything, as it affects temperature, the way the piece drapes, and the overlook look of the piece. I have some basic fabric knowledge (shout out Textiles A-Level), which helped - but if you're unsure, look online for examples of pieces similar to what you want, and see what fabric they're made of. There can be pressure to compromise, but you can always walk away if it doesn't feel like the right fit.
For Adam’s suit, it was to Mr Xe, helmed by a characterful older Vietnamese man (the eponymous Mr Xe). They were great to work with - immediately understood the assignment, and Adam’s body type. I should flag that this is not the establishment for those who prefer a less, well, hands on experience - Adam had his ass jokily slapped a fair few times (Mr Xe even referred to it as a “big bunda!”), which had us in fits of giggles, but might not be for you!
A note on Google Reviews
When I’ve only got a few nights in a place and I don’t want to waste my time on any duds, I’ll spend my time combing through a lot of Google reviews. Particularly in somewhere like Hoi An, with the healthy amount of choice from cafes and restaurants to tailors and leather goods, prior research felt key.
However, a couple of things struck me. First, the sheer number of 4.8+ ratings upwards for businesses. Honestly, it felt too good to be true. But also, when further scrutinised, the number of reviews that felt a bit generic. One tailoring shop had a review that read “I can’t wait to see my finished pieces!” Why on earth would you leave a five star review before you’d even seen the finished product?
But as I was browsing a random clothing shop, it all fell into place. The (rather too pushy for my liking) shop assistant was following me around with a steady stream of sales pitch. As my polite nodding got more infrequent, her final attempt to engage me: “20% off for a 5 star Google review!”.
So, I suspect this may be a regular ploy at businesses in the area. Therefore, a word of advice: take Google ratings with a pinch of salt, and make sure to *really* read the reviews. Do they genuinely sound enthusiastic, or have they been bribed…?
Restaurants and Dining in Hoi An
Bánh Mì Phượng
Our first taste of Vietnamese Banh Mi’s in Saigon had honestly left us a little underwhelmed. Maybe we didn’t go to the right places, but they’d been… meh. So the pressure was on Hoi An. In fact, our very first night in the city, getting our banh mi fix was the first thing on the agenda.
When you read up on banh mi’s in Hoi An, two names come up time and time again - Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen, and Banh Mi Phuong. The latter was featured by Bourdain, a sure guarantee of a restaurant’s everlasting fame (and often what feels like an everlasting queue…).
So to Banh Mi Phuong it was, and thankfully, it lived up to the hype. The banh mi is fairly small, a very manageable size if you ask me. The baguette is perfect - crispy, yet light. There are a wide range of fillings to choose from, from your standard pork to tofu. We ended up trying a few over the course of our stay (for research, obvs!) and my personal favourite was the mixed (number 3). What was mixed in it, I’m not entirely sure, but it was easily one of the best banh mi's we had in Vietnam.
Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen
Of course, in the name of research, we had to try the Banh Mi Queen too. The Mixed banh mi is the one to get, stuffed with vegetables, bbq pork, chicken, ham, and eggs. But there's also vegetarian options, and more pared down combinations. The bread is what makes it, light, crispy, and very fresh. There's a choice of spice level, with a delicious spicy sauce running through. We went for full spice, and it was very flavoursome.
At 35k VND, you're paying around £1 for one of the best banh mi's you'll probably ever eat, so it's kind of a no brainer. As to which is the better of the two? Honestly, there's very little between them - an excuse to get both!
Rosie's
Because it's not an Anoushka guide without a cute brunch place! In Hoi An, that's Rosie's. Rosie's is very much your typical brunch cafe of the Australian (though now very much worldwide) archetype. Most of the venue spills out across a foliage-filled courtyard, packed out with tourists seeking out eggs and caffeine to start their day. The menu is predominantly healthy, with plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians. But there's also a rendition of a Full English (known here as the Rosie's brekky), and slightly naughtier pancakes and french toast. I kept it simple with the "Avo Good Day", a particularly picturesque avocado on toast that tasted as good as it looked. So, if you're craving a non-Vietnamese breakfast in Hoi An, Rosie's is the place.
Old River Restaurant
Most of the restaurants we visit when travelling are the product of extensive research (yep, I'm that kind of traveller). However one night we were walking back to our hotel, a bit away from the main tourist hub, and stumbled across a small stretch of lantern-lit restaurants lining the river bank. They looked so wonderfully picturesque that we decided to come back for dinner the next night.
Thankfully, abandoning my carefully researched plans for a bit of spontaneity paid off. Old River Restaurant, our choice of the restaurants, ended up being a lovely spot for dinner. The spring rolls (not pictured, because we polished them off so fast!) were some of the best we had all trip. If you time it right, you'll see lantern-lit boats heading down the river towards the old town, which makes the experience even more atmospheric.
Morning Glory
When you google where to eat in Hoi An, Morning Glory gets more than a few mentions. So, I figured we should probably check it out! There's actually a couple of locations, but we headed to the "Original" in the heart of the Old Town. It's an ample space spread over several floors, with elegant interiors and a prime first floor balcony for watching the street below.
The menu is equally vast, with plenty of local dishes and Vietnamese classics to try, as well as a few more niche choices. Thankfully everything has pictures so you can easily identify what you like the look of. It was honestly quite a struggle just trying to whittle down to a few dishes to try - so go with a group to order as much as possible if you can! We ended up settling on chicken and ginger dumplings, crispy pork belly salad, and grilled pork skewers. I was feeling a little under the weather so only had a few bites, but everything I tried was beautifully presented and flavoursome. It's on the slightly higher end price wise for Hoi An, but for the variety and prime location, it's well worth it.
Nhan's Kitchen
We stayed a couple of nights at Betel Garden Villas, and Nhan's Kitchen happened to be the nearest restaurant one rainy evening. Sure, it's rated an impressive 4.9 on Google Maps, but I'd learned not to put too much stock into this. As such, I wasn't expecting much. But it ended up being such a nice spot for a casual dinner that we ended up going back another day - and it's made it into this guide!
There's a cosy air conditioned interior space, but the prime tables are on the street, poised for people watching. The menu is one of those dubious multi-cuisine ones - usually a red flag, but I just skipped to the Vietnamese dishes. Hoi An has a lot of regional dishes you won't find with any regularity elsewhere in the country, and Nhan's is a great place to try them.
Some recommendations? White rose dumplings, made of a translucent rice paper, the crispy wontons, and Cao Lau, a Hoi An noodle speciality. Oh, and spring rolls, because they're delicious here!
I hope this guide to the best things to do in Hoi An has helped inspire your Vietnam adventures. Do let me know in the comments if you have any questions or further recommendations. And if you're planning a Vietnam trip, make sure to check out my Vietnam 2 week itinerary. Happy travels!
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