There are so many great things to do in Hội An, and it’s an incredible place to visit, but we think it’s worth saying from the start that the way you approach this city makes all the difference. We quickly found when we arrived that it introduced a lot of expectation fatigue, and we noticed it with other travelers too.
The thing is, a lot of the things we read about the best things to do in Hội An beforehand framed the whole experience around majestic lanterns, taking sampan boat rides and wandering the old town at night.
In reality, the areas that are often focused on are quite small and you’ve seen them quickly. You expect magic when you arrive, but what you hit is repetition and crowds.
Based on that you might be thinking, well is Hội An actually worth visiting? We think it absolutely is and let us explain why.
We quickly realized if we were going to enjoy Hội An in a way that didn’t feel chaotic and crowded, we needed to try and find the heart of this culturally significant place outside of the surface level.
By the time we left, we had really loved our experience. We think Hội An works when you stop trying to ‘do everything’ and experience it’s unique richness, it’s craft and its opportunity to pause.
Our guide is selective, not inflated. Below, we’ll cover the classic sights and experiences, but with honesty and context of what to expect. We’re also going to give you the low down on the other, unique things to do in Hội An that really made it for us: the delicious regional food, the considered crafts and experiences that felt more relaxed.
Whether you’re simply scanning for ideas or are deep into planning for an upcoming trip, read on to find the best things to do in Hội An to make the most of this iconic stop on your Vietnam trip.
The Best Things to Do in Hoi An: The Iconic Spots and Beyond
Our guide below covers the iconic spots, where and how to find them, as well as realistic information on them. We’ve also included all of the places, experiences and things to do in Hoi An that we think will give you a balanced experience (and in turn, enjoy it more).
We’ve included these all in our Google Map below. Think of this as the navigation point for everything we’ve gone into more detail in the sections below. This is divided up by category and references the locations we’ll share with you through this guide.
You can use the box on the top left side of the map to show the categories and zoom in and out based on the locations listed. We’d recommend saving these directly to your own Google Maps so you can find them easily once you’re in Hoi An.
Explore the Gorgeous Ancient Town (Just Without the Expectation)
As we mentioned earlier, we went into our time in Hoi An with a lot of expectations based off what we’d read in advance. Likewise, we’d just moved on from Huế and that set the tone very high for old and ancient towns.
The problem is, a lot of the information we’d read centered on the things to do in Hoi An Ancient Town with a romantic idea of endless wandering, but within a few hours of exploring, we…kind of felt like we’d seen the sights.
It was also extremely busy, with other people looking to find that secret, hidden spot, or that extra road that they thought they must have missed too.
The thing is with Hoi An, there is no citadel area (like Hue) its more the historic core of the town, and it isn’t that big. The main streets, which are adorned with beautiful lanterns, flowers and bright colors are also lined with shops that kind of sell mostly the same thing.
We think exploring the ancient town is absolutely one of the top things to do in Hoi An, but we think it’s best done with context and intention. We think it’s something to experience in a couple of parts.
Firstly, we think give yourself half a day to explore the ancient town streets themselves, and you can also visit some of the main museums and temples such as Hoi Quan Phuoc Kien, Old House of Tan Ky, Precious Heritage Art Gallery & Museum and Quan Cong Temple. Half a day is more than enough time to explore without rushing and gives you the perfect feel without the overwhelm.
Then, give yourself an hour or two in the evening to explore again, see the lanterns (which we’ll cover more below). Then head to the Japanese Covered Bridge (Chùa Cầu) for a photo stop: this looks best at night when it’s lit up.
The locations we’ve covered here are included in our Google Map above, so you know where they are in relation to each other, and as you’ll see, they’re all pretty close.
Of course, you’ll likely be in Hoi An old town when you’re eating out, going for a drink exploring some of the other suggestions we’ve made, but as an outright ‘what to do’ suggestion, we think the best way to experience it is in smaller segments like this.
Experience the Iconic Lanterns, River & Hoi An Night Market
Read any guide to the things to do in Hoi An at night and you’ll find endless information about the iconic lanterns: they’ve become one of the most synonymous symbols of this particular place in Vietnam.
The lanterns are incredibly beautiful, and when you’ve reached the old town, you won’t be able to miss them. They’re everywhere!
We noticed before our trip when researching that a lot seemed to hinge on enjoying the lanterns and the general vibe around them at nighttime. When on the ground, we found them beautiful, but they aren’t really a destination as such. Spend too much time focused on this side of things and it can feel kind of repetitive.
We think the best way to enjoy and take in the Hoi An lanterns and the Hoi An Lantern festival is to spend a couple of hours one evening just wandering around the old town and taking them in, taking photos of them and then…move on.
They can be a gorgeous back drop to wander through before and after dinner and just create a lovely ambience, but they aren’t really a destination. It’s totally normal not to want to spend endless nights doing the same loop, and there is plenty more to explore too.
Another key activity is a Hoi An river boat ride at night time, which allows you to head out with a lantern and set it out on the water. At night, the glow of the lanterns are really beautiful and this is a lovely experience.
The trip is pretty short (around 20 minutes), and you will see a lot of boat companies on the river dock just through the old town offering rides. We booked ours in advance through GetYourGuide here as it just meant we had it all booked, and we didn’t have to think about it. It was also with a local tour provider, and we’d recommend their service.
The Hoi An river boat ride is worth doing for the experience is pretty iconic of Hoi An, but it doesn’t need to take over your evening’s planning. It’s a nice thing to do just before dinner and is actually pretty romantic. It’s also good to know that the lanterns are collected up at the end of each night and not left to pollute.
If you’re lucky enough to be visiting Hoi An around the 14th of the month, you’ll also get to see the Hoi An lantern festival, which is basically a normal evening in Hoi An on overdrive. Well worth it if you can make it!
The other notable thing to check out in the evening is the Hoi An Night Market. It is fairly touristy, but you’ll find it just across the bridge from the old town (we’ve included a pin for it on our Google Map above).
We think it’s a great place to head for a look around, and here you’ll find a lot of souvenirs and people selling local food specialties like Cao Lao (more on that shortly). You can also buy yourself a silk lantern to take home to remind yourself of your time here.
Evening festivities in Hoi An usually start building up from about 5pm and carry on until the early hours of the morning. If you want to avoid the crowds, we’d recommend getting that perfect moment just as the sun is setting before everybody is out in force.
With all of these iconic experiences, we think they are absolutely great to do once, but they don’t need to dominate your trip. We think a lot of people assume they need to keep coming back to them, as if they’re missing something, but experiencing them and enjoying them then enjoying all the other things to do in Hoi An that make this vibrant place what it is will give you an experience you won’t forget.
Seek Out Local Food Specialties Unique to Hoi An
If you’re looking for unique things to do in Hoi An, then exploring the incredible local dishes is something we’d highly recommend. Having traveled through Vietnam, one of the things we loved the most was how the flavors and unique offerings change as you move through the country.
Due to Hoi An having been an important, international trading port in the 16th century, many of its food influences are unique to the area. You won’t find them elsewhere, and they’re incredibly delicious.
When we were driving to Hoi An from Hue, we asked our driver to tell us all about the food we should experience in Hoi An. His face lit up and two of the dishes he raved about the most was Cao Lau and Com Ga (chicken rice).
Cao Lau is a noodle dish which consists of beautiful, thick, comforting rice noodles (which are quite different to anywhere else) roast pork, herbs, bean sprouts, pork crackling and a thick sauce that has a similar flavor profile as a Pho Ga.
If you are veggie, it’s also possible to get this as a meat free version, and tofu and tofu skin is often used instead. The veggie version is delicious and loads of places either offer this alone, or as an alternate option to their pork version.
We’ve marked where we ate delicious, comforting Cao Lau on our google maps, but our favorite was V Vegan for the vegan version with their sister restaurant serving meat options next door.
Chicken Rice is also an incredibly comforting local dish. The rice is usually cooked in broth with turmeric and is served with shredded chicken, onions, herbs and a chili sauce.
Again, it’s possible to get both the meat and veggie versions really easily (and V Vegan does the best veggie one we tried). For a meat version, there are so many places that offer it, and we recommend trying a few out to see how it varies between restaurants and sellers.
We’ve added pins for some of the places we particularly loved on our Google Map for you to save, but you’ll also find plenty to explore when there. We’d recommend going just outside of some of the most touristy spots. Even just going back a couple more streets generally get you the best food!
We also found some exceptional Banh Mi in Hoi An that our driver we mentioned earlier told us about. We both love Banh Mi (who doesn’t) and so we were pretty much straight out the door when we reached our hotel to go try one from the place he recommended so fondly.
Lê Hội Bánh MÌ Chay is run by the sweetest lady from a small truck (we’ve pinned her stall on our Google Maps) and her Banh Mi are some of the best we’ve ever tasted. The depth of flavor. The crispiness mixed with the soft, comforting textures. The fresh herbs and spices. We wish we were back there right now about to eat another one.
Another thing to do in Hoi An when it comes to food is to try Hoi An Tofu Pudding (Đậu hũ nước đường). It’s typical of Hoi An and if you spend any time wandering on the water’s edge at night, you’ll see plenty of stalls selling it.
It’s almost like a custard pudding but made from silken tofu. It’s then topped with a brown sugar and ginger syrup, you can then add toppings such as tapioca pearls. It is such a warm, comforting desert, the combination of the cold ice at the bottom of the cup with warm sweet syrup on top is incredibly sensory. We loved finishing our meals with a portion of tofu pudding.
Hoi An, due to its trading history, has such a rich heritage when it comes to food. As well as Vietnamese food, you’ll also find a lot of Chinese and Japanese references in the food. There’s also a growing number of more westernized places too that really lean into healthy food.
We personally stuck mostly with Vietnamese food as we never tire of eating the incredible food on offer, but it’s good to keep in mind that if you’ve been craving things like burger or pizza, it’s incredibly easy to find good options for that in Hoi An.
Get Immersed in the Coffee, Tea & Slower Experiences
For us, this was where Hoi An started to really make sense. When speaking to a knowledgeable barista in one of the cafes we visited, we found out that Hoi An is very close to some of the main coffee producing areas of the country. This really made it stand out.
If you’re any way into your trip in Vietnam, you’ll hopefully be well aware of some of the incredibly strong (rocket fuel) coffee available in Vietnam in the form of Phin, pour over, drip, specialist filter and also more European style espresso-based brews too. Hoi An took things to the next level for us.
What we loved about Hoi An was that there were so many places turning coffee into a beautiful ritual to be savored. One of our favorite experiences was at the Reaching Out Tea House (the name isn’t entirely referential as they have a huge focus on coffee too).
Some of the drinks were offered as tasting flights, where you received a number of coffees, still filtering through on a Phin to savor and explore the different tasting notes between them.
The café also tried to maintain a silence, using gestures and little cue cards to order and communicate, which just gave the place such a focus on actually being present with the experience. They also offer a full range of beautiful teas to try, either iced or hot, which were pretty jaw dropping too.
Poison Café also offered a similar experience. Don’t let the name put you off! In actual fact, most of their brews, offered as pour over and Phin use traditional Vietnamese herb infusions which add incredible notes of flavor. They are completely unique, you won’t have experienced these particular flavors anywhere before.
A pretty well-known experience in Hoi An is to try Mót, which is a herbal tea very unique to the area. It’s classed as one of the unique things to do in Hoi An in pretty much any guide you’ll find, so the actual place that serves Mót in the old town is always busy.
In terms of other coffee shops, we also loved Olivier Coffee. They had such a beautiful range of expertly produced drinks. We particularly loved that most black iced coffee also came with another glass of iced jasmine tea. We got very heavily into mixing our black coffee in with jasmine tea. It just has such a unique flavor.
We tried it, and it was lovely, but we personally preferred exploring some of the coffee and tea experiences that focused more on savoring, the craft and contemplation that came from it. It’s incredibly calming.
Exploring the ritual and unique way that coffee and tea is offered, in our opinion is one of the best things to do in Hoi An. If you only have time for one, we recommend Reaching Out Tea House, but if you’re staying for a few days and want to experience some more, we’ve included our favorites on our Google Map above.
Explore The Crafts & Trades Iconic to Hoi An
Due to its history as a port city, we discovered that below the surface, Hoi An has an incredible craft side.
Like many things in this area of Vietnam, so much care, attention and detail is put into the ritual of craft, whether its silver work, lantern art, ceramics or wood carving. There are so many artists in this area that bring such a special identity to Hoi An.
Many locations offer workshops, and we really enjoyed trying silver craft and pottery while there. We’ve linked to the page on GetYourGuide that includes the experiences we did, plus several others we had bookmarked and would have loved to do, but didn’t have the time.
Another side to Hoi An, and something that it’s well known for, is its tailoring. You’ve likely heard people talking about getting clothing tailored while visiting Hoi An, it’s extremely popular and some people even say it’s kind of like a rite of passage on your Vietnam trip.
The main draw is that the tailoring is a lot more affordable than it is outside of Vietnam, and you can get unique garments made to measure. We thought this sounded great and spent some time looking at tailors in Hoi An, but didn’t end up getting anything made ourselves.
If you’re into the idea of getting something tailored in Hoi An, we would recommend scanning a few of the shops (you won’t miss them) when you arrive. They typically take a few days to turn things around for you, so you will want to get your order in near the start if you’re only staying for a few days.
Go for somewhere that feels right for you, and check to see if they have garments, they can show you before you commit so you can get an idea of the kind of quality they’re working to. We’ve heard mixed things here, so it’s best just to get on the same page with expectations at the start.
Cycle to the Iconic Rice Paddies, See Water Buffalo & Experience Village Life
While Hoi An itself is a bustling place, it doesn’t take long to be away from that as the center is surrounded by what seems like endless stretches of fields.
This makes way to villages focused on specific production and harvest and iconic rice paddies (rice fields), water buffalo sightings and general village life. Visiting some of the villages that are just outside of the main city is one of the best things to do near Hoi An.
Our hotel offered bikes that we could use to explore for free, so we made use of them to cycle out to the nearby villages. This was a pretty straight forward, easy bike ride on the side of the road for the most part out of Hoi An and then once in the village areas, you could just cycle around.
It was about a 20-minute bike ride from where we were staying in central Hoi An. Most hotels in Hoi An offer bikes as part of your stay or for a small fee, as it’s a fairly common thing to use to explore nearby. We didn’t book this in advance and had no issue here.
We absolutely loved this day of our trip, and it felt like a really calm pause, focused on learning about the vegetable villages just outside the city. Many of which presented self-sufficiency, and we learned that a good few of the restaurants in Hoi An used their produce too.
We spent most of the day cycling around, enjoying the views, taking in the different lanes and taking pictures of the water buffalo we spotted in the wetland fields as well as workers going about their lives. It just felt really calming compared to Hoi An itself.
There are a number of restaurants in this area too that make the most of their produce, and the lunch we stopped for at Vegetable Garden Restaurant was one of the nicest of the trip. Everything was so incredibly fresh, packed with flavor and just utterly memorable.
Many of the restaurants offer cooking classes focusing on Hoi An specialties. We didn’t get to try one, but while we were eating, there was a class happening at the same time, and it looked well worth doing if you want to learn more about cooking Vietnamese food.
While we spent most of the day taking in this more chilled out atmosphere, you could easily make this work in a morning of afternoon. We’d recommend avoiding the midday sun as there is virtually no shade here at all! Bring plenty of water too.
We’ve included pins to all the places we’d recommend visiting while in the villages outside Hoi An, including restaurant options too.
Relax into Hoi An Beach Life
While Hoi An is well known for its old town and everything it offers around it, it’s also well known for being right next to the coast and offering a lot of very gorgeous, white sand beaches.
Just up from the vegetable villages we spoke about above, on the coast you’ll find plenty of beautiful (and affordable) resorts and relaxed places to stay. Many people who visit Hoi An will either stay at a beach resort and travel into Hoi An in the evening as it’s only a short taxi ride away, or stay in the center of Hoi An instead.
We decided to stay in central Hoi An for a few nights and then spend another two nights at the Wyndham Hoi An Royal Beachfront Resort to break up our time and give ourselves a real space to relax before we moved on to Ho Chi Minh City.
This was such a gorgeous time on our trip and we both agreed it was one of the more relaxing things to do near Hoi An, so we’d really recommend this approach of splitting your time.
Even if you’re not going to stay on the coast on your trip, we’d still recommend visiting the beaches around Hoi An. An Bang Beach is the most popular (which was pretty close to where we stayed) and probably has more things to do and is lively compared to some of the others.
It’s worth exploring along the coast just a little to see what fits the feel you’re looking for best. We’ve pinned a few in our Google Map above, and you can generally either rent a lounger or just take up a spot on the sand no problem. Just avoid the sectioned off areas for hotels.
Other things you can do from the coast is take a coconut boat ride from nearby to explore the mangroves and coconut forest. This is pretty touristy, but it’s also a fun thing to do, is about an hour or so and doesn’t really cost very much.
This is the one we’d recommend booking through GetYourGuide, especially if you’ll be doing it while staying on the coast, as you can organize pick up and drop off from your hotel, which makes things so much easier!
Another option is to go snorkeling at Chàm Islands, which is just off the coast from Hoi An. This is more of a day trip, so if this is something that appeals, you’ll want to keep a whole day aside.
We didn’t have time to visit, but we had this beautiful looking location, with gorgeous rock formations and stunning waters bookmarked (and would love to go if we visit again).
There’s meant to be pretty amazing snorkeling just off the coast with incredible coral formations and we were actually quite sad that we just couldn’t make it work! This was the trip we had bookmarked on GetYourGuide and it looked like you got a really incredible day from it!
Easy Day Trips We’d Recommend From Hoi An
There are some incredible places to visit a short journey from Hoi An. If you do a transfer like we did from Hue to Hoi An, or vice versa, you’ll likely cover these. But if not, these are easily bookable on their own, as part of a private or group tour.
We’ll go into each idea below in more detail, and if you can make them work, we’d really recommend it as we were taken aback by what we got to see at each of these locations.
My Son Sanctuary
My Son Sanctuary was one of our favorite visits in Vietnam. Its grounds are set in a leafy, mountainous surroundings. When you arrive, you can either hire a bike to go down to the main sites of interest or there is a regular running float car that picks up and drops off from the main areas.
My Son Sanctuary is incredibly important to the historical make up of central Vietnam. The buildings date from the 4th to 13th centuries and signify the unique culture of the area within this time period and its connection to Hinduism.
The monuments we saw here are some of the most spectacular pieces of spiritual architecture we’ve ever seen. We think because we’d already spent quite a lot of time in Hue, this was a totally different experience, and the contrast really got us.
While we were hot and sticky due to the humidity, we were speechless and completely in the moment taking in this truly special place.
What’s so special about My Son Sanctuary is that the monuments are completely unique within Southeast Asia and were created over ten centuries. There’s a lot of important symbolism, relics and temples to see at this UNESCO Heritage site.
This really is one not to be missed and it’s straight forward to take a My Son Sanctuary day trip from Hoi An. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there on a tour.
The specific tour we did from Hue to Hoi An covered My Son, but if you either want a transfer or tour specifically from Hoi An to My Son, we had this tour on GetYourGuide recommended to us from some people we met. You do also have to pay for entry to My Son itself on top of a tour, but it costs very little to enter.
Marble Mountains near Da Nang
The Marble Mountains sit just outside of Da Nang about 45 minutes to an hour away from Hoi An and are such an incredible thing to go and experience. The Marble Mountains house lots of Buddhist shrines, pagodas, statues and incredible art that almost defies belief.
The complex cave system at Marble Mountains leads you down to see rock carvings straight out of the cave walls, that just have this incredible sensation to them.
When we visited it was incredibly hot and there were so many people there that it was a bit overwhelming, but what we saw well and truly made up for it. First of all, the views out from the top were amazing and they were worth going for on their own.
You get a lift from the bottom in the town (you need to pay for this on top of a tour) and it takes you to the main viewing areas out toward Da Nang and beyond. You can then climb the steep steps up and down to explore the area.
At the end, you can either come back and get the lift back down or walk down the cliff side back to the parking area. It’s worth keeping in mind that due to the heat, you do need to good level of energy for this one.
The steep stairs leading you to the incredible shrines and the intricate carvings were one thing but going into the caves and seeing the works of art and places of contemplation were another entirely.
We found the Marble Mountains to just be completely out of this world! We’d recommend you take a tour that allows you to explore on your own. This may be just hiring a driver for the day, which you can do through GetYourGuide. Alternatively, guided tours are available.
Visiting Hue as a Day Trip or Add-On
We think it’s fairly safe to say that if you’re going to be in Hoi An (and don’t have it separately planned into your trip) visiting Hue for a day is a must.
We’re not going to talk in depth here about all the things to do in Hue as we have a whole article on this, so we’ll leave you with that to read in more detail.
Hue was one of our favorite stops on our trip. If you love Southeast Asian architecture and love food, then Hue should be a day trip to see some of the main sights. Hue was so memorable to us.
We cannot compliment Hue enough. It seriously left a mark on us.
We spent a few days in Hue before heading to Hoi An, but it’s very possible to do a day trip from Hoi An to Hue via a private or group tour. This will generally take you to Hue and give you time to explore on your own.
Our Main Tips for Visiting Hoi An
We’ve made this section consciously as short and concise as we could so as not to overwhelm you with information, but instead to give you the information you need to make planning your time in Hoi An easier.
How Many Days Should You Stay in Hoi An?
We think that you should factor roughly four to five days to get the most out of Hoi An. This gives you time to explore the old town and all the main sights as well as visit the outer villages, the coast and do a couple of day trips to places like the Marble Mountains and My Son Sanctuary.
We personally had one day traveling from Hue to Hoi An which included visiting My Son and the Marble Mountains, three days in Hoi An itself including visiting the rice paddies, and then two days by the beach.
If you’re wondering whether Hoi An is worth it or if you should skip it, we’d say, if you make the most of what else Hoi An has to offer outside of just the main tourist draw ins, you’ll absolutely love its pace. But we wouldn’t plan a trip just to Hoi An on its own without any of the other activities.
Getting to Hoi An
Private Transfer or Group Transfer
Getting to Hoi An is pretty dependent on what you’re doing beforehand. Being in Hue just before it made sense for us to take a transfer tour by road that took in a number of incredible stops along the way. This included Lang Co Lagoon, Hai Van Pass, Marble Mountains My Son Sanctuary.
We’d 100% recommend this tour as it was a great way to break up the experience. It was a private tour with a driver who has so much knowledge and at each stop, we were given time to explore. It was also an inexpensive way to travel. Here’s the exact tour we did on GetYourGuide.
You can also do a similar tour as a group, which will likely be cheaper, and will be on a bus. Same idea, but you’d be with a bigger group. You can generally book these through GetYourGuide too.
Da Nang Airport to Hoi An
The closest airport to Hoi An itself is Da Nang, which is about an hours drive from central Hoi An. If you want the quickest way to get to Hoi An, are coming from somewhere much further away in Vietnam or internationally, this will be your best option.
It’s really easy to get an Uber from Da Nang Airport to Hoi An and we actually did this in reverse when we were leaving Hoi An for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It cost about $15 and was super easy and relaxed.
When is the Best Time to Visit Hoi An
Generally, the best time to visit Hoi An is between February and April. We visited in April, and while it was very hot and humid, it also wasn’t the hottest it can get, and we were outside of rainy season. This was very manageable for us.
We have a whole article on the best time to visit Vietnam based on location, which we’d recommend you take a look at if you’re still deciding what is best for your trip. We decided upon April as it fitted nicely with all of the other areas we visited moving from North to South.
Outside of these times, you’ll either experience hot season which is intensely hot, between May and August. Or rainy and wet season which also comes with potential flooding from September to January.
Where to Stay in Hoi An
You have a couple of main options when it comes to where to stay in Hoi An, and these are around Hoi An itself, and in the old town or by the coast and near the rice paddies.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, we split our trip into two and stayed in the old town for three nights and then by the coast for a further two.
We’re not going to recommend our hotel in the old town because quite frankly, it was the worst one of the trip. The hotel was very much over selling in the photos, as it was quite different in reality.
We really learned from our Vietnam trip that you need to check two sources (the reviews on something like Booking.com as well as recent Google reviews) before you book. And now, we generally won’t book something that gets under a 9 score on Booking.com.
The coast is another good option, especially if you want to vary your time, and it’s really easy to get a Grab ride into Hoi An for not very much. However, we think varying it worked really well too (and we loved the pace of this).
We stayed at the Wyndham Hoi An Royal Beachfront Resort and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect, stylish hotel right on the beach that gave us the break we needed in the midst of a very busy and active trip!
Costs & Practicalities
Day to Day Costs
The amount you spend while in Hoi An will really depend on your style of travel. However, we typically spent about 25 USD / 18 GBP roughly a day. That was our general day to day costs for food, drinks etc and didn’t include tours.
This usually meant we had breakfast in our hotel. Had street food at lunch, and then ate in a sit down restaurant at dinner. If you wanted to keep things even cheaper, you could stick to street food alone.
Taxi’s were about 3 to 5 USD when we needed them, and we think our Grab from Hoi An to Da Nang Airport was about 18 USD.
Laundry
If you’re on a longer trip, you may be wondering what to do about washing your clothes. There are so many laundry services around that will collect your washing, weigh it and charge you per kilo. We were able to get all of our washing (for two) done for about 10 USD.
It comes back to clean, folded and pressed, which was amazing! There are plenty of places like this around in Hoi An, and you’ll see signs everywhere, and usually you contact through WhatsApp to organize. It’s pretty chilled out.
Using an eSIM for Hoi An and Vietnam
We both made use of eSIMs whole in Vietnam as the country wasn’t included with our carrier. We have a full article on how to use eSIMs for travel which talks about the best way to use them.
The great thing is eSIMs are pretty cheap and a good way to be able to use your phone without having to worry about data. You can buy as little or as much data as you need and just use Wi-Fi when you’re in your hotel.
Heat & Accessibility
We wanted to include a small section on heat when it comes to Hoi An as it can become a lot. If you’re not used to extreme humidity and heat, you may find Hoi An quite intense.
When you add this in with crowds in the center, it can feel a little overwhelming, so we’d just recommend pacing your days and planning less than you would normally with lots of rest breaks.
If you’re concerned about the accessibility of Hoi An, there are a lot of uneven streets to consider, and the crowds can make it hard to get around.
What we Recommend Packing for Hoi An, Vietnam
Trying to work out what to pack for Vietnam can be difficult, especially depending on the time of year you’re visiting. Due to its size, there can be a vast difference in temperatures across the country, but more importantly (we found) was the humidity differences.
We’ve outlined some of the essentials that we found were a game changer in central Vietnam and would pack again if we visit in the future.
Moisture Wicking Clothes
As we hike a lot, we already have a lot of moisture wicking t-shirts, which are on high rotation for us in the summer months. So, if you hike, you may already have some tech fabric t-shirts, but if not, even a gym tops will work just as well.
The humidity in Hoi An is no joke and we found ourselves turning into hot sweaty messes most days, especially if you’re there between February and April. If you’re thinking of wearing cotton, you’ll be drenched pretty quickly, so we just wouldn’t advise it.
These are the tshirts we wore when visiting Hoi An a lot, and we find they work just as well as the more expensive tech fabric t-shirts out there. You can also get them in a pretty big range of colors, so you can work them into your outfit without it feeling like you’re wearing sportswear.
Linen and Loose Layers
We love linen! We started wearing linen based trousers and pants a lot in the last couple of years, both in summer and also in hotter countries and they’ve made such a difference.
People often have misconceptions about linen being a bit…dull, but a lot of really cool pants, tops, shirts etc. are offered in linen and it’s such a great fabric as the pieces we have all wash softer and softer and are great at keeping your temperature more regulated.
We don’t recommend wearing tight clothing in Hoi An as you’ll feel incredibly sweaty and uncomfortable. These linen pants are a great start, aren’t particularly expensive and are really long lasting.
Shoes That Feel Comfortable to You
You don’t have to see this as a frumpy suggestion, but if you want to go exploring, we always recommend wearing trainers. We both had our hiking shoes with us from earlier in our Vietnam trip, so we made the most of those for Hoi An.
Fay wore her Keen Hightrail Shoes a lot which she’s been testing in detail and have included in our affordable hiking shoes guide. They are so comfortable and just mean you can focus on exploring.
She also wore her Keen Elle sandals a lot. These are perfect as an option that’s a touch more stylish and works with a lot of outfits, but are also incredibly comfortable for walking longer distances.
Matt wore his Danner Panorama Mid, which are one of his favorite pairs for exploring both cities and more nature based locations.
We’d generally recommend looking at our guides to the best hiking shoes, best waterproof hiking shoes and affordable hiking shoes. There are plenty of options out there that get the balance between looking cool enough to wear day to day and being incredibly comfortable for longer distances. We particularly love the Adidas Terrex Tracerocker 2 for this.
If you’re going to be traveling through Vietnam, it’s a good idea to bring something that will work for both hiking and exploring. This means you can get away with packing less. This is exactly what we did, as we knew we would be trekking in places like Sapa, between Hue and Hoi An and spending a lot of time in urban areas like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hue too.
Sun Protection
It gets incredibly hot, often with little cloud cover when exploring the things to do in Hoi An, Vietnam, so sun protection is a must.
Sun lotion (a decent factor and keep reapplying when you sweat), a hat and sunglasses are all going to be your best friend in Hoi An! We also recommend making the most of the shade in the gorgeous restaurants and cafes as the temperatures can be incredibly overwhelming at times.
Why Trust Our Hoi An Travel Guide?
Every single guide we write for This Expansive Adventure is based on our first-hand experience of visiting. We’re always upfront, and you’ll see that very transparently, especially in this guide!
We really care about ensuring you have the best experience while traveling and believe this comes from making genuine recommendations to you that we would do ourselves (and being honest when something is worth skipping).
We like to be upfront and give you honest opinions. Your trust in letting us be a part of your travel planning process, however big or small, means the world to us.
Enjoy The Real Spirit of Hoi An
Hoi An, Vietnam is one of those places that we feel benefits from a slightly different approach. If you take the iconic things to do as a starting point, like the lanterns, old town and boat rides and explore a bit further, we think you’ll see this city has a lot to offer in terms of its cultural heritage and richness (and far more than meets the eye).
Being completely honest, Hoi An wasn’t our favorite stop on our month-long Vietnam trip. However, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t love it, there were just so many other places that resonated with us slightly more.
We really noticed a sense of fatigue among visitors who planned entire days around the sights that Hoi An is well known for, but don’t take long to explore. Knowing this in advance changes a lot!
Hoi An is about people, craft, chilling out, incredible local food, and layers of heritage. When you lean into that, rather than trying to stretch out a checklist, we know you’ll see just how incredible this place is.
We hope our guide has helped show there’s so much more to see in Hoi An than the obvious! Wherever you are in planning your trip to Vietnam, we have a growing number of guides already live which focus on areas like Hanoi, Sapa, Hue and many more in our Vietnam hub.
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