I first visited Hoi An on a trip to Vietnam in 2005 and found a small old-world town where narrow streets were lined with gorgeous wooden shophouses and strung with colourful lanterns. Twenty years later, I arrived to find a much bigger and busier place, but fortunately much of its original charm remains, with the addition of some fabulous places to eat. Here are 10 ways to enjoy a stay in picturesque Hoi An.
1. Relax in a top-class hotel
One of the ways Hoi An has changed is the addition of more luxury hotels, both on the outskirts of the old town and on one of the nearby beaches, which are around a 15-minute drive away. As this was the end of a trip travelling around Laos and Vietnam, my friend and I wanted some relaxation, but we always prefer to be walking distance to a town. So we decided on the five-star Almanity Hotel and Spa. It’s around a 10-minute walk to the old town through some flag-strewn backstreets and narrow alleyways where you’ll see plenty of local life.
Despite being on quite a busy main road, the Almanity is an oasis inside with a huge palm-fringed swimming pool, a gorgeous spa, large rooms and a great breakfast. The only issue was that the pool wasn’t heated, and although it was very warm in Hoi An in February, it was constantly cloudy. So the water didn’t heat up and was very cold! It didn’t bother us too much as we were happy to just lie by the pool and have massages in the spa. But if it’s a dealbreaker for you and they don’t resolve it, we heard that the newer Wafaifo Resort next door has a heated pool.
2. Learn to cook Vietnamese food
For our first evening, we booked a cooking class at Hai Cafe and it was a great introduction to the amazing food that’s available in Hoi An. There are lots of cooking classes in the town, but we liked that this one was in the evening when it wasn’t as warm and what we cooked would serve as dinner. For just $20, we had a really fun time learning from the entertaining and very bossy chef! Dishes included grilled fish in banana leaves cooked on the restaurant’s huge barbecue, fresh spring rolls, and a mango salad that usually has beef, but she adapted it for us with tofu. Despite being vegetarian, I’m not usually a fan of tofu, but this was delicious. One drink and a few extra courses were included, and we could buy more drinks. A really brilliant evening!
3. Explore the town’s historic centre
After some downtime at the pool, we were ready to explore Hoi An’s beautifully preserved old town. The easiest way to visit the most famous sights is to buy a ticket from one of the yellow ticket huts. With it, you can visit five places, which we found was enough, though of course you can choose to go to more. Tan Ky House is one of the most famous sights and one that I remembered from 20 years earlier. It’s a late 18th-century shophouse that just oozes history.
I also really liked the Phuoc Kien Assembly Hall. Hoi An’s largest Chinese population came from Phuoc Kien and they took over what was then a decaying pagoda, rededicating it as a temple to Thien Haum, Goddess of the Sea. The triple-arched gateway to the complex was added in the 1970s.
The beautiful Japanese Covered Bridge is an iconic Hoi An sight that has been adopted as the town’s emblem. You can walk across it and go into the small temple that sits on it. Just west of the bridge is Phung Hung House, which has been home to the same family since the late 1700s. Upstairs in the two-storey house are great views of the tiled roofs and street below.
4. Take a boat ride to release a lantern on the river
Another iconic Hoi An sight is the lanterns. They are strung everywhere, not least because local businesses are obliged to hang them by law. And there are thousands for sale all over the town. But there are also the paper lanterns that get released every day and night on the Thu Bon River. Yes, it’s a bit touristy, it felt like a must-do in Hoi An. Plus, when you release your lantern, it carries a hope for peace, happiness and good fortune and that sounded good to me! We decided to take a boat trip to release lanterns, and it was a really fun experience, only marred by the boatman’s insistence on taking multiple (not very good) photos of us. We assumed that most of his customers wanted endless pics of themselves!
5. Have some new clothes tailor-made
Hoi An is also famous for its expert tailors who can whip up an outfit very quickly. There are countless tailor shops all over the town so it’s hard to know where to start. Our hotel guest relations team recommended going to Yaly Couture, which I’d say is at the higher end of the price bracket. Some of our fellow cooking class attendees recommended Silk Road and BeBe Tailor as they’d had clothes made at both. And there are also lots of tailor shops on Phan Chu Trinh. We walked along that street most days, going from our hotel to the old town, so we popped into a couple of stores to explore the options. Our feeling was that it would be great if you needed a suit for work or a dress for a special occasion. But for everyday wear, it was quite an expensive exercise, particularly for me as I enjoy dressmaking and can knock up a summer dress for a fraction of the price they were charging!
6. Shop until you drop
If you don’t fancy getting clothes tailored, there are plenty of shops where you can buy them ready-made. I bought a couple of silk/cotton tops and trousers for about £12 each, while my friend found a great value rain mac. My only word of caution is not to necessarily believe the salesperson when they say something can be machine-washed – my tops came out smaller! There are also lots of places to buy souvenirs, including the ubiquitous lanterns, of course. I also bought some gorgeous silver earrings at the shop inside Reaching Out Teahouse. They were handmade in the workshop at the back of the cafe.
There are also stalls on both sides of the river, which on Bach Dang lead to the fresh food section of Hoi An Market. The market hall runs up to Tran Phu, where the market’s main entrance is. Inside there are stalls where you can eat as well as buy foodstuffs and souvenirs.
7. Take a trip to My Son Sanctuary
Hoi An is well-positioned in Central Vietnam for day trips to cities like Hue and Da Nang. We’d spent time in the former on our first trip, and Da Nang’s limited sights didn’t appeal, but we were keen to see the archaeological site, My Son Sanctuary. Excavations at My Son revealed that Cham kings were buried there as early as the 4th century and the ruins that remain date from between the 7th and 13th centuries. So it’s a hugely atmospheric place. We found the easiest way to get there from Hoi An was on a small group tour, which we booked through Tripadvisor. Hotels offer tours too, but at a premium. We were collected from our hotel, and after a couple more pick-ups, it was about an hour’s drive to My Son. We had around two hours at the site, initially with a guide, and then we watched a Champa Apsara Dance being performed before having more time to explore on our own. On the way back, the last part of the journey was on a river boat before being dropped off in the old town. A great way to spend an afternoon.
8. Be entertained at the Bamboo Circus
My friend and I are always in the market for some live entertainment, so we booked tickets online for the Bamboo Circus at Hoi An’s Lune Center. It’s at the end of the small island that sits in the river across from the main old town and its riverfront is a hub of bars, restaurants and food carts. It was all a bit full on for us over there to be honest, but we scuttled passed the blaring music to get to the lovely venue, the only theatre in the country that is made of bamboo. Once inside, it was extraordinary to watch what the talented and acrobatic performers could do with bamboo sticks of all sizes. If you’ve seen Cirque du Soleil, it’s in a similar vein. Afterwards, the cast assembled outside to pose for photos with audience members. A really fun and unique Vietnamese cultural experience.
9. Eat at fabulous cafes and restaurants
I mentioned the amazing food in Hoi An at the start of the post and it really is excellent, whether you want a cheap lunch or a gourmet dinner. Our favourite lunchtime food in Vietnam was Banh Mi, a sandwich on fresh French-style bread. Hands down the best vegetarian one we had was from the Banh Mi Queen. And I’d say the non-veggie were great too, given how busy it was. We mostly got them to take away, but also ate in as there are tables on several levels.
Another favourite daytime spot was the Reaching Out Tearoom. I mentioned their shop earlier, but the tearoom itself is an absolute gem. It supports people who are deaf or hearing impaired, so after being seated, you are given a collection of wooden blocks that you can use to communicate with the staff. Then everything is served in the most beautiful way. A gorgeous, quiet place to take a break from shopping or sightseeing.
Dinner choices in Hoi An are extensive. Morning Glory is one of the better-known restaurants with several branches. We went to Morning Glory Original and ate delicious fish while watching chefs at work in an open kitchen. We had another memorable meal at Mango Rooms. Again there are a few restaurants in this small group, but a friend recommended Mango Rooms, and we weren’t disappointed with the selection of small dishes we chose. We were also very surprised to find an authentic Japanese restaurant in Hoi An. Samurai Kitchen is a small place alongside the market, and the chef’s okonomiyaki was as good as any we had in Japan.
10. Enjoy excellent value cocktails
As well as being delicious, all the meals we had in Hoi An were extremely good value and the drinks were no different. We told a guest relations lady at our hotel that we liked cocktail bars and she told us about Mezcal Cocteleria. It’s not in the main old town area, and the entrance is up some pretty dark and dodgy-looking stairs! But once inside, it’s a revelation and serves great classic cocktails as well as dozens of mezcals and tequilas. We also really liked Kang Lou Bar, which has a gorgeous interior and a small lantern-strung balcony where you can watch the world go by. But our favourite was probably The Son Bistro, which is in one of the streets that run off the river, but much quieter than the riverfront. Sitting outside sipping a £3.45 cocktail was so good we went back the next evening. We also had a glass of wine across the street at the Hoianian, which has a great selection of wines.
So, although Hoi A was a pretty different place 20 years on, it was still a lovely place to spend time during a visit to Vietnam. I hope my 10 tips help you enjoy a visit there too.
To read more posts about my trip to Vietnam and Laos, visit the Asia section of my blog.