Hoi An is a city in Central Vietnam that has become known as an up-and-coming resort town. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city’s history as a trading port is evident through its architecture and infrastructure, heavily influenced by the many nations who passed through. Nowadays, the unique city attracts local and foreign tourists alike, who are drawn to the atmosphere brought by the incredibly well-preserved Old Town area.
Accordingly, Hoi An accommodated, giving rise to a massive hub concentrated with attractions, arts, and its own local cuisine that fuelled the increasing tourist numbers. The quaint Old Town is almost a theme park in nature, offering Vietnam in a highly filtered nature, presented in a village decorated for even the biggest Instagram influencer’s needs. Still, despite the crowds and the isolation from the rest of the country, it isn’t overwhelming with that sort of Disneyland artificiality. Instead, at least for the two of us, we would describe it best as the best of Vietnam, picked and chosen and reduced into a well-maintained little resort village.
We loved it there. It was almost a theme park in nature, especially with the Old Town inaccessible to vehicles larger than a motorbike, allowing people to roam the roads freely. Despite being such a tiny city, their exposure to foreigners as a trading port also allowed them to develop their own unique dishes that we took full advantage of. With shop after shop of souvenirs ranging from textiles and clothes, to arts, crafts, and boutique chocolate, it’s truly a destination for any traveller passing through Central Vietnam.
How to get to Hoi An from Da Nang
Despite the sheer number of visitors, Hoi An does not have an airport or a train station, so one would need to go there by car. There are plenty of taxi and shuttle services that leave from Da Nang Airport, which is the closest you’ll get by flight. These can vary hugely in price, and unfortunately we can’t recommend any particular service.
Alternatively, we took a look at the prices for taking Grab (the Southeast Asian equivalent of rideshare app Uber) heading from Da Nang area, and depending on the demand for drivers, will cost starting from around ₫350,000 (~US$15). This might be an ideal option for groups of 2-4 or for people looking for a pre-determined price with a private car. Of course, it’s not guaranteed that every driver will be willing to make the 30km journey if they aren’t sure that they can secure a client to return home, but it’s an option that’s worth mentioning.
Besides that, we took a bus from Da Nang to Hoi An and back. The bus departs from Da Nang’s bus station every 20 minutes starting at 5.30am, with the final bus departing just before 6pm. This bus runs through the main Da Nang city centre, so a bus stop should be fairly accessible from most accommodations in the Da Nang area (this may not be the case so much for people staying on the beach side of Da Nang). When you board the bus, a conductor will direct you to a seat which we recommend you take without arguing, as it is a very fast-paced environment. At some point, they will approach you again to charge you for a ticket. We paid ₫20,000 (US$0.90) one way per person.
The bus, due to its enthusiastic driving, took us only about 1 hour each way. Of course, this will depend on the traffic on the day. Due to the bus’s hasty and rudimentary system of boarding and alighting passengers, and its minimal fixtures, it may not be suitable for people with suitcases or large luggage. Furthermore, the bus does not stop within the Ancient Town area, but rather on the outskirts of Hoi An with an extra 20 minute walk into the main habited area of the city. We did, however, witness several backpackers taking the bus.
Hoi An Silk Village Tour
Some people may know that silk is a huge industry in Vietnam, who produces high-quality silk. In some areas, silk is still hand-made beginning from the breeding of the silkworms up until the weaving and dyeing of the fibres. Hoi An Silk Village was once the hub of silk trade in the Quang Nam province, likely due to its proximity to the nearby Ancient Town.
The Silk Village is no longer a true village but a resort. However, it used to be home to craftsmen of silk before it became unprofitable compared to the faster and cheaper modern methods of producing silk. However, the Hoi An Silk Village is taking advantage of the growing tourism industry in Vietnam to showcase the traditional methods of production in attempts to preserve the traditional art.
Located a few minutes’ walk backtracking from the Hoi An bus stop, the Silk Village offers tours of the village to give visitors a glimpse into the complex and time-consuming process of hand-making silk and silk products. The 45-minute tour costs ₫100,000 (US$4.30) per person and includes a bottle of water and a glass of juice pressed from mulberries, whose plant is an essential part of the silk process. These tours are offered in English or in French and are held upon request. Simply walk into reception and ask for the tour.
As people who knew next to nothing about silk, this tour was very interesting and highly informative. It gave us insight into the laborious process of silk production still carried out by the Cham people, who were onsite on the day we visited. As described on their website, we learned also how to distinguish pure silk from blends. For silk aficionados, the tour may not offer new information but it is still a fascinating process to watch. After, you’re free to wander through their shop to purchase a large array of silk products.
Hoi An Silk Village Tours
28 Nguyen Tat Thanh, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Viet Nam
Mon-Sun 8am-5pm
45 minutes; ₫100,000 (US$4.30)
Silk Village website
What to Expect: Hoi An Ancient Town
The Tickets
You can distinguish the Ancient Town from the surrounding area as it’s the point where cars and motorbikes are prohibited from entering, and when the buildings become distinctly more fairytale-like in appearance.
There’s a bit of a weird system for Hoi An’s Ancient Town in which visitors need to buy tickets to enter, with money being put towards preservation of the area. One ticket (₫120,000; US$5.20) allows one person entry into 5 historic sites such as heritage buildings and museums, and entry into more will require purchasing additional tickets. These tickets are valid for 24 hours from purchase, though many use it for the duration of their stay.
While it’s technically compulsory for visitors of Ancient Town to purchase tickets, they are not checked except for upon entry into the historic sites. If you’re there simply to wander, it’s a fairly safe bet that you won’t be checked for a ticket.
Shopping for Souvenirs
As expected, a good number of shops in the Ancient Town are directed towards visitors looking for souvenirs. These can vary from stands selling your typical assortment of mass-produced magnets and keychains to boutique stores selling silk ties, to handmade handbags and accessories going as high as millions of dong, to stores selling posters and postcards designed by local artists.
Much of Hoi An, besides being full of Instagram-ready scenery and décor, is very much about wandering through the shops that showcase what you can bring home. Be prepared to spend a good portion of your day shopping. There’s such a range that you can find something for everyone.
Mass-Produced Items
Many stores will have similar products to others. As is normal for a tourist we recommend scoping out a few stores who stock the same items before sweeping in to make a purchase. Even then, it’s likely acceptable to haggle the price down further. Don’t regret a purchase by coming across the same product displayed at half the price two doors down!
Printed Clothing
Brightly-coloured prints involving flowers and fruit (namely bananas and watermelons) are a staple in Hoi An Ancient Town. Shops selling clothes with these patterns can be found every few buildings, and each print can be found sewn into a huge range of clothing items. From dresses to shirts to shorts to skirts, and even bucket hats and accessories. You can find virtually every pattern made into men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes.
You won’t find everything in one shop. Take, for instance, the banana print, arguably the most pervasive pattern in Vietnam. One store might sell dresses and men’s shirts, while another has skirts, pants, and shorts. Hunting for them is only part of the fun. Challenge yourself to purchasing entire outfits, mix-and-match, or pick a couple up to bring home to give to your friends and family. In any case, these are affordable, though admittedly not excellent quality, and a lot of fun to wear.
Silk
Silk, as mentioned, is a big industry in Vietnam and Hoi An in particular. All throughout you’ll find Hoi An dotted with stores specialising in silk products, but not all of them are as quality as they seem. One particular recurring item we saw were handmade silk ties with a huge variety of patterns which claim to be 100% silk.
One store we visited was kind enough to tell us that this is a marketing ploy; most of these are only 70% silk. As we learned in the Silk Village tour, ties with 100% silk often cannot hold its shape and its texture is not as nice as when blended with other fibres. These ties are not all that expensive – coming in a set with matching cufflinks and handkerchief, we found them as low as ₫120,000 (US$5.30) throughout Vietnam. Still, don’t be taken in by the claims, or look to pay as much as
₫300,000 (US$13) like we saw in Da Nang.
Bespoke Clothes
One of the famous services you can find in Hoi An is speedy bespoke tailoring. Several shops throughout the Ancient Town offer not only boutique wear – including suits, dresses, and formal clothes – but also tailoring services that will have simpler outfits ready in just a few short hours! Full suits may take several fittings over a couple of days, but it may be worth a try if you’re staying in the resorts nearby for a few nights.
Eating in Hoi An
With so many tourists and a booming industry, there are more than enough restaurants in Hoi An to get a good fill regardless of how long you stay. You can read our other article on Hoi An outlining everything we ate in just the 8 hours we spent there.
Generally, there is a huge range of options. We predominantly ate local cuisine at small restaurants or side streets, but with many foreign visitors there are also a good range of cafes and restaurants serving non-Vietnamese dishes. These are inevitably a little more expensive, but they do exist and are probably not outrageously priced for the western-minded.
In Short: Should You Go?
Hoi An is an excellent place for many visitors, resort-goers and backpackers alike. Despite marketing strongly to tourists the prices aren’t outrageous, which is likely why it attracts so many people to visit every year. It’s an excellent place to relax, to shop, eat, and see some sights in a very compact and safe area without needing transport to go to many places at all.
There will always be a portion of people who won’t like it, but it was one of our favourite places to visit during the entirety of our trip. Once you’ve figured out how to get there, it really is a delightful place to go.
