All the Top Things to Do in Hoi An: A 3-Day Itinerary
No trip to Vietnam is complete without a visit to Hoi An, The City of Lanterns. Read on for everything you need to know to plan the perfect three days in this charming town.
Hoi An is a must-visit destination on any vacation to Vietnam. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it offers so much more than just a feast for the eyes. It’s got incredible food, a fascinating history, tons of incredible tours, plus both rice paddies and a beach!  It’s also world-famous for its tailoring, and you can get a custom-made, high-quality outfit – the ultimate souvenir – in under 48 hours. Based on our visit here, we’ve curated a 3 day itinerary of all the top things to do in Hoi An, but you could easily spend 5 days here without getting bored.  Of course, any vacation should be driven by personal preferences, so feel free to adjust the schedule to accommodate your interests, referencing our Honorable Mentions for replacement activities. Look out for bolded items as the can’t miss priorities!
Heading to nearby Da Nang, as well? Check out all our posts on this incredible beach city:
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Activities At A Glance
(Click each Day to jump down for more information)
Three Days in Hoi An, Vietnam
- Go on a free walking tour with GuruWalk
- Explore Ancient Town and buy a custom-tailored outfit
- Watch the lanterns light up at sunset from a rooftop bar
- Take a nighttime lantern boat ride
- Visit Hoi An’s night market
- Learn to make delicious Vietnamese coffee
- Bike through the rice paddies to Tra Que Vegetable Village
- Spend the afternoon at An Bang Beach
- Enjoy traditional Hoi An cuisine at Cao Lầu Hồng Quyên
- Sip on after-dinner drinks at Market Bar
- Savor a coffee at The Espresso Station
- Try traditional white rose dumplings at Quan Thang Ancient House
- Support a good cause at Reaching Out Teahouse
- Learn how to make Vietnamese lanterns, take a cooking class, and ride the coconut boats on an epic combo tour
Why Visit Hoi An?
Hoi An is a city steeped in history, beginning as a settlement of the Champa dynasty as far back as the 2nd century. From the 16th to 18th century, Hoi An flourished as an international trading port, which led to a unique blend of Japanese, Chinese, and French-Vietnamese culture and architecture. In the late 18th century, the river flow changed, resulting in a decline in its economic prominence and an exodus of its residents. However, this story of economic decline had huge positive effects in the long run, as it allowed the city to escape wartime destruction and the rapid modernization that followed. Thanks to this, Hoi An’s Ancient Town remains remarkably intact, and it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Tourism has thrived here ever since.
Besides its unique history, Hoi An offers a myriad of other excellent reasons to visit. It’s one of the most colorful and beautiful places we have ever visited, a picture-perfect destination nicknamed “The City of Lanterns” that feels like a living postcard. The food scene is top-tier, featuring the best banh mi we ate in Vietnam, and there are a ton of amazing immersive tours to take. It’s an easily walkable city, and within a short bicycle ride you can be sunbathing at the beach or wandering through a rice paddy. And today, it’s famous for its tailoring, where you can get a custom-fitted outfit made in under 48 hours. In short, it’s a beautiful and culture-rich destination that offers a little something for everybody, and we can’t recommend it highly enough.
When To Visit?
There are two main things to consider when planning your visit to Hoi An – the rainy season and the monthly lantern festival.
- Rainy Season – Hoi An experiences significant flooding during the rainy season between October and December. Like, flood the entire first floor of the building significant. While floods this heavy obviously don’t happen every year, even a few inches means you’ll spend your whole vacation in rubber boots. We recommend you avoid the risk altogether and plan your visit for a different time of year. For the best weather, aim for February to April.
- Monthly Lantern Festival – to really take your vacation to the next level, plan your trip to coincide with Hoi An’s monthly lantern festival. This festival is held on the 14th night of every lunar month (check dates and learn more here) and is one of the top things to do in Hoi An. Celebrated since 1998, the festival seeks to recreate what life was like in Hoi An before the modern amenities of electricity (which they’ve only had since 1991!) and tourism changed the city’s landscape. During the festival, no vehicles are allowed in the Ancient Town and all electric lights are hidden within lanterns, creating a magical experience of color and culture. Locals and tourists alike release lanterns on the river, with street food vendors and cultural performances lining the riverfront. While the lanterns of Hoi An are always amazing, visiting during the lantern festival is something really special.
Where To Stay?
Hoi An, Vietnam is a pretty small and walkable city, so your main goal is choosing a hotel as close to Hoi An’s Ancient Town as possible. This is where the majority of Hoi An’s tourist attractions are, as well as from where most tours will depart. When we visited, we stayed at Hoi An TNT Villa and highly recommend it. The rooms were lovely, with a comfortable bed, large tub, and a balcony. The property also features a beautiful pool, free breakfast, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The best part? Room rates average just $30 a night.
If you’re looking for something a bit more luxurious, try Moire Hoi An, featuring a gorgeous waterfront infinity pool (complete with a pool bar to level up those vacation vibes), spacious modern rooms, spa facilities, and a serene garden. Or, if you prefer to stay by the beach, check out the stunning CHiEM HoiAn, featuring a swimming pool, sauna, fitness center, and family-friendly amenities like bicycles, SUP, and kayak rentals. Looking for a hostel stay? Try Mad Monkey, one of the best hostels in the business.
How To Get There?
The easiest way to get to Hoi An, Vietnam is to fly into nearby Da Nang, Vietnam and then take a Grab (Southeast Asia’s number 1 ride-share app) to Hoi An. Even better, spend a few days in Da Nang first using our itinerary and travel guide! Grabs from Da Nang International Airport to Hoi An should cost approximately $15. Alternatively, you can pre-arrange a private or shared transfer from tour providers like Get Your Guide, which may save you a few bucks and make your journey a little smoother. Most hotels in Hoi An will also arrange a transfer for you.
Be Prepared - Top Travel Tips
Before we get into the itinerary, we’ve got a few top travel tips for visiting Hoi An, Vietnam:
Visa Required
Unlike many top tourist destinations, Vietnam does not provide a free visa-on-arrival for U.S. tourists. As such, you’ll need to apply for an e-Visa before arrival. You cannot enter Vietnam without an approved visa in advance, and you cannot apply for a visa from within Vietnam. (Not a U.S. citizen? See if your passport is exempt from the Vietnam visa requirement here. You may receive up to 45 days visa-free entry.)
To obtain the e-Visa, you’ll need to visit this website and complete the application. The application is simple and straightforward, and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to populate. You’ll need a photo of yourself and your passport and details of your trip, including travel dates, ports of entry and exit, and the address of where you’ll be staying. Once you submit it, it should take approximately four days to get approved, but we recommend submitting it at least two weeks before departure in case anything goes awry.
Pro tip: make sure that your full legal name, matching your passport, is input into the e-Visa application. Colby’s e-Visa did not include his middle name and he was not allowed to board our flight from Thailand to Vietnam, forcing him to procure an emergency visa at a steep cost of $300. Add that to flight rebooking fees and an unexpected hotel stay for the resulting overnight layover, and it turned out to be a very costly mistake.
Vietnam e-Visas cost $25 for single-entry and $50 for multiple-entry. They are valid for a period of up to 90 days. Visa fees are nonrefundable in case of non-acceptance, so make sure all of your details are input accurately before submitting.
Cash is King
While many hotels, restaurants, and activities accept card in Hoi An, there are still lots of vendors that only accept cash, or accept card with an added fee. Plus, all it takes is a temporary internet outage for even a card-friendly vendor to become cash-only. So, be prepared and have plenty of cash on hand. Â
Vietnam’s currency is the Vietnamese dong (VND), which trades with the USD at approximately 25,000 VND: $1. For simplicity, just remember that a 100,000 VND note is worth approximately $4. With a difference this big, don’t be surprised when you’re pulling millions out of the ATM! Note that ATM fees vary wildly here – we recommend TPBank and MB Bank for no-fee withdrawals. Avoid BIDV at all costs. And don’t forget our number one tip for cash withdrawals in foreign countries!
Pro tip: When offered an exchange rate by an ATM, you can – and should – always decline the rate displayed. This rate often includes a heavy markup on top of the market exchange rate. Declining the rate will not stop your transaction, but rather allow your personal bank to set the rate instead.
Day 1 - Experience Hoi An's Ancient Town
- 8:30-11:00 – Start your day with a free walking tour via GuruWalk – don’t forget to tip!
- 11:30-12:30 – Get excited for the best banh mi of your life at Madame Khanh – The Banh Mi Queen. We ate a lot of banh mi in Vietnam, and this one stood well above the rest. Plus, it’s cheaper than many other stands at only 35K VND (~$1.50).
Pro tip: the long line out front is for takeaway. If you’d like to eat inside (it’s air conditioned!), skip the line and walk to the front to ask the hostess for seating.
- 1:00-5:00 – Spend the afternoon strolling through Hoi An’s Ancient Town – ticket required! Day 1 is the best day to do this if you’re interested in partaking in Hoi An’s famous tailoring industry – more on this below.
- 5:30-6:30 – Head to Nữ Eatery for dinner. I know this will go against your tourist instincts, but order the fish tacos. They have a Vietnamese-style twist reminiscent of chả cá and were some of the best fish tacos we have ever eaten – I promise you won’t regret it.
- 6:30-7:30 – A little before sunset, walk to 92 Station Restaurant & Cafe for a drink. Their two rooftops are smack dab in the center of Ancient Town and the perfect place to watch the lanterns light up when the sun goes down. Bonus shout out for their kindness in noticing and protecting our camera when we forgot it there – and staying open past closing to return it to us.
- 7:45-8:15 – Once the sun has well and truly set, head to the riverfront to buy tickets for a nighttime lantern boat ride. They cost only 170K VND (~$6.50) and the experience is simply magical. We recommend you skip on buying a paper lantern to float and just enjoy the view to cut down on pollution.
- 8:30-10:00 – After your boat ride, walk across the river to explore Hoi An’s night market. It’s a relatively small market, but still a fun experience. For a little extra fun, grab a drink at Bar Horse Slut at the end of the market – across from Art Toilet – and have a laugh at the names on the walk back to your hotel.
The Details
Walking Tour
Our favorite way to start off any new city is with a walking tour. It’s the best way to get familiar with the area, learn some fascinating tidbits about the city’s history, and pique your interest on which sites or museums you would like to add to your itinerary. Â
We reserve our tours through GuruWalk, which is an app that offers free – yes, free – walking tours in over 800 cities in 100 countries (and counting!).  We took this tour and highly recommend it – our guide Khieu was friendly, informative, and funny too. On our tour, we saw many of Hoi An’s top sites, like the Japanese Covered Bridge, Há»™i Quán PhÆ°á»›c Kiến, and Quan Thang Ancient House. Make sure to tip your guide (cash only) for their services, and be ready for the 120K VND (~$5, cash only) entry ticket required for Ancient Town’s historical sites (more on this below). If this tour isn’t available during your trip, GuruWalk offers several others in Hoi An! Check out some of the options below:
Ancient Town
Hoi An’s Ancient Town is beautiful and rich in history, well worth spending a few hours exploring on your own. Full of great shopping and cute cafes all decorated with colorful lanterns, there are infinite photo ops and tempting souvenirs. There are also several other historical sites you may have missed on your walking tour that are worth a visit, like Chùa Bà Mụ. In fact, your 120K VND (~$5, cash only) ticket to Ancient Town grants you access to up to 5 of 22 heritage sites.
If you’re taking a walking tour as recommended, your guide will help you purchase your ticket at the start of your tour and you can use it throughout the rest of your visit to Hoi An. But if you’ve decided to tour Ancient Town on your own, you’ll need to pick up a ticket from one of the 11 booths scattered throughout Ancient Town (we got ours near here). Note that you are technically supposed to have this ticket just to walk through Ancient Town, but you they likely won’t ask you to show it unless you try to enter one of the ticketed sites.
Hoi An Tailoring
We can’t talk about Ancient Town though without mentioning one of the top things to do in Hoi An – purchase a custom-made outfit. Hoi An is world-famous for tailoring, with over 500 shops and 2,000 tailors in this town of only 120,000 people. With origins dating back to its historical prominence in the silk trade, the people of Hoi An have perfected the art of tailoring over generations. Now, you can get a custom-fitted shirt, dress, or suit made for you in 24 to 48 hours – all for a fraction of the price that it would cost you back home. Choose from one of the many styles on display or simply show them an item you’ve envied on Pinterest and they can turn your dream into a reality. It’s the most iconic – and functional – souvenir you can bring back from your visit to Hoi An. We recommended Maya Tailor.
Day 2 - Fuel Up and Explore
- 10:00-12:00 – Time to fuel up before an active day exploring greater Hoi An! Start your day with an immersive experience learning how to make all of Vietnam’s delicious coffee specialties. In this class, you’ll learn how to make phin (drip), white, salted, egg, and coconut coffee, plus learn about the history of coffee in Vietnam. The coffee is delicious, but be careful how much you drink – five coffee drinks is a lot on any day, but Vietnamese coffees use robusta beans, which are 2-3x stronger than the arabica beans you’re used to!
- 12:00-12:45 – Rent bicycles or borrow some from your hotel and take a leisurely 15-minute ride through the rice paddies to Tra Que Vegetable Village. If you’re lucky, you’ll even spot some water buffalos at work along the way!
- 1:00-2:00 – Stop for lunch in the village. We recommend Cafe Slow or Baby Mustard.
- 2:00-5:30 – Bike the remaining 10 minutes or so to An Bang Beach and spend a few hours soaking in the sun. An Bang is a beautiful white sand beach, and there are plenty of spots to rent a chair or buy a beverage to enjoy on the sand at very reasonable prices. You can even go parasailing to see the city from above!
- 6:30-7:30 – After biking back to your hotel – and probably grabbing a shower – walk to Cao Lầu Hồng Quyên for dinner. Here you can try one of Hoi An’s signature meals, cao lầu. It’s a unique dish featuring thick, chewier noodles, flavorful broth, char siu pork, herbs, and crunchy fried noodles on top.
- 8:00-9:00 – Finish your day with drinks at Market Bar, one of the top cocktail bars in the city. In addition to quality drinks, it offers comfy couches and riverfront views.
The Details
Tra Que Vegetable Village
A visit to Tra Que Vegetable Village is one of the more peaceful and authentic things to do in Hoi An. It’s a lush oasis steeped in 400 years of organic farming tradition. Here, they grow a variety of fresh produce that is used to cook traditional Vietnamese dishes, like basil and lemongrass, using a unique fertilizer – seaweed. The locally harvested seaweed nourishes the soil and results in exceptional-quality produce, a sustainable approach that earned Tra Que Village the designation of a national intangible cultural heritage by the Vietnamese government and the title of “Best Tourism Village 2024” by UN Tourism.
When visiting Tra Que Vegetable Village, you can take part in a variety of activities, from cooking classes to herbal footbaths to even getting hands-on in the farming process yourself! It’s the perfect way to get a taste of rural Vietnamese life without having to travel hours into the countryside. Even if you just decide to pass through, it offers a wonderful contrast to the busy streets of Hoi An, and all for an entry fee of only 35K VND (~$1.50).
Day 3 - Only in Hoi An: Unique Experiences
- 10:00-11:00 – Get your day started with a delicious coffee from The Espresso Station. If you got something tailored on Day 1, this is your time to pick that up too.
- 11:00-12:00 – Grab an early lunch at Quan Thang Ancient House. This 350-year-old house is where Hoi An’s famous white rose dumplings are made, so you can enjoy them here straight from the source.
- 12:00-1:00 – Stop by nearby Reaching Out Teahouse for a beverage or souvenir while you wait for your tour pick-up time. We highly recommend this establishment, as it is dedicated to providing jobs for people affected by Agent Orange. In fact, Reaching Out Teahouse employs around 90% of the disabled residents of Hoi An – a great cause to support with your tourism dollars.
- 1:30-6:00 – Time for today’s main event, an epic combo tour that includes lantern-making, a cooking class, and a ride on Hoi An’s iconic coconut basket boats – more on this below!
The Details
If you do any tour while in Hoi An, it should be this one. Combining three of the top things to do in Hoi An in one smooth, seamless experience, this Basket Boat with Lantern-Making & Cooking Class Tour was a blast from start to finish. After picking us up from Hoi An Ancient Town, we were first driven to a local market to shop for ingredients for the food we would be making. One of the most fascinating things I have realized after a year of traveling is just how much produce there is in the world I have never seen or heard of before! Our guide explained all the local veggies we’d be using today, and then we made the short commute to the coconut village.
Lantern-Making
Setting our groceries aside, we started with a lantern-making demonstration. We had lots of beautiful fabrics to choose from, and our guide explained the cultural significance behind each color to guide our choices. We went for red, yellow, and blue for happiness, good fortune, and peace. Once we finished making them, our guide set the lanterns aside to dry and then packaged them for us to take home.
Coconut Boat Rides
Next up was the coconut boat ride. While obviously a pretty touristy activity, it didn’t dampen the experience at all. We had SO much fun on the boats, and the best part was that it seemed like all the guides were having a blast too. Music played and rowers teased and splashed each other, and when we reached the main event, everyone clapped along enthusiastically. What’s the main event, you ask? A few of the guides don’t just paddle the coconut boats, but rather make them dance and spin around at fantastic speeds! For just 100K VND (~$4), you can hop into one of these boats and go for a wild ride – though we don’t recommend this for anyone who gets motion sickness!
Vietnamese Cooking Class
Finally, we headed back to the village for our cooking class, where we learned how to make Vietnamese chicken salad, spring rolls, bánh xèo (Vietnamese savory pancakes), and cao lầu. We’re no Michelin-starred chefs, but we always enjoy taking a local cooking class to get more in touch with the local cuisine. Thankfully, all of the food turned out great, and we enjoyed a delicious meal with the rest of the guests before heading back to Hoi An. Whether you’re traveling solo, as a couple, or a family, this tour is a hit for everyone.
Honorable Mentions
Looking for something a little different? We’ve got two more sites that didn’t make the cut, but might be up your alley:
One of the top things to do in Hoi An for local culture, the Hoi An Traditional Art Performance House is a small venue on the riverfront that presents nightly performances of Vietnamese folk music, dance, and the unique “bingo singing” (Bà i Chòi) game. It’s an immersive and affordable way to experience traditional Vietnamese art, including colorful costumes, traditional instruments, and audience participation – a great choice for those traveling with kids. Performances run nightly from around 7pm to 10pm (check the evening’s schedule in advance at the ticket booth from 10:15am to 5pm) and entry is included in your Ancient Town ticket. You can also buy standalone tickets for 40K VND (~$1.70).
Another one of the top things to do in Hoi An per our tour guide, the Museum of Folk Culture is a museum in Ancient Town that showcases around 500 historical artifacts across four themes: folk visual arts, performing arts, traditional crafts, and daily life. It offers a visual representation of how life has evolved in Hoi An over the centuries, from Champa kingdom village to international trading port and beyond. The museum is open from 7am to 9:30pm daily and you can access it with your Ancient Town ticket.
We hope this post detailing the top things to do in Hoi An helps you build your perfect Hoi An, Vietnam itinerary. We loved this city and wished we spent more time here, so make sure not to cut your visit short! Comment below what your favorite part of Hoi An was.
Loved Hoi An? Don’t worry – Central Vietnam has two other incredible cities you should visit! Don’t miss all the top sights in nearby Da Nang, a stunning and modern beach city just 30 minutes away. We’ve got everything you need to know in our post The Top Da Nang Things to Do For An Epic 3-6 Days. Then, head to historic Hue, seat of the last imperial dynasty in Vietnam. Check out our post 2-Day Itinerary: The Top Things to Do in Hue, Vietnam for all the details. We’ve also got posts on our favorite Da Nang bars, top Da Nang restaurants, and so much more in our Vietnam travel guides. We’re here to make planning your next vacation easy-breezy!
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