How to Get Around Hoi An for First-Time Visitors

Getting around Hoi An is pretty straightforward. Walking and biking are popular and easy in the Old Town area. You can also rent a scooter for the most freedom. I’ve been riding my scooter around Hoi An for years. Electric golf carts have popped up recently to take people around town. The Grab app is great, too. I cover all of these options below.

To get to Hoi An, you’ll need to fly into Da Nang International Airport (DAD) and then take a Grab taxi or pre-book an airport transfer. There are public buses and regular, metered taxis, but I always use the Grab app because it’s easy, convenient, and the prices are shown upfront.

If you’re in trip-planning mode, see the best time to visit Hoi An or Da Nang. These guides cover things to do and where to stay in Hoi An. Here’s how to get your Vietnam eSIM or SIM card.

Walking Around Hoi An

Hoi An Old Town is one of nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Vietnam. If you’re planning a visit to Hoi An, I assume you’ll want to see the Old Town.

The entire Old Town area is very walkable. If you want to explore Old Town on foot for a few days, then staying at a boutique hotel in the area, like the Hoian Central (see on Agoda / Booking), is a great choice. This is one of the few hotels in Hoi An that’s this close to Old Town.

Scooters zip through the area throughout the day. These are mostly locals. But by 3 PM, they close off the Old Town area to pedestrian traffic only. It starts to get very busy from here into the night.

If you want to visit An Bang Beach, Cua Dai Beach, or the rice fields from Old Town, you’ll want to use the Grab app or rent a bicycle (or scooter). Many hotels in Hoi An offer free bikes to guests. But if you get stuck with a rusty clunker or want something nicer, renting from a nearby shop is easy and cheap. I’ve made some recommendations below.

Using the Grab App

One of the first things I always tell first-time Vietnam travelers is to download and make heavy use of the Grab app. It’s the ride-hailing and food delivery app in Vietnam. It’s super convenient, easy to use, and you can pay entirely in cash or add one of your bank cards. You can download it here.

Within the app, you can book scooter taxis (GrabBike), car taxis (GrabTaxi), private car services (GrabCar), food delivery (GrabFood), order groceries, and more. You can read my guide on how to use the Grab app.

This article covers my recommended apps for traveling in Vietnam.

Booking a GrabBike (Scooter Taxi)

Ordering a scooter taxi through the Grab app is one of the more popular ways to get around Hoi An. Plus, it’s very cost-effective.

GrabBike drivers provide helmets. Once aboard, if you’re unsure where to put your hands because you don’t want to hold onto your driver’s belly, reach behind and use the seat’s rear structure as handles. Then, hold on! You’ll notice over time that most locals don’t hold on at all.

You can pay with cash or put your credit/debit card in the Grab app and go cashless. This is what I do. Tips for the driver are not necessary. But adding a couple more bucks is easy in the app if you do want to tip.

As you can see from my screenshots above, a GrabBike taxi ride from Hoi An Old Town to An Bang Beach (a popular trip) will cost 28.000 VND. This is a “longer” trip, so trips within Old Town will be even less.

Booking a GrabCar or GrabTaxi

In addition to offering scooter taxis, Grab offers the option to order a private car (GrabCar) or a taxi (GrabTaxi). I use this when flying into Da Nang International Airport (DAD) and needing to get into the city or down to Hoi An. Otherwise, you’ll be bombarded by random drivers offering you their services when you exit the airport arrivals area.

The trip from the Da Nang Airport to Old Town takes about 40 minutes and can cost over 300.000 VND in the Grab app. This is a fair price. You can also pre-book an airport transfer from a site like Klook. This is a good way of getting from Da Nang to Hoi An if you want to make your plans ahead of time.

Grab offers a few different car options and sizes. You can use any of these to get around Hoi An or to and from the airport.

If you’re in Hoi An and plan to visit some attractions outside the main area, like My Son Sanctuary, it’s very easy to order a Grab taxi. Trips from Hoi An to Da Nang (to see Lady Buddha or the Marble Mountains, or other attractions) are very common. Same with a trip from Hoi An to Ba Na Hills.

Grab drivers run these routes daily. You’ll have no issue ordering a taxi to visit somewhere, then ordering another one for the trip back to Hoi An when you’re finished. It’s a simple drive between Da Nang and Hoi An, just along one or two main roads.

Electric Carts in Hoi An

Over the last couple of years, electric cars (big golf carts) started to pop up around Hoi An. There are a lot of them zipping all over the Old Town area, and outside of town in the rice fields and near the beaches.

One of the companies whose vehicles I’ve seen a lot of lately is HoiAnGO. Some of the nicer hotels in Hoi An have these to chauffeur guests around Old Town or to and from Hoi An’s beaches.

Renting Bicycles

Besides being very walkable, Hoi An is very bikeable. Many hotels have free bikes for guests. One of my favorite hotels in Hoi An is the La Siesta (see on Agoda / Booking), which provides complimentary bikes and shuttles. The quality of bike rentals will vary from hotel to hotel. However, the hotel’s staff can arrange bicycle or scooter rentals for you, too. Ask the front desk.

You can ride from your hotel around the small streets of Old Town and elsewhere in Hoi An. A popular trip is riding from Old Town to the beach (An Bang or Cua Dai) through the rice fields, which can take 20 to 30 minutes — longer if you take your time.

I filmed this video on my scooter in the middle of some of Hoi An’s rice fields. Near the end, you’ll see some travelers ride by on bicycles.

You’ll want to take your time to admire the rice fields between Old Town and the beach. You can also ride out to different rice fields on a separate trip or on a bike tour. In the photo below, I’m in the Cam Thanh Rice Fields here.

For bike tours around Hoi An, check out Heaven & Earth Bicycle Tours on An Hoi Island. Here is their website.

For bike rentals from shops in town, prices will vary from around 100.000 VND to 300.000 VND per day, depending on how long you plan to rent (a few hours, half day, or full day) and the model of the bike.

Anh Khoa in Old Town rents bicycles and scooters. Here is their website. You can contact them on WhatsApp or their Facebook Page. Also, try Bee Bike. Here is Bee Bike’s website.

Renting a Scooter

Riding a scooter has long been my favorite way to get around in Vietnam. I’ve spent hundreds of hours exploring Hoi An and nearby Da Nang on a scooter. If you’re comfortable riding, you’ll be able to cover a lot more ground and see a lot more on a shorter trip to Hoi An or Da Nang.

You’ll be able to visit more beaches, like My Khe Beach in Da Nang, the rice fields, My Son Sanctuary, and ride up to Da Nang to the Marble Mountains and Lady Buddha on the Son Tra Peninsula. You can do all this using the Grab app, too, but you’ll have far more freedom on a scooter. Here are more things to do in Da Nang.

Renting a scooter for a day can cost anywhere from 100.000 to 300.000 VND, give or take, depending on the bike. A good starter bike is a Honda Air Blade 125cc. There are smaller bikes with 50cc and 110cc, too. If you’re on the taller side, you’ll want something with more legroom, like a Honda PCX.

If you want to rent a scooter in Hoi An, check out Anh Khoa in Old Town (I mentioned them above in the bicycle section) or Hoi An Bike Rental. Here is their website. There are a lot of other rental companies around Hoi An, but I’d start with these. You can also ask your hotel for recommendations.