12 Things to Do in Hoi An: A Local’s Guide for First-Timers

I love visiting Hoi An. I’m writing this article from Da Nang now and will be riding my scooter down to Hoi An this evening. I plan to see the Hoi An Memories Show (discussed below; it was great), try a new place for cao lau, and get some egg coffee. In this guide, I’ll go over my favorite things to do in Hoi An as a long-time local.

Hoi An (as a whole) sometimes gets a bad reputation because a small part of it, the Old Town, is touristy. But there’s a lot more to Hoi An than this: the rice fields, beaches, surrounding town, architecture, locals, and overall energy. It has a perfect hum of being constantly active without being chaotic. I recommend exploring beyond the Old Town for a more wholesome perspective of Hoi An.

If you’re planning your Hoi An trip, you’ll need to know the best time to visit (March and April are great months), how to get around, and how to get a SIM card. Here’s my sample three-day Hoi An itinerary to get you started on things to do in Hoi An. If you have any questions, join my free Hoi An travel planning group on Facebook.

🎭 FYI, the two great performance shows in Hoi An are the Hoi An Memories Show and the Lune Production (Teh Dar show). I’ve covered these below, and they’re definitely worth seeing.

Choosing Where to Stay in Hoi An

On a high level, Hoi An has three distinct areas: the town/Old Town area, the beaches, and the surrounding rice fields. Each has its pros and cons, with multiple hotel choices (boutique, villas, larger properties, etc). I’ve detailed these areas and more in my separate guide to where to stay in Hoi An.

If it’s your first time visiting Hoi An, I recommend staying in or around the Old Town. It’s walkable and convenient, and you can visit the beaches and rice fields easily on a scooter, bicycle, or by hiring a Grab taxi. This is where I’d base myself.

Explore Ancient Town On Foot

I have to begin my list with the biggest reason to visit Hoi An in the first place: the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is a lot going on in this relatively small area. There are countless eateries and coffee shops, souvenir shops, the Hoi An Market, tailors, art galleries, and so on. Here’s my detailed visitor’s guide to Old Town.

All of the Old Town area is walkable. Scooters are allowed to pass through until 3 PM, when the town closes the Old Town to foot traffic only. The Old Town gets very busy from the evenings (after 4 PM) into the night. Morning or the early afternoons are the quietest times.

I took this picture at 5 PM. This is the walking bridge from Old Town to An Hoi Island. It will slowly get very busy into the night.

And here’s a video I filmed at 9:30 PM in the same area, after seeing one of the shows mentioned below.

The Old Town itself is free to visit. However, there is an entrance ticket that costs 120.000 VND, which gives you access to the heritage sites scattered around the Old Town area. The ticket also covers crossing the Japanese Covered Bridge (optional). There are small booths around some of the entrance streets to Old Town where you can buy a ticket.

Note: The ticket is not required if you only want to walk around Old Town without going inside the sites or crossing the bridge. I’ve visited Hoi An dozens of times to walk around Old Town and get coffee or lunch without needing a ticket. When I want to enter the sites or cross the bridge, I buy a ticket.

🎭 On to the two great shows!

See the Hoi An Memories Show

I initially saw the Hoi An Memories Show on a Sunday night, but was so surprised at how good it was that I saw it again the next night. The show happens at Hoi An Memories Land (here on Google Maps) and is a large-scale performance set on a 25,000-square-foot outdoor stage. It details Hoi An’s more than 400-year history and features hundreds of actors, music, dancing, and special effects.

Here’s a video I filmed of one part of the show.

The main show starts at 8 PM daily (except Tuesday!). Like I wrote in my review article above, I’m planning to see the show a third time. You can get tickets at the booths in front of the two bridges leading to Hoi An Memories Land. You can also buy tickets ahead of time on Klook or GetYourGuide.

See the Lune Production Show

The Lune Production is another great show that happens directly south of Old Town on An Hoi Island (here on Google Maps). I recently saw their Teh Dar show, which is a mixture of a bamboo circus and acrobatics. This is a very well-organized show, with helpful staff everywhere.

Unlike the Hoi An Memories Show, the Lune Production is a fully indoor show inside a small theater (with great air conditioning). It’s also a much more intimate experience, and you get assigned seats here, unlike the Hoi An Memories Show, where it’s first-come, first-served.

The tickets to Lune are on the expensive side. Tickets are broken up into three seating zones: wow!, ooh!, and aah! The wow! tickets are 1.600.000 VND, the ooh! are 1.150.000 VND, and the aah! are 700.000 VND. The seating is curved, so the main benefit of the expensive tickets is that they’re in the middle.

In my opinion, the wow! (1.600.000 VND) ticket is not necessary at all to enjoy the show. I bought the ooh! (1.150.000 VND) ticket and sat right in the middle. Like I said, the theater is small and intimate, so there isn’t really a bad seat.

Important: Children under 5 are not allowed in the show.

The show starts at 6 PM. I walked to the Lune Production Center at about 5:15 PM and purchased my ticket there directly (very easy with helpful staff). You can also buy them on their website ahead of time or on sites like Klook and GetYourGuide.

You are not allowed to take any pictures or videos during the show. But after the show, the performers gather outside and take pictures with show guests. I would see this show again, too.

Klook.com

Swim or Lounge at An Bang Beach

An Bang Beach is the most popular and best beach in Hoi An. The beachfront area is relatively small, but it’s packed with places to eat and numerous boutique hotels and villas. If you’re after a low-key beach vacation, this is a great place to stay. See the CHiEM HoiAn (Agoda / Booking).

The beach is free for swimming, with lifeguards on duty, and the water is usually pretty calm. But you’ll need to pay to rent a sun lounger. These cost anywhere from 50.000 VND to 100.000 VND for the whole day. There are certain groups of chairs where you can get them for free if you buy food/drinks at a nearby restaurant. One such place is the Garden Sea.

Check Out the Rice Fields (My Favorite)

The rice fields surrounding Hoi An are some of my favorite things about the area. I’ll sometimes spend an hour or two riding on the various tiny roads that cut through them. I think I have hundreds of pictures and videos from inside or around the rice fields. You can see more on my YouTube page.

You don’t need a scooter to visit the rice fields. Depending on where you’re staying, you can access some of them on foot or by bicycle. The Hoi An Merrily (Agoda / Booking) is a good boutique choice on the edge of the fields, north of Old Town. The Reu Hoi An (Agoda / Booking) is a unique hotel inside the rice fields north of Old Town.

Riding bicycles is very common throughout Hoi An, and most decent hotels provide them for free to guests or can arrange rentals for you. If you’re in Old Town and want to visit An Bang Beach, you can do so by cutting through the rice fields on Hai Ba Trung Street, which is just west of the two hotels above.

Take a Bicycle Tour Around Hoi An

You can visit the rice fields on your own, or you can go on a tour. There are several bicycle tour companies in Hoi An. The one that I recommend, and I’m not affiliated with in any way, is Heaven & Earth Bicycle Tours. They are located here on An Hoi Island, south of Old Town.

I was at the shop yesterday talking with the owner, Pascal, who’s from France. They have several different bike tours, including multi-day tours. The most popular is their Traditional Countryside tour, which totals 9 km (5.5 miles). There are two departure options: morning (8:30 AM) and afternoon (1 PM). The morning tour returns at 3 PM and the afternoon tour at 6 PM.

When I was there, a tour guide returned at 6 PM with a family of four who had just done the countryside tour. They offer English and French-speaking guides.

Heaven & Earth also has cooking classes. Some options combine the cooking class with a bicycle tour and a visit to Hoi An Market. You’ll then bike out into the countryside to a family’s village and learn how to cook several Vietnamese dishes. They do have vegetarian options.

Eat Cao Lau (Hoi An’s Local Dish)

Cao lau is a Vietnamese dish that originated in Hoi An. It has pork, noodles, lettuce, sometimes other greens, and herbs. In my experience, cao lau is served and tastes a bit different from one shop to the next. This is because with a lot of places making cao lau in Hoi An, it’s based on long-time family recipes. Think of multiple Italian grandmas making delicious lasagna.

A bowl of cao lau can cost anywhere from 25.000 VND to 60.000 VND, depending on where you’re eating it. The street-side vendors specializing in cao lau will have the lower prices. In a restaurant, it’ll be on the higher side. There’s good cao lau in both types of places, as the recipes are usually honed from years of family cooking, regardless of where it’s being sold.

Savor Vietnam’s Specialty Coffees

In nearly every Vietnam travel article I write, I talk about coffee (Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world). If you’re visiting Da Nang, try the coffee. If you’re visiting Ho Chi Minh City, try the coffee. It’s no different when you’re in Hoi An — try the coffee!

You’ll want to try hot egg coffee, salted coffee, and coconut coffee. But if you had to pick one to start, choose the egg coffee and go from there. I’ve had coffee all over Hoi An, and I’m still stumbling upon new places. It’s hard to keep up with the new and existing number of cafes and restaurants in Hoi An!

These specialty coffees will cost anywhere from 40.000 VND to 70.000 VND, depending on the shop and location.

For egg coffee, one of my go-to places in Hoi An (and in HCMC) is Little HaNoi Egg Coffee (located here in Hoi An). Their egg coffee costs 40.000 VND. They also serve a good selection of brunch-related food items. This shop is indoors and in a very convenient location in Old Town.

Half-Day Trip to My Son Sanctuary

The My Son Sanctuary is one of eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Vietnam and is a great half-day trip from Hoi An (or Da Nang). It takes about one hour to get to the sanctuary from Hoi An Old Town.

You can visit the sanctuary on your own, which is very easy by using the Grab app to book a taxi. Plan to spend around two hours inside, and once you’re done, you can book another Grab taxi back. It’s a popular attraction, and there are always taxis outside the main gates. Another option is to go as part of a tour: this early morning tour is a good choice.

Make a Full-Day Trip to Da Nang

Da Nang is about 40 minutes away from Hoi An. Like the My Son Sanctuary, it’s a worthwhile day trip from Hoi An. I would actually say that visiting Da Nang is more of a “required” thing compared to visiting My Son Sanctuary.

Depending on how long you’re in Hoi An, you can make multiple trips to Da Nang, or you can visit just once or twice. The Marble Mountains are just south of Da Nang’s main area, and this is a good morning activity before the heat. A bit north of here is My Khe Beach. Then, even further north along the coast is Lady Buddha and the Linh Ung Pagoda. You’ll want to stop off and see the Dragon Bridge at some point, too, but this is a quick visit.

The Dragon Bridge breathes fire and water every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 9 PM, and it lasts about 10 to 15 minutes. I wouldn’t necessarily make the trip from Hoi An to Da Nang just for this, but if you’re in the area already, then it’s worth seeing.

If you wanted, you could do all of these: the Marble Mountains, My Khe Beach, Lady Buddha, and the Dragon Bridge, and be done by the early evening. Start at the Marble Mountains, and plan to spend around two hours there. Here’s my sample one-day Da Nang itinerary, and this article covers more things to do in Da Nang.

Rent a Scooter and Explore Hoi An

Riding a scooter has consistently been one of my favorite things to do in Vietnam since coming in 2018. Riding bicycles is very popular in and around Hoi An, but you can see a lot more by riding a scooter. Don’t feel pressured to rent and ride, though; this is more of a bonus activity if you’re comfortable and up to it. You can see a lot of similar areas (rice fields, beaches, rivers, Old Town, and elsewhere in Hoi An) by riding a bicycle, too.

A good rental company will provide a well-maintained scooter, with helmets, and offer drop-off and pick-up at your hotel. If you’re just planning to cruise around Hoi An (or even make the trip up to Da Nang), then a 50cc or up to 125cc bike is perfect. Don’t be afraid to visit the rental shop before committing to check out some bikes. For rental costs, expect to pay between 125.000 VND and 300.000 VND per day.

For rental companies in Hoi An, this is a good one (located here). And here’s another option (located here). You can contact the companies through WhatsApp or Zalo (a popular chat app in Vietnam). Read about more apps for traveling in Vietnam here.

My advice is to start with something simple, like a 50cc, and then upgrade only if you need to. At the time of writing, you don’t need a license to ride a 50cc scooter. Double-check with whichever rental company you choose!

Visit the Thanh Ha Pottery Village

The Thanh Ha Pottery Village is located here, west of Hoi An Old Town. This isn’t an area of Hoi An that you’d wander to naturally, so many first-timers to Hoi An don’t even know this exists. The pottery village, specifically making your own pottery, would be a fun activity for families with kids.

The pottery village encompasses several streets, and tickets cost 35.000 VND. With this ticket, you’ll get a small free gift (your choice of handmade clay whistles) from one of a few different shops. I visited recently and picked a dragon whistle from a shop along the river. There’s also the pottery museum, which is separate and costs 50.000 VND per ticket.

If you want to make your own pottery to bring home, you can do so at any of the shops inside the pottery village — I visited the My Linh shop, which is owned by a very friendly family.

This is an extra charge and will depend on which shop you choose and what kind of pottery you make. You could make something small and simple, or make something with paint and enamel. In general, making your own pottery starts at around 50.000 VND, but will vary by shop. Most of the owners are lovely, and they’ll guide you through the process.