Destinations & ItinerariesBy Clever Tourists · Published
3 to 4 days is the right amount of time in Hoi An for most travelers: one for the Ancient Town and its lanterns, one for the Cham ruins at My Son, one for the beach or countryside, and a fourth if you are having clothes made. We spent 6 days (29 April to 5 May 2023), including a day trip to My Son, which was comfortable but more than the town needs unless you want slow beach days. Here is how the days fill up, and when 2 or 6 days makes sense.
The Ancient Town itself is compact: the car-free core of merchant houses, assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge can be walked in a morning. What takes time is everything around it. My Son is a half-day to full-day trip inland. The beach at An Bang is about 4 km from the old town. And tailoring needs a consultation, at least one fitting and a collection, spread over two to three days.
The heritage ticket is designed for this: the 120,000 VND (≈ $4.7) ticket foreign visitors are usually sold covers the old town and five sites and stays valid for up to three days. See our Hoi An Ancient Town ticket guide for what it includes.
• Day 1, the Ancient Town and a tailor consultation: buy the heritage ticket, walk the Japanese Covered Bridge and two or three old houses or assembly halls before the midday tour groups, and choose a tailor in the afternoon if you are having anything made. Stay out for dusk, when the lanterns come on along the Thu Bon River.
• Day 2, My Son and a first fitting: leave early for My Son Sanctuary, the Champa kingdom's jungle temple complex roughly an hour's drive inland, before the heat. Back in town in the afternoon for the first fitting. We made our My Son trip on our fourth day in town.
• Day 3, beach or countryside: cycle out through the rice fields to An Bang Beach, or take a basket-boat ride in the Cam Thanh water-coconut forest east of town. Return for the night market and a lantern boat (paid to the boatman, not part of the ticket).
• Day 4, final fitting and a slow morning: collect and check your clothes, use the last coupons on your ticket (the Museum of Trade Ceramics or the Fujian Assembly Hall are good picks), and eat the Hoi An dishes you missed: cao lau, white rose dumplings and banh mi.
Tailoring is the main reason to add a day. A made-to-measure garment is commonly turned around in 24 to 48 hours, but a good result needs a measurement session, a fitting and time for corrections. Order on your first day, not your last.
Our Hoi An tailor guide covers typical prices, the fabric burn test and the three-step fitting schedule. With only two days, limit yourself to simple pieces such as shirts or linen trousers.
Two days works if you skip tailoring and either My Son or the beach: one day in the Ancient Town and on the river at dusk, one for My Son. Arrive the evening before so you are in the old town early on day one.
Five or six days make sense if Hoi An is your beach stop as well (An Bang and Cua Dai are close), if you are ordering several garments, or if you want a day in Da Nang or the Marble Mountains. That is roughly how our 6 days went: unhurried, with time to come back to the old town at different hours. Our stay also took in 30 April and 1 May, Vietnam's Reunification Day and Labour Day holidays, a peak time for domestic travel, so book ahead if your dates overlap.
Hoi An has no train station or airport. The nearest airport and railway station are in Da Nang, about 30 km north. From Hue, it is 2.5 to 3.5 hours by bus through the Hai Van Tunnel or a full day over the Hai Van Pass; our Hue to Hoi An guide compares the options.
In our 4-week Vietnam route, Hoi An sat between Hue and Da Lat. For the town itself, see our Hoi An travel guide. The monthly lantern festival on the 14th day of the lunar month, when electric lights are dimmed in the old town, is worth timing a visit around if you can.
Yes, if you skip tailoring: one day for the Ancient Town and the river at dusk, and one for My Son Sanctuary or the beach.
No. Three days covers the Ancient Town, My Son and An Bang Beach, and matches the heritage ticket, which is valid for up to three days.
Allow at least three days: measurements on day one, a fitting on day two and collection on day three. Order on arrival, not on your last day.
Up to three days. The 120,000 VND (≈ $4.7) ticket usually sold to foreign visitors covers the old town and five sites, including the Japanese Covered Bridge or Quan Cong Temple.
Da Nang, about 30 km north. Hoi An has no airport or train station of its own.
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