10 Things You Should Do In Hoi An

Dropping flower lights in Hoi An

On the 14th day of the lunar month every month, Hoi An will hold a full moon festival, and at that time there will also appear a “flower lights festival on the Hoai River”. On this day, Hoi An was extremely crowded, the flower lights-dropping activity also took place more bustling than usual. Thousands of lighted lanterns are dropped all over the place around the Hoai River, from the bridge, along the river, on the boats … a beautiful spectacle.

If you go with family and friends or you can invite more people to pair a boat, buy one (a few) lighted lanterns (10,000vnd / piece), bring it out in the middle of the river. Dropping a light makes a lot of sense because for every light we drop, is to drop a wish for ourselves or our family.

Walking around Ancient Town

A very simple experience, visitors just need to step out and watch the old houses, the bright lantern streets at night. Motorbike-banned streets should be quiet and free of dust. Only the ringing bell of a bike is asking for the way or hurried footsteps of visitors.

You will feel like you are lost in the party of the light, a picture combining the calm of ancient architecture with the image of the countryside and the bustle of modern life. Perhaps the most beautiful are still the banks of the Hoai River, where light streaks of lights sparkle on the water.

Swimming at the beach and enjoying delicious seafood

Take a whole day to relax on white sand beaches, clear blue water like Cua Dai, Bai Bang … and should go by bike. After you have rolled your legs slowly under the canopy of coconut, you are free to wave the area in the cool water waves at a coastal resort. Do not worry about the price when you step into the beachfront restaurants because here they serve customers wholeheartedly thoughtful, and affordable.

In the afternoon, when bathing and changing new clothes, come to the coastal seafood shops in Cua Dai, enjoy all the delicious and cheap dishes such as shrimp, crab, squid, etc.

Tailor shop – Make clothes immediately

Hoi An has a lot of attractive things for domestic and foreign customers, one of which is the shops that sew clothing, shirts, shoes, bags, sandals, … taken right in the day. In Hoi An, tailor shops are numerous on every street. If you like a dress that doesn’t fit or like a different color, you can order it from the shop

After only about 4 hours, visitors were able to receive the item that they just ordered. The fashion style in Hoi An is extremely unique, trendy and the price only ranges from 15 – 100 USD (equivalent to 350,000 – 2.2 million VND).

Cycling around the street

The weather in Hoi An is very pleasant in the early morning and afternoon, not too sunny and the wind is cool. With a rented bicycle costing VND 25,000/day, you can ride around the small streets in the old town, wander along the Thu Bon River, follow the farmers to go to Tra Que Vegetable Village and come to Cua Dai beach or Bai Bang beach. Another interesting way to cycle is the immense fields, enjoying the fragrance of rice in the wind.

Enjoy the delicious specialties

Ba Buoi and Ba Minh chicken rice on Phan Chu Trinh street, Cao Lau, Quang noodles in Hoi An market, barbecue stuffed pancakes on the sidewalks near Cau Pagoda, white rose cakes, Phượng bread, Mót Tea … are famous dishes not to be missed. In addition to the familiar dishes, enjoy the duck porridge, delicious roasted duck Cau Mong.

Spend only about 10 USD and you will be a full stomach and satisfy your eating soul.

Visit My Son Sanctuary

Located about 46 km from Hoi An city, in Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province, My Son Sanctuary appears with an architectural complex of many Champa temples and extremely unique architecture. Forgotten for a long time up to centuries, it was not until 1885 that this place was discovered and in 1999 it was selected by UNESCO as a world heritage as the only evidence of Asia civilization has disappeared. If you are a traveller who likes to explore and learn about ancient culture, this is a place worth exploring. You can rent a motorbike yourself to come here. In case you want to be more safe, you can book Tour My Son Sunrise or Sunset. You can also book a private car for flexible departure and return times.

Take a trip to Cham Island

Cham Island – Cu Lao Cham is the journey to discover the most beautiful island of Hoi An – Quang Nam, where there are many famous landscapes such as Cu Lao Cham Beach, snorkeling, walking in the sea, Hai Tang Pagoda, 200 years Old Well, Bai Xep, Bai Ong, Bai Chong, Bai Huong … with long white sand beaches and blue sea. You can plan the trip on your own or book a group tour with travel agencies. Cham Island will surely help you dispel the heat of the summer day

Join in a local cooking class

Culinary is an indispensable part when you explore a city or tourist destination. In Hoi An, there are many classes on how to cook traditional local food. You can have chance to learn how to cook fried spring rolls, spring onion rolls, beef noodle, crispy Vietnamese pancakes, etc as well as extra services like foot massage or farm work.  You can ask your friends, acquaintances or surf reviews on Internet before choosing a class that is right for you.

Watch Hoi An Impression show

Hoi An Impression Show is a large-scale show, an outdoor stage with a capacity of 3300 spectators. The stage setting combines mountains and rivers, the stage length of up to 1 km, using more than 500 actors. The performance praises the Vietnamese traditional ao dai as the main language, using modern stage staging techniques to create specific contexts, state-of-the-art lighting technology and sound effects subtle bar to retell the story of Hoi An more than four centuries ago with its bustle and grace.

With the fare from 300,000vnd for children and 600,000vnd for adult, this epic show will amaze you a lot.

Visiting the ancient houses

The ancient houses are an invaluable heritage that Hoi An preserved after the war, the speed of urbanization and the destruction from nature.

But through many incidents, the old houses remain intact as before. In particular, Tan Ky ancient house is a place known by many visitors. This is the first house to be recognized as a national monument in Hoi An and is the place that has welcomed many heads of state at home and abroad.

Besides Tan Ky, Hoi An also has the ancient houses of Phung Hung, Quan Thang … or the Cantonese and Fujian clubs … bearing Chinese architecture, built by Chinese merchants to remember their homeland.

Spend Half Day Visiting Marble Mountain and Linh Ung Pagoda

Marble Mountains is a tourist destination loved by a lot of tourists and chosen as a stopover when coming to Hoi An – Da Nang. With the fanciful and poetic space, temples and caves, trees, waves … all create the attraction for the Marble Mountains that once you come you will never forget.

Linh Ung Pagoda, also known as Linh Ung Tu, is located on Bai But Son Tra Peninsula, (in Son Tra District, Da Nang) 10km northeast of the city center. Linh Ung Pagoda was built from July 2014 with an area of up to 20 hectares and is located at an altitude of 693m above sea level. This temple is located in the middle of Son Tra Mountain, shaped like a turtle, standing here you will easily admire the beauty of the clear blue sky and enjoy the fresh air of the sea breeze.

You can hire a motorbike, book taxi or book group tour to do this half day trip. But the most convenient way is booking a private car.

Take Coconut Boat Trip

Cam Thanh Water Coconut Village is located in Cam Thanh commune, Hoi An city, near Cua Dai bridge. The reason for this name because of the old days, this forest had about 7 acres of coconut . So far, the forest has grown to more than 100 hectares but it still retains the name Bay Mau Coconut Forest because it is so familiar and dear to Hoi An residents and tourists.

To travel the Bay Mau Coconut Forest, you should book group tours or book a private car. Entrance fee is 30,000vnd / 1pax. Coming here, you will be sitting on a basket boat, enjoying the feeling of relaxation and peace while following the river road with 2 sides full of coconut, which you only often see in Western provinces in South of Vietnam