Hoi An: a love letter to lanterns, food and slow days by the sea

Hoi An

I loved Hoi An – the warm rice-terrace air, lantern-lit evenings on the Thu Bôn River, and the reassuring hum of small shops and scooters. We spent three glorious days there (staying at the Bel Marina Hoi An Resort – which was perfect for us: huge pool, smiley staff and a brilliant location for both Old Town and the beaches), and I’m still brimming with things to recommend. Below is everything I’d tell a friend: the best things to do, where to eat and drink, the beaches, day trips (including a quick note about Ba Na Hills and the cable cars even though we didn’t go), plus hotel picks for all budgets and a ready-made, 3-day itinerary.

The must-do list (short and sweet)

• Get lost in Hoi An Ancient Town at dawn and after dusk (lanterns on the river are magic).

• Eat your way through cao lầu, white-rose dumplings and com ga, plus at least one banh mi.

• Take a cooking class or a food tour (they’re fun and practical).

• Bike the rice paddies and villages; Tra Que vegetable village is a classic.

• Spend a lazy afternoon at An Bang Beach (perfect for cocktails and long reads).

• Take a day trip to My Son Sanctuary or the Cham Islands for snorkeling.

• Watch the sunset from the bridge or take a small boat on the Thu Bôn River with floating lanterns in the evening.

Beaches – where to go and what to expect

An Bang Beach is the local favourite: long stretches of sand, comfortable beach cafés and a relaxed vibe. It’s a very short ride from the Ancient Town (roughly 10–15 minutes by bike or taxi) and ideal for swimming, sunbathing and sunset cocktails. The Bel Marina hotel has a free shuttle service and a beach club on An Bang beach and we used these facilities for one day during our visit. The beach club is called The Deck House and has a beautiful veranda for food and then loungers and umbrellas on the beach too.

Cua Dai Beach has had a tricky time with erosion in recent years, but restoration works have brought it back to life and local beachfront businesses are reopening – it’s still a wide, lovely beach for a stroll or a quieter swim than An Bang. Recent restoration efforts have restored kilometres of coastline around Hoi An.

Tip: if you’re craving a beachfront luxury day, many of the high-end resorts along the coast will let non-guests use day-beds or book spa treatments – worth considering if you want an extra pamper day. We booked a facial and massage for a total of 2 hours at our hotel and it cost around $17 per person! Such good value and amazing experiences.

Food: my favourites (where we ate – and loved)

Hoi An is a food-lover’s dream. Here are the places that stuck with me:

• Morning Glory – a classic for first-time visitors who want beautifully prepared regional dishes (try the cao lầu and white-rose dumplings). It’s tourist-friendly but for good reason: consistently great, well-presented Central Vietnamese cooking.
• Masa Taqueria – Great Mexican tacos and tequila! We had too many summer rolls and fancied another cuisine; this taco restaurant hit the spot. There’s a great bar above too, Mezcal Cocteleria.
• Banh Mi Phuong – if you want the banh mi that gets people out of bed for, this is the one. Street food staples like this are part of the Hoi An ritual.
• Ancient Remedy Dim Sum Tea House – we ate here one night as they had a live jazz musician playing the saxophone! We sat on the road side eating summer rolls and a coconut curry, bliss!
• Grandma Kitchen – Well reviewed on Tripadvisor! Really great food and great ambience. We loved our meal here and chose classic Vietnamese dishes.

Street food and night-market stalls also deserve their own category — grab a stool, try a few dumplings, and don’t be shy about joining locals.

Bars & nightlife — loud and memorable

Hoi An is not a clubbing city, but it does have great bars for cocktails, live music and sunset drinks. A few that we enjoyed hearing about (and passing by) include rooftop and riverfront spots where the vibes are relaxed and the cocktails are creative: FiEELd Rooftop Bar, Mê Hoi An Rooftop, The Deck and Market Bar. If you love mezcal and bold cocktails, check out small speakeasies and mezcal bars that pop up around the town.

The main bridge in Hoi An is constantly packed with tourists and it is difficult to move at times. As well as that, there are bar and club touts at either end of the bridge, trying to lure tourists in with promises of free or discounted drinks. They are persistent! We managed to avoid them either by ignoring them completely or saying ‘no, thank you’ approximately 20 times until they stop following you down the street. The night time scene in Hoi An is not for the faint hearted, it is very similar to the bar streets in Greece or Spain (having been on girls drinking holidays there in the past!).

We did go into some of the more wild bars, including ‘Mr Bean’ bar. This bar is an absolutely dive and should probably be avoided! It was a classic ‘Brits abroad’ party bar; great if you are into that kind of thing. Same goes for Tiger bar. Both of these have lots of touts around the bridge, so you know they are going to be bad!

Day trips that work (easy to book from Hoi An)

• My Son Sanctuary (UNESCO) – a 1–1.5 hour drive; the Cham temple complex is atmospheric, especially in softer morning light. Combine with a visit to a local village for context.
• Cham Islands (Cù Lao Chàm) – boat trip + snorkeling; fantastic underwater life and a nice break from the mainland.
• Marble Mountains & Da Nang – a quick trip if you want caves, views and a city escape for the afternoon.
• Tra Que village and cooking classes – bike out, learn about local vegetables and join a cooking session; great half-day option.

Each of these can be booked through hotel desks, local tour operators, or online in advance.

Ba Na Hills — the cable car and costs (we didn’t end up going here but here’s the scoop)

We didn’t make the trip to Ba Na Hills (partly because it’s a long day and partly because the crowds and cable car lines can be a lot), but since it is probably the most popular day trip in Hoi An: Ba Na Hills, known for the Golden Bridge and its mountain cable cars, runs ticketed entry that usually includes the cable car. Official 2025 pricing lists show adult cable-car-only tickets and combo options (cable car + buffet, etc.), with roughly 900,000–1,150,000 VND for adults depending on the bundle and promotions; Sun World (the operator) publishes updated price lists each year so check their site if you decide to go. It’s a spectacular photo stop, but be aware it can be crowded and weather-dependent (cloud and rain can close the top).

The reason we chose not to go was because all of the day tours are by coach and we didn’t want to go and be tied to the confines of an organised tour. We didn’t know if we would enjoy Sun World itself, it is a fantasy theme park that has echoes of Disney world and this isn’t somewhere that all our group would enjoy. The cable car journeys seemed epic and that is the main part of the trip that we were looking forward to, as well as the spectacular views on the Golden Bridge. However, the weather during our trip could sometimes be overcast and we researched that the views on the bridge could be cloudy and misty in poor conditions. Add to the fact that it might be windy on the cable cars, and with no views on those, and we decided that we would give this trip a miss!

If we were to do it, we would have organised a taxi to Sun World and Ba Na Hills via Grab or Booking.com taxis. This would have given us the flexibility to enjoy the day and leave whenever we wanted. The organised tour bus trips took between 8 – 10 hours with drop off to hotels.

Hotel recommendations for Hoi An (with potential costs)

We stayed in the Bel Marina Hoi An Resort and absolutely loved it. It was walkable to the night markets and the to the main bridge and general main area of Hoi An. We enjoyed walking through the night market each night and the buzz of the vendors and buyers.

We had breakfast at the Bel Marina included and there were two swimming pools that we used most days. The best one was the rooftop pool, which was general quiet and child free. It had amazing views of the rivers and hills; a really beautiful spot to relax and unwind in the sun!

Bel Marina Hotel – absolutely perfect for our stay: a large pool (and swim-up bar vibes), friendly staff, very clean rooms, and close enough to Old Town to make walking easy. It felt like a smart mid-to-upper mid choice for comfort without splurging on the big resorts. Typical rates for Bel Marina vary with season, but it’s commonly priced in the mid-range bracket.

Here are some potential options of other hotels per budget with typical nightly ranges (rates fluctuate with season; these were relevant in August 2025).

Luxury

• Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai – absolute beachfront, private villas and the kind of service that makes you want to stay an extra week. Expect top-tier pricing (seasonal, but often $400–$1,000+ per night depending on villa choice).
• Anantara Hoi An Resort – riverside luxury, colonial charm and great spa options; good “luxury but not stratospheric” pick (we saw rates around $200–$350 per night).

Mid-range (great value & comfort)

• La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa – stylish, close to Ancient Town and with great facilities; a favourite among couples and families; expect $80–$180 per night depending on room and season.

Budget / Backpacker

• Small guesthouses and family-run hotels around the town can be excellent – clean rooms, helpful staff, and prices often $15–$50 per night. Hoi An can be extraordinarily good value if you choose one of the well-reviewed guesthouses.

Practical tips & money things

• The Ancient Town has an entry-ticket system for some historical houses and attractions — keep small change for the entrance fees.

• Hoi An is wallet-friendly: street meals and beer can be incredibly cheap, while riverside restaurants and hotels scale upward.

• Bargain politely in markets but be fair – tailors and artisans rely on tourism.

• Bring a refillable water bottle and sun protection for daytime exploring.

• If you plan to take an early-morning or late-night transfer to/from Da Nang airport, hotels can usually arrange it for a reasonable fee. We had all our transfers booked in advance via Booking.com taxis. They were amazing and sent an email and a Whatsapp message the day before the transfer. All cars arrived exactly on time and all the payments were already sorted up front. This was great as there was no haggling or issues with the drivers with payment. We had taxis booked to and from all airports in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand all sorted via Booking.com during the planning process, months in advance. They all worked perfectly.
  
• Another option for transport is Grab, we used this for all our smaller trips across all countries that we visited. Exactly the same as Uber but generally cheaper.

Suggested 3 Day Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival & Ancient Town

• Morning: arrive, settle into Bel Marina (pool time if you’re tired).
• Afternoon: bike into Ancient Town, explore the Japanese Covered Bridge, old merchant houses and the riverside. Snack on white-rose dumplings and a banh mi for a late lunch.
• Evening: riverfront dinner at Mango Mango or Morning Glory and then wander the night market; stop for lantern photos and maybe a small boat ride if you want a quieter river view.

Day 2 – Beach & Cooking

• Morning: early ride to An Bang Beach for coffee and a swim (we loved lounging at a beachfront café)
• Midday: return for a Tra Que village visit and a cooking class (you’ll learn to make classic Hoi An dishes and then eat them).
• Evening: cocktails at a rooftop bar (FiEELd or The Deck) and a late river walk – the lanterns look unreal after dark.

Day 3 – Day trip choices

• Option A: My Son Sanctuary in the morning, return for a relaxed afternoon and a final Hoi An dinner.
• Option B: Cham Islands boat trip for snorkeling and beach time (longer day but worth it if you want sea life).
• Wrap up with souvenir shopping and one last dinner: try something you missed (more street food, or treat yourself at a tasting-menu place).

Hoi An is the sort of place that keeps giving: food, history, beaches and laid-back charm. We loved waking up at Bel Marina, having a slow swim, then getting lost in town by lunchtime. If you have more time, slow down even more – rent a bike and don’t plan anything for half a day; the rice paddies and quiet lanes are part of the magic.