Hoi An for Aussies
Vietnam’s UNESCO-listed Ancient Town is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Lantern-lit streets, extraordinary food, centuries of history, and a beach just ten minutes away. And Australians are still only just discovering it.
Since 1999
UNESCO World Heritage listing
15th Century
Ancient Town dates to the 1400s
~50min
Transfer from Da Nang Airport
Feb–Apr
Sweet spot of the dry season
The town that makes you forget everywhere else: Hoi An
There are destinations that tick every box on a travel wish list, and then there is Hoi An. The kind of place you plan to spend two nights and end up staying a week. It is compact enough to walk everywhere, yet layered with enough history, food, culture, and beauty that every morning brings something new to find.
For Australian travellers, Hoi An represents something genuinely rare: a world-class destination that is both close to home and remarkably affordable. The flight into Da Nang takes around nine hours from the east coast, the transfer to the Ancient Town is barely an hour, and once you arrive, your dollar stretches far further than it would in Europe, Japan, or even Bali at a comparable standard of experience.
The Ancient Town itself is the centrepiece. It is car-free for most of the day, extraordinary to walk through, and lit by thousands of silk lanterns each evening. There is no equivalent anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
A destination that genuinely has it all
History, beaches, food, tailoring, culture, and extraordinary atmosphere. Hoi An does not ask you to compromise.
UNESCO World Heritage Town
The Ancient Town is one of the best-preserved trading ports in Southeast Asia, listed by UNESCO in 1999. Over 1,100 timber-framed buildings survive in remarkable condition, making it an almost uniquely authentic experience of a living heritage site rather than a museum.
One of Asia's Great Food Towns
Hoi An is consistently ranked among the finest food destinations in all of Asia. The local dishes, cao lau, white rose dumplings, banh mi and crispy pancakes, are distinct to this town specifically, and the cooking class scene is one of the best in Vietnam. Food here is an experience, not just sustenance.
Custom Tailoring at Remarkable Prices
Hoi An is Vietnam's tailoring capital and the quality-to-price ratio is hard to believe until you have experienced it. A bespoke suit, dress, or pair of shoes can be made within 24 to 48 hours at a fraction of what you would pay back home. Australian visitors consistently rate tailoring as one of the highlights of the trip.
Beach Access in Ten Minutes
An Bang Beach is a ten-minute bike ride from the Ancient Town. It is a genuinely beautiful stretch of coast with a laid-back café and restaurant scene, calm water, and none of the overdevelopment that has affected beaches in other parts of Southeast Asia. The best of both worlds.
Made for Exploring on Foot and Bike
The Ancient Town is largely car-free, which is unusual and wonderful. Most hotels provide complimentary bicycles, and cycling out into the surrounding rice paddies and village roads is one of the finest ways to spend a morning in all of Vietnam. Hoi An rewards the pace of a slow traveller.
Extraordinary Value
A high quality holiday in Hoi An costs a fraction of the equivalent in Europe, Japan, or even Singapore. Boutique hotels in the heart of the Ancient Town, remarkable meals, bicycle hire, and entry to heritage sites all come at prices that make the quality on offer feel almost implausibly good.
What Aussie families are weighing up against Hoi An
For Australian families and couples considering a cultural city break in Asia, Hoi An is genuinely hard to beat. Here is how it stacks up against the alternatives that come up most often when Australians are planning a trip.
| What You Want | Hoi An | Kyoto | Chiang Mai |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNESCO-listed historic centre | ✓ Ancient Town | ✓ Very expensive | ✗ Not listed |
| Beach within easy reach | ✓ 10 min by bike | ✗ Landlocked | ✗ Landlocked |
| Custom tailoring culture | ✓ World-renowned | ✗ Limited | ✓ Some options |
| Exceptional local food scene | ✓ Top-tier, very cheap | ✓ Excellent, pricey | ✓ Good value |
| Car-free walkable old town | ✓ Mostly car-free | Partial | ✗ Heavy traffic |
| Budget-friendly daily spend | ✓ Excellent | High | Good |
A week well spent
Hoi An rewards a slow approach. Here are the experiences that make Australian visitors return again and again.
Wander the Ancient Town at Night
When the sun goes down and the lanterns come on, the Ancient Town undergoes a transformation that is simply unlike anything else in Southeast Asia. The ochre yellow walls glow under thousands of silk lanterns, the streets fill with the smell of cooking, and the Thu Bon River reflects the whole scene back at you. Give yourself at least one evening with nowhere particular to be.
The Full Moon Lantern Festival
On the 14th day of each lunar month, the Ancient Town turns off its electric lights and is illuminated entirely by silk lanterns. Families release paper lanterns onto the river, street musicians play, and the whole town takes on a quality that feels genuinely magical. If you can time your visit to coincide with one of these nights, do it.
Get Something Made at a Tailor
This is practically a rite of passage for Australian visitors to Hoi An. Place your order in the first day or two of your stay, have a fitting, and collect a bespoke piece of clothing before you leave. Suits, dresses, linen shirts, leather shoes and bags are all within scope. The quality from the best tailors is genuinely excellent and the prices are extraordinary.
Vietnamese Cooking Class
Hoi An has one of the finest cooking class scenes in all of Asia. Many classes begin with a bicycle ride to the central market to select fresh ingredients, followed by a hands-on session preparing the town’s signature dishes. You leave with recipes, skills, and the kind of understanding of Vietnamese cooking that changes how you eat when you get back home.
Basket Boat Tour, Bay Mau Coconut Forest
A short distance from the Ancient Town, the Bay Mau Coconut Forest is a beautiful and unusual ecosystem of waterways and coconut palms. Local boatmen navigate traditional round basket boats through the narrow canals, often performing spinning tricks mid-water. It is a genuinely fun, unique, and memorable outing that works brilliantly for families and couples alike.
The Hoi An Memories Show
A large-scale outdoor performance spectacular that tells the story of Hoi An’s history through acrobatics, traditional dance, costumes, and lighting on a massive riverbank stage. With a cast of over 500 performers, it is an impressive production by any standard and a wonderful way to understand the history and culture of the town.
My Son Sanctuary
An hour from Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary is a UNESCO-listed collection of ancient Hindu temples built by the Cham civilisation between the 7th and 13th centuries. Set in a jungle valley, the crumbling brick towers are atmospheric and historically significant. Going early in the morning, when mist sits between the trees, makes the experience particularly extraordinary.
Thanh Ha Pottery Village
A short bicycle ride from the Ancient Town, Thanh Ha has been producing pottery for over five centuries. Visitors can watch craftspeople at the wheel and try their own hand at making a piece. It is a wonderful, tactile activity for families with children and a lovely contrast to the sightseeing pace of the town itself.
The Ancient Town: Five centuries of history
The UNESCO-listed Ancient Town is the heart of Hoi An. Over a thousand original buildings survive, spanning Chinese merchant houses, Japanese merchant halls, French colonial architecture, and Vietnamese tube houses, all within a few walkable streets. No two blocks look the same, and every doorway has a story.
The Japanese Covered Bridge
Perhaps the most photographed structure in all of Vietnam, the Japanese Covered Bridge was built in the early 17th century by the Japanese merchant community to connect their quarter to the Chinese one across the stream. It remains remarkably intact and is the unofficial symbol of Hoi An.
Chinese Assembly Halls
Five ornate assembly halls were built by different Chinese trading communities, each dedicated to their hometown province. The Fujian Assembly Hall, with its elaborate ceramic mosaic dragons and brightly painted interiors, is the most spectacular and is in daily use as a place of worship.
The Tan Ky Old House
A beautifully preserved merchant’s house that has remained in the same family for seven generations. The architecture is a remarkable fusion of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese styles, reflecting the multicultural trading history of the port. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Ancient Town and genuinely worth the entry fee.
Precious Heritage Museum
Photographer Rehahn spent over a decade documenting Vietnam’s ethnic minority communities to build this remarkable museum. Spanning 500 square metres, it showcases traditional costumes, portraits, and stories from groups across the country. One of the most thoughtful and moving cultural spaces in all of Vietnam.
When to go
February to April is the sweet spot. The weather is warm and reliably dry, the light is extraordinary, and temperatures sit in a very comfortable range for walking the Ancient Town and cycling through the countryside. This period also represents shoulder season for crowds, which means the town has life and energy without feeling overrun.
May through August brings hotter, more humid conditions but the town remains very visiteable and the beaches are at their best. October through January is the genuine wet season, when the town can flood seriously. While Hoi An has a quiet, lantern-lit beauty in the rain, this period is not recommended for first-time visitors or families, particularly the October to December window when typhoon risk is real.
Where to stay
Hoi An has an excellent range of places to stay, from boutique hotels in the heart of the Ancient Town to beachfront resorts at An Bang and beyond. Here is a guide to the main options.
Anantara Hoi An Resort
Set right on the Thu Bon River at the edge of the Ancient Town, the Anantara offers classic colonial-inspired luxury with stunning river views, a beautiful pool, and the kind of attentive service the brand is known for. An outstanding base for couples and families who want quality within walking distance of everything.
Ancient Town Boutique Hotels
Several beautifully restored merchant houses within the Ancient Town itself have been converted into small boutique hotels. Staying here puts you in the middle of the atmosphere that makes Hoi An special, within walking distance of every landmark, market, restaurant and tailor. The best are booked well in advance during peak season.
An Bang Beach Hotels
If the beach matters as much as the town, An Bang has a solid and growing range of boutique resorts and villas that offer a quieter, more relaxed base. The trade-off is a ten-minute ride to the Ancient Town, but many families find the combination of a beach base with daily town visits the ideal structure for a Hoi An holiday.
Riverside Hotels and Guesthouses
The area around the Ancient Town and along the river has an excellent selection of mid-range hotels that offer good rooms, pools, and breakfast at prices that feel genuinely reasonable. Many provide complimentary bicycles, which in Hoi An is essentially the most useful amenity a hotel can offer. Great value for couples and families watching their budget.
What you need to know before you go
Entry Ticket for the Ancient Town
Visiting the UNESCO-listed Ancient Town requires an entry ticket, which gives access to a set number of heritage sites including historic houses, assembly halls, the Japanese Covered Bridge, and museums. The tickets are excellent value and support the conservation of the buildings. Purchase them at the entrance gates before heading into the historic core.
Getting Around
The Ancient Town itself is best explored on foot. Most hotels in Hoi An provide complimentary bicycles, which are the ideal way to reach An Bang Beach, cycle out to the surrounding rice paddies and villages, and visit places like the pottery village and coconut forest. Grab taxis cover longer distances affordably.
Money and Spending
The Vietnamese Dong is the local currency. Credit cards are accepted at most hotels, resorts, and tourist restaurants, but the markets, street food stalls, and smaller tailors generally work on cash. ATMs are plentiful in the areas around the Ancient Town. Daily costs for a mid-range visitor are genuinely very low by Australian standards.
Ready to discover Hoi An?
We put together Vietnam holidays for Australian travellers every day. Let us take care of the flights, accommodation, transfers and local experiences so you can arrive in Hoi An with nothing to do but enjoy it.