Hoi An ancient town travel guide - things to do in Hoi An, Hoi An beach and resort

Hoi An - the World cultural heritage site

Hoi An Old Town

Hoi An, once known as Faifo, was a major international port in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the foreign influences are discernible to this day. While the serious shipping business has long since moved to Danang, the heart of the city is still the Old Town, full of winding lanes and Chinese-styled shophouses, which is particularly atmospheric in the evening as the sun goes down. While almost all shops now cater to the tourist trade, the area has been largely preserved as is, which is unusual in Vietnam, and renovation has proceeded slowly and carefully - it's mercifully absent of towering concrete blocks and karaoke parlors.

The centre of Hoi An is very small and pedestrianised, so you will be walking around most of the time. Unfortunately, motorbikes have not been banned from the center yet, so particularly at night keep an eye out for motorized kamikazes, even in the most narrow alleys. However, the city's government does not allow the motorbike to enter the Old Town in the whole day of 14th and 15th each lunar month. From the evening until night of those days, a lot of activities, including the traditional games such as bai choi, trong quan, dap nieu... will be held in all over the town. Enjoy them with the local people!

To go to the beach or reach some of the more remote hotels, it is easy and cheap to hire a bicycle. Taxis are few and far between, but can be called by phone. When busy, taxis may refuse your fare back to your hotel from town if it is too close, opting for larger fares. Arranging a shuttle from your hotel may be a better option. Motorbike taxis, of course, are always an option. You can also charter boats for about US$1/hour.

Almost all hotels rent motorbikes at about US$5/day. It's standard practice for the bike to have only enough gas to make it to the next gas station. In addition to gas stations, there are also little hand-operated roadside pumps everywhere; these can be convenient, but they're more expensive and the quality of the gas is open to question.

Use the bike to visit My Son, about an hour away, or the Marble Mountains, about forty minutes north towards Da Nang.

The old Champa way was to travel by the roads at that time - which was the river system. The rivers of Hoi An cover hundreds of kilometers and offer an interesting & adventurous alternative to travelling by road. Get on a boat and you begin to see a whole lot more of Hoi An and the Delta.

Hoi An attractions:

Old Town Hoi An Hoi an Lanterns

Entry to all historical sites in Hoi An is via a coupon system, where 90,000 dong (US$5) gets you a ticket that can be used to enter five attractions: one museum, one old house, one assembly hall, the handicraft workshop (and traditional music show) or the traditional theater, and either the Japanese Covered Bridge or the Quan Cong Temple. Tickets are sold at various entry points into the Old Town, including Hai Ba Trung Street, and also at some of the attractions, including the Cantonese Assembly Hall. The city requests that visitors dress "decently" while visiting sites in the Old Town, as in no sleeveless blouses or skirts above the knees, but there's nobody specifically charged with enforcing the dress code.

First, you may choose one of the two landmarks of Hoi An:

Japanese Covered Bridge (Chua Cau or Lai Vien Kieu), on the west end of Tran Phu Street. The bridge was constructed in the early 1600's by the Japanese community, roughly 40 years before they left the city to return to Japan under the strict policy of sakoku enforced by the Tokugawa Shogunate, and renovated in 1986. Today, it's the symbol of Hoi An. Entry is one coupon, but it's possible to cross back and forth several times without meeting a ticket-checker. If your scruples are bothering you, feel free to leave tribute for the pig statue or the dog statue who stand guard at opposite ends of the bridge.

Quan Cong Temple, 24 Tran Phu Street.

The ticket allows admission to one of the four museums in the Old Town:

Museum of Folk Culture, 33 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

Museum of Trade Ceramics, 80 Tran Phu Street. The dusty, unlabeled displays of broken pottery are eminently forgettable, but the house itself is nice enough, and it provides a better opportunity to explore the shape and layout of an old Hoi An home than you'll find at any of the Old Houses (below).

Hoi An Museum of History and Culture, 7 Nguyen Hue Street.

Museum of Say Huynh Culture, 149 Banc Dang Street.

There are three old houses that exist in an awkward halfway state between museum show-piece and somewhat shabby residence for the family that lives there. Your ticket allows admission to one.

Phung Hung House, 4 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, just west of the Japanese Bridge. Traditional two-story wooden house, inhabited over 100 years by eight generations; and the current one attempts to guide you around in hope of a tip.

Quan Thang House, 77 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.

Tan Ky House, 101 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. As above, a younger member of the family will provide a cup of tea and a "tour" that doesn't stray from the front room of the house, as you'd need to step over sleeping members of the older generation to go anywhere else. The design of the house shows how local architecture incorporated Japanese and Chinese influences. Japanese elements include the crab shell-shaped ceiling supported by three beams in the living room. Chinese poems written in mother-of-pearl are hanging from a number of the columns that hold up the roof.

Numerous congregation halls, where Chinese expatriate residents socialized and held meetings, are dotted about the town. They are typically named after the home region of their members, such as Fujian and Canton. Your ticket allows admission to one. Some do not have ticket-takers, so it's up to your conscience if you want to try wandering into a second.

Cantonese Assembly Hall (Quang Dong), 176 Tran Phu Street. Built in 1885, it has a calm courtyard with ornate statuary. Take a peek at the half-hidden back yard and its kitschy pastel dragon statues.