Hoi An
Hoi An is known as the “Venice of Asia”, with the river running along the city, filled with small boats and beautiful lanterns. A UNESCO protected city, all the old buildings are all a golden yellow color, making you feel like it’s locked in time. We chose to spend our first Christmas away from home here, and it ended up being the perfect place. With lanterns covering the streets, and paper lanterns floating in the water, it was the perfect substitute for the Christmas lights we love during the holidays.
How to get to Hoi An?
Charlie drove his motorbike from Da Nang, and I took a Grab taxi with all of our bags, which was about US$15. From Da Nang, Hoi An is about a 30 minute drive. There are buses, private cars, or Grab taxis. These can all be booked through BookAway, 12GoAsia, or the Grab app.
Where to stay in Hoi An?
We stayed at Hoi An Village Villas, which ended up being perfect location for us. It was about a 25 minute bicycle ride in to the Old Town, and about a 20 minute ride the opposite direction to the beach. Bicycles were free for guests, and an amazing breakfast was also included.
Budget: Nha Lan Homestay
Luxury: The Nam Hai, A Four Seasons Resort
Where to eat in Hoi An?
Ba Dam Vegetarian Restaurant: Family owned, vegetarian/vegan restaurant. About 25,000 dong (US$1) for a full plate of sauteed vegetables, tofu, soup, and noodles. Super affordable and family-owned.
Nourish: Cute cafe along the river, a bit outside of the main center of town. We recommend their smoothie bowls.
Hola Taco: Nice Mexican place with affordable prices and incredible margaritas. We recommend the nachos and passion fruit margaritas.
Bánh Mì Phượng: Anthony Bourdain once visited this restaurant and declared it the best banh mi in Vietnam. We rode our bikes past this place almost every day, and the lines outside this place were ridiculous. We ended up ordering take-away from them, and their vegetarian banh mis lived up to the hype.
Street Food: When wandering around the river in the evening, we found some street food stalls that ended up having affordable food and great views. There’s no real name for these places, they’re along Công nữ Ngọc Hoa on GoogleMaps.
A few of our favorite things In Hoi An:
Hidden Beach: Slightly less crowded than An Bang Beach, we spent a few days enjoying the sunshine here. There are beach chairs and umbrellas that you get to use with purchase of drinks or lunch from one of the small beach bars.
Boat Ride: Probably one of the most touristy things to do in Hoi An, but taking a short boat ride on the river and releasing lanterns was a fun experience. Releasing these lanterns is said to bring about harmony, balance, remove suffering, and bring prosperity.
Rent Bicycles: Hoi An is the perfect little town to explore by bicycle. Most homestays or hotels provide free bicycles, and the streets in the Old Quarter are closed to motorbikes and cars for most hours of the day.
Night Market: One of our favorite things to do at night was to wander around the night market, where they have tons of souvenirs, food stalls, and local artists. The lanterns light up the street and there’s a magical ambiance everywhere.
