10 Best Things to Do in Hoi An in 2022 – A travel guide for first-timers

10 Best Things to Do in Hoi An

Stroll Around the Streets of Hoi An Old Town

Hoi An is an ancient city that had been established for many centuries and during its glory days, the place was one of the most popular trading posts in the entire region and had bought prosperity to the people living here.

After many years passed, much of its Old Town’s vibe and its indigenous and foreign blended structures still remain pretty much intact and well preserved, making it one of the most historically rich places in the country that were not completely destroyed by Vietnam War.

Exploring the crisscrossing streets of Hoi An Old Town is a delight as you will find yourself surrounded by all these beautiful old traditional houses, all painted in yellow and you will find plenty of shops, art museums, and cafes where you can indulge yourself in.

There are many sights that I highly recommend you check out like the Bamu Temple Gate and the Japanese Bridge but if you really want to do the city justice, I highly recommend you go on an organized walking tour so that you can get first-hand information on where the city came from and what Hoi An is really about.

Admire the Beauty of the Japanese Bridge

One of the important landmarks in Hoi An is the ancient wooden Japanese Bridge that was built by the Japanese merchant in the 17th Century and it is a great example of how prosperous the ancient Hoi An city was as a regional trading post.

The bridge’s foundation is built using bricks and stones while the bridge itself was built with pieces of wood, and covered with an intricately designed roof and will certainly grab anyone’s attention.

Despite its name, the Japanese Bridge is also considered to be a pagoda where people can enter and pray in a prayer room inside the bridge. To enter, you will have to pay an entrance fee or you can go on an organized walking tour in which the guide will also dive deeper into the history and the legends surrounding the bridge.

Support the Reaching Out Cafe

While you are in Hoi An, be sure to also drop by Reaching Out teahouse for a cup of tea or coffee which is a popular cafe set inside an old rustic structure located right in the middle of the Old Town.

What makes this establishment so special is the fact that they only employ people who are deaf and mute, giving them jobs, and supporting their careers while providing us with wonderful service and a cozy atmosphere for us to relax in.

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Drop By Ba Mu Temple Gates

Ba Mu Temple is a newly reopened but old temple complex that is known for its elaborate three-entrance gate design which was actually constructed in the 17th Century elsewhere but then moved to here and had been renovated ever since.

After the reopening of the temple, the gate has since attracted quite a crowd and became one of the many Instagram hotspots in Hoi An. Despite it being renovated, the gate still retains its ancient look and feel that resembles the palaces in Hue.

If you are exploring Hoi An’s Old Town, be sure to drop by at the temple and check out this beautiful gate. A walking tour that you join should also take you here for photos and they should be able to explain the in-depth history of the temple to you.

Visit Hoi An’s Night Market

If you think Hoi An is pretty during the day, wait until you see it during the night. Every night, the entire old town is converted into a night walking street market filled with shops, street food restaurants, and performances while the streets are illuminated with all sorts of colorful lanterns the city is known for.

Visit Hoi An Old Town right before the sunset to the ancient town comes alive and behold the sight of the ancient city illuminated by all the colorful lanterns from houses and shops selling them. If you are interested, you can also learn how they make these colorful lanterns with a lantern-making class.

You will also find all kinds of street food stalls popping up all over the old town that you can enjoy. If you are a little confused about what you should eat in Hoi An because there are a ton of options for you to choose from, I highly recommend you go on the Hoi An’s food tour by night which will take you to all the cool places to eat in Hoi An.

You can also get on one of the many wooden boats you see along the canal and cruise along the river at sunset while you watch the city comes to life which is best seen from the water.

Relax by the An Bang Beach

If you are tired of the bustling old town, you can also spend a day relaxing by An Bang Beach, a 4-km strip of sandy beach only a few minutes’ bike ride away from Hoi An Old Town.

At the beach, you will also find many bars with sunbeds and deck chairs right by the beach where you can indulge yourself in. It is a great place to take a break from all the crowds in Hoi An all the while enjoying the abundant sun of Southeast Asia.

Try The Best Bahn Mi in the World

If you are looking for the best spots in Hoi An to try the best Bahn Mi in the world at an affordable price, I highly recommend you go for lunch or dinner at Bánh Mì Phượng restaurant, a local restaurant that is extremely popular among locals.

Keep in mind that this place really serves some of the most delicious Bahn Mi out there and due to how affordable it is, you might see long queues in front of the place and you will likely have to wait in line for quite some time but I can assure you, the Bahn Mi here is well worth the wait.

Learn To Cook Vietnamese Food

If you love Vietnamese food and would like to learn a few things or two about their world-renowned cuisine, I highly recommend you join the Sabirama cooking class and learn the secret sauce of Vietnamese delicious cuisine.

With a cooking class tour, you will start learning from the beginning with a market tour to learn how to source the ingredients for Vietnamese cuisine, and from there, you will be taught by a local chef and learn how to cook Vietnamese delicacies.

With this cooking class, you will be able to bring the cooking skills you learned here to use while at home and integrate the healthiness of Vietnamese food to your everyday meal.

Explore the Countryside on a Bike

Hoi An is not very big and most places, even the further ones like An Bang Beach can all be reached by bikes. Hoi An is also known for its beautiful countryside full of ride paddies all waiting for you to explore.

The best way to see the countryside of Hoi An is to go on a Bike Tour where you will paddle through some of the most stunning parts of Hoi An’s countryside and you will be able to learn the locals’ way of life that you would likely miss if you were to only stay in the old town.

For those of you who are interested to learn more about Hoi An and not just be done seeing only the surface of Hoi An like most tourists do, I highly recommend you go on a tour and explore the countryside on the back of a bike to really see what Hoi An is actually like.

Visit My Son Ancient Ruins

Last but not least, if you have a day to spare in Hoi An, I highly recommend you go on a day trip to My Son Sanctuary, an ancient spiritual capital city of the Champa empire which occupied much of what is now central and lower Vietnam back between 7th – 10th century.

My Son Sanctuary, although not as well maintained as other ancient ruins in the region, is still a fun day trip to make from Hoi An and you can stroll around this ancient ground and imagine what it must have been like in central Vietnam back when Champa Kingdom reign over the area.

The tour to My Son is quite far and it should take around half a day to get there and back with a few hours to roam around the ruins. If you are interested in the long-forgotten history of this region, there is no better place to be than My Son Sanctuary.

And there you have it, the 10 best places to visit in Ho Chi Minh City. Are you planning to visit Ho Chi Minh City soon? If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me in the comments below.

Don’t forget to Get Travel Insurance

If you are looking for travel insurance to go along with your trip to Hoi An, Vietnam, I would recommend WorldNomads.com, which is what I use to look for travel insurance that fits my kind of adventure.

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Further Reading for Backpacking in Vietnam

Are you looking for more information about traveling in Vietnam? Here are a few more articles that can help you with your trip to Vietnam: