Things To Do in Hoi An, Vietnam

Lanterns. Lights. Beautiful. These are the three words that come into mind when I think back on my trip to Hoi Ann in September. My bf and I were only there for three days during our trip to Vietnam and I wished we stayed longer.  We originally only planned to go to Hoi An to see the Lantern Festival and we didn't think to stay longer as we were cautious about the weather being the start of their rainy season. The rain and a bit of thunder did come; however it didn't really disrupt our trip. 

We stayed at La Charm Hoi An Hotel & Spa near Ancient Town and I really enjoyed this hotel. The staff/service was incredible, the location was perfect- such an easy quick 5/6 mins walk to the Ancient Town markets, restaurants, canals, and we highly enjoyed the free breakfast buffet and free bike rentals. I can't say enough good things about this hotel and would highly recommend. 

Hoi An has a special place in my heart, I really enjoyed just walking around the streets and admiring the beautiful lanterns hanging everywhere. This tiny town has such a charming character and they did a great job in preserving the history and culture. It was more peaceful walking around Old Town in comparison to Hanoi as there were less motorbikes and during certain hours, the main streets were closed off to motorbikes. 

Our three days in Hoi An flew by quick but we were able to pack in quite a few activities. Some of our favs are listed below. 

Must Do Activities in Hoi Ann

• Watch the Teh Dar Show or the Memory Show. When we were doing research for our trip on things to do in Hoi An, none of these shows popped up on any websites for us. We didn't know about them till the staff at La Charm Hoi An mentioned it to us and I'm super glad they did as both shows were amazing and highly worth watching. Tickets were about $30 for each show depending on the seating area. Teh Dar is a show that features amazing acrobatics and live music from their highly skilled cast of performers. The Memory show was my favorite. The show was about the history of Hoi An town and there were amazing performances, visuals, lights, and costumes from their huge cast of performers (apparently there are 500 cast members!!) all in an outdoor stage. We watched the show on the Mid Autumn Festival night so we got the see the bright/big and beautiful moon in the evening sky. It was outstanding!

     

• Make a lantern at The Lantern Lady shop. During our last day in Hoi An, we dropped by the Lantern shop to make our own lantern as a souvenir. It was fun and the instructor was super helpful and hands on in helping each of us with our creations. There were multiple options of different levels of lanterns to make. We just opted for the easier chose where we glued our lantern silks onto the frame.

     

• Bike to An Bang Beach from Ancient Town to See Rice Paddies, Water Buffalos. This was my favorite activity in Hoi An. We borrowed bikes from our hotel and the staff gave us instructions on how to get to An Bang Beach (roughly 30-40mins each way). Not going to lie for the very starting portion of the biking, I was extremely overwhelmed. It was tough adjusting to biking on the chaotic streets with the other motorbikes, cars, vendors, and people. Luckily, I was more calm as we got out of the town near the rice paddies where there was a marked path for bikers. We stopped by to see a water buffalo but beware of the owners, they are a bit aggressive and would demand outrageous tips (about $20 dollars) just to take a picture with the water buffalo

      

• Explore the Ancient Town and go on a Night Boat Ride. Soo many cute restaurants and souvenir shops to check out in Ancient Town. Also, its a must do to take a lantern boat ride at night and set off a flower candle in the river.

       

• Take Cute Pictures at Life Four Cuts (Address: 69 Công Nữ Ngọc Hoa) . They had traditional clothes such as Ao Dai, hats, and other props to borrow and take pictures with their photo machines. Super cute and a fun way to take pictures for memories!

       

• Pick out Cute Journals at Hop Handi. This shop sells a bunch of cute embroidered journals but the super unique thing is that you can work with the owner to design your own journals. You could switch up the cover design, the color of the cloth, the embroidery on the cover/back, etc etc. We had two journals made where we requested embroidery of our names to the back covers and they both came out super cute.