Hoi An is quickly becoming a must visit destination for family travel. Its small town vibe provides a welcome break from other bigger cities in Vietnam. Hoi An, once a major Southeast Asian trading post is basically a beautifully preserved outdoor museum that offers so much! Hoi An is also a good base to visit other nearby cities like Da Nang and Hue.
Explore Hoi An Old Town
Hoi An’s Old Town is surprisingly compact. It is small enough to explore on foot and some streets are pedestrian only. Kids will love exploring in the vening especially during the monthly lantern festival.
Even though many of the old shops have been converted to modern businesses aimed at tourists, tradition is still very much alive in the Old Town. Notable heritage buildings include Japanese covered bridge, Chinese temples, wooden shop-houses and old canals.
Exploring old town in early evening (from 6.30pm onwards) can be very hectic. At this time, there are loads and loads of group tours. The Thu Bon river is full of boats offering sunset rides, cyclos are doing their rounds, restaurants super packed and the streets busy with Instagram “influencer” wannabes. If you want to truly appreciate the beauty of Hoi An, best to do your evening exploration from around 8:30pm. By this time the tour groups have left. Otherwise aim for early morning at 6.30am when you’ll get the whole street to yourself.
Coconut Basket Boat Tour
Located at Bay Mau Village communes, learn how to paddle bamboo basket boats, catch crabs the traditional way and take home some souvenir animals made from coconut leaves. Kids will enjoy the boat ride; some paddlers will even perform their “dancing tricks”. Along the way we made a quick stop to meet “Lei” the buffalo for a quick photo (our son’s highlight).
We organised our day via Long Phu Eco Tour & Restaurant. Everything was very well organised and lunch was super yummy!
There are visitors expecting Bay Mau village to be a traditional village, whereas it is quite modern and very touristy. According to our host, it gets some 3,000 visitors in the afternoons! It is a fun family friendly experience but don’t expect traditional “off the beaten path” Vietnam.
Enjoy super delicious food & Relax in the many Cafes
Hoi An, is often considered to be Vietnam’s food capital. We found the Vietnamese food here to be the best! Go through the traditional must eats: Cao lao, Mi Quang, Banh Vac, Banh Xeo. It is amazing to see such a huge variety of local cheap eats and fine dining in a tiny town like Hoi An. For fussy little travellers, there are many western food options.
Hoi An’s most famous restaurant is: Morning Glory. This restaurant will be mentioned in just about any Vietnam guide book. It serves amazing traditional food. The spicy squid stuffed with pork is a must try! Although more expensive than average restaurants in Hoi An, it is still very reasonable with most dishes priced under $10.
To relax we recommend dropping by Reaching Out Teahouse. Established in 2000 this cafe employ locals with speech and hearing impairment. On each table there are word blocks, a notebook and a pencil. All these combined with hand signals and smiles, is how you communicate. The silence, gives you a peaceful break from the busy Old Town. Although our son wasn’t exactly quiet when we were there.. sorry!
Hit the Hoi An Markets
The tailors and shops in Hoi An will tempt you with so many things to buy. Also try visiting the wet market and street stalls to get a better sense of local life. Looking for souvenirs? Spend an evening at the night market along An Hoi street.
Prices in Hoi An are generally more expensive than other cities in Vietnam. So bargain like a Ninja, and don’t be afraid to walk away.
Other things you can do in Hoi An include:
- Entertain kids on a river cruise – try to get on one that goes beyond the old town
- Parents: get your daily dose of Vietnamese coffee, cold coconut coffee or hot egg Coffee
Visit Da Nang
Da Nang is relatively young and modern city. You will likely to arrive at Da Nang airport when visiting Hoi An. Depending on your style of travel you may choose to spend a few nights here (we stayed for 2 nights).
– My Khe Beach
Imagine kids friendly white sandy beach, with blue skies, beautiful landscape, clear and warm water year round. It is consistently voted as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Come here before all the big resorts are built. As a rarity in Asia, there is no vendors trying to sell you stuff on the beach.
– Marble Mountains
The Marble Mountain includes a cluster of 5 hills which are named after 5 elements of the universe. There are also caves, grottoes, Buddhist sanctuaries and places of worship dotted across the mountains. But visitors come here mainly to visit Thuy Son mountain, the largest of the Marble Mountains. Climb to the top via the stone stairs for incredible views or for a small fee (like us), take the elevator!
– Dragon Bridge
Only in Vietnam that you can find a bridge breathing fire and spraying water. The 666 metres bridge is very popular with the locals. This interesting bridge comes to live on weekends and holidays at 9pm. But word of warning it gets very (very!) busy after the show. Stay longer to let the crowd past or organise your ride home before hand.
Go on a daytrip to Hue
Ever heard of the famous Vietnamese dish Bun Bo Hue? Yes, Hue is where it’s from. This city used to be the main royal capitals of Vietnam. Despite being a distance away, almost 3 hours from Hoi An, it is definitely worth visiting.
– Imperial Citadel
This is Vietnam’s equivalent of China’s Forbidden City. This complex is made up of temples, palaces, offices, gardens, and residences and the Purple Forbidden City. Destroyed buildings within the Hue Citadel complex have gradually been restored and there are many more buildings currently under restoration.
– Royal Tombs
So many visitors travel to Hue to visit the royal tombs of Khai Dinh, Minh Mang and Tu Duc.
Finally.. relax back at the Hotel
Hoi An offers reasonably priced accommodation options for family travel. In Hoi An we stayed at the Little Riverside Hoi An. This highly rated boutique hotel opened in 2018. It is only a short walk away from old town market and restaurants. It has a great rooftop swimming pool, spa, good restaurant and free bike hire for guests. The rooms are spacious and modern. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to the river view room!
If you are staying in Da Nang, try to pick a beach front hotel. We stayed at Hotel Monarque. It is right in front of My Khe beach and the staffs there are super friendly and helpful.
