A Weekend in Hoi An, Off the Beaten Path

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Two days is enough to cover the Old Town’s essentials without rushing them, and to get across the Thu Bon river to the craft villages that most weekend visitors never reach. This plan spends day one in town and day two out of it, and skips the touristy Central Market and the loud basket-boat crowd in favour of quieter versions of both. If you have more time, the 3-day itinerary adds a My Son day trip; if you have less, most of day one still works as a single long day.

Book these before you go

Day 1: the Old Town, on foot and by lantern light

Start at the Japanese Covered Bridge (Chua Cau), the 18th-century icon that reopened in 2024 after a restoration some locals think looks a little too new for its age. From there, walk the heritage core, taking in one of the Chinese assembly halls (Fujian is the grandest) and a merchant house like Tan Ky. Walking these streets is free; only buy the roughly 120,000 VND coupon booklet if you plan to go inside several buildings, since it’s 5 coupons for about 20 heritage sites rather than a single entry ticket.

For lunch, skip the postcard-perfect Central Market and find the earlier Morning Market a few streets over, where locals buy produce at local prices. Order cao lau, the town’s signature noodle, if you haven’t already.

In the afternoon, get fitted for something at one of Hoi An’s roughly 400 tailor shops, but skip the “24-hour suit” pitch: get 2-3 quotes, order one test item first, and pay only a modest deposit before committing to a full order. In the evening, take a rowboat out onto the Thu Bon for a lantern float. You don’t need to time this to the monthly Full Moon Lantern Festival on the 14th lunar day; any night works for the basic version.

Day 2: across the river to the craft villages

Take a short ferry or bicycle ride over the Thu Bon to Cam Kim island, a much quieter stretch of rice paddies and small workshops than anything in the Old Town. From there, visit the Thanh Ha pottery village and the Kim Bong carpentry village, both still working largely for local buyers rather than the tourist trade.

Back in town, stop at Reaching Out (131 Tran Phu), a deaf-run fair-trade crafts shop where orders are taken by handwritten note. In the afternoon, take the calmer version of the Cam Thanh basket boat ride, going early or late to avoid the spinning “dance” invented for photos and the mid-day boat traffic jam. Finish with com ga, Hoi An’s turmeric chicken rice, or mi quang for dinner.

Day Focus Don’t skip
1 Old Town heritage + tailor + lantern boat the Morning Market over the Central Market
2 Cam Kim island + craft villages + basket boat the calm basket-boat slot, not the busy one

For where to stay for a weekend like this, see where to stay in Hoi An , and for more food specifics, where to eat in Hoi An . If you want to extend this into a longer trip that adds My Son and Da Nang, start with the 3-day itinerary or the full 5-day itinerary .

For the visa paperwork before you land, the only official portal is evisa.gov.vn , and for background on the heritage status behind day one’s walk, see UNESCO’s listing for Hoi An Ancient Town .

If a weekend is all you have, spend it on the craft villages over a second lap of the Old Town. The lantern streets aren’t going anywhere; the quiet side of Cam Kim is easier to miss.