Hoi An’s streets simmer with culture, cuisine, and history. This preserved port town was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999. Travelers rarely have little to say about this Central Vietnam gem making it a well-known hot-spot with high expectations.

Big shoes this beautiful town fills with ease. My most memorable Hoi An tours lie in a sea of stunning sights and various ways to experience them, which is great, except “which one do I choose?” will be a tough, almost inevitable question.

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With such a vast array of options, Hoi An will have something for almost everyone. A well-known stretch of road, the Hai Van Pass links Hoi An to Hue, passing by Marble Mountains and Vietnam’s underrated city of Da Nang, cementing Hoi An firmly within the Banana Pancake Trail. Hoi An’s history is ripe with a wonderfully frozen snapshot of this 15-19^th century South East Asia port. Whether trying the “best Banh Mi in the world” or simply strolling along the vibrantly lit riverside paths, there’s really no wrong answer. I put together my five most memorable Hoi An tours and it is easy to see why this town holds a place in many hearts.

 

My Son Ruins Tour (Pronounced Mi Sun)

My Son -roughly translating to “Holyland”- was constructed by the kings of Champa between the 4^th and 14^th century AD. Now abandoned Hindu temples with visible scars from ancient times and also the 1969 Vietnam War allow insight not only into ancient times but modern history as well.

Craters gouged out from dropped explosives litter the ground; some so large they appear to be rolling mounds, blending into the surrounding hills. My Son’s “Section A” lies in ruin, almost completely destroyed by human conflict and now overgrown by nature. There are five sections of intricate red brick structures that stand strong after weathering many storms. Not only are they stunning to study, they also provide much-needed shade from the blistering Vietnamese sun!

An affiliate company through Paddy’s Hostel picks up and drops off at the hostel, provides a small vegetarian meal, but most importantly supplies a guide for My Son ruins. Both knowledgeable and humorous, my guides stories were captivating. Calling us his “blue team”, he pointed his dark blue pen at the comparison of the post-Vietnam War bricks to ancient bricks, and how the latter disposes of water better to prevent mold from growing. His efforts of trying to sneak a bite of another tour members ice cream were almost able to make me forget I was melting into the sidewalk in this heat!

My Son Ruins is well within driving range of a scooter. Once out of Hoi An’s narrow, somewhat chaotic streets the scenery is lush and quieter. Hiring guides at the temple site didn’t appear possible during my visit.

You can check out the range of tours to My Son and book online well ahead to reserve your spot.

 

Tra Que Organic Restaurant Cooking Class

I’m not a great cook. I burn toast on the regular. To say I was apprehensive about a cooking class would be a grave understatement. But for me, staying within my comfort zone doesn’t make travel as fulfilling as it should be. Luckily, my professional chef and guide Tray was constantly encouraging. I needed all the praise, whether it was actually hollow or justified, that I could get!

This cooking tour also weaves in a bike riding tour, as this was the mode of transport from one stop to the next. A short ride along a chaotic, narrow, single-lane road urban street brought us to our first stop: a local market. This definitely didn’t make my lack of knowledge of fruit and vegetable any less daunting. Bright, spiky, odd-shaped edibles stacked into pyramids of unnerving uncertainty. All while locals hustled through the narrow alleys going about their daily chores.

Another sweltering bike ride into rural Hoi An, a windy path flanked on either side by beautiful vegetable gardens, eventually led to a local family-run farm. Quite a few years ago the Vietnamese Government gave each family a plot of land to farm. These families depend on this magnificently orchestrated farm to survive.

I fell in love with the fresh lemon basil. This citrus tang lingered on my fingertips for hours! Between this family-run farm and the local market, all the fruit, vegetables and herbs used in the cooking tour came from around Hoi An.

As we start cooking I realize my knife work…needs practice (maybe I need to perfect my technique with a plastic version instead?). But with a watchful eye and helping hand from Tray, my meals were not only edible, they were delicious! Rice paper spring rolls, freshly grated green papaya salad and local Hoi An style pancakes filled with shrimp.

Tray insisted the pancakes must be flipped while cooking. Flipped HIGH. Higher than my strained neck could see waiting for it to finally drop back down onto the skillet!

After enjoying the meal my bike squeaked under the sudden addition of weight on the return ride to the hostel, the sun began to set. Giving a stunning view over flat farms as local men threw fishing lines into small ponds from a stone arched bridge, laughing as the last light rays away.

Tra Que Organic Restaurant is operated by a local family, once again affiliated with Paddy’s Hostel. My partner and I not only had Tray, our professional chef and bike tour guide, to ourselves, we also had run of the entire restaurant.

You can book a wide range of tours that visit Tra Que and it’s vegetable village.

Food is a great way to experience a culture, you can even plan a Vietnam itinerary around it. Local cuisine is usually unique and amazing, and Vietnam is no different.

However, I get that food brings up many types of restrictions. For all my gluten-free readers, this article on eating gluten-free in Vietnam is a great resource!

 

Free Bike Tour of Hoi An

http://www.hoianfreetour.com/ runs (or wheels?) around Hoi An and it’s surroundings. Peddling along straight, narrow, pot-hole filled roads, let alone through busy intersections can be daunting! Being led by a local is never a bad thing!

As with the majority of free tours, no payment is expected, rather you pay what you feel the tour is worth in the end. A small amount is collected at the beginning (around $5 AUD) to pay for a short return boat ride and tips to people we visited. A fee I will always gladly pay, as getting a local’s perspective is one of my favorite ways to be acquainted with a new location.

Thanh, a 23-year-old university student studying tourism is required by her course to conduct these tours at least three times a month. Obligation felt nonexistent as she led our small group from one point of interest to the next. It was easy to tell she loved her job and that shone through as she invited us to learn more about her beautiful town.

With the bikes loaded, a short boat ride docked at Cam Kim Island, also known as Kim Bong Carpentry Village. Local men and women work on anything from wood worked trinkets to fishing boats all while smiling and enjoying the warm sun. Thanh explained that in Vietnamese tradition it is custom for every boat to be painted with eyes at the front tip. Believing fish will be at peace with the boat in the water, it will aid the fishermen in their catch. Once I noticed these additions to the boats, they began to appear everywhere! As if I was being watched!

As the sun began to take a hold, the early afternoon the ride continued! We set off to see a family run temple, with thousands of members, of which Thanh also belonged. Guarded by Vietnamese Unicorns, the intricate beauty was all in the details of this temple. Luckily, Thanh was able to break that barrier of language and customs to give a small insight into an amazing country.

Along with trying my hand at local techniques of cooking rice paper and threading brightly colored straw mats – both of which were far from how easy the locals made it look. It was well worth struggling through the blistering heat on a metal bicycle frame!

One thing that stuck with me well after the tour ended was that Thanh was in long-sleeved jacket and jeans, even at temperatures soaring into the high 30’s Celsius. Out of respect when visiting elders in their place of work and residence, it is tradition to cover legs and arms. She assured me tourists are not expected to go to the same lengths of showing next to no skin, but it was a lovely insight into Vietnamese customs.

For another great bike tour of Hoi An, check out this post on Heaven and Earth Bicycle Tours!

Five tickets of Hoi An

Since 1995 Hoi An has done sightseeing inside its old town a little different. An entrance fee of 120,000 VND ($5 USD), including five entrance tickets to use on which sights you see fit. This ticket is technically a requirement of entry into the old town. However, I only was ever checked on entry to one of the 22 options as I entered.

This takes on a very loose grasp of the word ‘tour’, as it is at your own pace. I spread my tickets out over 48 hours as the sun got the better of me on the first day! This small fee is fine by me, for ongoing preservation it’s a small price to pay.

Some sites granted access by this ticket are better than others and the amount of information varies significantly. Hoi An’s museum has very little to say about it’s mostly Vietnam War displays. It was very similar to other museums visited throughout Vietnam, but it was a welcome retreat from the sun.

Built in the 1950’s by the Japanese community who helped shape the town’s infrastructure. Hoi An’s iconic bridge is a stunning display of craftsmanship. I felt to be better viewed from the outside rather than actually crossing it.

Old Homes of Hoi An are a worthy investment of at least one ticket. Once shop fronts built by wealthy merchants, they are now historical displays inhabited by their ancestors. A small tour was given of the Old House Tan Ky, without it the watermarks of the annual flooding in Hoi An would have gone unnoticed. My favourite use of a ticket was at Xu Dang Trong Art Center, where a performance of traditional music and dance took place for around half an hour. These amazingly talented performers mesmerized me with their ability to create beautiful and, to me, unique forms of art. There was even time for a short game of Vietnamese Bingo, of which no bingo wins here, unfortunately. I highly recommend spending one ticket here!

 

Self Guided Tour of Hoi An

Rounding out my five memorable Hoi An tours. Forgive me if the term ‘tour’ is used too loosely here, but the city in itself can be enjoyed and appreciated without a schedule. Hoi An’s vibrant streets and colourful characters will always have more to offer any visitor. Just strolling the narrow, lantern-filled alleys is memorable in itself.

Local cuisine is a Hoi An highlight, no doubt. Cau-Lao (beef and greens), White Rose (Chinese style dumplings) and those tasty shrimp pancakes topped off with some fresh beer from as low as 2,000 VND. I was sold. More than once a food-induced coma was brought on by my glutinous nature of eating all I can. Vegetarian options are available at most restaurants as well, just remember to ask for no fish sauce. As English is as a second language is fairly common, asking for a veggie option usually isn’t hard at all.

Fall of night rebirths Hoi An in a tightly woven blanket of lights. Along Thu Bon River reflects lanterns emitting colorful light, making it a beautiful and relaxing walk along the riverside! The local night market is a great place to pick up an iconic Hoi An lantern, or many other souvenirs. My bright silky purple lantern survived structurally for another three months of abuse in my backpack throughout South East Asia!

 

Hoi An Tours – Information

I stayed at Paddy’s Hostel and highly recommend it as they have great knowledge of the area and affiliate with trusted companies offering Hoi An tours. It is a little far out of the Old Town of Hoi An, about 4km. Free bike rental makes up for this distance and outweighs it in my opinion. You’re closer to the beach for an incredible morning sunrise!

If you’re interested in any other tours around Hoi An, there is plenty to be booked online.

Tailored clothing is another of Hoi An’s specialties. Walking around the numerous tailor shops almost made it into the list of Hoi An tours itself! However, during my three days here I didn’t hear one instance of the clothes being ready on time. I suggest leaving plenty of time for delays when ordering. There are also matching fruit outfits that are widely popular and less time consuming to purchase. Bananas seemed to be very popular while I was in Hoi An.

With all the colorful lanterns and beautiful lights of Hoi An, it’s hard not to find the town romantic. It would be a fantastic choice to include on a Vietnam honeymoon.

If you’re heading to Hoi An from Hue, this is a fantastic way to see the Hai Van Pass!

 

Hoi An Map

 

Hoi An Tours Highlights

• Watching brightly colorful boats cruise the Thu Bon River was my favorite memory of Hoi An. Picturesque.
• A short walk from Paddy’s Hostel is Bai Bien Cura Dai beach, sunrise over the East Vietnamese Sea is stunning here! Locals gather to have an early morning swim, and I joined them as well.
• Banh Mi is a baguette-style sandwich common in Vietnam. I heard from multiple people, tourists and locals, Hoi An is home to the best in the world. The line for Banh Mi Phuong was over half an hour-long, but they were indeed delicious! Relatively small though, I regretted not buying two!

 

I would love to hear your experiences from Hoi An, and any other tours that make your list! Leave a comment! 🙂

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