As I began my slow travel life, the decision on where to go was heavily influenced by timing, I needed to sell my house and worldly possessions before I could leave Australia. This meant that I was not ready until July 2024, in the peak tourism season for Europe, so I needed to find an alternative.

I have a friend, and former neighbour who had always been telling me about Hoi An. In addition to that, so many of my former work mates had been travelling to Vietnam, I decided this was as good as any place to start my travels. At least it was the off season for tourism, I am not sure I would have liked to be here in the peak season.

About Hoi An

Hoi An is an ancient city on Vietnam’s central coast. Formerly a port city, Hoi An welcomed traders from China, Japan, France and India and as a result it is well known for its architecture and the diversity of cultural influences that can be seen in the architecture as well as in the food scene.

Due to the unique history of the town, particularly the old town area, there was an agreement between the Vietnamese and the US Forces to not bomb this incredible place. I have to say, I am very grateful that two warring parties could come to this type of an agreement, there are too many examples of history destroyed around Vietnam and indeed around the world due to the destruction of war.

During my stay in Hoi An I stayed at an AirBnB property that doubled as apartments and also a hotel. The property was ideally placed just outside the hustle and bustle, but close enough that it was a short 10 minute walk to the action of old town when needed.

The neighbour I mentioned earlier was doing her best to encourage me to stay on the coast at one of the resort hotels, which I am sure would have been incredible. However I was more interested in two things, being closer to the old town so that I could walk to and fro, and getting a good deal for my money.

It turned out that I managed to stay the entire month, all inclusive of accommodation, meals, entertainment and so on for less than it would have cost for accommodation alone if I had stayed at one of the resort hotels.

What can you get up to during your stay in Hoi An?

Meeting people and making friends

I think the thing I like most about slow travel is being able to be in a place long enough to make friends with some of the locals. As an example, there was a lane way I would walk down almost every day as I went out for breakfast, headed into old town or went for dinner. At the end of that lane was a family run street food stall.

Each day I would say hello to a man at that stall and he would reply, as time went on hello turned into banter, with him kindly telling me it was raining when it was a torrential downpour (he had a great sense of humour). One night I was coming home late from dinner and he was sitting outside his house, he called me over and offered me a beer.

Now I had been given a heads up by people in the know, that if you get an offer to go to someone’s house in Vietnam, or have a beer with them it is really rude to decline unless you can’t avoid it, so I said yes. To my surprise, he gave me a chair, then got on his motor scooter and disappeared into the night… to buy the beer…

I sat there with him for a couple of beers and some great conversation, once we worked our way through the significant language barrier.

Old Town

Certainly the most touristy part of Hoi An is the Old Town, and for obvious reasons, this is the main draw card for people to come here. The buildings, as mentioned earlier are incredible, with such a fusion of cultural influences.

One of the big draw card items in Old Town is the Japanese Wooden Covered Bridge. The absence of a photo here for you is telling. Unfortunately this structure is being restored and is not really visible. You can go and stand on the gantry near it, but you don’t see much.

Old Town has a huge amount of shops, coffee shops, restaurants and bars, all in the traditional buildings, allowing you to go inside these places and get a hint of what life must once have been like.

Food scene

Out of the three cities I visited in Vietnam (Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi) I found Hoi An to be the best for the Vietnamese food scene. It might be simply a matter of chance, in where I went for food in each city, but it certainly has everything you could want as far as local cuisine. I went to many restaurants in the month I was there in old town, along the river and at the beaches. I didn’t cook once, even though I had the facilities to do so, and only used delivered food for three days while I was completely incapacitated by my knee injury (which I will mention later…).

I did develop a couple of favourites though:

If you are looking for the best Egg Coffee in Hoi An, you need to go to Hoi AN Roastery №2, this is a bit of an unrecognised gem, they have an amazing upstairs section that is really under appreciated and under used. Located in the middle of Old Town, they are well worth being on your to visit list.

Just a 2 minute walk from my accommodation was a great family run restaurant called Orivy. There is a great selection of local food, the owners are the loveliest people, and the prices are more than fair.

Orivy Restaurant, Hoi An. Image Source: Author

Orivy Restaurant, Hoi An. Image Source: Author

For those times you just want something from home I discovered a great little diner called Dingo Deli, right across the road from Orivy, which was convenient. Now as an Aussie I couldn’t go past a place named after our native wild dog… Dingo Deli serves Aussie and US themed food, and they make a great western style Late, which I needed to keep me running. Vietnamese coffee is good, but I can’t go past the old faithful Latte.

In my last week in Hoi An I stumbled upon an absolute gem for craft beer lovers. The craft beer industry is huge in Vietnam (and they could teach so called Aussie craft brewers a lot). I had been walking past the 7 Bridges Hoi An Tap Room for weeks without realising. This is definitely a place to go and check out some award winning craft beers.

I was lucky enough to be there during the Beer United charity festival, which was attended by half a dozen or more additional breweries, which made for a great night of entertainment and beer tasting.

Craft Beer in Hoi An. All Images Source: Author

Tailors

Hoi An is well known for its tailor shops, as well as additional craft shops such as leather working. If you are still in the market for suits, I am not now that I have retired, then a trip to one of the dozens of tailors in the Old Town area is certainly worth your time. You can get a 3 piece suit made in a matter of days, tailored to your size, made from anything from budget to high end cloth. That said, even the high end cloth will set you back far less than an average suit in Australia.

Beaches

There are several beaches within a 10 minute drive from Hoi An, they are not quite to the same standard as the beaches in Da Nang, but they are still very nice. If you are looking for a wide surf beach, Da Nang is only a 45 minute drive away.

An Bang Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam (Da Nang visible in the background) Image Source: Author

I only went to An Bang Beach, but there are others, with varying degrees of facilities such as restaurants and bars. My only criticism of An Bang Beach is you are constantly harassed by hawkers trying to get you to come to their bar. They a bit sneaky in how they do this, they tell you you can use their sun beds for free, but as soon as you sit down they ask you what you want o eat, if you don’t spend something then and there they tell you the sun beds are only free to paying customers…

I went for a nice walk along the beach one day, and for about 7–800 meters I had about 12 hawkers come to me, across the width of the beach to the waterline, pushing me to sit at their facility. They really don’t like taking “no thank you” for an answer, and can get very rude and aggressive.

Nearby excursions

Here is where my adventure took an ungainly and painful turn. Unfortunately, after my first week in Hoi An I took a tumble and suffered a Grade 1 tear of my Medial Collateral Ligament in my Left Knee. This laid me up for over a week as while it fit the criteria for grade 1, it was close to being grade 2 so needed a fair bit of rest. I could still walk (gingerly) but doing a large number of walks and bike rides was now out of the question. So my only local excursion was to My Son, which I did before my injury.

Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary

Ancient ruins at My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

Ancient ruins at My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

I was truly awestruck at this UNESCO World Heritage listed site, no doubt like many of you, I had heard about Siem Reip and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but I had heard nothing about this centuries older site.

My Son is the site of Hindu Temples constructed by the Champa People from the 4th century through to the 14th century. The Champa People lived throughout modern day Vietnam (and beyond) for centuries, and were eventually conquered by the Viet people over time as they migrated south.

The My Son complex is comprised of dozens of ruins, organised into clusters comprising a temple, surrounded by five outbuildings for each one. As each Champa King came to power they would commission the construction of a temple. Many have suffered the ravages of time and war, with significant evidence of damage and decline.

There are two buildings that have been used to house the relics that have been unearthed during the excavation of the site, as well as during the de-mining process that happened post war. One of the items on display is an example of the unexploded (but now disarmed) ordinance, which when placed in context with the still evident bomb craters opens your eyes to what has been lost.

Unexploded Ordinance (now disarmed) found during the demining of My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

There are many more things that can be done from Hoi An, including a visit to Da Nang, BaNa Hills, Marble Mountain, local villages, boat rides and the list goes on. But as mentioned, I was laid up for a while with a dodgy knee, and even when getting back on my feet I was not able to walk far… I still have trouble, and expect it will be another month or three before I am back to my full capacity.

What did it all cost?

I have inserted a table here outlining my costs for one month in Hoi An. I have not included flights as they were to get to Vietnam, and not specific to this one place. Have a look at the video below if you want to know more about my trip, my accommodation, and the costs in a more detailed discussion.

Table: All costs for one month in Hoi An

Final thoughts, would I go back?

Yes definitely, I missed out on so much because of my knee that I feel like I could easily spend more time there. The question is how much time, as a slow traveller I prefer to spend a month at a time in each place, but I might have seen enough of Hoi An itself to make a month too much, so I might spend that month in Da Nang, which is only a 45 minute drive north and travel back and forth.

If you get the chance, I strongly recommend that you go to Hoi An, if you are a slow traveller then you can easily justify a month there, if you are not a slow traveller, I would still aim for a minimum of a week to make the most of it.

I did develop a couple of favourites though:

If you are looking for the best Egg Coffee in Hoi An, you need to go to Hoi AN Roastery №2, this is a bit of an unrecognised gem, they have an amazing upstairs section that is really under appreciated and under used. Located in the middle of Old Town, they are well worth being on your to visit list.

View from the upstairs balcony of Hoi An Roastery №2. Image Source: Author

Just a 2 minute walk from my accommodation was a great family run restaurant called Orivy. There is a great selection of local food, the owners are the loveliest people, and the prices are more than fair.

Orivy Restaurant, Hoi An. Image Source: Author

Orivy Restaurant, Hoi An. Image Source: Author

For those times you just want something from home I discovered a great little diner called Dingo Deli, right across the road from Orivy, which was convenient. Now as an Aussie I couldn’t go past a place named after our native wild dog… Dingo Deli serves Aussie and US themed food, and they make a great western style Late, which I needed to keep me running. Vietnamese coffee is good, but I can’t go past the old faithful Latte.

In my last week in Hoi An I stumbled upon an absolute gem for craft beer lovers. The craft beer industry is huge in Vietnam (and they could teach so called Aussie craft brewers a lot). I had been walking past the 7 Bridges Hoi An Tap Room for weeks without realising. This is definitely a place to go and check out some award winning craft beers.

I was lucky enough to be there during the Beer United charity festival, which was attended by half a dozen or more additional breweries, which made for a great night of entertainment and beer tasting.

Craft Beer in Hoi An. All Images Source: Author

Tailors

Hoi An is well known for its tailor shops, as well as additional craft shops such as leather working. If you are still in the market for suits, I am not now that I have retired, then a trip to one of the dozens of tailors in the Old Town area is certainly worth your time. You can get a 3 piece suit made in a matter of days, tailored to your size, made from anything from budget to high end cloth. That said, even the high end cloth will set you back far less than an average suit in Australia.

Beaches

There are several beaches within a 10 minute drive from Hoi An, they are not quite to the same standard as the beaches in Da Nang, but they are still very nice. If you are looking for a wide surf beach, Da Nang is only a 45 minute drive away.

An Bang Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam (Da Nang visible in the background) Image Source: Author

I only went to An Bang Beach, but there are others, with varying degrees of facilities such as restaurants and bars. My only criticism of An Bang Beach is you are constantly harassed by hawkers trying to get you to come to their bar. They a bit sneaky in how they do this, they tell you you can use their sun beds for free, but as soon as you sit down they ask you what you want o eat, if you don’t spend something then and there they tell you the sun beds are only free to paying customers…

I went for a nice walk along the beach one day, and for about 7–800 meters I had about 12 hawkers come to me, across the width of the beach to the waterline, pushing me to sit at their facility. They really don’t like taking “no thank you” for an answer, and can get very rude and aggressive.

Nearby excursions

Here is where my adventure took an ungainly and painful turn. Unfortunately, after my first week in Hoi An I took a tumble and suffered a Grade 1 tear of my Medial Collateral Ligament in my Left Knee. This laid me up for over a week as while it fit the criteria for grade 1, it was close to being grade 2 so needed a fair bit of rest. I could still walk (gingerly) but doing a large number of walks and bike rides was now out of the question. So my only local excursion was to My Son, which I did before my injury.

Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary

Ancient ruins at My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

Ancient ruins at My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

I was truly awestruck at this UNESCO World Heritage listed site, no doubt like many of you, I had heard about Siem Reip and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but I had heard nothing about this centuries older site.

My Son is the site of Hindu Temples constructed by the Champa People from the 4th century through to the 14th century. The Champa People lived throughout modern day Vietnam (and beyond) for centuries, and were eventually conquered by the Viet people over time as they migrated south.

The My Son complex is comprised of dozens of ruins, organised into clusters comprising a temple, surrounded by five outbuildings for each one. As each Champa King came to power they would commission the construction of a temple. Many have suffered the ravages of time and war, with significant evidence of damage and decline.

There are two buildings that have been used to house the relics that have been unearthed during the excavation of the site, as well as during the de-mining process that happened post war. One of the items on display is an example of the unexploded (but now disarmed) ordinance, which when placed in context with the still evident bomb craters opens your eyes to what has been lost.

Unexploded Ordinance (now disarmed) found during the demining of My Son Sanctuary. Image Source: Author

There are many more things that can be done from Hoi An, including a visit to Da Nang, BaNa Hills, Marble Mountain, local villages, boat rides and the list goes on. But as mentioned, I was laid up for a while with a dodgy knee, and even when getting back on my feet I was not able to walk far… I still have trouble, and expect it will be another month or three before I am back to my full capacity.

What did it all cost?

I have inserted a table here outlining my costs for one month in Hoi An. I have not included flights as they were to get to Vietnam, and not specific to this one place. Have a look at the video below if you want to know more about my trip, my accommodation, and the costs in a more detailed discussion.

Table: All costs for one month in Hoi An

Final thoughts, would I go back?

Yes definitely, I missed out on so much because of my knee that I feel like I could easily spend more time there. The question is how much time, as a slow traveller I prefer to spend a month at a time in each place, but I might have seen enough of Hoi An itself to make a month too much, so I might spend that month in Da Nang, which is only a 45 minute drive north and travel back and forth.

If you get the chance, I strongly recommend that you go to Hoi An, if you are a slow traveller then you can easily justify a month there, if you are not a slow traveller, I would still aim for a minimum of a week to make the most of it.