The Perfect Hoi An 2 Day Itinerary: What to Do and See
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Is two days enough for Hoi An?
Two days are enough to see the highlights of Hoi An. Although its top attractions are mostly located in Hoi An Ancient Town, there are also some attractions located outside of the city center and you unfortunately won’t have time to see all of them. If you find yourself loving Hoi An when you’re there and have some flexibility with your travel plans, you can extend your stay. Otherwise, you’ll just have to return to Hoi An to see and do everything else that you missed!
Day 1
Wander around the Old Town
Hoi An Old Town or Ancient Town is the center of tourist activity in Hoi An. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, visiting the Old Town feels like you’ve stepped back in time. The yellow houses and traditional architecture have been well preserved, creating plenty of gorgeous backdrops for photos. Some of these buildings now serve as museums or cultural sites, while others have been turned into shops and restaurants.
Old Town is free to visit, but you’ll need to buy tickets to enter the museums and historic buildings. There are a number of ticket booths scattered throughout the Old Town, but the ticket booth that sits at the central entrance of Old Town is most convenient. A ticket sheet costs 120,000 VND ($5 USD) and allow you to access five sites out of the 20+ that are in the Old Town. While you can buy additional sheets of five tickets, I recommend using up your first set of tickets before buying more. This is because you may find that additional sites aren’t worth visiting. Also, tickets aren’t always checked, so you may be able to visit more than five buildings with your initial ticket purchase.
After purchasing your tickets, here are the places I recommend visiting:
- Japanese Covered Bridge
- Ba Mu Temple
- Fujian Assembly Hall (Hoi Quan Phuoc Kien)
- Cantonese Assembly Hall (Hội Auán Quảng Đông)
- Hoi An Traditional Art Performance House
- Teochew Assembly Hall (Hội Quán Triều Châu)
- Hainan Assembly Hall (Hội Quán Hải Nam)
- Chinese Assembly Hall (Hội Quán Ngũ Bang)

Go shopping
After spending a month and a half in Vietnam, I can say that Hoi An is by far one of the best places to go shopping and pick up souvenirs in. Hoi An is known for its affordable custom tailoring, leather goods, and paper lanterns, so these are the items that you ideally want to go for.
Since there are plenty of shops and tailors to choose from, the best way to tackle all your options is to visit multiple stores. You’ll be able to see what they have and get an idea of pricing. If you plan on getting custom clothing made, it’s particularly important to shop around because each tailor offers different styles and price points. By getting multiple estimates, you can compare tailors and negotiate. You also want to find a tailor who you’re comfortable working with and confident that they’ll do a good job.
If you decide to get custom tailored clothing, be aware that you’ll typically need to come back the next day for fittings and adjustments. You’ll need to keep this in mind when figuring out what you’d like to do on your second day in Hoi An.
Aside from randomly stopping at stores as you come across them, you can also visit the Hoi An Central Market. The Central Market sells practically everything – not just souvenirs. You’ll find produce, fresh meat and seafood, clothing, and more.
See Old Town lit up at night
If you think that Old Town is beautiful during the day, it’s absolutely magical at night. Lanterns not only light up the streets, but also An Hoi Bridge and the Thu Bồn River. While you can take everything in from the street, you can also take a short boat ride to immerse yourself in the lanterns.
After enjoying the light show, make your way across the bridge to the Hoi An Night Market. The night market happens every night from 5 to 11 PM, and it spans a few streets. You’ll find stalls selling souvenirs, clothing, accessories, and food. If you’re looking for a light dinner, you can eat at the night market. For something more substantial, head to one of the many restaurants in the area.
Day 2
For your second day in Hoi An, it’s a choose-your-own adventure. Since you’ve already seen the best of Hoi An’s city center on your first day, it’s time to now venture outside of it. Below are some of the best things to see and do, ranging from seeing ancient ruins to floating in the iconic basket boats. You can put together your perfect itinerary depending on what you’re interested in and how many activities you want to pack into your day. I’ve also noted when it’s best to do each activity and how far away everything is from Hoi An.
Tour the ruins at My Son Sanctuary in the early morning or afternoon
My Son Sanctuary is a UNESCO World Heritage Site about an hour away from Hoi An. It’s often considered to be a smaller version of Angkor Wat, as it’s also the site of ancient Hindu temples. If you haven’t been to Angkor Wat yet, this is a must-do when in Hoi An. If you have visited Angkor Wat, My Son is still worth visiting. I found it much more peaceful since it’s not as crowded as Angkor Wat.
If you know how to drive a motorbike or are willing to hire a driver, you can go to My Son on your own. However, if you prefer to see My Son with a guide, make sure to book a tour in advance. There are both morning and afternoon tours, but I recommend taking a morning tour so that you can enjoy the beautiful ruins and scenery without a lot of people and avoid the afternoon heat. I really enjoyed my early morning My Son Sanctuary tour, which you can read about here and book on either Viator or Tripadvisor.
Visit the Marble Mountains in the morning or afternoon
Only a 25-minute drive from Hoi An, the Marble Mountains is the site of five marble and limestone hills. They’re named after the five elements and contain picturesque tunnels, caves, pagodas, and temples that you can explore. The Marble Mountains are a very popular attraction that draws travelers from both Hoi An and Da Nang, so it can get very busy. It’s best to go early in the day, especially if you want to take photos without lots of people in the background.
You can get to the Marble Mountains by renting a motorbike and driving there or by getting a driver through the Grab app.
Float in basket boats in the afternoon
The iconic basket boats of Vietnam were created in response to the French tax on boats. Vietnamese fishermen couldn’t afford to pay the taxes, so they created these circular baskets that also functioned as boats. These boats are made out of bamboo, resin or tar, and sap, and they can spin in the water due to their round shape. While basket boats are still used by the Vietnamese, they’ve also become a popular tourist activity that you can experience in Hoi An.
The boat ride is short but fun, so you should plan one to two more activities for your afternoon. You’ll be paddled out, spin in the boats, see how fishermen cast their nets, and enjoy some high-energy karaoke out in the water before returning to the dock. You can take a boat ride solo as I did, but this is definitely an activity best enjoyed with a group.
There are many vendors that can take you on a basket boat ride, and they’re all located in Cẩm Thanh Village – about an 8-minute drive from Hoi An. You can simply drive into the village and walk up to any of the vendors that are advertising basket boat rides. If you don’t drive motorbikes, you can book a tour that includes transportation to and from Cẩm Thanh Village. Alternatively, you can join a group tour that includes the basket boat ride as well as other activities like visiting a local market, taking a cooking class, and biking.

Chill out at the beach in the afternoon or evening
For a very relaxed day two in Hoi An, head to the best beaches in the area: An Bang Beach and Cua Dai Beach. The two beaches are next to each other, with An Bang Beach located in the north and Cua Dai Beach in the south. They’re also only a 10-minute drive from the city center, so your transportation options are renting a motorbike, renting a bicycle, or getting a driver via Grab.
Both beaches have restaurants nearby, so you could head there for lunch and then relax on the beach after. You could also make your way there in the late afternoon for drinks and stay until sunset.
Wander through the countryside in the afternoon or evening
Instead of going to the beach for some downtime, you can take either a short walk or bicycle or motorbike ride to the rice fields immediately outside of the city center. Take Hai Bà Trưng north and you’ll find yourself in the middle of stunning green rice fields. You may even see farmers and water buffalo.
You can veer down any of the dirt roads, or if you keep on heading north, you’ll reach Tra Que Vegetable Village (also known as Tra Que Herb Village). The organic farming community has restaurants, cafés, gardens, and hotels. If you’re planning in advance, some of the restaurants there host cooking classes and tours of their garden. Tra Que is a peaceful place to just sit and relax or watch the sunset from.
More resources for traveling Vietnam
- Complete Hoi An Travel Guide: Everything You Need to Know
- My Son Sunrise Tour From Hoi An: Tour Review & Recap
- 5 Best Day Trips From Hoi An and How to Get There
- 5 Best Hostels and Homestays I Stayed at in Vietnam
- How to Get From Da Lat to Hoi An
- How to Get From Hue to Hoi An
- 5 Complete Itineraries to See North Vietnam in 7 Days
