We’ll be honest — Hoi An Vietnam slow travel was never the plan. It was supposed to be a quick anniversary detour from Da Nang, four days at most. Four days, we told ourselves. See the lanterns, wander the Ancient Town, grab a few meals. We weren’t expecting to leave wishing we’d stayed longer.
What we found was a town that earns its reputation in ways a guidebook can’t quite capture — riverside luxury on IHG points, a tailor-made outfit that took three fittings to get right, one of the best cooking classes we’ve done in Asia, and evenings on the riverbank doing absolutely nothing. This is how that trip went.
Getting from Da Nang to Hoi An
A Grab from Da Nang to Hoi An costs around $15 USD and takes about 45 minutes. It’s as easy as that. We booked through the app, used the same driver for our return trip, and didn’t need any other transport once we arrived — Hoi An’s Ancient Town is compact enough to navigate entirely on foot.
If you’re already based in Da Nang, this is a logical extension of your time in central Vietnam rather than a separate destination. We spent three months there before this trip — you can read about that experience in Living in Da Nang: What Three Months Actually Feels Like.
Where We Stayed: Moire Hoi An, Vignette Collection
For our anniversary, we booked the Moire Hoi An, part of IHG’s Vignette Collection, using IHG One Rewards points. It’s one of IHG’s newer luxury properties in Vietnam, and the location is hard to argue with — right on the Hoai River, a short walk from the entrance to the Ancient Town.
We booked a standard room and were upgraded to a river-view room on arrival. During the day, we watched boats drift along the water. At night, lantern boats lit up the river below our window. It became the backdrop to the whole stay.
The room itself was excellent, but what stood out most was the staff. Breakfast each morning felt genuinely warm — not transactional. And when we arrived to find “Happy Anniversary” spelled out in flower petals on the bed, with chocolates, fresh fruit, and a handwritten note, it set the tone for everything that followed.
The Vignette Collection sits in IHG’s upper tier, and if you’ve been accumulating IHG One Rewards points through the IHG Premier card, properties like this are where those points make real sense. The redemption value here is strong.
First Impressions: Busier Than We Expected
Before arriving, I had a picture in my head of a quiet historic town. That wasn’t quite right.
Hoi An is charming, genuinely so — but it’s also one of Vietnam’s most visited destinations, and it shows, particularly in the evenings when the Ancient Town fills with visitors arriving specifically for the lanterns. The narrow streets get busy. Some vendors are persistent. A few spots feel designed entirely around the tourist economy.
None of that was a dealbreaker. The combination of colonial architecture, riverside cafés, coloured lanterns, and the actual history beneath all of it makes it easy to understand the draw. September weather was warm throughout — early mornings and evenings were the best times to be outside — and even at its most crowded, the atmosphere was hard to resist.
Go in knowing what it is, and you’ll appreciate it for what it does well.
Getting Custom Clothing Made at BeBe Tailor
Custom tailoring is one of Hoi An’s signature experiences, and after doing some research, we went with BeBe Tailor. Marge arrived on the first day with photos of a blue two-piece outfit she wanted made from scratch. The staff walked her through fabric options and styling details before taking measurements and getting to work.
The process ran across most of our stay:
- Day 1: Measurements and design consultation
- Day 2: Initial fitting with the larger adjustments made
- Day 3: Refined fitting and final alterations
- Day 4: Final pickup
The finished outfit cost around $135 USD and exceeded expectations. Multiple fittings meant it was actually tailored — not just measured and handed back. We’d recommend BeBe Tailor without hesitation, with one caveat: allow at least three to four days. Rushing the process defeats the point.
Wandering the Ancient Town
Some of the best time we spent in Hoi An was unplanned — simply walking the streets of the Ancient Town at different times of day.
During the day, it’s a mix of cafés, tailor shops, restaurants, and genuine historic buildings. We visited the Chùa Cầu (Japanese Covered Bridge), one of Hoi An’s most recognisable landmarks, and spent time drifting between the riverside and the old merchant houses. By evening, the transformation is real: thousands of lanterns come on, their light reflecting off the water, and the streets take on a completely different character.
Some of our favourite hours were the simplest ones — sitting along the riverbank after dinner with fresh fruit juice, watching the lantern boats drift past. Hoi An rewards doing very little just as much as it rewards packing your days with activities.
Hoi An Memories Land
One evening we purchased tickets to Hoi An Memories Land, the large outdoor performance that’s become one of the town’s signature experiences. The show combines music, traditional dance, lighting effects, and storytelling across a significant production footprint — it’s genuinely impressive in scale, and we weren’t expecting to be as taken by it as we were.
It covers Vietnamese history and culture across different eras, and while it’s unambiguously a tourist-facing production, the quality is high. If you’re spending several nights in Hoi An, it’s worth adding to the itinerary — particularly on an evening when the Ancient Town feels too crowded to simply wander.
A Cooking Class Worth Booking
One of the best things we did in Hoi An was a cooking class booked through
One of the best things we did in Hoi An was a cooking class booked through Viator. The itinerary covered more than just cooking: a visit to a local market, a basket boat ride, fishing on the water, and then hands-on time in the kitchen.
The market visit was the part that surprised us most. Unlike some tourist-facing market experiences, this one felt like an actual working local market — vendors, produce, the rhythm of morning commerce. It gave us a sense of everyday Hoi An that the Ancient Town, for all its charm, doesn’t quite offer.
In the kitchen, we made fresh spring rolls, rice dishes, and ginger chicken. The instruction was hands-on and straightforward, and the meal at the end of it tasted better for having made it ourselves.
For first-time visitors to Vietnam, a cooking class is one of the more worthwhile ways to spend half a day. This particular format — market, boat ride, and cooking combined — was well worth the time.
Basket Boat Ride Through the Coconut Forest
The basket boat ride through Hoi An’s Water Coconut Forest is one of those activities that sounds a little gimmicky and turns out to be genuinely enjoyable. The round bamboo boats are a traditional part of central Vietnamese fishing culture, and navigating the narrow waterways through the coconut palms — with a local guide doing most of the actual work — is both relaxing and a little absurd in the best way.
It’s popular with tourists, no question. But it was one of our favourite excursions from the trip, and a good contrast to the more urban experience of the Ancient Town.
Where We Ate
Four days isn’t enough to do Hoi An’s food scene justice, but we found some standouts.
Morning Glory Original
We chose Morning Glory for our anniversary dinner — it’s one of Hoi An’s better-known restaurants, and it earned its reputation. The Vietnamese chicken curry was the highlight: properly spiced, richly flavored, the kind of dish you think about afterward. Good atmosphere, good service. Worth the booking.
Hoi An’s food scene shares a lot of DNA with the rest of central Vietnam — if you want to go deeper on Vietnamese food, our Da Nang food guide covers three months of eating in the region.
Bánh Mì Hội An
Vietnam already makes some of the world’s best sandwiches, and Hoi An holds its own. The bánh mì here was a simple lunch that exceeded expectations — fresh bread, the right ratio of ingredients, nothing overstated. One of those meals that costs almost nothing and delivers far more than you paid for.
Golden Rice Restaurant & Bar
A solid option when you’re deep in the Ancient Town and want something reliable. Not the most memorable meal of the trip, but well-executed and worth knowing about.
Mia Coffee
Vietnam introduced us to coconut coffee, and it quickly became a daily habit. Mia Coffee was where we found a particularly good version — rich, slightly sweet, served cold. If you haven’t tried coconut coffee in Vietnam, this is a good place to start.
Hoi An Vietnam Slow Travel: Practical Tips Before You Go
- Getting there: Grab from Da Nang runs around $15 USD and takes 45 minutes. Book through the app — no need to negotiate.
- Getting around: The Ancient Town is walkable. You won’t need transport once you’re there.
- Best time to explore: Early mornings and evenings. Midday gets hot and crowded. The riverfront is best after dark.
- Tailoring: Budget at least three to four days and go with reference photos. The process is iterative — don’t rush it.
- Tickets for Memories Land: Book in advance, especially in peak season.
- Cash: Street food and smaller vendors are typically cash only. Bring Vietnamese dong for markets and bánh mì stands.
- Weather: September was warm and manageable. The wet season runs October–November — check before you go.
- Connectivity: Vietnam’s coverage is generally solid, but we travelled with an Airalo eSIM for reliable data from the moment we landed — no SIM hunting needed. Use code MICHAE07171 for 15% off.
Hoi An earns its reputation, with the caveat that you have to go in knowing it’s a busy destination — not a quiet escape. The crowds are real, the tourist economy is visible, and some corners of the Ancient Town feel more curated than authentic. But underneath all of that is a place with genuine character: beautiful streets, excellent food, a river that looks its best at night, and enough to do that four days flies by.
For an anniversary trip, it was exactly right. We’d go back.
🎬 Watch the Full Video
We documented our four days in Hoi An — the IHG hotel, the tailoring process, the basket boats, and the lanterns at night — on our YouTube channel. Watch it here:
▶️ Four Days in Hoi An, Vietnam — Anniversary Travel Vlog | The Passport Pillow
If you’ve spent time in Hoi An, or you’re planning a trip, drop us a comment below — we’d love to hear what you made of it.
— Mike & Marge | The Passport Pillow
