Hội An is an old trading town on the Thu Bồn River, about 30 km south of Da Nang: yellow merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls and lanterns over the water. My saved list has it as a single pin, the town itself, with no addresses. So all 9 places in this guide are ones recommended by travel guides, 34travel among them, and by travellers themselves; I checked each one on Google: still open, rated 4.2 or higher, more than a hundred reviews. I have no notes of my own on Hội An yet, so every description is put together from Google Maps reviews.
Prices are Google's average spend per person; prices of single dishes and tickets come from reviews. Valid as of 7 October 2026. Rate: 100,000 ₫ ≈ $3.85.
In short
- The Old Town: one ticket, about 120,000 ₫ (≈$5), gets you into several monuments, including Hội Quán Phúc Kiến and the Tấn Ký house.
- Evening: Chùa Cầu and the night market on An Hội, when the lanterns come on and paper lanterns are floated down the river from boats.
- Dodging the crowds: Chùa Cầu has a constant stream of tourists by day; it's calmer late in the evening, once the tour groups leave.
- Out of town: An Bàng beach, 5 km away, and the Trà Quế vegetable village on the way, easy by bicycle.
- Crafts and boats: the Thanh Hà pottery village, where you can make your own pot, and basket boats in the Bảy Mẫu coconut palms; agree the price first.
The Old Town
Chùa Cầu (Japanese Covered Bridge)
Old Town · 18th-century covered bridge · daily 9:00–22:00
Google Maps · Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai
According to Google Maps reviews (4.3 from 29,000+): the Old Town's emblem, a small wooden covered bridge with a tiny temple inside and guardian animal statues at its corners, recently restored. By day there's a constant stream of tourists over it; late in the evening, once the tour groups leave, it calms down: lanterns over the river, the night market, boats with paper lanterns. The bridge itself is small, so you really come for the atmosphere of the quarter around it. 34travel recommends it too (article).
Hội Quán Phúc Kiến (Fujian Assembly Hall)
Old Town · 17th-century Chinese assembly hall · daily 7:00–18:00
Google Maps · 46 Trần Phú
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 2,200+): built in the 17th century by the community from Fujian and dedicated to Thiên Hậu, the sea goddess who protects sailors. Reviewers praise the grand gates, the courtyards with statues and ponds, the dragons and the bright paintwork; many call it the finest of the town's assembly halls. Entry is on the Old Town ticket. When big tour groups arrive it gets hot and crowded inside, with a lot of incense smoke. 34travel recommends it too (article).
Hội Quán Quảng Đông (Cantonese Assembly Hall)
Old Town · Chinese assembly hall
Google Maps · 176 Trần Phú
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 200+): the assembly hall of the community from Canton, bright and recently restored, with a dragon fountain at the entrance, large murals and statues of deities. Entry is on the shared Old Town ticket, and 20–30 minutes is enough. It gets crowded by day, and there's little English signage.
Nhà cổ Tấn Ký (Old House of Tan Ky)
Old Town · 18th-century merchant house · daily 8:30–17:45
Google Maps · website · 101 Nguyễn Thái Học
According to Google Maps reviews (4.2 from 1,500+): a two-storey merchant house where seven generations of one family lived and traded, its front on Nguyễn Thái Học and its back on the river, where goods were loaded. Inside: old carved furniture, family heirlooms and marks on the walls showing how high past floods reached. The house is small and packed full, so a visit is quick; it's dim and has little ventilation. Tickets aren't sold here but at the booths at the entrances to the Old Town.
Chợ đêm Hội An (Hoi An Night Market)
An Hội · riverside night market · daily until 22:00
Google Maps · 3 Nguyễn Hoàng
According to Google Maps reviews (4.4 from 50,000+): the market on the An Hội islet, across the bridge from the Old Town: hundreds of silk lanterns, street food, souvenirs, music and street performers. The thing everyone recommends is a 10–15 minute boat ride on the Hoài River, releasing a candlelit paper lantern onto the water. The crowds are very dense, people queue for photos with the lanterns, and the popular restaurants nearby are full in the evening. Bring cash in dong.
Beyond the Old Town
Bãi biển An Bàng (An Bang Beach)
An Bàng · town beach · open 24 hours
Google Maps · Hai Bà Trưng
According to Google Maps reviews (4.3 from 20,000+): a beach about 5 km from the Old Town, calmer and less crowded than Mỹ Khê in Da Nang. Clean sand, loungers and umbrellas (about 100,000 ₫, ≈$4), seafood restaurants that hand you a hose to wash the sand off your feet; in the mornings fishermen bring in the catch in round basket boats. Downsides: pushy vendors, an occasional fishy smell, and it isn't always good for swimming. From the Old Town it's about 45 minutes by bicycle through the rice fields. 34travel recommends it too (article).
Tra Que Vegetable Village Restaurant
Trà Quế · restaurant and cooking class in a vegetable village · 100,000–200,000 ₫ (≈$4–8) · daily 8:00–17:00
Google Maps · Trà Quế village
According to Google Maps reviews (4.5 from 860+): a restaurant in Trà Quế, a village of organic vegetable and herb gardens between Hội An and An Bàng beach. You eat looking out over the beds where the gardeners work; reviewers praise the papaya salad, fried spring rolls, combo platters and homemade chilli sauce. It also runs cooking classes with a market trip and work in the garden, often followed by a foot massage. Big tour groups come through during the day; it's quieter by mid-afternoon.
Làng gốm Thanh Hà (Thanh Ha Pottery Village)
Thanh Hà · pottery village · daily 8:00–18:30
Google Maps · website · Phạm Phán
According to Google Maps reviews (4.3 from 10,000+): a small potters' village that's an easy bike ride away. You buy a ticket at the entrance, which usually includes a 10,000 ₫ voucher for a drink or souvenir and a little ceramic whistle as a gift; the museum of miniature buildings is sometimes paid separately. Potters demonstrate on the wheel, and for an extra fee you can make your own pot, which kids especially love. Allow an hour or two; there are few places to eat nearby.
Rừng Dừa Bảy Mẫu Hội An
Hội An Đông · basket boats in the coconut palms
Google Maps · website · Thôn Thanh Tam
According to Google Maps reviews (4.8 from 330+): one of the outfits that take visitors out in round bamboo basket boats through the waterways of the Bảy Mẫu coconut palms. The rowers spin the boat, put on a little show and help with photos, and many love it. But prices swing wildly: reviewers paid anywhere from 70,000 to 500,000 ₫ (≈$3–19) a head for the same ride, and some complain about mid-ride requests for tips and loud karaoke on the water. Agree the price before you get in.
One last thing
See the assembly halls and old houses in the morning, before the tour buses arrive; tickets are sold at the booths at the Old Town entrances, not at the houses themselves. Spend the hottest hours at An Bàng beach, and be back in the Old Town for sunset: the lanterns, Chùa Cầu and the boats on the river are what people come here for.
More on Hội An: where to eat and drink coffee, where to go out.