> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Lanterns and tailors: a week in Hoi An - URL: https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/lanterns-and-tailors-a-week-in-hoi-an/ - Published: 2026-08-29T07:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-29T07:00:00.000Z - Description: Noodles for breakfast, a suit made in a day, bicycles through the rice fields and lanterns on the river at night. - Author: Ada Okafor - Tags: Asia, Food trips, #map 15.88 108.33 Hoi An, #Import 2026-09-30 07:00 Hoi An is a small old trading port on the central coast of Vietnam, and in the evening, it is lit by thousands of silk lanterns. It is also a town of tailors, noodle stalls, bicycles and rice fields, with a long beach twenty minutes away. I came for three days and stayed a week. This is how that week went, slowed down to a pace the town seems to ask for. Best time: February–May · Days: 5–7 · Budget: Low · Getting around: Bicycle · Currency: Vietnamese dong ## Day 1 — The old town, early and late The old town is closed to cars and easy to walk. Buy the entry ticket, which covers several old merchant houses, assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge. Visit in the early morning, when the yellow walls glow and the street sellers are setting up. ![The yellow walls of the old town at seven in the morning.](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-street.jpg) The yellow walls of the old town at seven in the morning. Come back at dusk, when the lanterns light up and the river fills with small boats selling paper candles to float on the water. It is touristy. It is also very beautiful. ## Day 2 — Food, from morning to night Start with cao lầu, Hoi An's own noodle dish: thick, chewy noodles with pork, greens and crispy croutons. Then try a bánh mì from one of the famous stalls, where the queue tells you everything you need to know. In the afternoon, take a cooking class that starts with a basket boat ride through the coconut palms. ![](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-food.jpg) ![](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-river.jpg) ![](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-silk.jpg) A bowl of noodles, boats on the Thu Bồn river and rolls of silk in a tailor's shop. > In Hoi An, the best meals cost less than a coffee back home. > > **Ada Okafor** ## Day 3 — Get something made Hoi An has hundreds of tailors, and many will make a suit, a dress or a coat in a day or two. Choose a shop with good reviews, bring a photo or a favourite piece of clothing to copy, and allow time for at least two fittings. The best results come from simple designs and good fabric. ## Day 4 — By bicycle through the rice fields Rent a bike from your hotel and ride out of town towards Tra Que vegetable village and the rice fields beyond. The roads are flat and quiet, the buffalo are calm and the herb gardens smell wonderful. Stop wherever looks good for an iced coffee with condensed milk. ![Rice fields on the way to the coast.](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-bike.jpg) Rice fields on the way to the coast. ## Day 5 — The beach An Bang beach is a short ride from town, with fine sand, cafés under the palms and warm water from spring to autumn. Spend the day doing very little. ![An Bang beach in the afternoon.](https://wander.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/hoi-beach.jpg) An Bang beach in the afternoon. ## Where to stay and eat Stay just outside the old town, in the quiet lanes towards An Bang or Cẩm Thanh, where small homestays and hotels have gardens, pools and free bicycles. You will cycle into town in ten minutes and sleep far better than above the bars. Eat breakfast at the market: a bowl of cao lầu or mì Quảng, with a strong Vietnamese coffee dripped over ice. In the evening, the street stalls on the island across the river sell grilled pork skewers, rice pancakes and fresh spring rolls for almost nothing. ## Extra day — The Marble Mountains and My Son Half an hour north of Hoi An, the Marble Mountains are five limestone hills full of caves, pagodas and Buddhist shrines. An hour inland, the ruins of My Son, a group of Cham temples from the 4th to the 13th century, sit in a green valley ringed by jungle. Go early, before the heat and the tour buses. ## What it cost Prices per person, for two people sharing, at the time of our trip. Use them as a guide; they change every season. | Item | Cost | | --------------------------- | ------------------ | | Homestay, 6 nights (shared) | 3,600,000 ₫ | | Old town ticket | 120,000 ₫ | | Cooking class | 800,000 ₫ | | A made-to-measure suit | 3,500,000 ₫ | | Food and coffee | 2,000,000 ₫ | | Total, 7 days | about 10,000,000 ₫ | ## What I would do differently I would order clothes from the tailor on the first day, not the third, so that there is time for two or three fittings. I would also stay a night or two in the mountains at Bà Nà or on the Hải Vân Pass for cooler air. And I would visit in March or April, before the heat of the summer, when the rice fields are bright green and the beach is calm. ## Know before you go - The rainy season runs from September to December, and the old town sometimes floods. - Agree the price and delivery date with your tailor in writing before paying a deposit. - Cross busy roads slowly and steadily. Traffic flows around you if you do not stop suddenly. - Download a ride-hailing app for trips to Da Nang and the airport. - Keep small notes; stalls rarely have change for big ones. ## Questions #### How do I get to Hoi An? Fly to Da Nang, forty-five minutes away by car. Many hotels offer airport transfers. #### Is the full-moon lantern festival worth it? Yes. On the 14th day of each lunar month, the old town turns off its electric lights and uses only lanterns.