Heading south from Hanoi by plane on the next part of our journey, Chiara, Lauren and I landed in Da Nang, a seaside town in Vietnam. It’s located about 18 miles north of Hoi An, so we had a driver pick us up from the airport to take us into town. We didn’t really know what to expect from Hoi An, but I think we all fell in love.
Located on the coast of Vietnam smack-dab in the middle of the country, Hoi An once operated as a trading port town. When then Thu Bon River silted up, ships could no longer pass through and the town lost significance for some time. In the 1990s, tourism boomed due to a rise in fortunes and now has become a must-see destination. The streets are filled with merchant shops, cafes, hotels, restaurants and tailor shops, and the city has such a charm to it that anyone who visits instantly falls in love.
We spent four nights in the Hoi An area and enjoyed our time walking around the city, eating delicious food, getting custom tailor-made clothing and relaxing by the beach.
Some of Chiara’s friends had been to Hoi An earlier this year and had suggested a great tailor shop, Five Seasons, to go to for custom-made clothes. We arrived early the next morning after getting in to Hoi An and we were greeted by the shop owner, Rose. She asked us all what we had wanted made and thankfully we had already come prepared with screenshots of outfits we had found by scrolling through our favorite clothing websites. She jotted down a few notes in her book and then took measurements of all of us so they could begin working.
Both Chiara and I got jumpsuits made and Lauren got a beautiful woolen winter coat! The prices were so cheap compared to getting things made in the US. Our jumpsuits were around $50 each and Lauren’s coat was less than $100! We came into the shop for 2 fittings to make sure everything fit perfectly- I was shocked at how quickly they worked on our clothes. I was really impressed with the quality of the material and the care they put into making sure we loved our pieces. Make sure you head to this tailor shop when you’re in Hoi An! It’s right next to the Old Town, so the location is perfect.
Besides custom-made clothing, leather goods are also popular to get made in Hoi An. There was a shop right next to our tailor, so I ended up getting a weekender bag made! It turned out really lovely, but of course I forgot to take a picture before I packaged it up.
The Old Town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Center, so if you want to go into some of the historic buildings and sites, you need to buy a ticket. One ticket allows entrance into five different places and costs around 120,000 Vietnamese Dong ($5 USD). Additionally, it lasts for more than one day, so you don’t have to visit five places all at once. The proceeds go towards maintenance and renovations as well as some street entertainment such as folk dancing and singing.
The sites you can see include museums, houses, assembly halls, communal houses, etc. We opted to see the Museum of Trade Ceramics, Museum of Folk Culture, Tan Ky House, Japanese Covered Bridge and some nice gardens. I’ll have to say, these sites aren’t anything breathtaking but were interesting to visit none-the-less!
Apart from our time in Hoi An, we headed out to An Bang beach, just three miles from the Old Town. We stayed at an amazing bungalow that we booked through Airbnb for two nights and got the chance to relax on the beach and swim for a bit. The beach is on the South China Sea where the waves were big and the currents were strong! We all had fun jumping through the waves and lounging on the beach.
On our last night in Hoi An, we went to some bars for drinks and made friends with some girls from Ireland who were doing a pub crawl. We ended up joining them and having fun dancing!
We really loved our time in Hoi An and I would definitely return for another visit!