Guide · Hoi An

Where is Hoi An, and how many days should you stay?

A small trading port on the Thu Bon River in central Vietnam, close to Da Nang's airport and an hour from the towers of My Son. Here is where it sits, how to reach it and how long to give it.

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Editorial team, mysonsanctuarytour.comUpdated October 24, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes39 sources

The tour behind this guide My Son Sanctuary dawn or afternoon trip from Hoi An 4.9 (3,411 reviews) 4 to 5 hoursHotel pickup in Hoi AnEntrance ticket paid on the day from$16per person Check availabilityCancel without charge until 24 hrs before pickup

Quick answers

01Where: Central Vietnam, on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River.¹
02Nearest airport: Da Nang, about 29 km from the ancient town.²
03From Hanoi: Fly to Da Nang, then transfer to Hoi An.³
04How long: Two nights covers the town and a morning at My Son.
05My Son: 45 km away, by the site board's figure.⁴

Hoi An on the map

Where is Hoi An? In central Vietnam, on the coast. UNESCO places the ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam, on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River.¹ Quang Nam has since been merged into Da Nang City, which the My Son board already uses in the sanctuary's address.⁵ The national tourism authority describes Quang Nam as a province that borders Laos to the west and faces the East Sea to the east.⁶

Its neighbours explain why most people pass through. Da Nang's international airport is about 5 km from Da Nang's city centre, 29 km from Hoi An's ancient town and 98 km from Hue to the north.² Inland, up the same river, lie the towers of My Son, which the site's board puts 45 km from Hoi An.⁴

The town is small. The part UNESCO lists covers just 30 ha, with a buffer zone of 280 ha around it, which means the historic centre is a place you can cross on foot in minutes.⁷ The beaches are close too: An Bang Beach lies 7 km outside the ancient town.⁸

A sample stay

A short stay with a morning at My Son

First evening

The old town by lantern

The tourism authority says the town comes into its own after dark.⁹
Next day, 5:30 AM

Pickup for My Son

The dawn trip collects you with a coffee for the road.
Next day, 9:00 AM

Champa brunch

After about two hours among the towers.
Next afternoon

Houses and the bridge

An Old Town Ticket opens five heritage buildings.¹⁰
Next evening

On the river

A half-hour sampan from the ferry quay.¹¹

Why a river port became a world heritage town

Hoi An's whole story is trade. UNESCO describes it as a well-preserved small trading port that was active from the 15th to the 19th century.¹² The national tourism authority goes further back: during the Cham dynasties, from the 7th to the 10th centuries, the area was an economic hub for merchants from Asia, Persia and Arabia.¹³

The name itself, according to the tourism authority, means peaceful meeting place, from the time when merchants anchored there to trade goods and news.¹⁴ The old town keeps a well-preserved complex of 1,107 timber-frame buildings, and it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999, the same year as My Son.¹⁵ ¹⁶ ¹⁷

The two places belong to one story. The Cham built a port at the river mouth, a royal capital at Tra Kieu and a holy city at My Son, all along the Thu Bon, so the trading town and the temple valley sit at opposite ends of one historical landscape.¹⁸

Distances

From Hoi An's old town, in km

Official figures: the tourism authority for the beach, the islands offshore and the airport, the site's board for My Son.⁸ ¹⁹ ² ⁴

Around Hoi An

How far things are from the ancient town

Place	Distance	Source
An Bang Beach	7 km	Tourism authority
Cham Islands	15 km off the coast	Tourism authority
Da Nang airport	29 km	Tourism authority
My Son Sanctuary	45 km	Site's board
Hue, from Da Nang airport	98 km	Tourism authority

Distances as each official source gives them; the tourism authority puts My Son at 40 km rather than the board's 45 km.⁸ ¹⁹ ² ⁴ ²⁰

Three ways to fill a day

Towers, old town or the river

Hoi An: My Son Sanctuary Early Morning/Sunset w. Champa Food

This page's pick

My Son at dawn

Towers, coffee, Champa brunch

Pickup: 5:30 AM
Back: By 11:00 AM
Price: from $16

See the tour

Hoi An Old Town - Small Group Walking Tour with Local Guide

In town

Old town walk

Small group, local guide

Length: 1 to 2.5 hours
Reviews: 583
Price: from $8

See the tour

Hoi An : Hoai River Boat Trip by Night and Floating Lantern

After dark

River by night

Boat and floating lantern

Length: 15 minutes
Reviews: 3,178
Price: from $9

See the tour

Decision helper

How long should your stay be?

Match the length of your stay to what you want

I only want the old town and My Son I want a beach day as well I want the islands I want the lantern festival I land late at Da Nang airport

Arrive, My Son, leave

The tourism authority's own route arrives on day 4 and leaves on day 6.²¹ ²²

Add a night

An Bang Beach is only 7 km from the ancient town.⁸

Add more nights

The Cham Islands are a day trip or an overnight stay of their own.¹⁹

Plan around the date

It falls on the 14th day of every lunar month.²³

Add the first night

The airport is 29 km away, and dawn trips leave at 5:30 AM.²

It is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a small-scale trading port active the 15th to 19th centuries

UNESCO World Heritage CentreSource 12

How to get from Hanoi to Hoi An, and from Da Nang airport

There is no airport in Hoi An itself, so how to get from Hanoi to Hoi An comes down to flying into Da Nang. The national tourism authority's heritage itinerary takes a flight from Ha Noi to Da Nang and transfers to nearby Hoi An on arrival.³ Its Vietnam Highlights route does the same, reaching Hoi An via Da Nang airport.²¹

From the airport you have three simple options. A car arranged by your Hoi An hotel costs a fixed 250,000 to 350,000 dong, a metered taxi costs upwards of 450,000 dong, and shuttle vans to Hoi An run hourly from 5am to 11pm.²⁴ ²⁵ Book the hotel car if you land late or travel with luggage.

If you come overland from Hue in the north instead, note that Hue lies 98 km from Da Nang's airport.² Whichever way you come, give yourself the first evening in town before an early start to My Son: the dawn trips collect you at 5:30 AM.

Map

From the coast at Hoi An to the temple groups of My Son

First the drive inland from Hoi An and Da Nang airport, then the valley itself, where the tower groups stand a short walk apart.

Map of central Vietnam with Hoi An Ancient Town, Da Nang International Airport and My Son Sanctuary inland to the south-west — Hoi An to My Son

Map of the My Son valley with the brick tower groups A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H along the Khe The stream — The temple groups

1
Hoi An Ancient Town
A small trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries near the mouth of the Thu Bon, on the World Heritage List since 1999.¹² ¹ ¹⁶
In Google Maps ↗
2
Da Nang airport
About 29 km from Hoi An Ancient Town; shuttle vans to Hoi An leave hourly from 5am to 11pm.² ²⁵
In Google Maps ↗
3
My Son Sanctuary
Open every day from 06:00 to 17:00; the site's board puts it 45 km from Hoi An and 68 km from Da Nang.²⁶ ⁴
In Google Maps ↗
4
Groups B, C and D
The tower groups where the show "Echoes of My Son" is staged on the 15th of every month.²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
5
Group G
A performance is held here at 9:00 and again at 14:45.²⁸
In Google Maps ↗
6
Group H
Cham folk singing on the slope below the group every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
7
Groups E and F
Tower E1 gives its name to the ancient style, the first in the line of building styles found at My Son.³⁰
In Google Maps ↗
8
Group A
Group A lends its name to the My Son A1 style, one of the later styles in the sanctuary's sequence.³⁰
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Planning your Hoi An stay

Book ahead

Your airport transfer
My Son on your first full morning
A lantern night, if the dates allow

In town

An Old Town Ticket at the entrance
Sights early, rest at midday
Cash for small purchases

Cost calculator

Price your Hoi An days

Enter your group size to price My Son, the old town walk and the river.

My Son tripDawn or afternoonfrom $16 Old town walkLocal guidefrom $8 River by nightLantern boatfrom $9

People 2

Total from$32

each from $16

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Each total multiplies a listing's lowest GetYourGuide starting price by your party size and shows it in your currency at today's ECB rate; the entrance ticket at My Son is paid on top, and checkout gives the exact sum.

Video

How to spend two days in Hoi An

Until you tap play, the video stays unloaded.

How many days in Hoi An

For most first visits, plan on how many days in Hoi An by counting nights rather than sights. The tourism authority's Vietnam Highlights itinerary arrives on day 4, visits My Son on the morning of day 5 and leaves for Hue on the morning of day 6.²¹ ²² It also publishes a weekend guide to the town, which shows how much a short stay can hold.¹⁴

That rhythm works well. The first evening is for the lantern-lit old town, which the tourism authority says really comes into its own after dark.⁹ The next morning is for My Son, ideally early, and you are back between 10:30 and 11:00 AM with the afternoon free for the old houses, the river and a tailor.

Add days if you want the beach, the countryside or the islands. The Cham Islands, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of eight islands 15 km off the coast, make a day trip or an overnight of their own.¹⁹ And if your dates can bend, aim for the lantern festival on the 14th day of the lunar month, when the town dims its electric light.²³

What to see in the old town

An Old Town Ticket, bought at the entrance to the old town, gives entry to five of Hoi An's heritage buildings.¹⁰ Choose them with care. Tan Ky Old House was built in 1741 and has been home to seven generations of one family, and the Japanese Covered Bridge is the town's emblem, printed on the 20,000 dong banknote.³¹ ³²

The best hours are early and late. The tourism authority advises avoiding the harsh midday sun, notes that mornings are quiet, and warns that late afternoons and early evenings may be busy.³³ For the river, it suggests a half-hour sunset cruise from the ferry quay for about 150,000 to 200,000 dong after a short negotiation.¹¹

A guide helps here as much as at My Son. A small-group walking tour of the old town with a local guide starts from $8 and has 583 reviews averaging 4.93. In the evening, a boat on the river with a floating lantern starts from $9.

Choosing the season for your stay

The month you come shapes the stay as much as its length. The national tourism authority describes Hoi An as warm to hot, sunny and clear from February to August, and rainy, cool and cloudy from September to January.³⁴ From September to November the town sees a lot of rain and even a few small floods.³⁵

It singles out March as an excellent time, when fields, gardens and streets are full of blossom and green, and notes that from May to August the town can be hot, which is when the beach earns its place in your plan.³⁶ Temperatures dip to their coolest point in January and warm up again just before the Vietnamese new year.³⁷

Festivals add another reason to fix your dates. The lantern festival falls on the 14th day of every lunar month, and the tourism authority calls the first one of the Lunar New Year the biggest celebration of them all.²³ ³⁸ In the hot months, book My Son for the dawn, and keep the old town for the evening, when the lanterns are lit.⁹

Is Hoi An worth visiting?

Is Hoi An worth visiting if you only have a short trip through Vietnam? On the evidence of the official sources, yes. UNESCO calls it an exceptionally well-preserved example of a small trading port, and UNESCO inscribed it in 1999.¹² ¹⁶

Its other strength is what lies around it. Within reach are a World Heritage temple valley, beaches and islands, and a major airport, so a short stay can hold history, sea and food without long transfers.⁴ ⁸ ¹⁹ ²

The caveats are the season and the crowds. From September to November Hoi An sees a lot of rain and a few small floods, and the town's evenings can be busy.³⁵ ³³ Travel in the drier months if you can, start your days early, and the town repays the effort.

Your morning

The Cham towers at dawn, back by eleven.

Hotel pickup in Hoi An, a guide, coffee and a Champa brunch; cancel free up to 24 hours before.

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You ask,we answer.

Which province is Hoi An in?

Da Nang City today; Quang Nam on UNESCO's page. Quang Nam has been merged into Da Nang City, as the My Son board's own address shows, while UNESCO still places the ancient town in Quang Nam Province, near the mouth of the Thu Bon.⁵ ¹

How far is Da Nang airport from Hoi An?

About 29 km. The national tourism authority puts the airport 29 km from Hoi An's ancient town.²

How do I get from the airport to Hoi An?

Hotel car, taxi or shuttle. Hotel cars cost 250,000 to 350,000 dong; shuttles run hourly from 5am to 11pm.²⁴ ²⁵

What does the Old Town Ticket cover?

Five heritage buildings. Bought at the entrance to the old town, it gives entry to five heritage buildings.¹⁰

When is the lantern festival in Hoi An?

The 14th day of each lunar month. At full moon the town dims its electric light and candle lanterns float on the river.²³

How far is My Son from Hoi An?

About 40 to 45 km. The site's board gives 45 km, the tourism authority 40 km, about an hour's drive.⁴ ²⁰ ³⁹

What does the name Hoi An mean?

Peaceful meeting place. The tourism authority traces the name to the merchants who anchored here to trade.¹⁴