Hoi An is a delightful place to visit and is one of the top visited locations in Vietnam. You’ll find Hoi An just off the central coast area of Vietnam and you might come here and not want to leave. This city itself is pretty, friendly, and easy to navigate, especially in the old town area. We’ve visited twice now, and the second time we stayed a week. The days fly by here in Hoi An, there is plenty to see and the food options here are fabulous too. After you’ve explored what the city has to offer, then this is a great place to base yourself to see more of the surrounding area. And taking trips from Hoi An is easy, whether you choose to go on organized tours, rent motorbikes, or even cycle. Here are our recommended Hoi An Day Trips.
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In Hoi An, there are a lot of food options to explore, and then there are the lovely small roads and alleys of the old town, the river, and the nearby beaches. However, this area of Vietnam is pretty diverse when it comes to exploring further afield, you can take a trip and explore some of the recent history colliding with ancient history, head to other cities, but keep your base here in Hoi An.
#1 DAY TRIP
These ancient Champa Empire ruins are glorious and so lovely in either the early morning or late afternoon light. It’s the top day trip from Hoi An.
There are also national parks nearby to head out to, and the relatively close Cham Islands provide for super snorkeling and exploration too.
1. Visit the My Son Sanctuary on a Hoi An Day Trip
We visited My Son on our first trip to Hoi An, and it is a spectacular site. It is one of South East Asia’s most spectacular archaeological sites as well as being one of the most breathtaking and significant religious places in Vietnam. The My Son ruins have deep cultural and historical value.
The ruins date back to the Champ Empire, which governed this area of Vietnam from the 4th to the 14th century. It makes for a particularly spectacular day trip from Hoi An. This UNESCO World Heritage site was lost for generations before being rediscovered in 1898 by M.C. Paris, a Frenchman, during the French occupation of Vietnam.
The temple complex comprises more than 70 temples dedicated to the Cham Gods and it’s widely considered to be the best example of Vietnamese Cham architecture. The Cham empire was primarily Hindu and you can still see remnants of sculptures and Hindu images – much of the site was used by the Cham royal family as a ceremonial center. Some people compare the My Son ruins to the ruins of Angkor Wat, but I think they’re more like the architecture we saw at Champanger Pavagadh in India, albeit a lot easier to visit!
The site looks glorious in the early morning light and I do recommend that if you visit you try and get there early – this tour leaves Hoi An at 05:30, meaning that you’ll get there for sunrise or just afterwards. It includes breakfast (after you’ve had a tour of the site). The tour includes your entrance fees, transport, and breakfast. You can check availability here.
Many of the ruins were destroyed in an intense bombing campaign during the Vietnam War, but there’s still quite a lot that remains (obviously enough to put it on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1999).
If you want to come to My Son on a budget option, then transport is somewhat difficult and you’re best taking advantage of the once-a-day shuttle that runs from Hoi An.
My Son is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Da Nang (and can also be visited as a day trip from there), and 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Hoi An. There are no public buses that run this route, but you can take a once-a-day shuttle from Hoi An to My Son. It takes about an hour to get to My Son from Hoi An. The once-a-day shuttle leaves at 08:00 from Hoi An to My Son will give you about 3 hours at the ruins before it returns to Hoi An. You can pre-book the shuttle here, as it has limited seats.
Note that there’s no tour guide service with the shuttle, it will simply drop you off and bring you back to Hoi An departing at noon. You’ll still need to pay entrance fees for the sanctuary.
- My Son Entrance Fees: 150,000 VND
- My Son Opening Hours: 06:30 to 17:30 daily
2. Head out on a bike for a Hoi An Day Trip
You don’t need to take a tour from Hoi An to enjoy the glorious countryside around here. Hoi An is perfectly located between waterways and near the coast, so as long as your hotel provides a bicycle (or you can rent one too), you can simply jump on a bike and head out. There are some great places to see on the Song Thu River Delta and out to the beaches for lunch.
We spent several days exploring in all directions on both of our visits to Hoi An. The land around Hoi An is pretty flat and the bikes that you can rent are all decent quality, so it’s easy to visit some of the local sites, or island hop via ferry and floating bridges.
Google Maps works really well around here, so just hop on your bike and head out. We had a fabulous trip via ferry one year and then also headed to the beach for a glorious lunch. If freewheeling isn’t your thing, then this countryside tour by bike is a half-day guided adventure that includes a river crossing on a local boat, visits to various villages, AND a return to Hoi An on a boat. You’ll cycle about 9 kilometers (just over 5 miles) and it’s all at a leisurely pace. You can check availability here.
3. Take a Hoi An Day Trip to the Marble Mountain and Caves
Five mountains comprise the Vietnamese Marble Mountains, which are actually made up of both marble and limestone deposits. The five mountains that make up the group are named for the elements – Kim (metal), Thủy (water), Mộc (wood), Hỏa (fire) and Thổ (earth).
It takes just 25 minutes to go the 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Hoi An to the Marble Mountains – by heading up the coast from Hoi An towards Danang.
The mountains have been a site of pilgrimage and worship for centuries, and there are a lot of caves, temples, and pagodas here to explore. The Buddhist temples inside the Huyen Khong Cave are well worth the trip. Mount Thuy is the most popular (and easiest) to hike up, you can hike up and visit in a minimum of about 90 minutes, but most people spend nearly 3 hours here. There are spectacular views from the peak of Mount Thuy. At 106 meters (348 feet) above sea level, it’s not going to hurt that much, but there are a lot of steps to get there. If you’re suffering from the heat and humidity in Hoi An, then this is a great place to come for more of a cooler climate – much like Da Lat.
You can to the Marble Mountains from Hoi An on one of the Danang-bound buses, hopping off at the entrance to the mountains which is just a short distance from the main road. You’ll need to pay the entrance fee of 40,000 VND to get into the Marble Mountains area.
You can combine several of the local attractions into a half-day trip to the Marble Mountains with this tour from Hoi An (or Da Nang) – it visits the Lady Buddha at Monkey Mountains, gives you some great viewpoints along the way, visits the Marble mountains, and the Am Phu Cave complex as well as getting a local lunch and seeing some of the local stone factories. It’s a great value trip and you can book it here.
4. Visit the Cham Islands from Hoi An
Depending on what time of year you visit this area of Vietnam you may be able to get to the Cham Islands. We recommend that you make every effort, although it’s not always as easy as it looks on the internet. On our last trip, we couldn’t get there, because the ferries were only running about once a week, and no one knew what particular day they were running! It is much easier to visit the Cham Islands from Hoi An!
This group of 8 tiny islands is about 20 minutes by speedboat from Hoi An (taking a tour is good value as the speedboat transfer itself costs around 300,000 VND).
The islands are primarily fishing communities and gloriously empty sandy beaches, but the main attractions of the Cham Islands are underwater. These islands are a part of the Cu Lao Cham Marine Park, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve known for its coral reef and rich marine life. To get to the best underwater points and see the best of the marine park, you’ll need to either rent a boat and driver or take a tour. There’s diving here, snorkeling, and also a super underwater walking tour.
5. Explore the Ba Na Hills on a Day Trip from Hoi An
In much the same way that the English developed hill stations in India, the French did the same in Vietnam. Da Lat was a French Hill Station, and so too are the Ba Na Hills. They were first developed as a vacation spot, in the cool climate above the hot and humid lowlands in the early 20th century.
The former hill station is now a resort that includes taking a cable car through the stunning landscapes to get there! The most famous of the structures at the resort is the Golden Bridge, you can’t fail to have seen the photos of the enormous hands that support the bridge, its been an Instagram sensation since it opened in 2018. The easiest way to visit Ba Na Hills from Hoi An is on a tour, as you have to pay for the Cable Car and entrance too, so take advantage of the combined deal here.
The Ba Na Hills resort is located in the Truong Son Mountain Region and it’s a great day out from Hoi An. There’s the lovely Linh Ung Pagoda along with a massive 30-meter tall statue of Buddha as well as a replica French village that brings a little bit of France to Vietnam – from a Gothic-styled cathedral, cobblestone streets, gardens, and French restaurants too! You can see how to get to Ba Na Hills here.
There’s a whole lot more to see here at Ba Na Hills, including the lovely Tinh Tam Garden, Luna Castle, and Eclipse Square as well as the glorious panoramic views from Vong Nguyet Hill.
6. Visit Danang from Hoi An on a Day Trip
It’s not far at all from Hoi An to Da Nang (I covered how to go between the two cities here), but they’re really really different places. I was amazed by how much Danang had grown between our visits. So if you prefer to keep your base in Hoi An, Danang is a great option for a day trip – just enough time to explore before heading back to your Hoi An hotel for the night.
There’s enough to keep you occupied for the day and you’ll even have time to relax on the beach. While the transport links between the two cities mean that you can do this on public transport, it’s not easy to see Danang’s highlights in one day on public transport, you’ll need a motorbike to get around them, but a day trip to Danang should include seeing
- The Da Nang Cathedral, aka the Pink Cathedral of Danang, was the only church built in Danang during the French colonial period. Don’t miss the rooster or chicken at the top of the bell tower. Don’t worry it’s a weathervane, not a real one!
- Head also to the Phap Lam Pagoda – this two-story temple has glorious gardens and Buddhist sculptures
- The Museum of Cham Sculpture will cost you 60,000 VND as an entrance fee, but if you found the My Son ruins fascinating, then you should come here too.
- Don’t miss Danang’s Dragon Bridge. This 666 meter (2185 feet) long bridge is, well a dragon across the Han River. It’s more spectacular at night when it’s lit up.
- If you want to relax, then head to one of Danang’s beaches – My Khe Non Nuoc is generally the most popular with facilities.
7. Ride the Hai Van Pass from Hoi An on a Motorbike
The UK’s Top Gear TV Motoring Show called this one of the best things to do in central Vietnam. And the road is spectacular. There’s now a tunnel that bypasses the hundreds of bends, but sometimes the best way to go isn’t the fastest eh?
Of course, the only problem with riding a motorbike is that you can’t always appreciate the scenery as you’re concentrating on the road (and the other riders and drivers on it too!) Positively the best way to see the Hai Van pass is to hop on the back of a bike that an experienced rider is in control of.
Then you’ll get to take all the photos that you want (or don’t want to if you just want to enjoy the views). It also means that you can have a beer at lunchtime too! This tour also offers the option to ride the bike yourself, but you’ll have to have some experience and the relevant license (and of course no beers at lunchtime if you take this option)
Even better, if you take the tour, then you’ll get to take a short hike in the Marble mountains, and then hop back on the bike before riding back along the coast to Hoi An. Perfect day out.
8. Visit Hue on a Day Trip from Hoi An
Now you may read our guide to Hue and decide that you want to stay longer, but if time is of the essence, then you can easily take a day trip from Hoi An to Hue and catch all the major sites there. The Imperial City is the main thing to see in Hue, it was the seat of power for the Vietnamese Empire from 1802 to 1945. There are palaces and temples inside the Imperial City, which are easy to explore on your own, but which make a lot more sense if someone explains them to you (this is a great option for a guided tour of Hue from Hoi An). It’ll also take you around 4 hours to go from Hoi An to Hue by public bus, so consider the time saved.
Around the city, you’ll find elaborate graves and tombs of former rulers of the empire. The most impressive are the Tomb of Khải Định, the Tomb of Minh Mang, and the Tomb of Tu Duc. It’s also worth walking alongside the Perfume River – or taking a boat out on it and heading to the Thien Mu Pagoda – there are fabulous views of the river and the city from this 7 story Buddhist temple.
You can easily visit all of this in one day from Hoi An on either a shared or a private tour – you can see the options here.
9. Head to the Bach Ma National Park from Hoi An for the Day
One of 34 National Parks in Vietnam, Bach Ma National Park is one of the wettest places in Vietnam. It’s been a National Park since 1986, although parts of it have been preserved by the Vietnamese government since 1937. As early as 1932, it was a hill station for the French escaping the heat of the lowlands, becoming known as the “Dalat of Central Vietnam”.
The National Park, in the main, sits at an elevation of 1250 meters (4100 feet) above sea level and is a great place for hiking because of the relatively cooler weather up here. You can get to the park by motorbike, car, or guided tour. There are no public transport options to get here.
The park is located in the Annamite Mountains, which are mainly granite and are generally steep, but there are a variety of habitats in the park, which makes it a center for plant diversity – there are more than 1400 species of flora and fauna here.
For hiking, the stunning Do Quyen Waterfall, and the glorious five lakes, it is easiest to get here by tour, which you can pick up from Hoi An here.
10. Go from Hoi An to the Bay Mau Mangrove Forests
It’s been nicknamed the Hoi An Mekong Delta, as it does in some ways resemble the smaller waterways of the Delta area of Southern Vietnam. But this area- the Bay Mau Nipa Palm Forest is just a few kilometers from the center of Hoi An. It feels a million miles away.
The narrow waterways wind between the palm tree plantations and it’s easy to rent a round basket boat (like the ones that we first saw on the beach in Mui Ne) and float along. It’s definitely touristy, you’ll get to see the locals spinning their round boats round on one oar, you might get to try throwing the fishing nets and there’s even usually a traditional folk song performance as well. This trip is worth it, though, for the ride in the little round basket boats, which seem to defy all scientific logic for the shape of a boat!
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Final Words on the Best Hoi An Day Trips
We liked Hoi An so much we went back for a longer visit and that allowed us to head out to the local area for day trips. Hoi An is a delight, and there are some great places to visit close by, that don’t really justify moving accommodation, so whether you decide to visit by tour, motorbike, or car, these are the best day trips from Hoi An.
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