Widely regarded as one of Vietnam’s most pleasant tourist destinations, the riverside town of Hoi An has seen its fortunes rise and fall throughout the centuries. Nowadays, Hoi An offers a delightful blend of ancient culture and modern tourist comforts, with crumbling merchant houses and temples standing door to door with chic bars and boutique hotels.
A major trading port since the 15th century, Hoi An sank into gradual oblivion in the 19th century when the Thu Bon River silted up, meaning that ships could no longer enter its docks, and was superseded by Da Nang as the region’s main port shortly thereafter. It shot back to prominence in the 1990s with the meteoric rise of tourism in Southeast Asia, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
Hoi An enjoys a reputation for being affordable and easy to get around both on foot and by bicycle, and it is also a short ride away from the quiet, sandy beaches of An Bang. Try some of the world’s best food, take a lantern-lit boat ride and see for yourself why Hoi An routinely ranks among top cities to visit in Asia.