Hoi An 4 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
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Four days is our 3-day itinerary , the Ancient Town, a beach-and-village day, and My Son, plus a full day trip to Da Nang for the Marble Mountains and the Golden Bridge. Want the Cham Islands or the craft villages too? See our 5-day itinerary .
Day-by-day at a glance
| Day | Focus | Est. spend (excl. hotel) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, Ancient Town free walk, lantern evening, tailor order | ~150,000-250,000 VND |
| 2 | An Bang Beach, Tra Que village, Cam Thanh basket boat | ~200,000-350,000 VND |
| 3 | My Son Sanctuary, cooking class | ~500,000-800,000 VND |
| 4 | Da Nang: Marble Mountains, Golden Bridge, My Khe Beach | ~500,000-800,000 VND |
Book these before you go
- A Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge day trip : covers transport and the cable car in one booking.
- A My Son sunrise tour .
- A market-to-table cooking class , roughly $15-30 per person.
- A tailor fitting slot : order on day one, real bespoke needs 3-5 days.
Day 1: Ancient Town, on foot
Morning: Fly into Da Nang International Airport and transfer to Hoi An, 30-45 minutes by Grab or taxi. Arrange your Vietnam e-visa beforehand through the official evisa.gov.vn portal only.
Afternoon: Walk the UNESCO-listed Ancient Town for free. The ~120,000 VND coupon booklet only buys entry to five of roughly 20 heritage sites, so decide later if you want it.
Evening: The lantern-lit old town, amplified on the 14th of the lunar month, when the monthly Full Moon Lantern Festival cuts street power and floats candle-lanterns on the Thu Bon. Order any tailoring tonight: two or three quotes, one test item first, a modest deposit.
Day 2: Beach, village, canals
Morning: An Bang Beach, a few kilometres out and the better-kept of Hoi An’s two beaches now that Cua Dai has visible erosion.
Afternoon: Tra Que herb village for a working session in the plots, then the Cam Thanh water-coconut canals by the calm, private version of the basket boat, not the loud group one.
Evening: Fitting for anything ordered on day one, checking fabric and fit before paying the balance.
Day 3: My Son and a cooking class
Morning: My Son Sanctuary, a UNESCO-listed Cham Hindu ruin complex about an hour southwest, on a sunrise tour ahead of the heat and crowds. Much of it was damaged by US bombing over a single week in 1969.
Afternoon: Back in Hoi An, with time for the Central Market or a second look at any coupon sights.
Evening: A market-to-table cooking class, starting at the market and ending with two or three dishes you cooked yourself.
Day 4: Da Nang, the manufactured-spectacle day
Morning: The Marble Mountains, five marble and limestone hills with cave pagodas and a genuine stair climb to viewpoints over the coast, covered on Vietnam’s official tourism site alongside the rest of Da Nang.
Afternoon: Ba Na Hills by cable car, ending at the Golden Bridge, the giant stone-hand structure that opened in 2018. It’s unapologetically manufactured spectacle and still worth seeing once.
Evening: My Khe Beach and, if timed for a weekend evening, the Han River’s fire-breathing Dragon Bridge, before transferring back through Da Nang toward Hoi An or, if this is your last night, straight to the airport the next morning.
Is 4 days enough for Hoi An?
Yes, if My Son and Da Nang are the two day trips you want. It’s the point where a first-timer’s list, Ancient Town, beach, My Son, Da Nang, is genuinely complete without rushing. For the Cham Islands or the quieter craft villages on top of this, see our 5-day itinerary .
Keep the Marble Mountains and the Golden Bridge on the same day rather than splitting them: both are Da Nang side trips, and doing the round trip from Hoi An twice wastes half a day you don’t have to spare.