https://mad-traveller.com/tags/vietnam/ Recent content in Vietnam on Mad Traveller Hugo -- gohugo.io en Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:05:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/a-couples-evening-in-saigon/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:05:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/a-couples-evening-in-saigon/?v=1 A cocktail on the 50th floor beats a queue for an observation deck on the 81st, and that trade-off is the whole shape of a good evening out in Saigon. The river at sunset Evening cruises leave from Bach Dang pier as the skyline lights come on, tracing the water past Bitexco, Ba Son Bridge, and Landmark 81. Choose the evening sailing over a daytime one on purpose; the same stretch of river in full sun is a noticeably flatter trip. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/extended-trips-from-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/extended-trips-from-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Cai Rang’s floating market runs at real strength for about three and a half hours a day, starting around 5am, which a same-day tour from Ho Chi Minh City simply cannot reach before the boats thin out. Can Tho, given the time it needs The market has genuinely shrunk, to roughly 200 trading boats today from about 500 in 2016, and its real window is 05:00 to 08:30. Two to three days changes what you actually see: arrive in Can Tho by evening, take a pre-dawn boat out while the market is still working, then spend the day among canals, orchards, and a rice-noodle workshop before returning. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/a-family-guide-to-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:05:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/a-family-guide-to-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Kids who cannot sit through a museum exhibit will happily watch a wooden buffalo spar with a dragon in a pool of water for 50 minutes, which makes Ho Chi Minh City’s water puppet theatre the easiest family booking in the city. An evening of water puppetry The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre, inside Tao Dan Park at 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, stages 50-minute shows nightly around 17:00 and 18:30. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/walking-routes-in-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/walking-routes-in-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Motorbikes rule Ho Chi Minh City’s streets, but three neighborhoods reward walking anyway if you pick the right hours and don’t try to connect them on foot. French-colonial District 1 Begin at the Saigon Central Post Office, its ironwork designed by Alfred Foulhoux, not Gustave Eiffel, then cross to Notre-Dame Cathedral’s exterior; the interior stays closed to visitors through a 2027 restoration target regardless of how much scaffolding has come down outside. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/day-trips-around-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/day-trips-around-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Four genuine day trips sit within reach of Ho Chi Minh City, and each one asks something different of you: tunnels, canals, a beach, or a noon religious ceremony that only runs once a day. Cu Chi Tunnels About 50-70 km northwest, 1-2 hours by road, the tunnels split between Ben Dinh, closer and widened for crowds with an optional AK-47 firing range on site, and Ben Duoc, farther out and keeping unwidened original-scale sections. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/guided-tours-around-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 11:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/guided-tours-around-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 The single most-booked packaged trip in southern Vietnam pairs a morning of District 1 and 3 landmarks with an afternoon at the Cu Chi Tunnels, and the choice tourists rarely get told to make is which of the two tunnel sites they end up at. The central circuit Independence Palace at 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, open daily 07:00-18:00, keeps its 1960s presidential staterooms, an underground command bunker, and the gate Tank 843 crashed through on 30 April 1975; general admission with the exhibition runs 80,000 VND adult, 20,000 VND child, or 40,000/10,000 VND for the palace alone, plus a 25,000 VND electric-car ride around the grounds. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/top-sights-in-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/top-sights-in-ho-chi-minh-city/?v=1 A single square in District 1 holds a post office wrongly credited to the wrong architect and a cathedral whose restoration story keeps changing, and both are worth untangling before you photograph either one. The square: Post Office and Notre-Dame The Saigon Central Post Office at 2 Cong Xa Paris was built 1886-1891 by French architect Alfred Foulhoux with Marie-Alfred Bourdon, not Gustave Eiffel, a myth that persists despite being straightforwardly wrong. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ho-chi-minh-city-activity-guide/?v=1 Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:05:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ho-chi-minh-city-activity-guide/?v=1 Skip the landmark checklist for a morning and try something Ho Chi Minh City is genuinely good at teaching visitors to do, whether that is rolling a spring roll, brewing Phin coffee, or deciding what to make of a firing range at a wartime tunnel site. Learn to cook, brew, or shape something Hoa Tuc’s Saigon Cooking Class, based in a former colonial opium refinery at 74/7 Hai Ba Trung, District 1, opens with a Tan Dinh Market walk before a three-hour hands-on class covering spring rolls, green mango salad, thit kho to, and lemongrass chicken, for around 850,000 to 1,150,000 VND. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ninh-binh-animal-activities-guide/?v=1 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 19:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ninh-binh-animal-activities-guide/?v=1 Fewer than 300 Delacour’s langurs exist anywhere on Earth, and most of the ones that remain live on the cliff faces of one wetland reserve twenty minutes outside Ninh Binh city. That single fact does more to explain the region’s wildlife draw than any amount of scenery. Wild langurs at Van Long Van Long Nature Reserve protects the largest wild population of the critically endangered Delacour’s langur, over 100 individuals known for a black coat and a distinctive white patch that locals describe as “white shorts. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ninh-binh-adventure-tours-explained/?v=1 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/ninh-binh-adventure-tours-explained/?v=1 The word “adventure” gets stretched thin in a lot of Ninh Binh marketing. Here is where it actually applies: a nine-cave boat route, a primary jungle trek, and a wetland safari for a primate found almost nowhere else on Earth. The deep cavern route at Trang An Trang An runs three fixed sampan routes, and Route 1 is the one adventure travelers usually mean when they say Trang An: nine distinct flooded caves, including the 250-meter Hang Nau Ruou (Wine Brewing Cave), navigated with experienced local boatwomen. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/saigon-craft-workshops-coffee-to-silver/?v=1 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 17:30:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/saigon-craft-workshops-coffee-to-silver/?v=1 Cooking classes get most of the attention in Ho Chi Minh City’s workshop scene, but the city’s craft studios, working in clay, lacquer, and silver, are just as easy to book and get far fewer visitors. Pottery: a centuries-old clay tradition, taught in two hours Southern Vietnam’s pottery heritage traces back to the red clay kilns of neighboring Bình Dương and Biên Hòa provinces, and that lineage shows up in the beginner wheel-throwing and hand-building studios scattered through Thảo Điền and Bình Thạnh. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/bus-touring-saigon-routes-and-realities/?v=1 Sun, 13 Sep 2026 16:15:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/bus-touring-saigon-routes-and-realities/?v=1 A red double-decker with the roof peeled off is a strange sight in most of Vietnam, but Saigon actually runs one, on a fixed schedule that changes character completely once the sun goes down. What the daytime loop covers Hop On Hop Off Vietnam’s open-top buses depart every 30 minutes from 09:00 to 16:00, starting at the Saigon Central Post Office and working through up to 18 stops: Independence Palace, the War Remnants Museum, Ben Thanh Market, the Museum of Vietnamese History, and Bitexco’s Saigon Skydeck among them. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/one-day-in-sa-pa-isnt-enough/?v=1 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/one-day-in-sa-pa-isnt-enough/?v=1 One Day in Sa Pa Isn’t Enough The cable car up Fansipan takes fifteen minutes. The valley that made Sa Pa famous takes at least two days to actually see. Why the single-day version undersells this place Day-trippers from Hanoi typically do the cable car, Cat Cat Village, and a bus back, and they leave having seen the packaged version of Sa Pa, not the valley. The rice terraces, the villages, the actual reason this district has a reputation, sit further out than a day trip reaches on foot. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/group-activities-in-sa-pa-skip-the-fluff/?v=1 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 16:15:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/group-activities-in-sa-pa-skip-the-fluff/?v=1 Group Activities in Sa Pa: Skip the Fluff A lot of “group activity” copy about Sa Pa reads like a brochure for a place that doesn’t exist. Here’s what your group can actually do, and what it costs. The homestay, not the hotel Groups hiking into Ta Van or Ban Ho overnight in a family’s timber stilt house rather than a hotel room. The host cooks a full communal dinner: roasted pork, stir-fried mountain greens, bamboo-steamed rice, with shots of home-distilled corn wine (rượu ngô) passed around to shouts of “một, hai, ba, dô. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/skip-the-bus-tour-book-the-coach/?v=1 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/skip-the-bus-tour-book-the-coach/?v=1 Skip the Bus Tour, Book the Coach “Bus tour” sounds like a hop-on sightseeing loop. In Sa Pa, it actually means three unrelated things, and only one of them matters for getting there. What “bus tour” really means here There’s no open-top sightseeing bus circling Sa Pa’s attractions. What exists instead: The intercity sleeper coach, your actual way in from Hanoi: VIP cabin buses (Sao Viet, Interbus Lines, G8 Open Tour) run the Noi Bai to Lao Cai Expressway direct to Sa Pa in 5. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/theres-no-bear-sanctuary-in-sa-pa/?v=1 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:45:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/theres-no-bear-sanctuary-in-sa-pa/?v=1 There’s No Bear Sanctuary in Sa Pa Search “Sa Pa animal sanctuary” and you’ll find confident write-ups describing a bear rescue center outside town. It doesn’t exist. Correcting the record No Asiatic black bear sanctuary operates near Sa Pa. That claim, which circulates on older travel sites, appears to be confused with genuine bear rescue centers that exist elsewhere in Vietnam, not here. There’s also no elephant camp, no wildlife safari park, and no dog sledding, whatever an old blog post says. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/most-hanoi-workshops-are-staged-skip-them/?v=1 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/most-hanoi-workshops-are-staged-skip-them/?v=1 Most Hanoi Workshops Are Staged, Skip Them A lot of what gets sold as a “workshop” in Hanoi is a five-minute demonstration stop bolted onto a bigger tour, timed exactly long enough to walk you past the gift shop on the way out. That’s not a workshop, it’s a sales floor with a craftsperson for atmosphere. A handful of options here are the real thing. Here’s how to tell the difference. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/solo-travelers-stop-waiting-to-cross/?v=1 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/solo-travelers-stop-waiting-to-cross/?v=1 Solo Travelers, Stop Waiting to Cross Every solo traveler arrives in Hanoi with the same wrong instinct: stand at the curb, wait for a full gap in the motorbikes, then cross. That instinct is what causes accidents here, not the traffic itself. Motorbikes are reading your pace and steering around it; the moment you stop or bolt mid-crossing, you’ve broken the pattern they’re anticipating. Step off at a steady, predictable walk and keep going. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/dont-drive-hanois-traffic-yourself/?v=1 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/dont-drive-hanois-traffic-yourself/?v=1 Don’t Drive Hanoi’s Traffic Yourself Every year a confident visitor rents a scooter in Hanoi, decides the traffic “looks manageable,” and finds out otherwise within the hour. It isn’t manageable. It’s also illegal without a Vietnamese license or an International Driving Permit matched to your home license. The adventure here isn’t proving you can survive the chaos solo, it’s letting someone who already has survive it for you. Sidecar tours: the actual thrill without the actual risk Vintage Minsk and sidecar motorbike tours, run by operators like Hanoi Backstreet Tours, put a licensed local driver in control while you ride in the sidecar or pillion through back alleys a rental scooter would never find on its own: narrow communal lanes, the banana plantations on the Red River’s island, and a crossing of the 1899 Long Bien Bridge, a steel cantilever structure that survived repeated US bombing raids and still carries trains, motorbikes, and pedestrians together. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-7-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-7-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang sits roughly midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and functions best as a launchpad for the region’s three UNESCO sites: Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary, and Hue. Seven days gives you all three without rushing any of them, including a proper overnight in Hue rather than a single exhausting round trip. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-6-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-6-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Six days gives you Da Nang’s own sights, all three of the region’s UNESCO day trips (Hoi An, My Son, and Hue), and enough slack not to feel rushed on any single day. Da Nang itself has no UNESCO site, its real value is exactly this: a comfortable base for reaching all three. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-5-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-5-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Five days covers Da Nang’s own sights properly and adds a second UNESCO day trip beyond Hoi An: My Son Sanctuary’s Cham ruins. This is roughly the point where Da Nang stops being a standalone destination and starts functioning as the Central Vietnam base it’s genuinely best suited to. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-4-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-4-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Four days lets you see the city properly and get a full day trip to Hoi An in without rushing either. Da Nang International Airport sits only 3-5km from downtown, close enough that a Grab into the city runs roughly 40,000-130,000 VND ($1. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-3-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-3-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Three days is honestly about the right amount of time to give Da Nang on its own, city and beach on day 1, the Ba Na Hills theme park on day 2, and one full day trip to Hoi An on day 3. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-2-day-itinerary/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/da-nang-2-day-itinerary/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Two days is enough for a real taste of Da Nang, one day in the city and on the beach, one day out to Hoi An, but not enough for Ba Na Hills as well without rushing. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-essential-travel-tips/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-essential-travel-tips/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Vietnam sits at the US State Department’s lowest advisory tier and the UK’s normal-precautions level, so this is an honest, low-drama practical-tips list rather than a warning label. Visa: get this right before you fly Most nationalities need Vietnam’s e-visa (evisa. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-where-to-stay/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-where-to-stay/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang is spread out, the beach strip, the riverfront, and Son Tra read as genuinely separate bases rather than neighborhoods you can casually walk between, so where you stay shapes your trip more than in a compact old-town destination. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-photo-spots/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-photo-spots/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang rewards photographers who show up at the right time of day more than it rewards chasing an exhaustive checklist. Here’s where the light actually works. My Khe Beach at sunrise My Khe faces east, so sunrise, not sunset, is the shot here. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-top-nature-spots/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-top-nature-spots/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang packs a genuinely varied set of natural environments into a small area: coastal rainforest, limestone karst, and a long sand beach, all within a 15-20 minute drive of downtown. Son Tra Peninsula Son Tra, about 10km northeast of the city, protects Vietnam’s only remaining coastal rainforest, designated a nature reserve in 1992 and covering roughly 25. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-hiking-areas/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-hiking-areas/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang isn’t a hiking destination the way a mountain town is, but it has two genuinely good walking areas within the city limits and a mountain pass worth doing on foot in short stretches if you want a break from the beach. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-quieter-local-spots/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-quieter-local-spots/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. My Khe Beach and Ba Na Hills dominate every Da Nang list for good reason, but a handful of spots get skipped by most short-stay visitors even though they’re just as easy to reach. Here’s what’s worth the detour. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-festivals-and-events/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-festivals-and-events/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang’s event calendar has one genuine headline act and a handful of dates worth planning around rather than getting caught out by. DIFF: the Danang International Fireworks Festival DIFF is a major international fireworks competition staged over the Han River, and it’s the reason hotel rates near the river spike for weeks at a time. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-where-to-eat/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-where-to-eat/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. A lot of generic Vietnam food writing credits Da Nang with dishes that actually belong to its neighbors, pho is Hanoi’s and bun bo hue is Hue’s, so it’s worth being precise about what’s genuinely native here before you start ordering. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-things-to-do/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-things-to-do/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang sits on Vietnam’s central coast between Hoi An and Hue, a beach and city destination in its own right rather than just a stopover. Two to three days covers the sights below comfortably, and that’s an honest amount of time to give it before heading onward. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-day-trips/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-best-day-trips/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang has no UNESCO World Heritage Site of its own, and that’s not a knock on the city, it’s the honest reason day trips matter so much here. Three of Vietnam’s most significant sites sit within a couple hours of downtown, and most travelers who spend more than 2-3 days in Da Nang are really using it as a base for reaching them. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-a-complete-travel-guide/?v=1 Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/da-nang-a-complete-travel-guide/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Da Nang is Vietnam’s third-largest city, a fast-growing beach town on the central coast that has become Southeast Asia’s leading digital-nomad hub in the last few years. It hosted APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in 2017, and its skyline of new towers and bridges over the Han River shows the money that’s followed. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-7-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:25:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-7-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Seven days is our 6-day itinerary , the Ancient Town, My Son, Da Nang, the craft villages, and the Cham Islands, plus one long day trip to Hue’s imperial city. If a full week feels like too much, our 5-day itinerary is the tighter version without Hue or the islands. https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-6-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-6-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Six days is our 5-day itinerary , the Ancient Town, My Son, Da Nang, and the craft villages, plus a day on the water: the Cham Islands, a marine biosphere reserve offshore. Want Hue as well? https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-5-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:15:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-5-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Five days is our 4-day itinerary , the Ancient Town, My Son, and Da Nang, plus a slower fifth day away from the crowds: Cam Kim island and its craft villages. Want the Cham Islands or Hue too? https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-4-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:10:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-4-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. 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? https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-3-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:05:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-3-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Three days is our 2-day itinerary , the Ancient Town plus beach and countryside, with one genuine day trip added: My Son’s Cham ruins. Want Da Nang’s Marble Mountains and Golden Bridge too? See our 4-day itinerary . https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-2-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/itinary/hoi-an-2-day-itinerary-no-tourist-traps/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Two days is the bare minimum for Hoi An and covers the Ancient Town plus a slower day of beach and countryside, no day trips. If you can spare more, our 3-day itinerary adds My Son, and our 7-day itinerary fits in every day trip worth doing. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-travel-tips-8-things-to-know/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:50:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-travel-tips-8-things-to-know/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Most of what trips people up in Hoi An isn’t culture shock, it’s a handful of specific, avoidable mistakes. Here’s the actual list. 8 things to know before you go Get your e-visa only from evisa. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-festivals-4-worth-timing-for/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:45:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-festivals-4-worth-timing-for/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Hoi An’s calendar is simpler than most travel sites make it sound: one festival happens every month, and everything else clusters around a couple of dates worth planning a whole trip against. 4 events worth timing for The Full Moon Lantern Festival, the 14th day of every lunar month. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hiking-near-hoi-an-the-honest-answer/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:40:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hiking-near-hoi-an-the-honest-answer/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Here’s the honest answer, because most searches for “Hoi An hiking” get pointed at trails that don’t actually exist: Hoi An itself sits on flat coastal and riverine land around the UNESCO-listed Ancient Town , and there’s no real hiking in town or its immediate surroundings. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/6-real-nature-spots-near-hoi-an/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:35:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/6-real-nature-spots-near-hoi-an/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Be upfront about what Hoi An is: flat, coastal, and riverine, not mountainous, sitting on the Thu Bon river a short drive from the UNESCO-listed Ancient Town . There’s no rainforest trekking here, but there’s a real stretch of beach, working farmland, and canal country worth a slow afternoon. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-photo-spots-7-worth-the-walk/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:30:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-photo-spots-7-worth-the-walk/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Hoi An photographs well without much effort, which is exactly why it’s crowded with people trying to get the same shot you are. Timing matters more than location here. 7 spots worth the walk The Japanese Covered Bridge, the 18th-century icon on the 20,000-VND note, recently restored and visibly newer-looking than the rest of the old town as a result. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/best-hoi-an-day-trips-4-real-options/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:25:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/best-hoi-an-day-trips-4-real-options/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Hoi An itself has no airport and no train station, so every day trip starts with a car, and most of the genuinely good ones are within an hour or two. Here are the four worth planning around, ranked by how much they add to a trip that’s already mostly about the old town. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-hidden-gems-6-spots-worth-finding/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:20:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/hoi-an-hidden-gems-6-spots-worth-finding/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Hoi An’s Ancient Town gets crowded by mid-morning; these are the places within a short bike ride or a slightly earlier alarm that don’t. 6 places worth the detour Cam Kim island, a few minutes by boat or the bridge across the Thu Bon, mostly bicycles and craft villages rather than souvenir shops. https://mad-traveller.com/posts/where-to-stay-in-hoi-an-by-neighborhood/?v=1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:15:00 +0000 https://mad-traveller.com/posts/where-to-stay-in-hoi-an-by-neighborhood/?v=1 Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use. Where you stay in Hoi An matters more than in most towns this size, because the Ancient Town core is pedestrianised and small enough that a few hundred metres changes the noise level entirely. Pick the neighborhood first, then the specific room.