What to do in Hoi An:
- Take a self walking tour though the Old Quarter and visit the heritage listed buildings and Japanese Bridge.
- Rent a bicycle and tour the surrounding countryside.
- Taste the many street vendors offerings
- Spend an afternoon on the beach in the laid-back restaurants and bars.
- Enjoy the night life in the bars filled with musicians and bands.
Hoi An, once a trading port from the 16th to the 18th century attracted traders from China, Japan and Europe, all of which left a unique impression on this historic River side town. Relatively untouched by the Vietnam War, Hoi An still is a place of old world charm. The Japanese founded many communities west of the covered bridge in 16th century and the Chinese many in the centre and east in the 18th century. The French during there colonization also left there influences on the southeastern part of the town, making it a wonderful blend today of Vietnamese, Chinese and French architecture.
In 1999 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the spectacular historic Chinese, and Japanese architecture.
This has also brought a larger tourist influx into Hoi An´s Old Quarter, which now is seeing many of its buildings being turned into boutique stores, galleries, coffee houses and tailor shops.
However with its charming brightly painted buildings and shutters, hanging flowers and colorful crafts for sale its still a delightful place to spend some time. No cars are permitted in the walkable streets of the Old Quarter and at night its almost magical as all the streets and stores are made by law to hang lanterns.
You can take in its historic culture by purchasing a combo ticket that gives you access to select five out of about 22 buildings of cultural interest. Visiting a tube house should definitely be one of your selections, Tan Ky Old house is Over more than 200 years old, located on Nguyen Thai Hoc street its a fine example of its original architecture. Built in the 18th the extremely ornate house is a combination of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese styles.
The tube houses take their name as they are long and narrow houses that have no windows with ventilation’s running front to back or skylights towards the back of the houses. Theres also serval museums on the selection, including; Museum of Trade Ceramics, Museum of Sa Huynh Culture, Museum of Folk Culture, Museum of History and Culture. The Travel fish blog has a full list of places of interest worth visiting.
I happened to land in Hoi An during the 2016 food festival, which showcased 12 International chefs representing 12 countries and 12 themed restaurants.
Although famous for its restaurants i still found the street vendors foods where in my opinion a better selection as many of the restaurants cater a little to much towards a western palate. If you walk down a few of the smaller alleys and you will find tiny seated areas where they are serving selections of different regional foods or simple try something from every street vendor until your full.
Theres plenty of guest houses, hostels and hotels out side of the Historic area and all the streets are neat and tidy sleepy streets with lovely white buildings with little traffic and pollution. Most places include the use of a bicycle which makes a nice rest from motorbiking for a day or two.
My pick : Amongst the boutique craft shops you will also find unique and quirky stores selling more contemporary items. COCO BANA is one of these places, on first inspection it just looks like a place selling regional teas, but then inside you will find out its a whole lot more. Its owner gave me a tour and I felt as if I had been invited into an enchanted world. Behind the front section of the store is large garden filled with sand and lounge seating, here you can stop to relax and have tea. The owner, an artist, has created a whimsical place of tranquility, and a place in which he runs paper making classes. I don´t wish to ruin the surprise but if he hands you a small hand paper leaf and invites you to write three wishes on it, please don´t be shy as he will take you on a tour of his upper level and show you a fabulous room behind a large heavy wooden door.
motorgirltravels 
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