Hoi An old town is 32.2 km south of the Da Nang city centre — about 30 minutes with clear roads and closer to an hour in rain. Grab, a hired car with a driver, a local bus, or a motorbike all work; the entry ticket (80,000₫ or 120,000₫) is bought at the gate.
- Distance
- 32.2 kmCity centre to the old town
- Drive time
- 30 minClear roads; longer in rain
- Entry ticket
- 80,000₫ / 120,000₫Bought at the gate
- Old town hours
- 09:00–21:30Summer; 09:00–21:00 in winter
How far, and how long
From Han Market to the edge of the old town the routing comes out at 32.2 km and 30 minutes of driving. From the My Khe beach strip it is 26.6 km, but the same time — the beach road joins the highway further south, so you save distance and not minutes.
Treat 30 minutes as the dry, empty-road figure. In October and November the same drive takes 45 to 60 minutes, partly from rain and partly because everyone else is doing the same trip at the same hour. If you have a fixed dinner booking in Hoi An, leave 90 minutes.
Four ways to get there
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| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Grab car | Two to four people, one way | Price rises with rain and evening demand |
| Hired car with driver | A fixed return, luggage, families | Agree the waiting time, not just the fare |
| Local bus | Least expensive, unhurried | Stops along the highway, slower |
| Motorbike | Daytime, dry weather, one person | Rain, and the highway section |
The one decision that matters is whether you come back the same night. A return trip in the evening, after the lanterns, is the most expensive hour to book anything — and it is the hour when every other visitor is doing the same thing. Either book the return in advance, or stay the night and drive back in the morning.
The ticket, and what it covers
Hoi An old town charges an entry ticket at the gate: 80,000₫ for the basic version and 120,000₫ for the wider one. It is not a ticket to walk the streets — walking is what you do anyway — it buys entry to a set number of the old houses, assembly halls and the Japanese covered bridge.
Buy it if you want to go inside two or three buildings; skip it if you are there for dinner and the river. The town runs 09:00–21:30 in summer and 09:00–21:00 in winter, and the lanes are at their least crowded after 18:00 when the day coaches have left.
When to go, and when not to
Late afternoon is the answer for a day trip: leave Da Nang at 15:00, arrive with two hours of light, eat at 18:30, and walk the lanes when the lanterns come on. A morning trip is better for photographs of empty streets but the town is at its least interesting before the shops open.
The exception is October and November. Hoi An floods before Da Nang does and drains after it: the old town sits low beside a river, and a heavy night puts water in the lanes. If the forecast is bad, move Hoi An to the end of your trip rather than the middle.
What we do not print
What we can tell you is the distance and the time, and both of those are measured rather than guessed: 32.2 km from the centre, 26.6 km from My Khe, 30 minutes on a dry road.
Getting back, and the last bus problem
Coming back is the part people under-plan. The old town empties between 21:00 and 21:30, and that is exactly when everyone who came for the evening wants a car. If you have not booked a return, you will be standing on the edge of the old town with a phone, competing with a few hundred other people for the same fifteen cars.
Two fixes: book the return when you book the outbound, or stay the night. Staying is not much more expensive than a late return and it gives you the old town at 07:00, which is the only hour it is quiet. If you drive yourself, note that the highway section back is unlit in places.
A rest hour near the end of the day
LENA Nails & Beauty (our salon)
By late afternoon on a wet day your shoes are finished and the museums are closing. LENA is an indoor stop with fixed prices and no weather risk, and all three branches are a short Grab ride from My Khe and An Thuong.
The Deluxe Foot Spa is 300,000₫ (about 12 USD): shaping, cuticle work, heel scrub, dead skin removal, a hot towel and a cream massage, with no soak. The VIP 4-in-1 at 400,000₫ (about 16 USD) adds the soak in a single-use liner, a salt scrub, mud mask and lotion, with five scents. Staff speak English and Vietnamese; open 8:30–20:30.
- 89 Pham Tu, Son Tra
- 211/88 Nguyen Van Thoai, An Hai
- 34 An Thuong 3, An Thuong
- Open daily 8:30–20:30
Prices from the salon's menu of 1 November 2026. USD figures use 25,000₫ = 1 USD.
Questions people ask
How far is Hoi An from Da Nang?
32.2 km from the Da Nang city centre to the old town, or 26.6 km from the My Khe beach strip. The drive is about 30 minutes with clear roads.
Is it worth going to Hoi An for the evening only?
Yes — the old town runs until 21:30 in summer and the lanterns are the reason most people go. Leave Da Nang at 15:00 and you get light, dinner and the walk.
Do I need the Hoi An entry ticket?
Only if you want to go inside the old houses, assembly halls or the covered bridge: 80,000₫ or 120,000₫, bought at the gate.
Can I do Hoi An and the Marble Mountains in one day?
You can, because the mountains are on the way: 9.7 km from the centre, open 07:00–17:00, 40,000₫ for Thuy Son. Do the mountains in the morning and Hoi An from 15:00.
Sources and check dates
- Da Nang City Tourism Portal — 2026 admission prices and opening hours for museums, the Marble Mountains, Hoi An and My Son, checked 2 November 2026
- Da Nang City Tourism Portal — Dragon Bridge fire and water schedule, checked 2 November 2026
- Drive distances and times measured on OSRM (OpenStreetMap routing), 2 November 2026