Hoi An is 32.2 km from the Da Nang city centre, about 30 minutes with clear roads and closer to an hour in rain. Leave at 15:00, walk the lanes after 18:00, and buy the ticket at the gate — 80,000₫ or 120,000₫ depending on how many houses you want to enter.
- Distance
- 32.2 kmAbout 30 minutes, clear roads
Why 15:00 and not 09:00
A morning trip to Hoi An buys you empty streets and closed shops. The old town opens at 09:00, and the interesting hours — the light, the lanterns, the kitchens — are on the other side of the afternoon.
Leaving Da Nang at 15:00 puts you in Hoi An at 15:30. That gives two hours of light to walk, a dinner at 18:30, and the walk back along the river when the lanterns come on. The town runs until 21:30 in summer and 21:00 in winter, so there is no rush.
The exception is photography: if you want the lanes without people, that is a 06:30 start and a different trip. Empty streets and a lit river do not happen in the same four hours.
The ticket, and what it buys
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| What | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic ticket | 80,000₫ | Old town + one relic + two cultural sites |
| Wider ticket | 120,000₫ | More entries; check at the gate |
| Walking only | No ticket | You need it to go inside buildings |
| Hours | 09:00–21:30 | 21:00 in winter |
The ticket is not a toll on walking — you can walk the lanes for nothing. What it buys is entry to the old houses, the assembly halls and the Japanese covered bridge, in a set number decided by the ticket you buy. Buy it if you want to go inside; skip it if the evening is for dinner and the river.
What to do in four hours
Arrive 15:30, walk the river side first while the light is good, then the lanes. The covered bridge is the one thing everybody queues for, so do it early or accept the queue at dusk.
Eat at 18:30, before the 19:30 wave. Hoi An's food is the reason many people come twice — cao lau, white rose dumplings, and the street grills that appear at dusk — and the difference between a good evening and a frustrating one is eating an hour earlier than you think.
- The Japanese covered bridge: queue early or come back after 20:00.
- The riverside at dusk: boats, lanterns, and the only place the crowd is worth it.
- One old house, if you bought the ticket: the wooden ones near the bridge are worth the entry.
The way back
This 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 are standing at the edge of the old town competing with a few hundred people for the same fifteen cars.
Two fixes: book the return when you book the outbound, or leave at 20:00. The second costs nothing and takes the last hour of lanterns off the table — a trade most people are happy to make once they have seen the queue.
If you want to stay the night
Staying one night changes the trip more than any activity: you get the town at 07:00, which is the only hour it is quiet, and you skip the return entirely. It costs you a morning in Da Nang and a hotel change.
The practical version: move hotels once, in the middle of the trip, and stay the last night in Hoi An rather than the first. Then the airport run is 32 km from Hoi An instead of 6 km from the beach strip — about 45 minutes rather than ten.
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
Is Hoi An worth a day trip from Da Nang?
Yes, and the evening version is better than the morning one: leave at 15:00, eat at 18:30, walk when the lanterns are on.
How much is the Hoi An entrance ticket?
80,000₫ or 120,000₫, bought at the gate. Walking the lanes needs no ticket; the ticket is for going inside.
How long does the drive take?
32.2 km, about 30 minutes with clear roads, closer to an hour in rain.
Should I stay overnight in Hoi An?
If you can move hotels once, yes: the town at 07:00 is the reason. It costs a morning in Da Nang.
Sources and check dates
- Da Nang City Tourism Portal — 2026 admission prices and opening hours, checked 2 November 2026
- Drive distances and times measured on OSRM (OpenStreetMap routing), 2 November 2026
- WMO World Weather Information Service, Da Nang station — monthly rainfall and temperatures, retrieved 2 November 2026