Hello everyone; we are visiting Hoi An in early December and are wondering whether it would be better to base ourselves in the town center (and commute to the beach) or vice versa? We plan to stay for one week and would appreciate input on which area offers more interesting spots to ‘wander around’ and explore on foot. Thank you.
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If you like crowds, Hoi An. For us from the UK, being in a chilled beach resort in the heat was far preferable. Short taxi ride into Hoi An if desired but I’m with Scott on this one. The throng put me off what I expected to be a highlight. The terrific thing about Vietnam is there were so many unforeseen highlights elsewhere that I haven’t really paid the ‘disappointment’ of Hoi An much thought.
Have a great trip!
Hello
You can also look at options halfway between both for the best of both worlds. I stayed at Ancient House Resort and Spa last time I was in Hoi An and it was perfect. 25min walk or quick grab to the beach and the same to the town. The walk along the river to get to town was cery pleasant. It also had a good range of places to eat nearby was quiet and easy to get into the beautiful countryside.
The beach isn’t that bad, for us from the Netherlands it’s great, from Australia you got better beaches for surre.
Hoi An can be flooding so keep that in mind too.
Darryl, definitely better to stay in (ancient town) or within walking distance of it (eg. An hoi) . The whole purpose of seeing Hoi An is for its architecture, street life, history and eclectic shop houses. The beaches near Hoi An, while fairly close , arent really much to look at, they are just average at best . If you want stunning beaches and resorts there is other parts of Vietnam which are certainly better to do pre or post a trip to Hoi An. Have fun
How about two nights in old town and the rest in beach area?
Not the best time of year for Hoi An, but maybe worth a chance.
As far as where to stay, well, for me, there would be absolutely no way l would stay right in town.
Our first visit to Hoi An was in 2014, and second visit in 2017, with our accommodation the first time being a leisurely ~10 minute walk, while the second time probably more like 15 minutes.
I was thankful for the extra distance the second time, as it really didn’t take long before reaching the point, after heading into town, where you just needed to escape the madness
The difference in crowd size, between those two visits, was frightening, and I just can’t imagine what it’s like now.
Scott
We stayed in december half town half beach, we we’re lucky that time, only 2 days bit of rain
Had more rain last may/june