[Da Nang Travel Diary] Day 2 Night: Strolling through the Old Town of Hoi An! Riding a boat and setting lanterns afloat

Xin chào! We're Yuki, a Japanese husband living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Ngoc, his Vietnamese wife. On this blog, we share information about living and moving to Vietnam, as well as travel information from all over the country. If you find an article that interests you, please try following us first ♪ Night of day 2 of our Da Nang trip. After relaxing at the Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort until evening, we took a taxi and entered the World Heritage site of Hoi An Ancient Town.It seems that during the day you need to pay an admission fee (with a ticket) to enter, but after the evening when the museums and temples close, you can go in for free ♪ Let's walk through the World Heritage Old Town of Hoi An: the colorful lanterns create a magical, dreamlike atmosphere.

At Hoi An Ancient Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you can visit museums, temples, old houses, and the Chinese assembly halls during your daytime sightseeing. The admission fee is about 1000 yen, and you'll receive a ticket booklet with 5 coupons, allowing you to visit 5 locations.

On the other hand, Hoi An really comes alive at night. The way colorful lanterns light up the old town somehow carries a nostalgic, Showa-era feel — it's like strolling through an old-fashioned festival from the past.

That makes perfect sense. Hoi An once actively traded with Japan during the era of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and a Japanese quarter was even formed in Hoi An. The Japanese Bridge spanning the center of the old town is said to be a symbol of that friendship. Rows of general stores line the streets of Hoi An.

Hoi An's main streets are Tran Phu Street, Le Loi Street, Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, and Bach Dang Street. Houses line these streets without a single gap, and every one of them is a shop. They're either cafes, restaurants, or souvenir shops, and they stay open until around 10 PM.

If you're heading back to Da Nang now, it's fine to buy souvenirs there, but for miscellaneous goods, Hoi An is definitely cheaper. Actually, with this nostalgic atmosphere... you simply have to buy something! An absolutely recommended restaurant, "Morning Glory Signature

Morning Glory Signature," located just next to the Hoi An Night Market, is my top recommendation for a restaurant. The rooftop is what I recommend most, but if it's fully booked, the second-floor seating also has a lovely atmosphere. From the rooftop, you can even see the Thu Bon River and the Japanese Bridge, so I can't help but post it to my Instagram story every time.   In addition to Vietnamese cuisine, they also offer a wide variety of dishes including Chinese and Western food, so I'd recommend it to those who might be getting a bit tired of Vietnamese food. Also, most dishes are priced around 1,000 yen, which I think is one of the reasons for its popularity, since it's not too expensive. You can make a reservation through Tabi Spa. When planning my trip to Da Nang, I wanted to visit various famous spas and restaurants, so I looked around several booking sites, but Tabispa was the only Japanese-language site that had Morning Glory Signature listed. By the way, this time I didn't actually book through Tabispa, but it seems the 3rd floor rooftop seats are almost exclusively reserved for those with reservations, so it's definitely better to book before you go.   Reservation │ Restaurant "Morning Glory Signature" (Hoi An) | Tabispa Hoi An Located right by the river, just steps from Hoi An's Old Town and the Night Market, "Morning Glory Signature" is an extremely popular restaurant featured in guidebooks from around the world. Reservations are essential. tabispavn.com Even kids will love it! Boat ride & lantern floating experience | Hoi An sightseeing

Now, the long-awaited boat cruise experience. To cut to the conclusion, "I can absolutely recommend it!" When I came a few years ago, I had to negotiate the fare directly with the boat owner, so I often got ripped off, but now there's a ticket booth along the river where you pay, so it feels much safer (I believe it was around 200,000 dong). Also, before boarding the boat, you can buy lanterns too (about 10,000 or 15,000 dong each).

The boat ride was about 15 minutes. Actually, my kid kept begging me "one more time~", so we ended up riding the boat twice (lol) But it's a great memory. The boatman rowing the oars was also very kind, and he even took a family photo for us. It's true that shopping at general stores or relaxing at a cafe can be boring for kids, right? I'm glad they enjoyed it m(__)m As for the Hoi An Night Market, I'll give it a slightly harsh review.

This is the Hoi An Night Market. It's right in front of you (about a 3-minute walk) just after crossing An Hoi Bridge over the Thu Bon River from the Japanese Covered Bridge. That said, the lanterns of the Old Town and the cafes and souvenir shops set up in renovated old houses were so lovely that, by comparison, this night market feels a bit underwhelming.   But there was a long row of stalls lined up along a straight stretch of about 100 meters, and since the old town side doesn't have any food stalls, this was where I mainly went around snacking on B-grade gourmet food. I forgot to take a photo, but that big grilled skewer of chicken was so delicious~. Summary & next time preview... You've got to walk Hoi An's old town at "night"! Looking back on this trip to Da Nang and Hoi An, honestly, this evening stroll through Hoi An was the most memorable part for me. Above all, I was so happy that my kids enjoyed it so much. Also, the dreamlike streets of Hoi An looked just like the photos I'd seen in blog posts and tourism sites—no, actually, it was even more beautiful than that! It's something everyone can enjoy, from young students to seniors, so you absolutely must go there "at night"! ♪ Coming up next…Back in Da Nang, enjoying the tropical vacation ♪ This time we only stayed one night in Hoi An. So the next day, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel, and after that we headed to Da Nang and checked into the hotel we'd be staying at! So next time, I'll introduce the Da Nang hotel and our seaside walk ♪ Hẹn gặp lại! ※This means "See you again!" in Vietnamese (^^)/