A Perfect Match: 5-Day Da Nang·Hoi An Trip — Day 1 🇻🇳

This travel journal is about a self-guided trip to Da Nang and Hoi An with a travel companion whose travel style matches mine perfectly. It covers Day 1 through Day 5. We arrived at the airport at 4 AM! We had booked valet parking through CocoValet. If you park your car in line H26 on basement level 2, they take care of it for you. In-person service is available from 4 AM to midnight!

I took the 7 AM VietJet flight. If you take VietJet at 6:15 AM/7 AM or Tway at 7:45 AM, you'll arrive in Da Nang around 10 AM, so you can enjoy a full, productive day right from day one! There was a bit of a line because it overlapped with flights arriving from China, but the fast track got me through in just 1 minute! If you don't have checked baggage, you can be outside the airport within 10 minutes.

I started the day with a 12-hour rental car (airport pickup at 10am). At 11am, my first meal was at a famous bun cha restaurant, where the crab spring rolls were delicious — I ate until I was stuffed! After the meal, I visited Han Market — exchanged money at a nearby gold shop, and bought several sets of wear-and-toss underwear and Nike short-sleeve tops and bottoms! I cooled off from the heat at a small alley café nearby, then moved on to Brown Spa. The sweet potato fries come in a large size for 30,000 dong, and they're best eaten right away with plenty of seasoning sprinkled on! If you try to save some for later, they won't taste as good, haha.

On An Thượng street in Da Nang, there's a café called Art Coffee Forest. It has indoor seating too, but around two or three in the afternoon, as the sun starts to lower, it was cool and pleasant to sit outside as well. After meeting up with friends I hadn't seen back in Korea and enjoying a lovely tea time together in Da Nang, we set off for Hoi An, where we'd booked our first night's stay! On the way from Da Nang to Hoi An, there's also Mikelospa. I rented an electric scooter to get around during my trip to Hoi An. There are branches in Hoi An, Da Nang, and Hue, so you can end the rental and return the scooter at any location, and battery charging works the same way. There's a deposit, but it's really affordable, and anyone can rent one without needing an international driver's license.

The accommodation in Hoi An is White House Villa. It's a newly built property that's only one year old, offering excellent value with breakfast included and a clean, tidy space. It's perfect for couples, and can also fit three people if you have a young child. It's quiet and just a 10-minute walk to the entrance of the Old Town. After resting, for dinner there's a nearby seafood restaurant called 'Oc Ken' — a great-value spot where you can enjoy seafood for around 50,000–60,000 VND. It's also nice to order a grilled banh mi (5,000 VND) and dip it in the sauce.

After dinner, head to the Old Town night market (about a 20-minute walk, though we go by motorbike — there's a motorbike parking area near the park). You absolutely cannot miss the night view of the Thu Bon River! The night market gets crowded and hectic, so we prefer the one near the Central Market — it's not packed, so you can browse at a relaxed pace, and since it's right in front of the market, the fruit is cheap too. I ate a lot of seasonal mangosteens and green mangoes, hehe! On the way back to the accommodation, I grabbed a cup of Highlands Coffee, and at the accommodation I ordered Mieu Mieu chicken wings and Com Tam Com Tam via GrabFood delivery, enjoyed them, and wrapped up the day. See you on Day 2!