Hoi An, Vietnam: Lanterns, Coconut boats, Scooters and a Slightly Unhinged Grandma
Falling for Hoi An
After a full day of cable cars, castles, and cloud-level views at Bà Nà Hills, we loaded back into our private bus and headed to Hoi An. Hoi An did not disappoint.
If Da Nang felt vibrant and modern, Hoi An felt softer, more romantic, and almost impossibly charming. Lanterns glowed overhead and the narrow streets pulsed with energy. Every corner offered another shop, another café, another beautiful little scene worth slowing down for. It was touristy, yes, but also genuinely lovely. The kind of place that quickly makes you understand why so many people fall for it.
Why We Loved Staying Just Outside Town
Our home base in Hoi An was an eight-bedroom Airbnb with a pool, pool table, complimentary bikes, and more space than we knew what to do with. Every bedroom had its own bathroom, and even with only six of the rooms in use, it still came out to around $30 USD per room per night. In Vietnam, that is quite a splurge. Back home, a place like that would cost a small fortune.
The location was perfect for us. It sat about 10 to 15 minutes outside the Ancient Town, in a quieter area near the beach. That meant we could dip into the action when we wanted to, then retreat somewhere calmer when we were ready to be done with crowds.
And this is where I once again have to sing the praises of Grab. Grab in Vietnam is the best. The cars were nice, the drivers were great, and the prices felt borderline fictional. I do not think I paid more than $5 for a ride the entire trip, and many rides were only $1 or $2 total. Mind blowing!
Night One: BBQ, Hot Pot, and Lantern-lit Streets
Our first night, we went to dinner at Mọi – Lẩu & Nướng, thanks to a recommendation from Estelle and Nic, who had been in Vietnam a couple of weeks before the rest of us arrived. Casual, local-feeling, budget-friendly, and excellent.
The setup was a fun one for us because it involved grilling your own food and enjoying hot pot at the same time. The atmosphere was relaxed, the food was great, and once again we found ourselves delighted by one of my favorite recurring details in Vietnam: the tiny tables and chairs.
To an American, it feels like you are sitting at a toddler’s dinner party. Everything is so low to the ground that you half expect someone to hand you a juice box. But honestly, I am starting to think Vietnam has this right and we have it wrong. Maybe all that squatting and low sitting partly explains why as a whole, they seem more mobile and functional than most Americans.
One of the most comical parts of the evening was watching Mike, a man who despises seafood, very graciously grill octopus, squid, and other questionable sea creatures for the rest of us. He had absolutely no desire to eat any of it himself, which made it an even greater act of service.
After dinner, we walked through town and got our first real taste of Hoi An at night. And wow! The lanterns, the glow, the river, the movement, the shops, the buzz in the air. It felt festive and beautiful without tipping into chaos. Raquel put it perfectly when she said she wished she could fully capture how fun and vibrant the city becomes after sunset. That is exactly it. Hoi An at night is so alive in the most warm, magical way.
Leaning All the Way Into the Tourist Trap
The next morning, several of us walked to Anh Thương Coffee & Lightmeal, a peaceful little café near our Airbnb that quickly won us over. Great Vietnamese coffee, good breakfast, lots of greenery, and the most lovely atmosphere. It was one of those spots you almost don’t want to tell too many people about because well, part of its charm is that it still feels a little tucked away.
After breakfast we wandered through local streets, passing street markets full of fresh produce and meat, chatted with the locals and eventually figured out how to rent two scooters. For 24 hours, this cost about $6 per scooter. Six dollars.
Later that day, we all met up for what ended up being one of my favorite experiences of the whole trip: a coconut basket boat ride!
There are many places around Hoi An where you can do this, but we happened upon Cocochill Hoi An and absolutely lucked out. Yes, basket boats are touristy. Yes, this activity is basically famous for being a tourist trap. And yes, we loved every single minute of it.
The young family that runs Cocochill is warm, joyful, funny, generous, and somehow made the whole thing feel like we had simply stumbled upon people who love sharing their slice of life. They laughed with us, danced with us, shared homemade rice wine, and welcomed us with the kind of warmth that did not require a common language. Their English was limited, our Vietnamese was basically nonexistent. But that didn’t matter. Joy is apparently very easy to translate.
The ride itself was so fun. We floated through palm-lined waterways, ducked through passages covered in fronds, and tried to catch crabs with simple little poles. If you were brave or foolish enough, you could also get spun around at dizzying speed in the basket boat until you laughed yourself silly.
Vance did the full solo spin. Raquel and I chose to do ours together, which felt like the perfect level of chaos for me. All of this cost roughly $4 a person, and it was one of the most memorable things we did in Vietnam.
Naturally, We Also Rode a Water Buffalo
Apparently the basket boats had not fully satisfied our appetite for iconic Vietnam experiences, because next, we hopped on scooters with the Cocochill family to go ride a water buffalo. For $2/ea.
Ridiculous? Absolutely. Did we do it anyway? Obviously.
The short scooter ride through the rice fields alone was worth it, but the water buffalo himself was a magnificent beast. Huge, calm, mildly comical, and deeply unimpressed by all of us. Riding him mostly involved climbing on, grinning like idiots, and being led in a tiny circle for a photo op. It was silly tourist nonsense. And the photo I got of Vance on top of that buffalo? Worth every penny.
Exploring Ancient Town
Later, Vance, Whitney, and I headed into the Ancient Town for more exploring and shopping. Hoi An Ancient Town is beautiful. Full stop.
Yes, it is crowded and touristy. Yes, some of the shops are a little sales-forward. But it is also visually stunning, full of character, and fun to wander. We barely scratched the surface. The streets were lined with lanterns, live painters, souvenir stalls, cafés, and more knockoff outdoor gear than I thought possible in one place. Naturally, we bought a few knock off items because they made us laugh.
Whitney, however, had much better taste than Vance and I. She found several pieces of art from local artists painting right there in the street, along with lanterns and other keepsakes that actually felt personal and special. I loved watching her shop. She has a real appreciation for art, and it made the whole experience better.
Scooters, Side Streets, and a Very Persistant Grandma
Later that evening, after some good downtime back at the Airbnb, Mike, Graciela, Vance, and I took the scooters out again to explore the quieter roads near where we were staying.
This felt much more my speed than scootering in a dense urban core. The streets were calm, traffic was minimal, and it was fun to wind through neighborhoods, narrow alleys, and local residential areas without feeling like I needed to tap into Vietnam’s sacred scooter hive mind to survive.
Then came one of the strangest and funniest encounters of the trip.
An eccentric Vietnamese woman basically ambushed us and insisted we come into her home. It was impossible to tell whether this was heartwarming hospitality, low-level kidnapping, or some magical combination of the two. Mike, charmed by her relentless friendliness and slightly unhinged commitment to the invitation, could not say no.
So, in we went.
She sat us down, offered drinks, and despite the language barrier we somehow managed to communicate that we would take a couple of beers and cokes. Then she decided we needed food.
We did not want food. This did not matter.
She brought out mystery meat patties, cut them up, placed bites on forks, and began trying to feed us directly into our mouths like baby birds. Vance and I managed to keep our mouths shut through sheer force of will. Mike and Graciela were not as lucky. She successfully landed bites in both of their mouths while we practically collapsed laughing.
Eventually we escaped, though Mike, having the kindest heart on earth, paid her generously for the absurd experience. It remains one of the funniest things that happened the entire trip.
A Seafood Feast to End the Night
After our narrow escape from grandma’s hospitality gauntlet, we ended up at Nhà hàng hải sản A Rồi, a local seafood restaurant near our Airbnb that turned out to be a total highlight.
It was not fancy, but it was excellent. The restaurant had aquariums full of live seafood lining the space. When you ordered, they pulled your selection straight from the tank, weighed it, and sent it to the kitchen. It does not get fresher than that.
Vance ordered grouper, and I watched them pull the fish from the tank and slam it to the ground before weighing it, which was both startling but, admittedly, efficient. There is no graceful way to keep a large live fish still on a scale.
While Mike and Graciela sensibly ordered more familiar dishes, the rest of us sampled all manner of sea creatures. Many arrived whole enough that their eyeballs were still fully intact, staring back at the entire table. A perfect ending to our Hoi An adventure.
Why Hoi An Stole Our Hearts
Hoi An ended up being one of my favorite stops in Vietnam because it offered such a fun mix of things.
It had beauty, energy, great food, and plenty to do. There was enough tourism to make things easy, but enough charm to still feel special. It gave us lantern-lit walks, wonderful coffee, ridiculous tourist adventures, scooter freedom and the opportunity to be force fed by a local grandma.
For travelers planning a visit, here is my quick take: stay at least two nights if you can, I wish we had stayed longer! Consider accommodations outside of Ancient Town for peaceful nights, use Grab without hesitation, don’t skip the basket boats, and save plenty of time to simply wander.
Hoi An is not the kind of place you rush. It is the kind of place that rewards lingering.