Hoi An

Hoi An operated as one of Southeast Asia's major trading ports from the 15th through 19th centuries, drawing Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and later European merchants who each left a visible mark on the town's architecture and layout. That layered, multicultural trading history is largely why UNESCO listed the old town as a World Heritage Site in 1999, recognizing a level of preservation, wooden shopfronts, family chapels, and merchant houses still standing largely unchanged, that's rare for a working Southeast Asian port town.

The Japanese Covered Bridge, built by Hoi An's Japanese trading community in the 17th century, once connected separate Japanese and Chinese quarters of the town and remains one of its most recognizable structures, appearing today on Vietnam's 20,000-dong banknote. Walking across it costs nothing, though a small temple built into its middle section is worth stopping for.

Once a month, on the night of the full moon, Hoi An turns off its electric street lighting entirely and lets the old town glow instead on colorful silk lanterns hung along every building facade, while the Thu Bon River fills with small candlelit paper lanterns that visitors and locals release to float downstream. It's become one of the most photographed recurring events in Vietnam, and unlike many festival scenes, it happens reliably every month rather than once a year.

Hoi An's tailoring industry, built on centuries of textile trading history, has evolved into a globally known service where hundreds of shops measure visitors and produce custom clothing, suits, dresses, coats, often within 24 to 48 hours. Quality varies considerably shop to shop, and most experienced visitors research specific tailors rather than walking into the first storefront they see.

The old town's core stays closed to cars and motorbikes, leaving its narrow streets to pedestrians and bicycles, a genuinely calmer pace than most Vietnamese cities offer. An Bang Beach sits a short bike ride away for anyone wanting sand and swimming alongside the old town's history, and the Cam Thanh coconut forest nearby offers round basket-boat rides through the palms, a distinctly local activity that's become popular with visitors as well.