Vietnam

Vietnam: Hoi An and the Central Coast

When

Feb to April | Aug to Oct

Price

From 2 000€ excl. flights

(based on 2 people sharing)

How long

5 nights

Ideal length

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Hoi An, a once-prosperous trading port between the 15th and 19th centuries where Chinese, Japanese, and European merchants traded silks and ceramics, has preserved a UNESCO-listed old town of rare architectural homogeneity. Every evening, thousands of colourful silk lanterns light up along the Thu Bon River, a tradition revived in the 1990s that has made the town one of the most photogenic in South-East Asia.

An Old Town Frozen for Four Centuries

Hoi An's old town, UNESCO-listed in 1999, owes its exceptional preservation to its gradual commercial decline from the 19th century onward, when the silting of the Thu Bon River diverted maritime traffic to Da Nang, freezing its architecture in place. The wooden merchant houses, the 17th-century covered Japanese bridge, and the Chinese assembly halls with dragon-adorned roofs bear witness to a commercial cosmopolitanism rare for the era in South-East Asia.

The Lanterns and Silk Craft

Colourful silk lanterns, handmade using skills passed down in the town's family workshops, light up the old town's streets every evening and reflect in the waters of the Thu Bon River during the monthly full moon festival, when electricity is cut in favour of this lighting alone. The silk tradition, inherited from the flourishing trade of centuries past, endures in several tailoring workshops capable of making a bespoke garment in under twenty-four hours.

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Where to rest your head

A Renovated Old Town Shophouse

A former merchant shophouse renovated at the heart of the listed old town, a shaded inner courtyard, within walking distance of the main temples and the Japanese bridge.