Imagine a city where every street and every corner holds centuries of intertwined stories, where the warm glow of silk lanterns transforms the night into a spectacle of colors and shadows. Hoi An is a living place, where tradition and modernity coexist in perfect harmony. Its artisan workshops, historic houses, and ancient festivals keep a steady heartbeat that connects the past with the present. 

Here, history is felt and every visitor is invited to become part of this timeless story. Discover why it remains an unmatched treasure in the heart of Vietnam.

Hoi An doesn’t need museums to be an artistic city, you just have to walk through its Old Town at dusk. The yellow facades, dark wooden shutters, and mossy rooftops whisper centuries of history shaped by Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese influences.

But what truly sets it apart is that it still hosts more than 400 traditional craft workshops: silk lanterns, ceramics, embroidery, bookbinding, and wood carving.

In Hoi An, art doesn’t hang on walls, it’s sewn, painted, and lit.

From the 15th to the 19th century, Hoi An was a bustling stop on the maritime Silk Road. Its docks saw Chinese ships laden with porcelain, silk, and tea; Japanese traders seeking wood and camphor; and European merchants arriving with textiles, watches, and firearms. Local treasures like Thanh Ha pottery, silk, sugar, pepper, and edible bird’s nests were exported in return.

The Japanese even built their own quarter in the city, connected by a covered bridge they constructed in the 17th century, now the iconic Japanese Bridge. Chinese merchant houses still stand today, with ancestral altars, inner courtyards, and timeworn wooden beams.

Hoi An was and in many ways still is a meeting point of worlds, a legacy you can read in every street, lantern, and bite of its cuisine.

Every month, on the night of the full moon, Hoi An’s old town turns off its electric lights and glows only with colorful silk lanterns. The city becomes a dreamscape, bathed in the warm glow of lanterns that light up streets, balconies, and temples  bringing back the slow rhythm of centuries past.

Locals release floating lanterns onto the Thu Bon River, making wishes and honoring their ancestors in a tradition rooted in ancient Buddhist beliefs.

The festival revives the spirit of Hoi An in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the streets lit up with lanterns during lunar celebrations.

Today, it’s more than a spectacle, it’s a quiet declaration that here, history isn’t something on display. It’s something you live.