Da Nang Hoi An Hue Tour: 5 Days in Central Vietnam

Your driver meets you in the arrivals area at Da Nang International Airport for the private transfer to Hoi An, about 40 minutes south. Between the 15th and 19th centuries Hoi An was a busy trading port; when silt filled the Thu Bon River, shipping shifted to Da Nang’s deep harbour, and that slow decline is why so much of the old town was never rebuilt.

Nothing else is planned after check-in. Rest after the flight, or take an easy walk around the neighbourhood at your own pace (optional).

The morning is yours. At 1:30 PM your guide collects you for Cam Thanh, about 5 km from the old town, where water coconut palms crowd the channels close to the Thu Bon estuary. During the wars this forest hid local fighters. You ride a round bamboo basket boat, have a go with the paddle, then watch a short performance by locals on the river.

Back in town, the walking tour covers the Traditional Performing Arts House and the Museum of Trade Ceramics, with pottery traded through the port and pieces raised from a wreck off the Cham Islands. Tan Ky Ancient House has been home to the same family for seven generations. Then come the Cantonese Assembly Hall, built in 1885, and the Japanese Covered Bridge, about 400 years old and restored in 2024.

The evening ends on the Hoai River, where a boat takes you out to set a flower lantern on the water. Afterwards the night market across the An Hoi bridge and the shops of the old town are there for browsing (optional, at your own cost).

No guide and no fixed plan today. Take it easy at the hotel, or visit a tailor: plan your fittings around the Hue day so your clothes are ready before you leave on day 5. For a slower day, find a coffee on an upstairs balcony looking over the old town’s tiled roofs (all optional).

To see more, book the half-day trip to My Son Sanctuary (optional, at your own cost), with pickup from your hotel at 1:00 PM. About 40 km south-west of Hoi An, its brick temples were raised for the god Shiva by Cham kings between the 4th and 13th centuries and have been on the UNESCO list since 1999. Traditional Champa dances are performed at the site, and the trip returns by boat down the Thu Bon River at sunset.

You meet your guide at 7:00 AM and head north in a shared vehicle. The longest day of the trip covers about 130 km each way between Hoi An and Hue. North of Da Nang the coast road climbs Hai Van Pass, 21 km of bends topping out at 496 metres, and its name, “sea clouds”, comes from the mist that often sits on the ridge. You stop for about 30 minutes at the top. At the summit stands Hai Van Gate, built in 1826 under Emperor Minh Mang on what was once the border between Dai Viet and the Champa kingdom. On the far side the road drops to Lang Co, where you stop for photos at Lap An Lagoon: some 800 hectares of still water under the Bach Ma mountains, farmed for oysters by local families.

In Hue you begin at Khai Dinh Royal Tomb, on a hillside about 10 km from the centre. Built from 1920 to 1931 for the 12th Nguyen emperor, it mixes European and Vietnamese styles in concrete and iron, and 127 steps lead up to a hall lined with mosaics of broken porcelain and glass. Lunch is a meal of Hue specialities, the cooking of the old royal capital.

Next you explore the Imperial Citadel, the seat of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945 and UNESCO-listed since 1993. Much of the Forbidden Purple City inside was destroyed in the wars of the 20th century, so rebuilt halls stand beside open ground. Last comes Thien Mu Pagoda, founded in 1601 above the Perfume River, its seven-storey tower dating from 1844. You drive back to Hoi An, arriving around 7:00 PM.

The last day has nothing fixed. If you still have gifts to buy, Hoi An’s silk lanterns are the classic choice, and many of them fold flat for a suitcase (optional, at your own cost). Your driver then takes you to Da Nang International Airport, about 40 minutes away, at a time set by your flight, and the tour ends there.