Hoi An, Vietnam: What's Worth It and What to Skip (Honest Day Trip)

Everyone says you have to visit Hoi An, but almost nobody tells you what's actually worth your time once you get here. So today, we're finding out for ourselves. We'll test the famous tailor shops, explore the ancient town, visit the top historical sites, and try some of Hoi An's most famous local dishes. We'll also see if Anthony Bourdain's legendary banh mi still lives up to the hype. By the end of this video, we will show you exactly what deserves a spot on your itinerary, what doesn't, and what we'd spend more time doing instead. Let's dive in. Today, we are here in Hoi An. I'm going to explore this ancient city. It's about a 30-minute ride from Da Nang to Hoi An. Never been here before. Definitely got completely different vibes than Da Nang. We're going to spend the rest of the day into the evening here, and we'll bring you along with us. Let's go check it out. So here in Hoi An, there are a ton of tailor shops that you can go and get a custom suit, custom dress, get your shirt fitted on you. So if you do come to Hoi An, and you're wanting to find something special and unique just for you, you might want to check out one of these spots, like Phoebe. Right here. Let's go check it out. So they've got a ton of different fabrics, cotton, silk, all that. This store in particular, you've got custom dresses and suits, which is really cool. Look at how beautiful these dresses are. Custom made just for you. There's also these custom tailors in the actual market where you can get better deals. I'm very, very confident about that. Friends, forget going shopping. My goodness, go to Hoi An and bring your favorite trousers, the shirts, all that stuff that you want and get it customized. There's so many amazing spots here. I've got every single fabric. My biggest piece of advice would be come here a little bit earlier in the morning, maybe like 10, 30, 11 ish, get your measurements and then come here and get it custom fitted to your exact measurements. It's pretty special. Come check it out. I had no idea Hoi An was this cool. So the market price is actually quite a bit different. It's a very good price for a suit. You can get it for $100 and then a dress. I think they said they start at 50 bucks. A shirt, though, is $40. If it's a short sleeve, it's $35. So you might as well get a suit just a little bit more and get the blazer and the pants, which are typically the more expensive item. But it's a great deal. You get like everything customized here. They got custom swimsuits. They even got these cool places where you get a customized jean material handmade. I don't I don't know about that. But Hoi An definitely feels like a place that deserves more than a single day. I don't know if I'd stay for a month, but I would consider staying here for a week or two. Kind of reminds me of Chiang Mai a little bit. It's very walkable, but doesn't have that like full on city vibe, which is nice and peaceful. Got to appreciate it. Man, it is freaking hot out here. Holy cow. I'm in shorts and a shirt and it is way too hot. Feels like the ocean's too far away to provide a proper breeze. Words of advice, you do not need any pants or long sleeves if you're coming to visit Hoi An, that's for sure. Overall, my friends, Hoi An is lit for clothing. Some of the cutest clothing I've seen anywhere in all of Vietnam, for sure. Not just for girls, it's for guys, it's anyone. And the great thing is, is that you're walking up and down these streets. And honestly, all of the stores have this. I particularly love this style of like linen with a little bit of like professional flair. But you walk up and down these streets, you can find something for you. I promise you that. You do not have to get it custom made. A lot of them actually fit you. They have sizes. Also, they have pricing. So it's not all about negotiating the best price down. Some of them will actually have the price on the tag. So you know what you're going to get. So much cute stuff. It's just hard to pick which one I want. All right. We are trying the infamous Kho Lao noodle dish. Mm, that's nice. It's sweet. It's got like a little like Chinese five spice tang to it. And the noodles are like a flat udon noodle. Really, really good. It also comes with what? Crispy, crispy dough, fried crispy dough, a little bit of lettuce, some herbs. And of course. Oh, my gosh. You guys look at this delicious, juicy pork right now. That's going to my belly. That's delicious. Khao Lao noodle smells sweet. Have never tried this before, but it has that thick noodle that I absolutely adore. So let's give it a bite. We'll do it with a little bit of extra pork, because one bite could be perfection if it hits all the right places. Wow, that pork is really, really good. Oftentimes, Vietnamese food is like super light and served cold. This one's a nice warm dish, but it doesn't taste like it's stir fried. It tastes like it's actually been cooking just a little bit just to be heated up to like the right temperature. That is almost comparable to like a lo mein or something like that. I really liked it a lot. I recommend it for sure. If you're out here like that's definitely a dish that I think if you're not used to Vietnamese food, you can come try it and it won't be too foreign for you. And we just got these beautiful pot stickers. Oh, my God. Look how pretty they are. Comes a little sauce. Let's give it a little dippity doodah day. Hmm. Thick white dough on the outside. Shrimp filling on the inside. This is definitely the first time we've ever had proper dumplings in Vietnam, I think, and they're pretty good. Favorite globally, maybe not, but definitely they hit the spot if you're craving a dumpling. We are now at Banh Mi Phuong here in Hoi An. This is a spot made infamous by Anthony Bourdain. Very rare to be able to find an Anthony Bourdain restaurant anywhere in the world, let alone his favorite country in Vietnam. Today, we're going to try three different banh mis here. We're going to try the one that is recommended, which is Banh Mi Thap Cam, which is mixed bread. I don't know what that is, but it has all of the stars next to it. So we have to try that one. We're also going to try the barbecue pork one that is also recommended online. And then the one that I really wanted to try was the chicken and cheese. So we're going to try three banh mis. And in true Anthony Bourdain style, we're sitting outside overlooking the beautiful streets of Hoi An in tiny little chairs. I am a happy girl. So the alpha for this place is you've got to go inside. There's often lots of seating options, but upstairs on the balcony. I'm telling you, this is the spot for sure, especially if you get a nice breeze and it's not crazy hot. It's definitely shaded inside. If you're with a family, I get it. But don't just grab your banh mi and take it away. Come and spend a little moment and a little relaxation and let the Anthony Bourdain spirit shine. This looks so good. I'm going to start with a chicken and cheese. So let's take a bite. That's freaking delicious. The cheese is like almost like a green cheese and chicken is perfect. Perfect grilled chicken breast. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. That chicken and cheese, man, that's a great combo. I have not had a banh mi with chicken and cheese like this before. It's very, very good with the herbs and the fresh onion on it. Absolutely delightful. I have a feeling I'm not going to like this one as much. This one is more of a traditional where it's got mixed meats, lots of different types of meats. But let's try and find out. Not my favorite, but I had to try it. It's number one on the menu. The meat one is just it's not my thing. It's just not my thing. There's not like a real sauce to it. It's just like a bunch of meat with herbs on it. Last but not least, we got the barbecue pork. Let's try it. Dude, the sauce is so good. That one's really good. Number one for me, chicken and cheese. Number two, barbecue pork. Number three, the traditional mixed bread one. Khoi and I have very different palates, so we're going to try this meaty bread one, which I understand it's not her style, but it could be decent. Let's give it a go. I will say when it comes to banh mis, I am quite particular about the breading. And unfortunately, I think this bread is a little bit too toasty. Or it becomes a little bit dry, more similar to like a crouton than a nice soft baguette. Definitely a little bit on the wild side. It's like various lunch meats that you can't get in the United States. But if you're willing to give it a go, I would say it's not too bad. Pork, I think I'm going to like this one the most. The pork meat's just OK. It wasn't something I fell in love with. I like the flavor of it, but the chew of it's just too too fatty, I think. But it's not bad. I hate this because I feel like I'm doing Anthony Bourdain disservice. But to tell the truth, this place is not my favorite banh mi place. That's for damn sure. Last one, Quynh's favorite, the chicken and cheese. Chicken and cheese uses the triangle cream cheese. It's pretty good. If you're not used to extreme Vietnamese food, chicken and cheese is the way to go. But the one thing that I do like about it is that one specifically has lemongrass on it. That's very nice touch with the banh mi. God, I never thought I'd say this, but my favorite one here is the same one as Quynh's. It is the chicken and cheese. Second one, I guess I'm going with the pork. That one's really good. But how are you going to drift away from the one that it's most known for? The four star? Just order all three. But honestly, chicken and cheese is the way to go. I can't deny it. We are at the historical landmark, the Japanese Covered Bridge. It is so beautiful. Inside is absolutely gorgeous with the wood. But even outside, just looking over the city, you've got fishermen fishing in the river. This place is just really peaceful, spiritual. Definitely a must visit. So one thing we just learned in order to go inside Hoi An's historic sites, you need one of these heritage tickets. There are 120,000 Vietnamese Dong per person and let you choose any five sites from the 24 different attractions. So we're going to check out some of the most popular ones and let you know which ones are absolute must visits and which ones you can skip. This place actually looks like it's got quite a few things going on. Not too many reviews on Google, only like 200. So is it worth it? It's kind of like a communal spot. It is super peaceful and super quiet. And I will say that's probably my favorite part. The noise pollution in Da Nang is a real thing. And you don't really realize it until you get into the quiet parts of Hoi An. I'd recommend this one. So here we are at another heritage site within the ancient town. It's very, very cool. But it's definitely more popular than the last place we were at. But absolutely beautiful. All these places are really stunning. They're really fun to just kind of pop in and out and see all the different artwork, all the different things. It's just a really fun way to spend the whole day here in Hoi An, just popping around different places and walking around. Beautiful. It's almost golden hour. So I'm excited. Here we are at our final stop. This is probably my favorite out of all the ones that we've gone to so far. It is so nice, relaxing, peaceful, beautiful. And it's a really nice garden area to just be able to relax, chill out, get away from all of the foot traffic and all the noise out on the street. This is so cool. So up here, these lantern looking things are actually incense with messages inside of them. So they burn continuously. And when it reaches to the top, then it's done. It's beautiful. It's very symbolic as well. So of all of the places that we visited today here in Hoi An, this one is the number one you got to go to. It is definitely the biggest. It is the most beautiful. It is so peaceful. You can find your own little nook and corner. Promise you won't regret it if you come here. It's just so magical. It's a very, very special place. So here's the alpha, my friends. If you come to Hoi An, be sure to stay until the sun sets because this city lights up at night. It is magical. If you want to do yourself a favor, get on a boat, go out into the river. The price of the boats per person is 100,000 Vietnamese Dong. But honestly, if you're just walking around and you want to see it at night, man, is it beautiful. So overall, Hoi An is an absolute must see. If I were to do it over again, do it for a night. But if you're staying in Da Nang and you only got a little bit of time, come out to Hoi An, come in the morning, stay in the evening. Then you can get on back over to Da Nang. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below and we will see you on the next one.