Hoi An is a beautiful UNESCO world heritage town located in central Vietnam. The whole town is one big heritage site and with its beautiful ancient colourful buildings, temples and monuments, stands testimony of Chinese, Vietnamese and French influences. Unfortunately I am not the only one to have discovered this as the place is flocked to by umpteen tourists and western cafes and eateries have sprung up there like no tomorrow. Do not let this deter you from visiting this eclectic town. Hoi An can be reached from nearby bigger city Danang by rail or plane. From there one has to take a bus ( takes approx 1 hour) to get to the heart of town. You can purchase a ticket at your hotel or tourist office to go and visit many heritage homes and sights and see beautiful Chinese temples and old traditional homes with dito kitchens shrines and living conditions. Along the water front you will find intricate cafes and delectable restaurants. The food in Hoi An is simply to die for, I kid you not. Fingerlicking great Vietnamese food (and I am a real foodie so I always make it my business to find the best eating hubs) by word of mouth might I add not by studying the Lonely Planet intensly. Hoi An is also known for its many tailors with people being able to whip up anything from a three piece suit to an evening dress with finese and all within two days and at very affordable prices. I had a Chinese style embroided pattern dress with an attached purple skirt and matching sleeves made for a friend's wedding after more or less designing it verbally and it cost something as cheap as USD 20 and was done within a day, insane. However, as with all these core businesses, one has to shop around to make sure they get quality, cause not every tailor will be equally good. Beware, there are a lot of touts luring you to their shop so make up your own mind and don't be fooled by the ol' marketing chat up lines -;) Back to the subject of food. My favourite subject of course. And a must try is the Vietnamese dumpling soup, the fried Won Ton and of course the spring rolls. You can also enroll for a short cooking course at many cafes. My favourite restaurant of all time is situated along the water front. It's called Cafe des Amis but does not serve French food. The chef is a very eccentric Vietnamese who tries his hand at different languages, usually your language if he can, and will give you the option of a three or six course menu. There is no real menu though so you'll have to trust his very capable hands as he cooks up a storm. I swear the food was so incredibly delicious that I was in heaven. I cannot recommend this place enough!! Judging by the guest book he presented to me at the end of the meal, I'm not the only one. Near Hoi An are the relics of My Son. These relics stem from the Cham people (Muslim highlanders) and are a very intersting sight. Though if you've already been to Cambodia and seen Ankor What, you might find this is just small beer. I also ventured out to Hoi An beach, which turned out to be complete waste of time. The beach is not that great and there are touts everywhere. I don't mean to be disrespectful, I know a lot of people are very poor and therefore have to use aggressive selling tactics, but it did ruin the whole relaxing on the beach with a book experience lol. So I wouldn't bother with the beach. Otherwise, do visit Hoi An. Forget about the tourists and revel in the marvel of this beautiful cultural heritage site and a brand new cheap as hell outfit to boot.

Hoi Ann has not only great beaches, but a cool little historic town with shop-houses with Chinese influence. The Japanese bridge and market are other sights not to miss. The river and boats provide a lot of great photo ops. The food there is excellent!

Hoi An is the place to go in Vietnam if you want clothes made.  There are a number of places that will make them professionally and quickly and we were amazing at both the price and the quality of the results.  

Hoi An is a nice place to go for a more relaxing side of Vietnam travelling. There are lovely beaches and a nice feeling to the place.

amazing place for scenery, shopping, eating and cheap hotels