Hellobee

Because our tiny family started on Kauai in Hawaii, city life has never been our favorite, which means that now living in a big city like Taipei can be wearing at times. We were looking forward to going somewhere more remote and accessible, and being in a place that definitely had activities for our four-year-old adventurous daughter — being by the beach would be a bonus!

That’s why Hoi An in Vietnam is ideal, especially if you’re looking for an affordable trip where you could easily spend a couple of weeks with kids. Not only is Hoi An a UNESCO World Heritage site, there’s also such good food, amazingly friendly people, gorgeous spiritual history, and sweet beaches that are all easy to get to.

Start on Two Wheels

If you’re an adventurous family, rent a motorbike. It’s one of the most efficient ways to get around, and there aren’t a lot of strict rules about licensure, insurance, or all of that. On two wheels, you’re able to get to everything from An Bàng Beach, where restaurants even have little play areas set up for kids to an amusement park on your way to learning how to make one of the traditional paper lanterns at the Phô Hôi Lantern Workshop. Our daughter loved riding the motorbike so much that she fell asleep twice in between us in the afternoon sun as we made our way from place to another.

Our toddler loved riding the motorbikes in Hoi An so much, she’d nap on them!

If you’re looking to go slower, most hotels offer complimentary bicycles, many with built-in bike seats or toddler racks, too. Just be sure that you’ve slathered on sunblocks and that everyone is wearing a helmet. Even if it looks a little daunting to start, there’s actually a beautiful slowness to the traffic where you can totally find your flow.

It’s on a bike that my daughter and I got lost in the backroads of the countryside, where we went past rice paddies, colorful old temples, wooden and metal bridges, and winding waterways. We even met locals making wooden statues of gods.

Hoi An’s side streets, countryside, and Ancient Town are all beautiful.

Walk Through Hoi An Ancient Town

Once an active trading port between the 15th 19th centuries, the Ancient Town is located in Vietnam’s central Quang Nam Province, on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River and reflects a beautiful fusion of indigenous and foreign cultures — mainly Chinese, Japanese, and European.

The traffic is closed to motorbikes between 9AM to 11AM and 3PM to 9:30PM every day, so that you can comfortably meander amongst a well-preserved complex of 1,107 timber frame buildings, with brick or wooden walls, which include architectural monuments, commercial and domestic structures, an open market and a ferry quay, and religious buildings such as pagodas.

It’s truly beautiful. And, if you time it right with the lunar festival, the artificial lights are off, and the river is illuminated by paper lanterns. If you’re not there during the lunar festival, no worries! You can simply go through ancient town at night, where plenty of vendors are peddling 15-minute river boat rides or lanterns you can launch into the water with your tot.

Hoi An is especially beautiful at night, when lanterns adorn the streets and river.

Day or night, the very best of what Hoi An has to offer is often hidden in the side streets or down alleys. Spend at least half a day to explore the old town’s most notable buildings, and keep coming back for the good food and the central open-air market.

Get Custom Clothes Made

Hoi An is known for getting custom clothes and leather shoes made. My daughter and I got a matching robes made, which wasn’t necessarily super cheap (about $30/each) but the experience of getting measured together and picking out our fabric was worth it. It was also nice that everything was ready the next day, and the vendors are happy to make any alterations you’d like.

The well known Tuong Tailor advised that getting custom-made children’s clothing isn’t the most affordable option — “better to buy off the rack,” one of the shop-girls told me as she put her hand on my shoulder. And, it’s true. We found an adorable shop, Thuong Hieu Viet, where you can purchase all sorts of adorable things for children, from toys to dresses to hair ties. All made with love! Visit the café across the street for an iced Vietnamese coffee we gulped down in 30 seconds flat.

Visit the Disneyland of Paris in Vietnam

At 1,487m from the sea level, Sun World Ba Na Hills is a mountaintop resort complex that consists of a medieval castle, modern accommodations, world-class restaurant, Fantasy Park with rides and games, and spiritual attractions.

Completed in 2013, the cable car networks holds several Guinness World Records, including the widest gap between stations and the greatest change in elevation. The views of Da Nang and the coast in the distance are spectacular every direction you look. There are three different cable lines up the mountain, so be sure to grab a map and choose which one you want to go up and which one you want to come down.

Our daughter loved that all the games and rides in the arcade were included. Maybe not the best “cultural” activity, but surely a delight for toddlers and younger kids.

You definitely don’t want to miss the Golden Bridge held by two god-Like hands. This architectural wonder is unbelievably amazing. At a height of 1,414m from the sea level, the Golden Bridge spans nearly 150m in the Paradise Garden, the bridge measures 12.8m wide, is nearly 150m long, and comprises 8 arches, the longest of which is 21.2m. It truly feels magnificent and magical to walk along what can feel like a pathway to the Heavens.

Ride a Fishing Village Basket

Ready to row a round basket boat on a river and, to meet a water buffalo? Jack Tran Tours (Formerly Hoi An Eco-tour) is a local Vietnamese fishing family-run business that shows travelers about how Vietnamese people live, work and eat. Local Vietnamese guides provide knowledgeable commentary, demonstrate traditional fishing and farming techniques, and provide guests with the opportunity for some hands-on experiences. You can experience authentic daily lives of the local fishing and farming communities firsthand, visit Cham Island for fishing and snorkeling, ride a beautiful water buffalo, discover rice planting and more.

The guides spin the basket like it’s a roller coaster ride, make trinkets out of blades of palm grass, and in the end, you get to meet a super sweet buffalo (which when I researched, the company said they do indeed care about proper animal treatment and maintain eco-friendly practices).

Eat everything you can!

There’s so much good food from local eats to bigger restaurants, but if you want to enjoy the Vietnamese experience and get the whole family involved, try Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School.

Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School can bring you on a two-wheeled culinary adventure. You’ll get to discover the stunning countryside on a bike and learn how to cook four of Hoi An’s famous local dishes: 1) White Rose (steamed dumplings with pork and prawn mousse), 2) Fresh Salad Rolls, 3) Cao Lau (noodles, pork, and local greens), and 4) Banh Xeo (crispy pancake).

On this guided tour, you’ll explore picturesque Tra Que Village to learn about herbs and vegetables, including how to prepare the ground for sowing the seeds and how the local farmers use a special seaweed to fertilize them. Then, you’ll head over to a bean sprout grower’s home, followed by a countryside market.

Ride through the lush rice paddy fields and see water buffalo, exotic birds, and other wildlife. Once you get back to Vy’s, you’re guided around many live food counters to see cooking demonstrations, enjoy food tastings, and then proceed to a 2-hour, hands-on, in-depth cooking class, which includes lunch, sweet treats, and refreshing Vietnamese drinks.

It’s helpful to know that any restaurant offering a cooking class is a good bet for good eats!

The Marble Mountains and My Son Sanctuary

If you’re looking for spirituality, the Marble Mountains and My Son Sanctuary are both incredible places to visit — albeit perhaps a little tiring for tots, as both locations are more something to “see” rather than do.

If you’re ready to see a bunch of temples all clustered together (and get a fairly good workout traversing a few cliffs, climbing up and down stairs, and squeezing yourself through caves), the Marble Mountains between Hoi An and Da Nang are a great half-day visit for Buddhist and Hindu grottoes. Below the surface, there’s a complicated system of caves and tunnels interlaced with pagodas, shrines, and gigantic statues. As you meander throughout the Marble Mountains, there are incredible lookout points, including spectacular views across Non Nuoc, also known as My Khe Beach. The Mountain of Water, home to pagodas dating back to the 17th century and a number of caves, provides superb vistas to Mount Kim Son or Metal Mountain.

One of the most unforgettable caves is the Huyen Khong Cave, where sunlight streams through circular openings as though they’re holes to the sky, creating a resplendent atmosphere of giant rays of light shining down among the statues of gods. As you descend the staircase into the mouth of the cavern, your jaw might just drop automatically.

Then, hire a private car (and potentially a guide) to get to Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, approximately a 45-minute ride from Hoi An. Worth a half-day trip and the restaurant right outside the gates is actually quite good and cheap. Between the 4th and 13th centuries, a unique culture with spiritual roots in Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Vietnam.

My Son Sanctuary is a gorgeous place to meander throughout the day.

Today, at this UNESCO World Heritage site, there are a series of impressive tower-temples located in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence. The complex contains about eight groups of temples and 70 prominent monuments. Each group consists of kalan (the main sanctuary) surrounded by towers and tombs.

Stay at the Palm Garden Beach Resort & Spa

Our favorite place to stay is the Palm Garden Beach Resort & Spa. It’s right at Cua Dai Beach, within a 10-minute bike ride to An Bang Beach, so you can luxuriate in the sun as your kiddos hop into the water. The pool is absolutely epic with plenty of shallow water. There’s a playground and a kids’ place area, too! Our room was expansive with free-standing tub, the breakfast buffet delicious, and easy access to anything else we wanted to explore.

Overall, we’d happily go back to Hoi An ANY time. It was such a wonderful experience in a culture that loves kiddos as much as Taiwan does, and there’s plenty to explore in your own time — so much of Vietnam is distinct from one another that we can’t wait to see more.