Hoi An Travel Tips
Hoi An Named the World’s Best “Hidden Gem” by Travel + Leisure (2026): What It Measured and Where to Find It
Hoi An Named the World’s Best “Hidden Gem” by Travel + Leisure (2026): What It Measured and Where to Find It
Travel + Leisure put Hoi An first among 23 “hidden gem” cities, with 92.96 out of 100. Here is how the Hoi An hidden gem score was worked out, and where to find the quiet Hoi An the list is really talking about.
In early April 2026 Travel + Leisure published a ranking of “hidden gem” city breaks, and Hoi An came first with a score of 92.96 out of 100. Da Nang, half an hour up the coast, came second. Vietnamese media covered it for a week, and the phrase “Hoi An hidden gem” has been on every tour flyer in town since.
We run a bike rental shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh, on the edge of the Old Town, and the first thing we noticed was the joke: a town that welcomed around 4.4 million visits in 2024 is not hidden from anyone. The second thing we noticed is that the ranking is still right about something. It rewards places where you can do a lot in a small area, cheaply, and that is exactly what Hoi An is good at — as long as you leave the four busiest streets. This guide explains what the list actually measured, corrects a few claims that got attached to it, and then shows you the parts of Hoi An that still feel hidden.
- What Travel + Leisure actually published
- How the Hoi An hidden gem score was worked out
- A hidden gem with 4.4 million visits
- The other 2026 award, and a claim to correct
- Hoi An hidden gem spots: seven quiet places
- The Old Town at its hidden hours
- Eating like the list says, without the queue
- Bicycle, e-bike or motorbike?
- A Hoi An hidden gem day by bike
- FAQ
What Travel + Leisure actually published
The list is a data ranking, not an editors’ vote. According to the coverage in VnExpress International and DTiNews, the study looked at 23 under-the-radar city destinations around the world and gave each a score out of 100. Hoi An scored 92.96 and finished first. Da Nang finished second.
The other cities named in the coverage are Bruges in Belgium, Essaouira and Chefchaouen in Morocco, Calabria in Italy, Paros in Greece, Cambridge in England, Belgrade in Serbia and Cascais in Portugal. The Vietnamese reports did not publish their scores or exact positions, so treat anything beyond “Hoi An first, Da Nang second” with caution — including some of the infographics going around, which invent numbers the study never gave.
Travel + Leisure’s senior photo editor Taylor McIntyre supplied the line everyone quoted, describing Hoi An as feeling like “a window into the past”, with its colourful houses, temples and silk lanterns. That is a fair description of the Ancient Town in the early morning. It is a generous one at eight in the evening.
Two Vietnamese cities thirty kilometres apart took first and second place. That tells you as much about the formula as about the towns.
How the Hoi An hidden gem score was worked out
This is the part most coverage skipped, and it explains the result better than any adjective. Each city was scored on three things, with fixed weights:
| Factor | Weight | What it measured | Why Hoi An does well |
|---|---|---|---|
| Experience density | 50% | Standout activities and restaurants relative to the city’s size | A tiny core packed with houses, tailors, cafés and food stalls |
| Affordability | 40% | Typical travel costs | Street food, rooms and bike hire cost a fraction of Europe |
| Weather | 10% | Average conditions | Warm most of the year; the flood months pull it down |
Read the first row carefully. Experience density divides the number of things to do by the size of the place. The Ancient Town is only a few hundred metres across, so every restaurant and every heritage house counts for a lot. A big city with far more to do can score lower simply because it is big. Add a cost score where Vietnam beats Morocco, Portugal and England comfortably, and the Hoi An hidden gem result makes sense — as does Da Nang coming second on the same two strengths.
In other words, the ranking does not measure how hidden Hoi An is. It measures how much you can do on foot for your money. On that test the town really is hard to beat.
A hidden gem with 4.4 million visits
Here is the paradox. Hoi An’s own tourism figures for 2024, reported by Bao Quang Nam (now Bao Da Nang), put the town at about 4.4 million visits, more than 3.5 million of them international. The first half of 2025 added around 2.8 million visits, up 17.4%. That is not a secret.
But the same figures hide something useful. Overnight stays in 2024 were only about 1.87 million, and hotel room occupancy averaged 46.8%. Most visitors come in the afternoon from Da Nang or a cruise ship, walk the lantern streets, and leave the same night. They all go to the same half square kilometre at the same hours.
| Figure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Total visits | about 4.4 million | 2024 |
| International visits | over 3.5 million | 2024 |
| Overnight stays | about 1.87 million | 2024 |
| Room occupancy | 46.8% | 2024 |
| Total visits | about 2.8 million (+17.4%) | Jan–Jun 2025 |
So the crowd is real but narrow. Step three kilometres out of town, or walk the Old Town before eight in the morning, and Hoi An is close to empty. That is the honest version of the Hoi An hidden gem story: the town is famous, but most of it is still quiet, because most visitors never go looking.
The other 2026 award, and a claim to correct
An earlier version of this article said Hoi An had also been “voted the friendliest destination in Vietnam in 2026, based on over 370 million reviews”. That mixed up two different things, so here is what actually happened.
In March 2026 Booking.com published its Traveller Review Awards 2026, which draw on more than 370 million verified guest reviews worldwide. As part of it, Booking.com named ten most welcoming destinations in Vietnam: Hoi An, Mai Chau, Cu Lao Thu, Ninh Binh, Ha Giang, Con Dao, Phong Nha, Da Lat, Phu Quoc and Cao Bang. Hoi An was listed first. It is a list of ten welcoming places built from hotel reviews, not a public vote for the single friendliest town, and it has nothing to do with the Travel + Leisure ranking a month later.
| Award | Who | When | What it is based on | Hoi An’s result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden gem cities | Travel + Leisure | April 2026 | Experience density 50%, cost 40%, weather 10% | 1st of 23, 92.96 |
| Most welcoming destinations | Booking.com | March 2026 | 370M+ verified reviews | First of 10 named in Vietnam |
| Slow travel top picks | Agoda | March 2026 | Editorial selection | First of 7 in Asia |
| World Heritage Site | UNESCO | Since 1999 | Preserved trading-port town | Inscribed |
The Agoda list gets its own article: Hoi An and Asia’s slow travel trend. Read together, the three 2026 lists say the same thing in different words — Hoi An is easy, good value and friendly. None of them says it is empty.
Hoi An hidden gem spots: seven places that still feel quiet
These are the places we send guests who ask for “the real Hoi An hidden gem” rather than the one on the flyers. Distances are measured on Google Maps from our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh.
| Place | From our shop | Best by | Why it feels hidden |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sica Alley | In town, entrance at 56 Le Loi | On foot | A narrow kiet most walking tours pass without seeing |
| Thanh Ha pottery village | 2.9 km, 9 min | Bicycle | Quiet after the morning coaches leave |
| Tra Que vegetable village | 3.2 km, 11 min | Bicycle | Gardeners at work at dawn and dusk |
| Kim Bong carpentry village, Cam Kim island | 6.3 km, 15 min | E-bike or scooter | Real workshops, very few visitors |
| Ha My beach | 7.2 km, 18 min | E-bike or scooter | Wide sand, a handful of people |
| Tra Nhieu village | 10.5 km, 25 min | Scooter | Coconut palms without the basket-boat crowds |
| Cam Dong bamboo bridge | 11.5 km, about 28 min | Scooter | Not a tourist attraction at all |
Sica Alley, inside the Old Town
People in Hoi An call an alley a kiet, and the Old Town has hundreds. Sica Alley, entered at 56 Le Loi, takes its name from a French liquor company founded in 1907. It is a two-minute detour most people walk straight past, and it is the easiest proof that you don’t have to leave town to find a quiet corner.
Thanh Ha and Tra Que, the two craft villages next door
Both are a short, flat bicycle ride from the centre. At Thanh Ha the potters still throw on foot-spun wheels; at Tra Que families have grown herbs in seaweed-fed beds for generations, and the village was named one of UN Tourism’s Best Tourism Villages in 2024. Each village charges a small entry fee of its own. Go early: the tour groups arrive mid-morning and leave by lunch.
Kim Bong and Tra Nhieu, across the Cam Kim bridge
Cross the river to Cam Kim island and the town disappears. Kim Bong is where the carpenters who built Hoi An’s houses came from, and the workshops still turn out beams, doors and boats. Carry on over the next river to Tra Nhieu, 10.5 km from our shop, where the same nipa palms and basket boats as the famous coconut forest come with a fraction of the crowd and mat weavers working on their porches.
Ha My beach, the quiet end of the coast
An Bang is the beach everyone knows. Ha My, a little further north, has wide sand, round basket boats pulled up above the tide line and very few sun loungers. Our Hoi An beaches by motorbike guide compares them all.
Cam Dong bamboo bridge
The Cam Dong bamboo bridge, 11.5 km from Hoi An, is about 80 metres of bamboo that villagers rebuild every year. It is free, it is not signposted as an attraction, and almost nobody on a tour bus has heard of it. If you want one Hoi An hidden gem that fits the phrase literally, this is it.
The Old Town at its hidden hours
The Ancient Town itself is the least hidden thing in Hoi An, but it changes completely with the clock. The busy window is roughly 16:00 to 21:00, when day-trippers and the lantern boats arrive together. Before 8:00 the same streets belong to people sweeping shopfronts and carrying breakfast.
- 6:00–8:00: the best light, empty streets, the market in full swing.
- 8:00–11:00: heritage houses open, tour groups not yet at full strength.
- 11:00–15:00: hot and quieter; the shaded houses and museums are cool inside.
- 16:00–21:00: lanterns and crowds. Walk the far bank of the river if you want room.
Tickets have changed. Since 10 August 2026 the heritage houses, assembly halls and museums charge 20.000₫ per person per site, the same for Vietnamese and foreign visitors, and children under 16 go free. There is no longer a five-stub book to “use up”, so pick the one or two sites you care about. Walking the streets costs nothing.
Eating like the list says, without the queue
Restaurants were half of the “experience density” that won Hoi An its score, and the food deserves it. The trick is the same as with the streets: eat where locals eat, at the hours they eat.
- Cao lau: the chewy, smoky noodle only Hoi An makes, with pork, greens and crackling. Eat it at Hoi An Market in the morning, when the stalls are busiest and the noodles freshest.
- Banh mi: the famous names have queues at lunch and after dark. A mid-morning banh mi from a street cart a block away is just as good and comes with no wait.
- White rose dumplings: translucent shrimp dumplings made by only a few kitchens in town; order them as a starter, not a meal.
The night market across the An Hoi bridge is fun but crowded. For a quieter evening meal, ride out to the riverside eateries on Cam Nam island or have dinner near An Bang and come back once the lantern crowd has thinned.
Bicycle, e-bike or motorbike?
Almost every Hoi An hidden gem on the list above is outside walking range but inside easy riding range. Which vehicle you want depends on distance, heat and whether you have a licence. These are our current daily prices, checked in our shop system in September 2026.
| Vehicle | Price per day | Licence | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| City bicycle | 50.000₫ (~$2) | None | Sica Alley, Thanh Ha, Tra Que |
| Electric bicycle (pedal assist) | 100.000₫ | None | Ha My, Kim Bong on a hot day |
| Mini electric scooter | from 150.000₫ | None | Beaches and the Cam Kim loop |
| Semi-automatic or automatic motorbike | from 150.000₫ | Yes, plus IDP | Tra Nhieu, Cam Dong, Da Nang |
Rentals of 7 days or more are 10% off, and 30 days or more are 30% off. Anything over 50cc needs a licence valid for motorbikes and a 1968 International Driving Permit — our bicycle vs e-bike vs motorbike comparison goes through the options.
Bikes Rental
A Hoi An hidden gem day by bike
This is the day we suggest to guests who read the headline and want the quiet version of the Hoi An hidden gem. It needs an electric bike or a scooter for the afternoon.
| Time | Where | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00–7:30 | Old Town on foot, then Sica Alley | walking |
| 7:30–8:30 | Breakfast at Hoi An Market: cao lau and coffee | walking |
| 8:30–10:30 | Tra Que, then the coast lanes north to Ha My | 3.2 km, then on up the coast |
| 10:30–14:30 | Swim, lunch, back to town for the heat | 7.2 km back |
| 15:00–17:30 | Cam Kim bridge to Kim Bong, on to Tra Nhieu | 6.3 km, then 10.5 km from town |
| After 18:00 | Return, park, lanterns from the far river bank | about 10.5 km |
That day covers roughly 35–40 km on flat roads. If you prefer to ride less, drop Tra Nhieu and spend the afternoon at Thanh Ha instead. For more routes, all measured, see our Hoi An motorbike route guide and the gentler Hoi An cycling routes.
Find your own Hoi An hidden gem on two wheels
Bicycles, electric bikes and motorbikes from our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh, with helmets, a raincoat and a map of the quiet lanes. Delivery from 30,000₫ in central Hoi An and a 24/7 roadside number if anything stops.
FAQ
Did Travel + Leisure really name Hoi An the world’s best hidden gem?
Yes. In April 2026 Travel + Leisure published a ranking of 23 hidden gem city destinations and Hoi An came first with 92.96 out of 100. Da Nang came second.
How was the hidden gem ranking calculated?
Each city was scored out of 100. Experience density, meaning the number of standout activities and restaurants relative to the city’s size, counted for 50%, affordability for 40% and weather for 10%.
Is Hoi An actually hidden or crowded?
Both. Hoi An received about 4.4 million visits in 2024, but only about 1.87 million overnight stays, so most visitors crowd the Old Town between late afternoon and evening. Early mornings and the villages three to twelve kilometres out are quiet.
Was Hoi An voted the friendliest destination in Vietnam?
Not exactly. Booking.com’s Traveller Review Awards 2026, based on more than 370 million verified reviews, named ten most welcoming destinations in Vietnam and listed Hoi An first. It is a list of ten built from reviews, not a public vote, and it is separate from the Travel + Leisure ranking.
What are the best hidden places near Hoi An?
Sica Alley in the Old Town, Thanh Ha pottery village, Tra Que vegetable village, Kim Bong carpentry village on Cam Kim island, Ha My beach, Tra Nhieu village and the Cam Dong bamboo bridge. All are between 3 and 12 km from the Old Town except Sica Alley, which is inside it.
How much does it cost to enter Hoi An Old Town in 2026?
Walking the streets is free. Since 10 August 2026 each heritage house, assembly hall or museum charges 20.000₫ per person, the same for Vietnamese and foreign visitors, and children under 16 enter free.
What is the best way to reach the hidden spots around Hoi An?
A bicycle for places within 4 km such as Tra Que and Thanh Ha, an electric bicycle or scooter for Ha My and Kim Bong, and a motorbike for Tra Nhieu and Cam Dong. At our shop a city bicycle is 50.000₫ a day and an electric bicycle 100.000₫.
Want the Agoda side of the story? Read Hoi An leads Asia’s slow travel trend in 2026.
The ranking is Travel + Leisure’s April 2026 “hidden gem” city study as reported by VnExpress International, DTiNews and Nhan Dan; scores for cities other than Hoi An were not published in that coverage. The Booking.com list is from the Traveller Review Awards 2026. Visitor figures for 2024 and the first half of 2025 follow Hoi An’s official reports published by Bao Quang Nam / Bao Da Nang. Heritage site fees follow Da Nang People’s Council Resolution 98/2026/NQ-HĐND, effective 10 August 2026.
Distances were measured on Google Maps from 84 Phan Chau Trinh. Rental prices were checked in September 2026 and change with the season; your quote by message is the final price. Anh Khoa rents bicycles, electric bikes and motorbikes in Hoi An; this article contains no affiliate links.
Pick your ride in Hoi AnChọn xe cho chuyến đi Hội An
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