Traditional Craft Villages in Hoi An: 7 Worth the Ride (2026)

By Anh Khoa Hoi An·84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An·Updated 2 Nov 2026

The traditional craft villages in Hoi An are not a theme park laid on for tourists. They are working places where families still throw pots, carve timber, cast gongs and grow herbs the way their grandparents did, and most of them sit a short, flat ride from the Ancient Town. We hand over bikes at 84 Phan Chau Trinh every morning and the same question comes up again and again: which village is worth the time, and which is just a shop with a ticket?

This guide answers that. It covers the seven Hoi An traditional villages we send riders to, with the ticket price, the distance from our shop and what you actually see when you get there. Each village links to our full guide if you want the history in depth.

The traditional craft villages in Hoi An at a glance

Distances are road distances from our shop in the Ancient Town, taken from our individual village guides. Prices are what each village charged in 2026.

Thanh Ha Pottery Village: clay from the Thu Bon

Thanh Ha sits on the Thu Bon River about 3 km west of the Ancient Town and has been turning river clay into bowls, roof tiles and jars for roughly four centuries. Its kilns supplied bowls, jars and roof and floor tiles for the old houses of Hoi An and the villages around it. The craft was recognised as national intangible heritage in 2019.

It is also a craft in decline, and that is worth knowing before you go. About 32 households still make pottery, down from around 50, and only a handful still work entirely the old way. Buying a piece here goes further than buying the same thing in town.

Tickets. The village ticket is 35.000₫ (open 08:30–16:30). The Terracotta Park, the red-brick museum of miniature world landmarks at the edge of the village, is a separate 50.000₫ ticket. If you only have an hour, skip the park and spend it in the family workshops.

Full guide: Thanh Ha Pottery Village: tickets, history and what is left.

Kim Bong Carpentry Village: the carvers who built Hue

Across the river on Cam Kim island, Kim Bong has been a carpenters’ village for about 600 years. Its craftsmen were summoned to Hue to help build the imperial city. The trade was declared national intangible heritage in June 2016.

Entry is free. Most visitors arrive by boat, watch someone chisel a dragon for twenty minutes and leave. Ride instead: it is about 7 km from the Old Town over the Cam Kim bridge, roughly 15 minutes, and the island lanes are some of the quietest riding around Hoi An.

Arrive before the tour boats and you get the village, not the show.

Full guide: Kim Bong Carpentry Village Hoi An.

Tra Que Vegetable Village: herbs on the lagoon

Tra Que is a farming village rather than a craft workshop, but growing herbs is the craft here and it has been for about 400 years. It lies roughly 3 km northeast of the Old Town between the De Vong River and the lagoon: 18 hectares, more than 20 herbs and vegetables, grown without chemicals.

In November 2024 UN Tourism named Tra Que one of its Best Tourism Villages, the only Vietnamese village on that year’s list, and it became national heritage in 2022. Entry is 35.000₫. Go early, before 9am, when the farmers are actually in the beds; by midday most of the work is done.

Full guide: Tra Que Vegetable Village: entrance fee and what to do.

Tra Nhieu: mats, nets and basket boats

Tra Nhieu sits where three rivers meet, 10.5 km from our shop over the Cam Kim bridge, about 25 minutes by bike. It has the same water palms and round basket boats as the busy Bay Mau forest, but on the far bank, with a fraction of the visitors, and the households who run the trips still weave mats on their porches and cast nets for a living.

Trips are sold as packages, typically 200.000–250.000₫ per person including the boat and food. Because it is on the same side of the river as Kim Bong, the two fit easily into one morning.

Full guide: Tra Nhieu Village: the quiet coconut palms.

Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village: gongs and temple bells

Phuoc Kieu, in Dien Ban, has been pouring bronze gongs, temple bells and incense burners for more than 400 years. It is 9.3 km from our shop via Hung Vuong and DT608, about 20–25 minutes, and there is no entry fee: you walk the lane and look into the family foundries.

Almost nobody visits it on its own. It is the first stop on our half-day Dien Ban craft loop, which continues to the Thanh Chiem stele and Bang An Tower, the only octagonal Cham tower in Vietnam, then lunch on roast veal at Cau Mong. The loop is about 34 km of flat riding.

Full route: Bang An Tower and the Dien Ban craft loop.

Ma Chau Silk Village: an old craft on new looms

Ma Chau, across the Thu Bon in Duy Xuyen, once wove silk for the imperial court. The trade nearly disappeared; today a father-and-daughter team are reviving it with digital looms alongside the old methods. There is less to see than in the other villages, so treat it as an add-on: from Cau Mong on the Dien Ban loop, cross the Cau Lau bridge and it adds about 9 km and 25 minutes on the way back to Hoi An.

Lantern making and crafts inside the Ancient Town

If it is raining, or you only have an afternoon, two of Hoi An’s crafts come to you. The Hoi An Handicraft Workshop at 9 Nguyen Thai Hoc puts twelve crafts under one roof: lanterns, pottery, woodwork, embroidery and mats, with people working at them in front of you. It is one of the Old Town ticket sites, 20.000₫ per site since August 2026, open 8:00–17:30, with short bai choi folk shows at 10:15, 15:15 and 16:15. It is about 700 m, ten minutes’ walk, from our shop.

For something to take home, a lantern making class takes one to two hours, starts from around 250.000₫ with materials, and you leave with your own silk lantern that folds flat. Children from about six manage fine.

Guides: Hoi An Handicraft Workshop and Hoi An lantern making class.

How to combine the craft villages by motorbike

The villages fall into three easy groups. None of the riding is difficult: the roads are flat and a 50cc scooter, which needs no licence, is enough for all of them.

1. Early morning, 3 km: Tra Que while the farmers are working, back in town for breakfast.
2. Half day across the river: Kim Bong and Tra Nhieu, both over the Cam Kim bridge, with lunch on the nipa palm boats.
3. Half day west: Thanh Ha in the morning, then the Dien Ban loop through Phuoc Kieu and Bang An Tower to lunch at Cau Mong, adding Ma Chau on the way back if you still have time.

If you want a ready-made loop, our Hoi An craft villages by motorbike route covers Thanh Ha and Kim Bong turn by turn.

FAQ about Hoi An traditional villages

Distances are road distances from our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh, taken from our individual village guides, which were measured on Google Maps. Ticket prices and opening hours are those listed in 2026 and can change without notice. Updated November 2026.