Most itineraries for Hoi An are written as if the town were a museum you walk through in a straight line. It is not. It runs on a timetable nobody prints: the Old Town shuts to motorbikes twice a day, the beaches are empty at six and full at ten, the sun makes the rice fields unbearable from late morning, and once a month the whole riverbank goes dark for the lantern night. Get the timing wrong and you spend three days in traffic and queues. Get it right and three days is enough to see Hoi An properly.

This Hoi An itinerary is the one we sketch on a scrap of paper for riders who pick up a bike at 84 Phan Chau Trinh and ask what to do with it. It keeps you based in Hoi An for all three nights, puts the Old Town on foot where it belongs, and uses the bike for what a bike is good at: the beach, the vegetable gardens, the coconut canals and the craft villages across the river. Every distance below was measured on Google Maps from the shop, so you can plan around real numbers rather than guesses.

The 3-day Hoi An itinerary at a glance

Here is the whole plan on one screen. The idea is simple: Day 1 is the town itself, Day 2 is the flat country to the north and east, Day 3 is your choice between an easy loop across the river and one longer ride out of town. Nothing overlaps, you never ride the same road twice, and no day has more than an hour of riding unless you choose it.

Add up the easy version and the whole Hoi An itinerary comes to roughly 45 km of riding in three days, less than a single return trip to Da Nang. That number matters when you choose a bike, and it is the reason we tell most couples they do not need anything bigger than an electric scooter.

If you only have one day, our Hoi An in one day itinerary squeezes the highlights into a single loop. If you want three days on the road rather than three days in town, the 3-day motorbike itinerary over the Hai Van Pass to Lang Co is the one to follow instead.

Which bike, and when to collect it

Collect the bike on the afternoon you arrive, not the morning of Day 1. You want the first morning free for the Old Town at seven, before the crowds, and a bike already parked at the hotel is one less thing to arrange. Pick-up at the shop is free; delivery to a hotel in Hoi An starts at 30,000₫.

Prices are this week’s rates from our shop; the official quote comes by message when you book. Rent for seven days or more and the daily rate drops 10%.

Electric is enough for the easy version

The VinFast Evo200 Lite in our fleet is rated for far more than 45 km, and even loaded with two people we plan around 100 km on a charge. On this Hoi An itinerary that means you could ride all three days without plugging it in. If the gauge worries you, ride back to the shop and we swap the battery for a charged one in about two minutes, free. Our page on VinFast electric scooter range has the manufacturer’s figures and our real-world ones.

Take a petrol scooter only if Day 3 is My Son or the Hai Van Pass. Both are long, both have stretches with no charging, and the Hai Van climb with two people is a job for a 150cc engine, not a town scooter.

Day 1: the Ancient Town on foot, lanterns by night

The first day of any Hoi An itinerary belongs to the Old Town, and the Old Town belongs to people on foot. The walking streets close to motorbikes from 09:00 to 11:00 and again from 15:00 to 21:00 (21:30 in summer), and even outside those hours riding through the lanes is slow, stressful and pointless. Park once, then walk.

07:00 — the town before the tour buses

Leave the hotel at seven. Park on the edge of the centre, along the river or near the main market, and walk in while the shopkeepers are still sweeping their doorsteps. This is the only time of day you will see Tran Phu and Nguyen Thai Hoc streets with more locals than visitors, and the light on the yellow walls is soft rather than glaring.

The ticket: five doors out of twenty-two

Walking the streets is free. The 120,000₫ Hoi An entrance ticket (80,000₫ for Vietnamese visitors) is for going inside: it opens five of the town’s twenty-two heritage sites, and you choose which. Spend them well. A sensible five for a first visit is one old merchant house, one assembly hall, the Japanese Covered Bridge, one small museum and one family chapel. The heritage sites keep roughly 08:30 to 17:30 hours, so a morning start lets you use all five before the heat.

Late morning and lunch

By eleven the town is hot and busy. Eat early, before the lunch rush, and make it cao lau or a bowl of mi Quang; our list of what to eat in Hoi An tells you which dishes are local and which are tourist inventions. Then do what the people who live here do between noon and three: go back to the hotel, swim, sleep.

Afternoon: back on foot at four

At four the light softens and the town wakes up again. Cross to the An Hoi side for the riverbank and the lantern street, then come back over the bridge as the lanterns go on around six. The night market is a good place for dinner on the move, and the boat ladies along the river will offer you a paper lantern to float; it is touristy and it is also lovely.

Lantern nights: check the date before you book

On the 14th day of every lunar month the Old Town switches off its electric lights from 18:00 to 22:00 and runs on lanterns and candles alone. The remaining lantern nights in 2026 fall on 23 October, 22 November and 22 December, and Hoi An holds its first International Lantern Festival from 3 to 6 December 2026. If your three days can include one of those evenings, plan Day 1 around it. Our Hoi An Lantern Festival 2026 dates page lists every one.

If there is no lantern night during your stay, the other big evening option is the Hoi An Memories show on its river-island stage south of town. We do not run it; tickets are sold through Klook, and this is the page we send people to: Hoi An Memories Show tickets on Klook. Seats run from about 600,000₫ to 1,200,000₫ depending on the section.

Day 2: beach, gardens and the coconut canals

Day 2 is the day the bike earns its money. The loop runs north to the sea, west through the vegetable gardens, east into the water-coconut forest and back along the coast, and we measured it at 22.9 km with 56 minutes of riding from our shop and back. The roads are flat, mostly quiet and easy on any scooter or electric bike.

An Bang Beach at sunrise

An Bang faces east, so sunrise is the show; by ten the beach clubs are full and the sand is hot. Ride out at half past five, it is 4.6 km and fifteen minutes from the Old Town. Parking is officially 5,000₫ but you will often be asked for 10,000₫, so carry small notes. The An Bang Beach guide covers sunbeds, parking and the ongoing beach reconstruction.

Tra Que: the village that won an award

Tra Que is 3.2 km from the Old Town and grows the herbs that end up in every bowl of cao lau in Hoi An, without chemicals, on sandy beds fertilised with seaweed from the lagoon. In November 2024 UN Tourism named it one of the Best Tourism Villages in the world, the only Vietnamese village on that year’s list. Entry is 35,000₫. Come before ten, while the farmers are still watering; our Tra Que Vegetable Village guide explains the farming day and the cooking classes held there.

Bay Mau coconut forest: read the map before you turn in

The water-coconut forest in Cam Thanh is where the round basket boats spin for the cameras. Entry is 30,000₫ and a boat costs 150,000–250,000₫, charged per boat rather than per person, for a ride of about fifty minutes. “Bay Mau” is not one business but several sharing a name along the same road, and the boatmen at the first turning are rarely the best value. Our Bay Mau coconut forest guide shows which dock is which, and the basket boat guide explains what you are actually paying for.

Cua Dai in the late afternoon

After lunch and a rest, ride the last leg to Cua Dai Beach, 5.9 km from the shop, for a swim when the sun is lower. Then ride home before dark. The coast road back is straightforward, but it is the one stretch of Day 2 with fast traffic.

Day 3: craft villages or one big ride

The third day is where this Hoi An itinerary splits. If you want a slow day, cross the river to the craft villages and be back for lunch. If two days of town have made you want a real ride, take one of the classic day trips instead. Pick one; trying to do both is how Day 3 turns into seven hours on a scooter.

The easy version: Thanh Ha and Kim Bong

Thanh Ha pottery village is 3 km west of the Old Town and has been shaping clay from the river since the 15th century. Entry is 35,000₫; the potters will sit you at a wheel and help you make something lopsided to take home. From there, cross the Cam Kim bridge to Kim Bong, where boatbuilders and woodcarvers still work in open-fronted sheds along quiet island lanes. The full loop back to town is 14.9 km, and you can be home by lunch.

The big ride: My Son or the Hai Van Pass

My Son is the better choice for most people on a three-day stay. It is 38.2 km each way on the DT610, mostly flat, and the site opens early; riders who leave at six reach the gates before the tour coaches. The 150,000₫ ticket includes the electric shuttle to the temples and the Apsara dance. The Hai Van Pass is the more spectacular road, but 52.3 km to the summit means over three hours of riding for the round trip, with a real climb and, from September to December, a real chance of fog and rain at the top. Motorbikes are not allowed through the tunnel under the pass; you ride over it.

The mistake on day three is always the same: two big rides squeezed into one day, and the best part of both seen through a tired squint.

The clock that runs Hoi An

If you remember one thing from this Hoi An itinerary, remember the timetable. The town has four clocks running at once, and every good day here is built around them.

• The traffic clock. No motorbikes in the Old Town walking streets 09:00–11:00 and 15:00–21:00 (21:30 in summer). Some streets are moving towards a continuous car-free day, so check on arrival.
• The sun clock. From May to August the open roads are hard work from ten to three. Ride early and late, rest in the middle.
• The crowd clock. Tour groups arrive in the Old Town from mid-morning and at Bay Mau from late morning. Be early everywhere and you will have most places to yourself.
• The moon clock. Lantern nights on the 14th lunar day, lights off 18:00–22:00.

The season matters too. February to May is the easy half of the year. From September to December the rain arrives, the river can rise into the Old Town in October and November, and you should keep the plan loose. Our Hoi An weather month by month guide has the details.

What a 3-day Hoi An itinerary costs

A Hoi An itinerary by motorbike is one of the cheapest ways to see the area properly, because the bike replaces every taxi and most of the tours. Here is the whole bill for one person on the easy version, with the bike shared by two.

Swap the Vision for a VinFast electric scooter and the bike line becomes 600,000₫ for three days, with no fuel to buy. Add My Son on Day 3 and budget another 150,000₫ per person for the ticket plus fuel for about 80 km. The deposit is either 2,000,000₫, refunded when you bring the bike back, or a copy of your passport; we never keep the original. For more on rates across Hoi An, see how much motorbike rental costs in Hoi An.

Rain, kids, no licence: adapting the plan

No two trips are the same, and this Hoi An itinerary bends more easily than most because every stop is close to town. A few versions we often put together at the counter:

• Travelling with children. Keep Day 2 but drop Cua Dai, and make Day 3 the craft villages; the pottery wheel at Thanh Ha is the thing kids remember. Our electric tricycle and the child bicycles are an option for short hops.
• No licence valid in Vietnam. Take a VinFast electric scooter or a 50cc bike, follow Days 1 and 2 as written and choose the craft villages or Marble Mountains on Day 3. Leave My Son and the Hai Van Pass for a tour.
• First time on a scooter. Collect the bike a day early and ride the quiet roads around Tra Que before you try the coast road. Read is it safe to ride a motorbike in Hoi An first.
• Two days only. Do Day 1 as written and merge Day 2 with Thanh Ha by dropping Cua Dai.
• Four days or more. Do both halves of Day 3 on separate days, or use the extra day for a cooking class and a lazy afternoon at the beach.

Whichever version you follow, pack light and pack right; our motorbike day trip packing list is the short list of what earns its place in the seat box. For the wider picture of opening hours and events across Vietnam, the national tourism board’s page on Hoi An is a useful second reference.

Hoi An itinerary FAQ

Distances and riding times measured with Google Maps from 84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An, in September 2026; Day 2 loop via An Bang, Tra Que, Bay Mau and Cua Dai, Day 3 loop via Thanh Ha and Kim Bong. Ticket prices are for foreign adults in 2026 and can change without notice. Rental prices are our current daily rates; the official quote is sent by message. The Klook link is an affiliate link: you pay the same price and we may earn a small commission; we do not operate the show. Photos: hoianit.com.