Digital Nomads Guide to Hoi An, Vietnam
This year, we've finally made it to Hoi An, Vietnam - a destination that has been on my bucket list for quite some time! For Digital Nomads, it's quite a perfect place, as Hoi An is a quaint little town and there is a great coworking space called Hub Hoi An, and it's relatively cheap.
There are many things to do and see as well. Here's my guide to Hoi An for Digital Nomads!
Things To Do
There's a lot to do and see in and around Hoi An: Cultural sightseeing, getting a massage and even chilling on the beach.
Here are some of the things we did while in Hoi An:
Walking around Old Town
The most famous part of Hoi An is the old town, with the picturesque little shophouses and the lanterns adorning the streets. Especially in the evening, walking around the streets is a lovely experience. There are also many temples you can visit, such as Pháp Bảo Temple. Make sure to buy a ticket if you want to go inside any of the temples.
Don’t miss the old Japanese bridge that is one of the most famous landmarks in Hoi An.
Cooking Class
We did a super fun Vietnamese cooking class, which included crab catching on the river (though we did not catch any crabs in the end). There are many different options for cooking classes; we did one via Airbnb Experiences.
Visiting My Son Temple
This magnificent and ancient temple is about a one hour drive from Hoi An and is definitely worth a visit. There are plenty of tour operators that you can book that take you there and include also a guide that will explain the fascinating history of the temple.
Chilling at the beach
In dry season, the beach at An Bang is just a short ride from Hoi An Old Town and is an excellent spot for chilling with a coconut. We particularly liked to stay at the Sound of Silence Coffee Shop, where they had decent coffee and you could lie on sunbeds with the view on the ocean.
Getting a Massage and a Spa Treatment
Just like in other South East Asian countries, Vietnam has some great massage parlor's and spa's that offer some really good services. I really like this massage place Metta Spa & Massage, but there are tons of others around too.
Things To Eat
Vietnam is such a foodie destination, and Hoi An has its fair share of amazing food. You must try the local delicacies originating from Hoi An, such as Cao Lau (Pork rice noodle), Bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancake) and of course, the famous Banh Mi (Pork Sandwich).
Here’s a selection of some of our favorite places in Hoi An:
Breakfast/Brunch
Bánh Mì Phượng, $, Our favorite Banh Mi place! One of the best in town
Madam Khanh, $, Another fantastic Banh Mi spot
Nourish Eatery, $$, One of our favorite cafes to work from, with great brunch and coffee.
Good Eats, $$, Lovely cafe serving vegetarian food and coffee. Also great to work from there
Lunch/Dinner - Vietnamese Cuisine
Chickpea Eatery, lunch or dinner, $, One of our favorite Vietnamese places, this restaurant only serves Vegan dishes, which are delish
A Little Kitchen Restaurant - Bếp Nhỏ, $, Another favorite of ours, this cozy little restaurant serves local dishes
Nhan’s kitchen, $$, Great Vietnamese, just outside of the city
Peanuts, $, Vegan Vietnamese food
Lunch/Dinner - International Cuisine
Lim Dining Room, lunch or dinner, $$, Here we found some pretty decent pizza, if you need a break from the Vietnamese food
The Hill Station Deli & Boutique, $$, They serve sandwiches and other Asian dished. Also great place to work for a bit.
Market Bar - Market Terrace, $$, if you are craving some fish and chips with some fancy cocktails on a rooftop bar, definitely check out this place
Specialty Coffee/Vietnamese Coffee
Coffee in Hoi An will need it's separate blog post as there is a lot to discover in terms of coffee. One thing to note is that in Vietnam there is a very strong coffee culture - the Vietnamese love their own Robusta coffee, which has a very strong and bitter taste.Here is a list of our favorite specialty coffee places:
The Inner by Ala, Specialty Coffee, $$, this was our favorite coffee place in Hoi An! We would go here almost every day.
Hadi Coffee, Vietnamese Coffee, $, a great spot for Vietnamese coffee. Try their coconut coffee!
25s Cafe & Brunch, Specialty & Vietnamese Coffee, $$, cute spot that serves both Vietnamese coffee and specialty coffee
Cafes to work from
As we love working from cafes, we did try quite a few different cafes to work from in Hoi An. Be aware that there are many digital nomads in Hoi An, especially in high season, so these cafes would fill up fast. I would suggest to come early for most of them to secure a good table.
Here is a list of our favorite cafes (also listed above):
Accommodation
Monthly accommodation in Hoi An is quite affordable. If you stay six months or longer, you can find really cheap and luxurious apartments, but you will have to rent it and sign a rental contract. We went for Airbnb, but you can probably find something cheaper if you roam around the place while you are there. Monthly apartment rentals on Airbnb cost around €500 - €1000.
We were able to get an apartment for around €550, but it was really basic. Our Airbnb was located in the north of the Old Town, and it was really easy to walk to the city in 10-15 min. If you have a motorbike, I would also recommend to live a bit more outside the city and in between the ricefields.
Sim card and Internet
Internet is pretty fast everywhere we went, especially in cafes and in the co-working space.
We also downloaded an E-Sim card via Vinaphone, which was easy to activate.
You can also try out the Airalo app. This app let’s you download e-Sims for many different countries around the world. It is a bit expensive, but it is definitely very convenient.
Get your E-sim card quick and easy via this Airalo link. (FYI this is an affiliate link - purchasing via this link won’t cost you anything extra, but it will give me a small commission, which means I can continue writing this blog - it’s a win-win:)
When to go
The best time to visit Hoi An is from March to September, when it's the dry season and weather is sunny and warm. The rain season starts from September until January.
I would definitely recommend you to skip the rain season, as it's not like Bali or Thailand where you have just a few rain showers a day but the rest of the day it's sunny. We were in Hoi An in January, and most of the time the weather was grey and there was a lot of drizzle, so everything was constantly damp and wet. However, the locals did tell us that this was unusual for that time of the year - as it’s the end of the rainy season, usually there is way more sun. That being said, I did enjoy the milder temperature of 23-25C!
Transportation
We rented a motorbike while in Hoi An because otherwise, it's pretty hard to get around, as the public transportation system isn't very good (maybe non-existent?).
However, if you'd rather be safe (because traffic is absolutely crazy), then there are taxis and grabs everywhere, which is super cheap as well.
Renting a motorbike will cost you around €80 - €150 per month, depending on the type of motorbike
Co-working Spaces & Digital Nomad Community
The best coworking space in Hoi An is Hub Hoian, which recently got renovated early this year and offers stunning views over the ricefields, while you work either indoors or outdoors.
There is a really great community of digital nomads in Hoi An, especially everyone that went to work at Hub Hoi An. The coworking space is great because they organise many fun activities after work hours, where you can meet other remote workers from all around the world. We meet some really cool people there and joined many community dinners. You can get a weekly or monthly subscription - view the prices here.
Hoi An is a lovely place and it was definitely one of my favorite Digital Nomad destinations!
Travel Insurance
Of course, getting travel insurance is a must, especially for Digital Nomads. My go-to travel insurance is SafetyWing, as I think they have great value for money and as a CX Specialist, I am quite impressed by their customer experience too.
Secretly, I also love their bird animations (haha).
Book via this link with SafetyWing. (FYI This is an affiliate link; booking via this link won’t cost you anything extra, but it does give me a percentage which helps me continue with the blog :)
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed Hoi An; it was wonderful to get t know the Vietnamese culture a bit better, wander the beautiful streets of Hoi An’s old town and also meet like-minded people via Hub Hoi An.
I’d definitely recommend going if you like smaller towns. It is a small city, so you won’t find any malls or bigger shops here. If you are more of a city person, I would recommend you to go to Da Nang instead, which is quite close to Hoi An, also has many digital nomads, but has a lot more ‘city’ stuff going on.
Don’t miss visiting Hoi An when in Vietnam!
