Getting around

The centre of Hoi An is very small and pedestrianised, so you will be walking around most of the time. Unfortunately, motorbikes have not been banned from the center yet, so particularly at night keep an eye out for motorized kamikazes, even in the most narrow alleys. However, the city's government does not allow the motorbike to enter the Old Town in the whole day of 14th and 15th each lunar month. From the evening until night of those days, a lot of activities, including the traditional games such as bai choi, trong quan, dap nieu... will be held in all over the town. Enjoy them with the local people!

To go to the beach or reach some of the more remote hotels, it is easy and cheap to hire a bicycle. Taxis are few and far between, but can be called by phone. When busy, taxis may refuse your fare back to your hotel from town if it is too close, opting for larger fares. Arranging a shuttle from your hotel may be a better option. Motorbike taxis, of course, are always an option. You can also charter boats for about US$1/hour.

Almost all hotels rent motorbikes at about US$5/day. It's standard practice for the bike to have only enough gas to make it to the next gas station. In addition to gas stations, there are also little hand-operated roadside pumps everywhere; these can be convenient, but they're more expensive and the quality of the gas is open to question.

Use the bike to visit My Son, about an hour away, or the Marble Mountains, about forty minutes north towards Da Nang.

The old Champa way was to travel by the roads at that time - which was the river system. The rivers of Hoi An cover hundreds of kilometers and offer an interesting & adventurous alternative to travelling by road. Get on a boat and you begin to see a whole lot more of Hoi An and the Delta.