Ancient Town & Lantern Nights in Hoi An
A visual guide from the Hoi An travel guide — see all posters in Visual Guides.
At dusk the Ancient Town — a UNESCO-listed trading port of mustard-yellow shophouses, wooden merchant homes and the Japanese Covered Bridge — switches on thousands of silk lanterns, and every alley glows like a paper lampshade. This is central Vietnam's most photogenic square kilometre: streets go pedestrian-only in the evening, the river fills with candle-lit boats, and a town that traded silk with Japan and China four centuries ago slows to a stroll.
The Evening Walk
Start on Tran Phu street as the lanterns come on, thread past the assembly halls with their coils of hanging incense, cross the Japanese Covered Bridge — carefully restored through 2024 — then loop along the riverfront, where every lantern doubles itself in the water. The monthly full-moon festival dims the electric lights in favour of candles and is the prettiest, and busiest, night of the month; any ordinary evening delivers most of the magic at half the crowd.
Tickets & Timing
The Old Town runs a heritage ticket that funds preservation and admits you to a rotating handful of historic houses, halls and museums — how strictly it is checked has shifted over the years, so see how it is applied when you visit and keep the stub. Come before 8am for empty streets and soft light, sit out the midday heat in a café, and return an hour before sunset to watch the town change costume.