A Guide To Visiting The Hoi An Night Market – Vietnam (with prices)

Before my visit, I was unsure with what to expect from the Hoi An Night Market. I was hoping it would be similar to the Ao Nang Night Market in Thailand, which had lots of street food options! The market in Hoi An was a little different though, here’s what you can expect when visiting!

Hoi An Night Market

• 🗺️Nguyễn Hoàng, Phường Minh An, Hội An, Quảng Nam, Vietnam (An Hoi island)
• 🕐5/6pm until late (approx 10pm)

The Hoi An Night Market takes place every night from around 5-6pm until late (approx 10pm). Some stalls were open earlier than others, however, everything was in full swing by 6pm.

It’s located on An Hoi, the island opposite the main town, close to the ‘lantern bridge’.

For the most part it’s a souvenir market, with every stall running the full length of the street selling almost identical items. Perfect if you want to pick up a gift or a memento, but it does get very repetitive.

I bought a keyring for 30k. I might have been able to get it cheaper if I bartered but it was the same price that I paid for one at Ba Na Hills (where they were priced on printed labels). Honestly, if I’m happy to pay the price that is quoted, I often won’t bother bartering.

Tiger Balm can also be found on the night market stalls. It is SO much cheaper in SE Asia than what it is in the UK. I paid 80k. It’s used to rub on muscle aches and pains. It’s amazing, even though it does have a really strong smell.

You can also put it on mosquito bites to relieve itching. It is a handy addition to a backpacker first aid kit. The TikTok ‘viral Thailand’ 7-Eleven mosquito repellant is also cheaper in Vietnam. I paid 32k, which is half price compared to what it sells for in Thailand.

There are many roaming sellers along the river with various light up items and toys too, including the paper ‘wish’ lanterns (between 10k-50k). These can be used either on the lantern boat rides or can be lowered in from the river bank.

Several people I spoke to complained at how ‘pushy’ the sellers on the night market could be. If you just say no thank you and walk away, they often leave you alone. I’ve definitely seen ‘more persistent’ sellers in other locations around the world.

If you’ve discovered Hoi An from social media or TikTok, the ‘Instagram’ lantern backdrops are often purposely set up photo booths that you are expected to pay for. Yes Hoi An has lantern everywhere, but the floor to ceiling ‘walls’ are mostly found on the night market.

(If you get tickets for the Hoi An Memories Show’, they have a lantern tunnel, that you may want to hold out for).

You can also buy souvenir lanterns. Unless you wanted one of the tiny ones (or didn’t have the time), I would recommend joining a lantern making workshop. There are several workshops all around the ancient town.

I went to The Lantern Lady and made a 20cm foldable lantern, from scratch, for 150k. It just feels a bit more personal to me, as I made it myself!

Hoi An Street Food

Now the street food vendors at the Hoi An Night Market were a funny one. Sometimes they would just up, roll away and disappear and you couldn’t find them again! Eventually I got to know the ones that would hang around and be there a bit more ‘permanently’.

For the most part, there wasn’t a huge amount of choice for street food on the night market. The most common things were:

• Banana or Nutella crepes
• Rolled ice cream
• BBQ skewers – meat and seafood (like octopus tentacles and frogs)
• Smoothies
• Grilled corn
• Vietnamese Pizza (grilled rice paper).

I went several evenings and had:

• Grilled corn: 40k
• Coconut & avocado smoothie: 50K
• Coconut rolled ice cream: 50k
• Vegetarian Vietnamese Pizza: 25-30k

Vietnamese Pizza

Vietnamese Pizza is also called grilled rice paper (Bánh Tráng Nướng). They are similar to a taco shell that is hardened on a barbecue.

Fillings vary, but most contain seafood so I would have the vegetarian which was:

• green onion
• fried onion
• potato
• quail egg
• tofu
• mayonnaise and chilli sauce (I skipped the mayo).

They are messy but yummy. Often they would be served in a makeshift paper wrapper, but I was rarely given a napkin. As always, it’s best to carry tissues (for both toilets and wiping hands!).

I was always asked if I was happy to have the egg (with it being a vegetarian option). I do eat meat, so had no problem having egg included. I did find that it would help ‘stick’ the fillings together a bit better though.

Smoothies

There are shops and restaurants that line the night market on either side of the street. About half way down there’s a fruit stall and juice bar that sell a HUGE choice of different juices, smoothie combinations and sugar cane juice (KT Trái cây & Nước Trái Cây Tươi).

This is where I got my smoothie from and it was really good. I paid 50k for coconut and avocado. It had a whole avocado in and fresh coconut, from a coconut that was broken open in front of me.

Unlike some of the other smoothie stalls, KT Fresh Fruits & Juices is open all day, not just when the night market is on.

Banh Mi

Another Vietnamese speciality are Banh Mi sandwiches. Ironically these weren’t really on the night market. BUT they are worth mentioning if you are looking for the best street food in Hoi An that’s a bit more filling. There are some stalls on the surrounding streets, or in the Old Town. 

My favourite was from Banh Mi Sum, a 10 minute walk from the night market. Their pork and egg sandwich is really good. I loved how crispy the baguettes were, but they weren’t chewy and tough to rip apart like bread can sometimes be.

They cost around 30k (they all cost the same at Banh Mi Sum but at other locations they can be from 25k-50k).

So in summary, if you’re looking to piece together a decent sized meal from the Hoi An Night Market, there’s not a huge amount of choice. Good if you’re looking for sweets/dessert, but not so much ‘mains’. This is specifically from street food vendors on the market.

Whereas in Thailand I could easily go back to the street markets every night and eat something different, I struggled to do this in Hoi An.

For more substantial meals, the surrounding cafes and restaurants are better. Things like: cao lau, noodles and fried rice (and banh mi) can be found for budget friendly prices, even close to the river, or in permanent locations either side of the night market.

My favourite place to sit down and eat was Búp café, a 2 minute walk from the night market in the Ancient Town.

Many of the bars and restaurants close to the night market have music or live singers and musicians. This is where the majority of the Hoi An night life is and it gets extremely busy in the evenings!

Chợ đêm Cẩm Phô Night Market

The Chợ đêm Cẩm Phô Night Market, is slightly out of the main Old Town area, a little along the river, closer to where I stayed at The Corner Riverside Hotel.

This was more of a ‘food’ night market, where some of the restaurants and vendors had riverside seating with more local food meals, rather than quick bites.

But it was more like outdoor dining rather than a typical market. I didn’t eat there myself, so I can’t speak for the quality of the meals, but I walked by it every night to and from the Old Town!

Hoi An Market Place

There’s also another souvenir night market, (Hoi An Market Place) that sets up in the Old Town along the road that runs parallel to the river (Đ. Bạch Đằng, Old Town). This one sells similar items to the Hoi An Night Market, but they too don’t really have any food options.

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Last Updated on May 6, 2024