Hoi An At Night: Lantern Boats, Bustling Markets & Captivating Cultural Shows | Vietnam

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I loved Hoi An during the daytime, personally, it was my favourite time to wander as it was a little quieter. But there’s no denying that the town absolutely comes ALIVE at night. The hundreds of colourful lit-up lanterns are a big part of this, with people visiting from Da Nang purely for the afternoon/evening. Aside from strolling the streets of the ancient town, here are 4 things to do in Hoi An at night!

Hoi An At Night

Lantern Boats

• 🕐From 4pm until 9.30pm (depending on the time of year)
• 💰150,000 dong (per 1-3 person capacity boat)
• 🏮’Wish’ lantern from around 10,000 dong

One of the most popular activities to do in Hoi An at night is to ride the lantern boats along the Thu Bon River! During my visit In March, they ran from approximately 5pm until 9.45pm. The sunset wasn’t until 6pm, so for a short while, they do run in the light.

The official ticket sellers sit on the corner of the ‘Hoi An’ bridge near the Old Town. There’s a white lantern and a big red sign, you can’t miss it.

Boat rides last for 20 minutes. You go under the bridge, along the river a short way, and then back. Everyone has to wear a life vest.

A ticket for 1 to 3 passengers is 150k per boat and 4 to 5 people is 200k. I was by myself so obviously had to pay the 150k by myself, but if travelling with others, you can split the price. It did feel a little weird as I was literally the only person solo in the boats, but it was still a nice experience.

You’ll see people releasing paper lanterns (‘wishes’) into the river. These are not included in the boat price. The sellers will say they are 50k per lantern, but they will accept 10k. While you’re waiting in line, they walk up and down, so you can’t miss them. The guys that row the boats have lighters to light the candles and they are happy to take photos etc.

If you wanted to release a lantern without riding in the boat, the women selling them also have baskets on the end of poles, so you can lower them into the water.

The boat ride is quite quick, but it felt very peaceful to cruise along the river surrounded by boats lit up with lanterns. If it’s something that you really want to do, don’t be put off by the length of the line, it moves quite quickly!

Hoi An Night Market

🕐Every night from around 6pm until 10pm

A short walk from the lantern boats is the Hoi An Night Market. It is located on An Hoi island. This is mostly a souvenir night market, a perfect place if you wanted to pick up a cheap gift or memento. There are loads of sellers around the river selling light-up toys and other items too.

This is also where you will find the ‘walls’ of light-up lanterns often seen on Instagram or social media. Yes, you are expected to pay for a picture in front of them. There are plenty of lanterns in Hoi An but this is where the ‘purpose-built backdrops’ are.

(*Bonus* My favourite souvenir from Hoi An is the lantern I made during a lantern-making workshop. I did mine during the day at The Lantern Lady, but many of the locations offering lantern-making are open into the evening too. If you make it from scratch it takes around 90 minutes. If you don’t have time to make one, you can buy them on the night market too.)

After coming from Thailand where night markets are quite food-focused, I was surprised by the lack of food options available. It was mostly dessert-based things like crepes, rolled ice cream, and smoothies. A few sellers sold meat on a stick or ‘Vietnamese pizzas’, but nothing that would really fill you up as such.

It’s still worth wandering up and down the street. There are a lot of bars and restaurants surrounding the night market that play music or have live singers and musicians. There’s even a Mr Bean (British TV personality) themed bar! If you are looking for this type of nightlife, An Hoi island is the place to go.

There’s also another souvenir night market, closer to where the indoor markets are (the indoor ones shut a little earlier). This one has similar items for sale, but I found that there was a bit more ‘breathing room’ if you don’t like getting caught up in crowds.

Hoi An Memories Show

🕐Main show starts at 8pm

A slightly more expensive nighttime activity is the Hoi An Memories Show. I bought my ticket online in advance from GetYourGuide. It’s around a 30-minute walk from the lantern boat area in the Old Town. The Hoi An Memories Land is on it’s own island and even has a hotel.

The main show begins at 8pm and lasts for an hour. Honestly, I think it’s one of the largest productions I have ever seen. The set is MASSIVE and I lost count of how many cast members there were! There were close to 100, if not more.

The main show tells a brief history of Hoi An. It’s mostly music-based, but to one side there is a text board that displays a brief description of the scene in a couple of different languages. It’s quite easy to follow along with the story though.

I had an economy seating ticket. By chance. I was sat in the back row on an aisle and had a great view. I think I would have struggled to see anywhere else, especially when tall people sit in front of me!

The Hoi An Memories Theme Park opens from 5pm. Before the main show, they have 13 (!!) mini-shows that tell various cultural stories. It’s quite a strange setup as you wander between the different zones to watch the different performances. We ended up doing a lap of the park TWICE, so you revisited the zones more than once. 

They also tried to up-sell ‘special’ mini shows for an extra 30k. I skipped these as they did only last for a few minutes each.

A guide leads you around the park and will give you a quick introduction to the story in Vietnamese and English. There’s also a written board with a description of the backstory. Unlike the main show, photography and video recording are allowed during the mini-shows.

It’s quite hard going though as you do have to stand for each of the mini shows. As they went on, more and more people started sitting on the ground to watch them. The mini-shows lasted for around 2 hours.

There were loads of restaurants and street food options, but the back-to-back mini-shows didn’t really give you much time to eat. I ate before I went, but in hindsight, I probably could have just eaten there as the food was quite reasonably priced, and it wouldn’t have hurt to skip a mini-show or two.

There are a few good photo opportunities around the park, including a tunnel of lanterns.

I think the main show is definitely worth seeing. With the mini-shows, it wouldn’t hurt to miss a few if you wanted to arrive a little later.

Bamboo Circus

🕐Show starts at 6pm

Alternatively on An Hoi island (where the Hoi An Night Market is located), is the Bamboo Circus. It’s priced similarly to the Hoi An Memories Show, so rather than go to two shows, I just opted for the one mentioned above. 

I hear lots of good things about the Bamboo Circus though. The show lasts for 1 hour and features acrobatics and tells cultural stories using bamboo props. It is mostly visual and music-based, so it can be enjoyed by speakers of any language.

Tickets can be bought online in advance or from the box office in front of the bamboo circus dome.

This one is also inside, so may be a better rainy-day activity. A lot of the Hoi An Memories Show seats are outside and the show does still take place in the rain. (Only the VIP seats are undercover).

Tips For Visiting Hoi An At Night

I’m not going to lie, Hoi An at night can be VERY overwhelming, just because of the volume of people. You literally have to shuffle along (especially around the river area) and people will bash into you while trying to get the photo they want.

As a solo traveller, I felt safe enough walking around though. Just like anywhere else in the world, I made a conscious effort to always be aware of my belongings, keeping them close to my body.

If you are planning to stay in Hoi An overnight, rather than just visiting for the evening, I would recommend staying outside of the main town area. I stayed at The Corner Riverside Hotel for 6 nights and I appreciated being able to escape the crowds. It took me just under 10 minutes to walk to the Hoi An bridge.

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