"A charming piece of History" a Hoi An Travel Page by SirRichard

Hoi An is one of the most charming towns in Vietnam, and probably the one that mantains untouched the feeling of "old times", as most of the cities in Vietnam have somehow been affected by recent wars...
It is located in the mid coast, 30 kms south of Danang.
There are many hotels and restaurants, and the old centre is am easily walkable area, closed to traffic and a very romantic place too ;-)

Hoi An was one of the main ports of SE Asia since the 17th century. At the same range as Macau, Melaka... this spot was a main stop for Dutch, Portuguese, Chines and Japanese vessels till the end of the 19th century.
It has been recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, so it is well preserved and restored.

All the city old center is considered like a natural size museum. They have an original visiting system:
You can walk around the streets on your own, but if you want to visit any of the museums, private shrines, public buildings... you have to buy a ticket that allows you to visit 1 museum, 1 old house, 1 Assembly Hall and 1 traditional arts center.
If you wanna visit (let's say) 3 museums and nothing else you will have to buy anyway 3 tickets books!!!