Hoi An was “a busy spice trading centre” during the 16th and 17th centuries, explains Traveller, and these days its historic Old Town quarter is “an enchanting streetscape of old Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese houses, once occupied by merchants whose homes and shop houses have been converted into galleries, antique stores, restaurants and bars.”
“Wandering around the old quarter is like walking through a living museum,” says Escape. Almost 1000 historic buildings have been preserved and “look just like they would have hundreds of years ago.” Getting lost in the winding lanes and “exploring the wooden-fronted Chinese shop houses and colourful food markets” is one of the town’s “great highlights.” And at night-time “things really become magical: the streets are lit up by locally made paper lanterns, and the results are as near to a fairytale town as you’re ever likely to see.”