Hoi An, Vietnam with kids: the city of crafts and folk art

Coconut boat tour in Hoi An, a 1 hour well spent.

Crossing the street in Vietnam is like a game of Frogger, except the frogs are carrying toddlers and you only have 1 life. 🐸🛵💨

Located on the central coast of Vietnam, Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage site that feels like a movie set. It was a major trading port from the 15th to the 19th century, and that history is baked into every alleyway. Today, it’s nicknamed the city of crafts and folk art. There are more lanterns, pottery wheels, and leather workshops here than Banh Mi stands.

We rolled in during February, right before the Lunar New Year (Têt). The weather was on fleek—65 to 80 degrees, mostly sunny, and not many mosquitoes.

Luxury on a budget

We stayed at The Saga Hotel Hoi An ($55/night). In the US, $55 gets you a sketchy motel with a continental breakfast consisting of a bruised apple and a stale bagel. In Hoi An it got us a super nice room, well-mancured grounds, a massive breakfast buffet, a heated pool, and a gym. They even had classes for the kids—lantern making and cooking—right on-site. It was perfectly positioned: close enough to the Old Town to be convenient, but far enough away that we weren't constantly drowning in the tourist swell.

Getting around

• Grab: This is the MVP. Use it for everything—rides, food delivery, groceries. It’s cheap, reliable, and saves you from haggling. Pro tip: hit the Offers button and pile on discounts.

• Gambling with your life on a scooter ($4/day): We rented two from Hoi An Bike Rental. Look, we’ve driven in Goa, Pai, and Koh Lanta. I thought I was a vet. Hoi An is next level. It’s "pro level" chaos. If you aren't comfortable with a thousand bikes buzzing around you like a bunch of bumble bees, stick to Grab.

• Bicycles: Most hotels have them with kid seats. It’s "charming" until you’re pedaling through a Vietnamese intersection with a toddler on the back. Godspeed.

Things to do: Lanterns, Têt, and much more

• The old city (Ancient Town): This is the soul of Hoi An. It’s a pedestrian-only zone (mostly) lined with ancient yellow buildings and thousands of silk lanterns. At night, it’s straight-up magic. For about $12, you can get a private boat for 20 minutes to release lanterns onto the river. Hella touristy, but def worth it.

• The magic of Têt: Têt is the Vietnamese New Year, and being here for it was a highlight. The streets explode with flowers, lion dances, and fireworks. The locals are incredibly energetic, and it feels like one massive festival. Many shops close and getting things done becomes a "maybe next week" situation.

• VinWonders ($80 for a family of 5): I had low expectations. But, this place is a win. It’s got an amusement park, a Safari Park, a waterpark, and folk events. We went on a weekday and there were basically no lines.

• The coconut boats ($10 for 5 people): You hop into circular bamboo baskets and paddle through the water palms. Pro tip: Go at 8:30 AM. If you go later, it turns into a floating rave with loud music and "spinning" boats. Early morning is calm, relaxing, and you might actually catch a crab.

• The "indoor rainforest" & coffee scene: There are many unique cafés in the city, but two stood out for the kids. Rio Garden Coffee basically has an indoor rainforest, and Nam Pet Cafe is essentially a petting zoo. It’s a great way to kill a couple hours while grabbing some coffee.

• Pottery Village (Thanh Ha): The official entry fee felt a bit high for what it was, so we skipped the "official" gates. Just walk around the outer streets and the inner residential alleys. It’s still super cool to see the traditional kilns and artisans at work without the tourist price tag. We did let the kids get their hands dirty—they made their own pottery pieces for $3 each.

• Sniff / Hit Ha: A nice, clean stretch of beach. There's a restaurant right on the beach, so you can alternate between sandcastles and snacks.

• Da Nang: the Miami of Vietnam: We spent two nights at BluSun ($100/night) in Da Nang before flying out. It’s 40 minutes away but feels like a different planet. It’s got a cheaper Miami vibe—huge beaches and a massive boardwalk. In the worldschooling community, there’s a constant debate: Hoi An or Da Nang? They’re just different, and both worth checking out.

It’s a small world after all

Hoi An marked 10 months of nomadic life for our family. When we started this journey after hitting FI, we felt like we were doing something wildly unique. We thought we were the few brave ones crazy enough to pull the kids out of school and hit the road.

We were wrong, delightfully. 

Early on in our travels, we’d meet a family and say "hope to see you again," and think probably not. But in just 10 months, the world has shrunk. We keep bumping into the same people in different countries—sometimes by chance on a random street corner. In Hoi An, we reconnected with 7 families we first met back in Europe. Seven!

This lifestyle seems a lot less crazy when you know other people who are doing it. And the people you meet (and re-meet) make this lifestyle a lot more sustainable. I feel like we have finally made a global community of families, and the connections are starting to compound. For us, staying put in one zip code doesn't make sense when our "neighborhood" now spans across the globe.

The world is small, the community is real, and the road is wide open.

This post is part of our 'finding our why' series, sharing real-world stories of why families choose financial independence and early retirement with kids.