Do you need a ticket to drink coffee in Hội An Old Town?

The Hội An Old Town ticket costs 120,000₫ for foreign visitors and 80,000₫ for Vietnamese, unchanged since 2012, and covers five heritage buildings plus the temple in the Japanese Covered Bridge. When the city tightened checks in May 2023, it said visitors entering only to eat or drink did not need a ticket.

When are motorbikes banned in Hội An Old Town?

Hội An Old Town is reserved for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles from 09:00 to 11:00 and from 15:00 to 22:00, or 21:30 in winter, every day, according to the town's heritage conservation center. Outside those hours motorbikes can enter, so early-morning cafés on Trần Phú and Trần Hưng Đạo hear some traffic.

When does Hội An Old Town flood?

Flood season in Hội An Old Town peaks in October and November. In October 2025 the Thu Bồn river reached 3.45–3.50 m in Hội An, above the 1964 record, and riverside Nguyễn Thái Học, Bạch Đằng and Nguyễn Phúc Chu streets were still under 1–1.5 m of water on 31 October as the flood receded.

Cafés in Old Town, Hội An: Hours and Map

Hội An's Old Town is a 30-hectare grid of lanes on the north bank of the Thu Bồn river, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. It holds more than a thousand preserved houses, left by a port that traded with foreign merchants from the 15th to the 19th century.¹ Trần Phú, Nguyễn Thái Học and Bạch Đằng run parallel to the water, and many cafés here sit inside the old shophouses, which put the shop at the street, an open courtyard behind it and the kitchen at the back.¹⁸

What the Old Town offers a coffee drinker is quiet. For most of the day the lanes are closed to motorbikes, so a table at a shophouse door looks out on people walking, bicycles and lanterns instead of traffic.³ Cafés crowd these few blocks more tightly than anywhere else in town.

Local tip: Have your first coffee on Trần Hưng Đạo, where several cafés open by 06:00, then walk to Chùa Cầu before the pedestrian hours start at 09:00.

At a glance

106Cafés listed

20With opening hours

06:00Earliest opening

23:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: Cà phê Nhà Nguyên, from 06:00 (Daily 06:00–17:00).

Closes latest: Artbook, until 23:00 (Daily 07:30–23:00).

Most listed streets: Trần Phú (17), Trần Hưng Đạo (16), Nguyễn Thái Học (10).

Most common features: wi-fi (16%), outdoor seating (8%), open late (7%).

Old Town tickets and vehicle-free hours

Hội An's heritage conservation center runs the Old Town as a zone for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles from 09:00 to 11:00, and again from 15:00 to 22:00 (21:30 in winter), every day of the week.³ Outside those windows motorbikes can ride through, so a 07:00 coffee on Trần Phú comes with some engine noise.

The entrance ticket costs 120,000₫ for foreign visitors and 80,000₫ for Vietnamese, a price that has not changed since 2012.⁵ It admits you to five of the town's heritage buildings and to the small temple inside the Japanese Covered Bridge.⁶ When checks were tightened in May 2023, the city said visitors who came in only to eat or drink did not need one.⁹

The bridge, the assembly halls and the old port

The Japanese Covered Bridge, Chùa Cầu, dates from the 17th century, and Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu gave it the name Lại Viễn Kiều in 1719. It reopened in August 2024 after 19 months of work by Vietnamese and Japanese specialists, following seven earlier restorations between 1763 and 1996.²

Chinese traders settled from the early 17th century and built five assembly halls around the town. The port faded in the 19th century as Da Nang developed its own harbor. The state now owns the entire Old Town.¹

Where Old Town cafés cluster

Old Town cafés cluster along three streets. Trần Hưng Đạo, on the northern edge, has the early and all-night places: Cafe Thiện Trung at no. 84 and The Curve Cafe at no. 98 are open 24 hours, and Cà phê Nhà Nguyên opens at 06:00. The Espresso Station, down the alley at 28/2, serves specialty coffee.

Trần Phú, the main merchant street, has Dudu Cafe at no. 11, Faifo Coffee at no. 130 with a rooftop, and Phin Coffee Restaurant at 132/7. On Nguyễn Thái Học, Cargo Club at 107–109 has air-conditioning and takes cards. Apart from the 24-hour places, Artbook stays open later than most Old Town cafés, until 23:00.

Lantern night and flood season in the Old Town

On the 14th night of every lunar month the Old Town switches off its electric lights and runs on candles and lanterns, with folk music, tuồng (classical opera) and bài chòi, a sung card game, in the streets.⁴

Flood season peaks in October and November.¹⁰ In late October 2025 the Thu Bồn reached 3.45–3.50 m in Hội An, above the 1964 record, and on 31 October Nguyễn Thái Học, Bạch Đằng and Nguyễn Phúc Chu were still under 1–1.5 m of water.⁷ At Quân Thắng House, one of the old merchant homes, a single wooden column carries painted lines for the floods of 1964, 1999, 2007, 2009 and 2025.⁸

Cafés in Old Town

At a glance

Bill Coffee & Tea

Cà phê Nhà Nguyên

Café Tin;

Cargo Club Cafe & Restaurant

Dudu Cafe Hoi An

Hôp Dùa

Phin Coffee Restaurant

Rosies Cafe

The Curve Cafe

The Espresso Station

Tiệm bánh Meraki

Artbook

Cafe Thiện Trung

Caffè da Hong

combishort bleue

Hoi An Smoothie

Quán Café - Trà Cung Đình

Street Café

Street Café (cà phê Muối)

25s Café

92 Station Restaurant and Cafe

Ancient Faifo

BỆT Cà Phê

Cà phê Chùa Cầu

Cà Phê Hội An

Cà Phê Mặt Nạ Thời Gian

Cà phê Tình Thương

Cafe Lia

Choi cafe Hoi An

ChuChu

CocoBox

Coffee Hub

Củi Tea and Coffee

Cyclo Cafe

Do thị urban cofee

Đen Đá Hội An

Coffee chains in Old Town

Highlands Coffee

Hoi An Roastery

Cộng Cà Phê

Starbucks

Old Town tickets and vehicle-free hours

The bridge, the assembly halls and the old port

Where Old Town cafés cluster

Lantern night and flood season in the Old Town

Sources

More of Hội An

An Bàng & Cửa Đại

Rice fields & villages

Around town

Old Town cafés: questions

Do you need a ticket to drink coffee in Hội An Old Town?

When are motorbikes banned in Hội An Old Town?

When does Hội An Old Town flood?

Own a café in Old Town?