Hoi An: The Best Destination in New Year 2027
Hoi An is set to be an ideal destination for New Year 2027, offering travellers a calm, beautiful and meaningful way to welcome the year. Rather than grand fireworks and crowded countdowns, the town invites visitors to wander lantern-lit streets, enjoy a leisurely dinner beside the river and unwind on white-sand beaches just twenty minutes away. This guide explores why Hoi An could be a great choice for 2027, when to book, where to stay and how to make the most of a three-day trip.
Hoi An New Year 2027 at a glance
| Item | Detail |
| New Year’s Day | Friday 1 January 2027, a three-day weekend |
| Lunar New Year (Tet) | Saturday 6 February 2027, Year of the Goat |
| Full moon lantern nights | 21 January and 19 February 2027 |
| Winter weather | Cool, often grey or damp, with a brisk sea |
| Rainy and flood season | September to November |
| Best hours in the Old Town | Before 09:00 and after 21:00 |
Five reasons Hoi An is the best destination for New Year 2027
Hoi An keeps appearing in the lists of most-searched New Year destinations
Search lists show where people intend to go long before they book, and Hoi An appears in them year after year. For the 2023-24 year-end season, Booking.com reported Hoi An as the domestic destination that climbed the most places in its top ten, a rise of six positions on the previous year. Its continued presence in travel searches strengthens Hoi An’s position as a best destination for travellers planning an early-year getaway.
For New Year 2026, Booking.com’s data on Vietnamese travellers searching between 20 December 2025 and 4 January 2026 placed Hoi An ninth among domestic destinations, alongside Da Nang in fifth place. For Tet 2026, searches made in December 2025 for check-in dates between 31 January and 13 February 2026 again put Hoi An in the top ten, in ninth place.
The reason is easy to see in how Vietnamese people travel. For New Year 2026, 69% of Vietnamese travellers planned to holiday at home. Within that group, 42% preferred to return to familiar destinations and 37% chose places that are close and easy to reach. Hoi An fits both habits, so it returns to the list each winter (Source: Doanh Nghiep Tiep Thi).
Read more: 8+ experiences in Tet Lunar New Year Hoi An worth trying
Hoi An is Vietnam’s friendliest destination, two years in a row
A ranking shows where travellers choose to go, while a review-based award shows how they were treated once they arrived. At the 14th Booking.com Traveller Review Awards, announced on 4 March 2026 and based on more than 370 million verified reviews, Hoi An was named the friendliest destination in Vietnam, ahead of Mai Chau and Cu Lao Thu (Phu Quy Island) (Source: VnExpress). This recognition also makes Hoi An a best destination for visitors who value warm hospitality as much as sightseeing.
That welcome is visible in everyday habits. Restaurant owners show first-time guests how to mix a bowl of cao lầu so that every strand is coated, and the dumpling house on Hai Bà Trưng invites visitors to watch the wrappers being shaped and to try folding one themselves. On a holiday weekend, when every service is tested by crowds, this kind of hospitality matters more than any facility.
You get the Old Town, a river and a beach in one trip
The Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, follows the Hoai River, and within a short drive lie the Co Co waterways and three beaches:
- An Bang: the closest beach to the Old Town, lined with seafood restaurants and cafes.
- Cua Dai: the wider and quieter beach where the Thu Bồn River meets the sea.
- Binh Minh: a beach to the south with about three kilometres of white sand, shallow water and small waves.
Few places offer such a varied holiday in one compact region, making Hoi An a best destination for travellers who want cultural experiences and time by the sea. In Booking.com’s 2024 travel predictions survey, 82% of respondents said they were interested in holidays built around water activities. In winter the sea is brisker, so the beach becomes a place for long walks and sunsets, and the Old Town takes over the evenings (Source: VOV).
Hoi An has its own New Year traditions
Three traditions give the start of the year a local character:
- The first visitors of the year: on each 1 January the city welcomes its first group of guests beside the Japanese Covered Bridge.
- Fortune sticks at Phuc Kien Assembly Hall: during Tet, crowds come to burn incense and draw their first fortune of the year, and Tet 2024 brought about 300,000 visitors to the town, 35% more than in 2023.
- Lantern nights: on the 14th day of each lunar month the Old Town dims its lights and silk lanterns take over, a custom that began in 1998 to recall the evenings of an old trading port.
These customs give the town a distinctive seasonal atmosphere and help establish it as a best destination for a culturally meaningful New Year trip. A lantern night is best spent in a simple order. Eat dinner before 18:30, walk the lantern streets as the lights go out, set a paper lantern on the river, and take a quiet hour after 21:00 once the tour groups have left. The costs are modest:
| Item | Approximate cost |
| Walking the streets | Free |
| Paper floating lantern | 5,000-15,000 VND |
| Boat for 1-3 people (15-20 minutes, official counters on Bạch Đằng) | About 150,000 VND |
| Boat for 4-5 people | About 200,000 VND |
| Old Town ticket (adults, covers five heritage sites, not needed to walk the streets) | 120,000 VND |
Hoi An has dishes you cannot eat anywhere else
The town’s signature dishes belong to Hoi An alone, so a New Year weekend can be planned around meals:
- Cao lau: noodles made with rice and wood-ash water, cut before steaming and topped with char siu pork and herbs, at about 35,000-50,000 VND in local shops.
- White rose dumplings: round bánh bao filled with pounded shrimp and crescent bánh vạc filled with shrimp and pork, made from rice flour filtered up to twenty times, at about 70,000 VND a plate.
- Chicken rice: rice cooked in chicken stock, served with shredded village chicken and herbs from Tra Que Vegetable Village, at about 35,000-55,000 VND.
- Banh xeo: crispy turmeric pancakes, which many half-day cooking classes teach.
Popular restaurants fill from about 19:00 and many family-run places close for the first days of Tet, so eat early. For a longer list of places to try, read the guide to food in Hoi An.
Is now a good time to book? Hoi An visitor numbers in October 2026
| Indicator | Latest figure |
| Full year 2025 | Close to 5 million visitors |
| First 9 months of 2026, Old Town tickets | About 1.28 million, down 2.78% year on year |
| Old Town visitors in recent weeks | About 20% below the same period of 2025 |
| Da Nang overnight guests, first 9 months of 2026 | About 15.86 million, up 26.4% |
The Old Town is unusually quiet this autumn, but officials and tour operators read the figures as seasonal rather than alarming. At the press briefing of 23 October 2026, Nguyễn Đức Bình, chief of staff of the Da Nang People’s Committee, described the thin crowds in October and November as a familiar pattern tied to the rainy and flood season, and said visitors are expected to return around Christmas, New Year and Tet.
Nguyen Trong Tuan, director of Hoi An DMC, told Tuoi Tre that bookings are rising in November and December as travellers who avoided the storm season make up for lost trips (Source: Bao Tuoi Tre).
The practical conclusion is that demand should return before the 1 January weekend and before Tet, so beachfront and family rooms are likely to tighten quickly, and booking early secures the best choice.
Where to stay in Hoi An for New Year: Old Town or Binh Minh Beach?
| Old Town | Binh Minh Beach | |
| Best for | Short, sightseeing-focused stays | Families, couples and wellness stays |
| Distance to the Old Town | In the centre | About 17-21 km, a 20-30 minute ride |
| Evenings | Lively, busy on holidays | Calm |
| Trade-off | Shares the streets with holiday crowds | Needs a ride to the lantern streets |
Staying in the Old Town puts every street within walking distance, but it also means sharing them with the holiday crowds. Staying at Binh Minh gives quiet and the sea in exchange for a short ride into town. The strongest plan combines the two, with a beach base and day or evening visits to the Old Town, and that is the idea behind Bliss Hoi An.
Resort stay at Bliss Hoi An
Located on Binh Minh Beach in Da Nang, Bliss Hoi An Beach Resort & Wellness offers a peaceful retreat away from the bustle of Hoi An’s Old Town. The resort is approximately 17-21 km from the historic centre, a 20-30-minute drive, making it a suitable choice for travellers who want to combine beach relaxation with cultural exploration.
- Address: Tan An Hamlet, Thang An Commune, Da Nang, Vietnam (Binh Minh Beach)
- Guest hotline: +84 235 3874 888
- Distance to the Old Town: Approximately 17-21 km, or 20-30 minutes by car
- Free shuttle: Daily service to the Old Town; confirm the current timetable with reception.
- Guest ratings: 4.9/5 on Tripadvisor from more than 1,200 reviews, with Travellers’ Choice 2026; 8.9/10 on Trip.com from 102 reviews.
Bliss Hoi An features a private beach area with sun loungers, umbrella huts and a designated swimming zone. The 55-metre beachfront infinity pool offers another place to unwind by the sea. Guests can also enjoy treatments at Ngoc Linh Spa or join daily yoga, Tai Chi and fitness classes.
For dining, Binh Minh Restaurant serves buffet breakfast alongside a variety of other dishes. Cham Beach Bar, the rooftop bar and the pool bar provide additional spaces to enjoy drinks throughout the day. Accommodation ranges from Deluxe, Ocean Deluxe and Sky Ocean Deluxe rooms to Indochine rooms, Family Suites, Beachside Bungalows and a Two-Bedroom Pool Villa, catering to couples, families and larger groups.
Guests can explore the surrounding area using complimentary bicycles, the daily shuttle to the Old Town or airport transfers arranged on request. Available excursions include a Hoi An city tour, street food tour, cooking class, lantern-making experience and trips to My Son Sanctuary and the Marble Mountains.
What do guests say about Bliss Hoi An?
One Vietnamese-Western couple shared that Bliss Hoi An was worth returning to, even after staying at several different hotels during a four-week trip to Vietnam. The husband particularly enjoyed the peaceful mornings on the beach, where he could relax and spend time around local people. The couple said they would gladly recommend it to their family and return with a larger group.
Their experience reflects the appeal of Bliss Hoi An for travellers seeking a relaxed beachfront setting. However, as the resort is located outside the Old Town, it is better suited to guests who want to unwind by the sea and plan their sightseeing trips separately. The complimentary shuttle makes visiting the town more convenient, but travellers who want to walk directly to the lantern-lit streets, restaurants and nightlife may find a hotel in the Old Town more practical.
To plan New Year 2027 at Bliss Hoi An, call the guest hotline on +84 235 3874 888 or book through the resort’s website. Ask about New Year availability, the Christmas and New Year programme and the shuttle timetable.
FAQs
Why is Hoi An the best destination for New Year 2027?
Hoi An is considered a best destination for New Year 2027 because it combines a UNESCO-listed Old Town, welcoming local hospitality, distinctive regional cuisine and nearby beaches. Its lantern traditions and relaxed coastal atmosphere also appeal to travellers seeking a meaningful start to the year.
When are the best dates?
New Year’s Day falls on Friday 1 January, lantern nights fall on 21 January and 19 February, and Tet begins on 6 February.
How much does a lantern night cost?
Walking the streets is free, a paper lantern costs about 5,000-15,000 VND, and a boat ride costs about 150,000 VND for one to three people or 200,000 VND for four or five.
How far is Bliss Hoi An from the Old Town?
The resort is about 17-21 km away, a 20 to 30 minute drive, and a free daily shuttle makes the trip easy.
Can you swim in winter?
The sea is brisker from December to February and conditions vary from day to day, so many guests choose the pool.
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