Museums in Hoi An – Best Things to See in Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An city has many museums and they are all different. Around Hoi An Ancient Town heritage area, visitors will find many of which and use the entry ticket pass to enter them. Interestingly, their exhibitions are arranged in an old wooden house, giving a special experience. For that reason, the best museums are within Hoi An Old Town. Now, let’s HoiAn Day Trip Company provides information about most museums in Hoi An Vietnam.

You may also like: Museums in Da Nang, Vietnam

• Content by Tam Le, founder of HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD

• Designed by Giang Cong Minh, co-founder of LS E&C LTD and his team

• Photo by Dang Cong Loi, Dao Xuan Son, Tam Le & others

History of Hoi An Vietnam

Between 1,000 BC and 200 AD, Hoi An was the land of those who owned Sa Huynh culture. They used clay jars to bury the dead with accessories, in sand dunes around this city, including Cham Islands, an offshore archipelago.

From the 2nd to 15th centuries, Hoi An was within a municipality of Champa kingdom, an independent state of Cham people. The town served as a trading port in this period. Here, people from all over the world come and buy local products, including Indians who introduced their culture and religion to the Chams. That’s why many Hindu temples are built in the area, such as My Son Sanctuary or Bang An Tower.

From the 15th to 19th centuries, Hoi An (which means ‘peaceful meeting place’) served as a major trading port in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Merchants coming from China, Japan, and European countries visited to buy local products (spices, fabric, silk, ceramics, etc).

In 1999, Hoi An was inscribed as a Unesco world heritage site. Since then, it has become a major tourist attraction in the country.

List of Museums in Hoi An Vietnam

Hoi An Museum of History & Culture

Location: 10B Tran Hung Dao Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 7 am to 9 pm (close in the 20th day each month)

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

The Hoi An Museum (or Museum of History and Culture) is the largest museum in Hoi An Vietnam. It’s home to collections of old trade ceramics taken from shipwrecks that are produced in Bat Trang and Chu Dau villages in north Vietnam. Upstairs, visitors will see artifacts, photos and information about different stages in history of the city from early years with Sa Huynh culture, then Champa kingdom and French and American wars in recent centuries. Because of being not in the pedestrian zone, getting to this museum is very convenient and fast. See more information & details

Museum of Trade Ceramics

Location: 80 Tran Phu Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 7 am to 9 pm (close in the 15th day each month)

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

Museum of Trade Ceramics was opened in 1995, after restoration of an old two-storey wooden house. It has exhibitions about Hoi An as an international trading port and of course, trade ceramics, one of main goods which foreigners want to buy in Hoi An. Ceramics taken from archaeological findings around the city and from shipwrecks near Cham Islands, are introduced with a brief information. In the middle of the first room, there is a model of a local-style trading boat (remade by a reputable local carpenter). See more information & details

Museum of Folklore

Location: 33 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street or 62 Bach Dang Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 7 am to 9 pm (close in the 20th day each month)

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

Museum of Folklore (or Museum of Folk Culture) in Hoi An was opened on 25th March 2005. It has exhibitions about traditional customs (eating, wedding, ancestor worshipping,…), ways to (fishing, rice growing, trading,…), long-standing crafts in the city (silk/fabric making, tailoring, lantern making, pottery making, woodworking, medicine,…) as well as intangible cultural heritages (Bai Choi game and singing, heavenly dog dancing, ba trao fisherman singing, carving, festivals,…). Visitors can have hands-on experience in making lanterns, carving sculptures or other items if interested. The museum building itself is a well-preserved wooden house, with two storeys and many rooms. See more information & details

Museum of Sa Huynh Culture

Location: 10B Tran Hung Dao Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 7 am to 9 pm (close in the 10th day each month)

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

Museum of Sa Huynh Culture is the only museum in Hoi An that is dedicated to Sa Huynh culture. It existed from 1000 BC to 200 in the area. Remains left by Sa Huynh people, such as burial jars, accessories, working tools, pottery,.. will help visitors to know better about this ancient and unique culture. This museum is very close to the most famous attractions in Hoi An, such as the Japanese Bridge, Cantonese Assembly Hall or Hoi An Night Market. See more information & details

Museum of Traditional Medicine

Location: 46 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 8 pm

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

Museum of Traditional Medicine in Hoi An was opened on 15th March 2019. It has two levels: the ground level with a demonstration of a medicine shop where the doctor sells Chinese medicine and the upper level with artifacts and photos providing insights into Vietnamese medicine. During the most prosperous period, Hoi An attracted lots of doctors who later opened medicine shops. Because of the introduction of western medicine, traditional medicines are not popular anymore today. This museum is to remind visitors memories about the town. See more information & details

Museum of Local Products

Location: 57 Tran Phu Street, Minh An ward, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

Opening hours: 7:30-11:30 am and 1:30-5:00 pm

Ticket price: 120,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

Museum of Local Products is one of the most interesting sightseeing places in Hoi An Old Town, Vietnam. Its exhibitions introduce the most typical products in the Quang Region where the town is the center as well as the role of the town as an international trading port in the history. This place is converted from a wooden house with two stories and the front on the most beautiful roads of the town. See more information & details

Hoi An Pottery Museum (Thanh Ha Terracotta Park)

Location: Pham Phan Street, Thanh Ha ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 5 pm

Ticket price: 50,000 VND per adult and children above 15 years old, 30,000 VND per children from 3 to 14 years old, free for kids under 3

Thanh Ha Terracotta Park (or Hoi An Museum of Pottery) lies in the heart of Thanh Ha Pottery Village. This village is known for its tradition of pottery making which has been started from the 16th century. The museum is designed and owned by a local man, including two buildings representing two different types of kiln. In one building, works of art from clay and traditional pottery villages cross the country are exhibited. In the other, history and heritage of pottery making in the village are introduced. Around the park, there are small models of some world wonders and many famous buildings on our planet. See more information & details

Museum of Cham Island Marine Park

Location: Cham Island

Opening hours: 8 am to 5 pm

Ticket price: free

Located in the main village of Cham Island off the coast of Hoi An, the Museum of Cham Island Marine Park provides interesting information about richness of underwater life in the archipelago as well as typical and endangered species living in it. In 2009, Cham Islands was honored to be Unesco world biosphere reserve. See more information & details

Museum of Sa Huynh & Champa Culture

Location: Duy Son commune, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 5 pm

Ticket price: free

Museum of Sa Huynh & Champa Culture was opened on 2nd December 2009. It’s the only museum in Hoi An that exhibits ancient artifacts about both Sa Huynh and Champa cultures. These cultures existed in the area before Vietnamese people came and settled down. Burial jars with sophisticated accessories and pottery from Sa Huynh culture and beautifully carved sculptures of Hindu gods definitely can be found here. Information about each artifact is in Vietnamese and English languages. See more information & details

Museum of My Son Sanctuary

Location: My Son Sanctuary, Duy Phu commune, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province

Opening hours: 6 am to 5 pm

Ticket price: 150,000 VND for foreign adult & children above 15 years old

The My Son Museum is the only museum at My Son Sanctuary, a large complex of Hindu temples and ruins 1 hour west of Hoi An. Its exhibitions provide information about this Unesco world heritage site about its history, architecture styles of its towers, gods and goddesses, meaning of animals and figures, worshipping objects, religious linkage to mountains and rivers in the area, history of Champa kingdom, etc. We recommend sightseeing at this museum before discovering the temple zone. See more information & details

Hoi An Military/War Museum

At the moment, there is no military or war museum in Hoi An. However, in nearby Da Nang, visitors can sightsee Ho Chi Minh & Fifth Military Divison Museum to see war weapons and machineries from the latest wars in Vietnam. An exact model of Ho Chi Minh president’s house in Hanoi capital is remade here.

Cham Museum in Hoi An

At the moment, there is no museum themed in Cham and Champa cultures in Hoi An Vietnam. However, in nearby Da Nang, visitors can sightsee Museum of Cham Sculpture to see the largest collection of Cham stone sculptures in the world. This museum was established in 1919 by leading French archaeologists.

Hoi An Photography Museum

Location: 26 Phan Boi Chau St, Son Phong ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 8 pm

Ticket price: free

The Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum (Hoi An Photography Museum, Rehann Museum) is one of the must see attractions in the Hoi An Ancient Town. It’s established on 1st Jan 2017. Here, the owner Rehann (a French photographer) shows his amazing photos taken across Vietnam about its beautiful landscapes, its people and life. Furthermore, visitors can expect to see up close the traditional costumes of all 54 ethnicities in the country. The journey about how Rehann met locals to collect is absolutely worth reading and it’s inspirational!

Gemstone Art Museum in Hoi An

Location: 130 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Minh An ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 8 pm (closed)

Ticket price: free

GAM (Gemstone Art Museum) at Hoi An is home to a collection of diverse gemstones exhibited and sold inside a 19th-century Chinese merchant’s house. Number of gems is up to 600. It took their owner around 20 years to collect across Vietnam.

Hoi An Silk Museum

Location: 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Tan An ward, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Ticket price: 100,000 VND for adult

The Hoi An Silk Village or Hoi An Silk Museum showcases a full process of traditional silk making in the area. By that, visitors will have the chance to learn about mulberry planting, silkworm breeding, cocoons, dyeing, weaving, etc. Here, a local guide is provided to give explanations and better experiences. In the past, Hoi An was widely known as a center of silk and fabric production. For that reason, merchants from many countries visited it to buy them.

Dien Ban Museum

Location: 13 Hoang Dieu St, Vinh Dien ward, Dien Ban town, Quang Nam, Vietnam

Opening hours: 8 am to 5 pm

Ticket price: free

15 kilometers west of Hoi An, Dien An Museum was opened in 1982, making it one of the oldest museums in the area. It lies in the heart of Dien Ban Citadel, the seat of power of the province’s leaders in past centuries. Here, there are about 15,000 artifacts and pictures exhibited, including Vietnam’s largest collection of old lamps and a plenty of relics from Sa Huynh and Champa cultures which ever existed in the area. This museum is not known by many visitors. See more information & details

Best Museum(s) in Hoi An Vietnam

Museums themselves can not be compared because all of them are important to local people and the city of Hoi An. In terms of visitor experience, we think that Museum of Folklore (Museum of Folk Culture) is the best museum. Firstly, it’s a well-protected old and large wooden house in the Hoi An Ancient Town that is good to sightsee and take photos. By its exhibitions, visitors will know better about folk cultures in/around the town, such as Bai Choi (traditional singing and performance), handicrafts (silk/fabric making, lantern making, woodworking, etc), customs and beliefs, and more.

Tips to Visit Museums in Hoi An

– On the 10th day each month, Museumof Sa Huynh Culture will be closed.

– It’s needed to buy entry ticket for Hoi An Ancient Town and then sightsee Museum of Sa Huynh Culture. The nearest ticket booth is near the East gate (Tran Phu Street gate) of Japanese Bridge, a few steps from the museum. The price is 120,000 VND for adult and children above 15 years ago. See more information & details

– No dress code regulation is required to visitors at Museum of Sa Huynh Culture. However, to see other attractions in town (such as temples, assembly halls), wearing long pants and shirts covering armpits/shoulders/navel is necessary.

– Follow rules, regulations and signs while visiting Museum of Sa Huynh Culture.

– Introductions and explanations are available in either Vietnamese or English. Other languages are not available yet.

– Visitors must turn off flashlights when taking photos by phone or camera while visiting Hoi An’s Museum of Sa Huynh Culture.

– Visitors should be careful when walking upstairs to the 2nd floor of Sa Huynh Culture Museum because it’s steep. Senior visitors and wheelchair users can see round the ground floor, and not see the upper floor.

– No smoking, no eating and no drinking in the museum.

– Toilets in the back of the first floor, to use for free.

– Do not enter private areas and touch on old antiquities in Quan Thang Ancient House.

– Vietnamese traditional costume ao dai dress is highly recommended. Any garment made of see-through material is not respectful.

– In the dry season, from February to the end of August, visitors should bring sun cream, hat/cap/umbrella, sun glasses, and bottles of water to drink. If don’t have, it’s easy to buy at shops near Museum of Sa Huynh Culture.

– In the rainy season, from September to January, visitors should bring rain poncho/jacket or umbrella, sandals or waterproof shoes. Don’t forget to check the weather forecast usually when traveling during this period.

– From October to December, the town may be flooded, so visitors need to keep updating the weather before going to Hoi An.

– The best way to visit the Hoi An Old Town is walking, so make sure that you have good/comfortable shoes or sandals.

– Smartphone or camera is needed for taking pictures. For more experiences, visitors can consider renting Vietnamese traditional costume (for example, ao dai long dress for ladies) or even booking a private photographer (contact us by +84968009827 (hotline/whatsapp/line/zalo) if you need).

– Don’t forget bringing cash to pay for entry fee tickets and small things because many places in Vietnam don’t accept payment by cards.

– It’s better to visit Museum of Sa Huynh Culture with a local guide. Contact us by +84968009827 (hotline/whatsapp/line/zalo) if you need a professional guide in Hoi An.

– Visitors should buy souvenirs at Museum of Sa Huynh Culture to support local family who owns and preserves it.

Itinerary to Visit Hoi An Old Town for First Timer

First of all, to enter and visit the Hoi An Old Town (the part inscribed by Unesco), visitors need to buy an entry ticket. Its price is 120,000 VND per adult and children above 15 years old and free of charge for smaller kids. Entry to 5 attractions is also included for free. See more information & details

If possible, first time visitors should go with a local guide, to know better about history and culture. Contact us by +84968009827 (call/whatsapp) to book a private English-speaking guide.

We suggest this itinerary for first timers:

Total distance: 1,65 kilometers

– Starting point: the Japanese style gate (the west end of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street). A model of the Red Seal Ship Model (Japanese merchant’s ship) and a ticket office are in a close distance.

– Walk along Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. On this road, visitors will have the chance to sightsee Cam Pho Communal House (ticket required), Japanese Culture Gallery (ticket required), Phung Hung Old House (one of the best heritage houses, ticket required), Nguyen Tuong Family Chapel (in the alleyway, ticket required).

– Visit the Japanese Covered Bridge, the symbol of Hoi An. This place definitely is a must see attraction.

– Walk along Tran Phu Street, the most beautiful road in Hoi An, until Hoi An Central Market. On this road, visitors will have the chance to sightsee so many historical attractions. From the bridge to the market, there are Cantonese Assembly Hall (ticket required), Museum of Sa Huynh Culture (ticket required), Duc An Old House (ticket required), Kazik Park (free), Quan Thang Old House (ticket required), Museum of Trade Ceramics (ticket required), Trung Hoa Assembly Hall (ticket required), Fujian Assembly Hall (ticket required), Quan Cong Temple (ticket required), Quan Am Pagoda (ticket required), Hoi An Central Market (free to enter), a couple of rooftop coffee shops, Instagrammable spots, shophouses selling lanterns, food, souvenirs and fashion items.

– Walk southwards and along Tieu La Street (east side of Hoi An Central Market). On this road, there are many vendors and stalls selling a diversity of local products, giving a good chance to know about local life and photograph.

– Walk westwards and along Bach Dang Street (the riverside street). On this road, visitors will see Hoi An Traditional Performance House (ticket required if want to watch shows) and Museum of Folklore (ticket required).

– Turn into Le Loi Street and then turn left, walking along Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. On this road, visitors will see Tan Ky Old House (one of the best heritage houses, ticket required) and Diep Dong Nguyen Old House (not yet opened to visitors, see from outside).

– The ending point: the crossroad near the north end of An Hoi Bridge or the west end of Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. In the evening, from here, visitors can walk cross the bridge and then turn right to see the entrance of the Hoi An Night Market, the biggest night market in Hoi An.

For more details and the map, please browse https://hoiandaytrip.com/hoi-an-self-guided-walking-tour

Guided Tours to Hoi An Ancient Town Vietnam

From Hoi An

– Hoi An Old Town Walking Tour – 2 Hour Express Tour with Local

– Hoi An Half Day Walking Tour with Traditional Art Performance

– Hoi An City Tour: Old Town, Coconut Village & Lunch

– Hoi An Morning Walking Tour with Local Breakfast & Coffee

– Hoi An Afternoon Walking Tour with Thu Bon River Sunset Cruise

– Hoi An Night Tour with Lantern Boat Ride & Dinner

– Hoi An History & Food Tour – Famous Landmarks & Specialty Dishes

– Hoi An Instagram Tour: Best Photo Spots & Rooftop Café

– Hoi An Old Town Food Tour with Night Boat Ride

– Hoi An Old Town Private Walking Tour with Local Expert

– Hoi An City Tour by Electric Car

From Da Nang

– Hoi An Half Day Tour from Da Nang

– Hoi An Night Tour from Da Nang

– Hoi An Night Tour from Da Nang with Coconut Forest Basket Boat Ride

– Hoi An Night Tour from Da Nang with Hoi An Memories Show

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Day Tour from Da Nang

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Night Tour from Da Nang

– Hoi An Full Day Tour from Da Nang

– Hoi An City Tour from Airport

– Marble Mountain, Monkey Mountain & Hoi An Day Tour from Da Nang

– Hoi An Full Day Tour from Da Nang with Chinese Speaking Guide

– My Son Sanctuary & Hoi An Tour – World Heritage Site Tour

– Golden Bridge/Ba Na Hills Tour & Hoi An Tour from Da Nang

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Tour from Da Nang Cruise Port

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Tour from Chan May Cruise Port

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Day Tour from Intercontinental Danang Resort

– Marble Mountain & Hoi An Day Tour from Lang Co