Hoi An travel

Hoi An Old Town is located 30km south of Da Nang City, and 60 kms northeast of Tam Ky. Hoi An used to be an international trade center by sea on the east-west area in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was the busiest trading port in Dang Trong region of Vietnam under the reign of Nguyen as merchants from Japan, China, Portugal, Spain, Holland...often landed for exchanging, purchasing commodities. In the historical progress of establishment and development, Hoi An was known by foreign merchants as Faifo, Haisfo, Hoai pho. Based on archeological relics and architecture documents, Hoi An was not only a place of converge and exchanging of many cultures such as: Champa, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese, especially impacted most by Vietnamese and Chinese civilization

Location:
Hoi An district and town is on the lower section of the Thu Bon River system. It is in the coastal plain of Quang Nam province, just 28 km to the Southeast of Da Nang City.
Hoi An is located at latitudes 15o15’26’’ - 15o55’15’’ North and longitudes 108o17’08’’ - 108o23’10’’ East and shares the boarders with Duy Xuyen district in the South, Dien Ban district in the West and North and the Pacific ocean (the East Sea) in the East.

Climate:
The climate in Hoi An is rather mild. The annual average temperature is 25.6o, the percentage of humidity is 82%, rainfall reaches up to 2066mm and sunshine of 2158 hours.

Area and Population:
Hoi An has a natural area of 6027.25 Ha (60sq.km) inhabited by 81.021 people.

Major Potentials:
As a coast of 7 km with many nice beaches that are favorable for tourism development. Hoi An also has a large fishery plentiful with sea products. About 15km from the Cua Dai beach lays the Cham archipelago (of 1,591 ha) where there are many famous sea swallow nests (bird nests) and good conditions to promote ecological tourism.

Getting there and around
By plane
The nearest airport is in Da Nang, which has domestic connections to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city and Hue and some international flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Siem Reap.
Taxi cost from Da Nang airport to Hoi An ancient town about 25 $, plenty of taxis are parking around the arrival entrance.
Generally in Vietnam call by telephone and book a taxi with Mai Linh taxi as they are the most reliable and honest (this is their mission) - and pay meter charge.
A word of caution about flying Jet star: they are frequently up to 8 hours late, many times arriving at Da Nang from Saigon at 2am. If you arrive late, you should arrange an airport transfer in advance if you don't want the taxi haggling hassles.

By train
There is no railway station in Hoi An. The nearest is in Da Nang, which receives several trains a day from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Nha Trang etc. Most travel agents and hotels can book a train ticket for you.
Da Nang Railway Station: 202 Hai Phong, Tan Chinh Ward, Thanh Khe District, TP Da Nang, Phone: (+ 84 511) 3750666.

By bus
There are two different bus stations in Hoi An now (older guide books just show the one on D Hung Vuong) But the public buses to Da Nang leave from the station about 2km north west from the center on Le Hong Phong. A xe om from Hoi An bus station to the old town should be around 15,000 dong.
There is a public bus from Da Nang bus station to Hoi An bus station (15,000 dong, the fare is written on the side of the bus (June 2012), they try to charge foreigners 50,000 dong, just grab all your stuff and stay in the bus, they can be very aggressive... same goes for Hoi An - Da Nang). The bus passes through downtown Da Nang as well. If you come from Da Nang airport, the closest bus stop of the same route to Hoi An is at the roundabout where the streets Nguyễn Tri Phương and Điện Biên Phủ meet (a nice 10-15 minutes walk, since you can walk along the lake). This bus stop is clearly marked with a road sign.
There are no shortage of travel companies and private buses traveling to and from from Hoi An to destinations such as Hue, Hanoi, Saigon, Dalat and Nha Trang.
Open-tour buses run daily up and down the coast from Da Nang, Hue (3.5-4 hours, 60,000-100,000 dong as of March 2012) and Nha Trang (9-10 hours).

By motorbike or taxi
It is easy to take a motorbike or taxi to and from Da Nang via the Marble Mountains (see below), from where you can catch a train onwards. This trip cost vnd 460.000 from Da Nang  bus station, by the meter. Mai ling taxi in Jan 2012.