Central Vietnam in 5 days: Hue, the Hai Van Pass, Hoi An and My Son

Why Hue first, Hoi An last

Everything on this route hangs off Da Nang International Airport. The city tourism portal puts it about 3 kilometres from the centre, with domestic flights in Terminal T1 and international ones in T2. The national tourism site puts Hue about two hours away by road and Hoi An a 50-minute drive. That geometry decides the order: do the long leg north on arrival day, when you are travelling anyway, and finish in Hoi An so that the last morning is not spent in a car.

Going north first also means you cross the Hai Van Pass only once, in daylight, on a day set aside for it rather than squeezed into an airport run. The national tourism site describes a Hoi An–Hue route over the pass, with stops at the Marble Mountains, Lang Co and Tam Giang Lagoon, as about 150 kilometres and a full day. Done in reverse from Hue, it delivers you to Hoi An by evening with the Marble Mountains as the last stop of the day.

Five days gives you four nights, split evenly. Two nights in Hue cover the Citadel, the tombs and a proper evening of Hue food. Two nights in Hoi An give you My Son at dawn, the Old Town houses and one lantern evening, plus a spare morning. If you can find a sixth day, spend it in Hoi An rather than adding a new stop.

Days 1–2: Hue, the Imperial City and two royal tombs

From Da Nang airport, the national tourism site's options for Hue are a private car or the open bus, about two hours by road, or the train. Vietnam Railways runs a Hue–Da Nang tourist service, "Connecting Central Heritage", with trains numbered HD1/2 and HD3/4 that stop at Lang Co for about ten minutes; check the timetable on the railway's own site before you rely on it, and allow for the ride from the airport to Da Nang station. Sleep on the south bank near Le Loi Street, where most of the restaurants and hotels are, or inside or beside the Citadel walls if you want to walk to the Imperial City before the heat.

Day two is the big one. Enter the Imperial City through the Ngo Mon Gate as early as you can; the national tourism site says the visit takes around two hours and that a guide, arranged through your hotel, adds a lot. After lunch and a rest, take a car to two of the royal tombs. The tourism site's advice is to pick two or three rather than all seven: Minh Mang is large and strictly ordered, Tu Duc a landscaped poet's retreat, Khai Dinh a hillside mix of Eastern and Western styles that splits opinion.

When we checked on 2026-10-03, the Visit Hue site of the Hue tourism department listed the Imperial City at 200,000 VND for adults, and combined tickets for the Imperial City plus two of those three tombs from 420,000 VND, in a price table it said was updated in December 2023. The combined ticket is the obvious buy for this day. If you land early on day one, spend the late afternoon at Thien Mu Pagoda, which the tourism site recommends at sunset when the crowds have gone; otherwise end day two at the Ngo Mon Gate at dusk, when the square fills with kite-flyers and the gate lights come on. Our Hue guide covers the tombs and the river in more depth.

Day 3: over the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An

Book a private car with a driver for this day; it is the only practical way to stop where you want. The Da Nang tourism portal notes that cars can take the 6.2-kilometre Hai Van Tunnel instead and advises asking your driver to take the pass road for the views; agree that and the stops in advance. The national tourism site describes the pass itself as only about 20 kilometres, with jungle-covered mountains dropping into the sea and the remains of a Nguyen-dynasty lookout post at the top. The Da Nang tourism portal says the views over Da Nang Bay, Son Tra and Lang Co are best on clear days, so on a day of low cloud, keep the stop at the top short and spend the time at the lagoon instead.

Coming from Hue, Lang Co is at the foot of the pass on the Hue side, and the tourism site recommends it for a seafood lunch at a restaurant out on the lagoon. Time lunch there before the climb. On the Da Nang side, the road runs down past the city to the Marble Mountains, about 8 kilometres south-east of the centre according to the city portal and right on the way to Hoi An. When we checked on 2026-10-03, the city portal listed adult tickets for Thuy Son, the mountain to climb, at 40,000 VND with a separate lift ticket, and the national tourism site gave opening hours of 7:00 to 17:30 and suggested allowing at least two hours. Arrive by mid-afternoon or skip it rather than rushing the steps.

Riding the pass by motorbike is popular and the tourism site's own route is written for it, but only do it if you are experienced on Vietnamese roads and mountain bends; on a five-day trip, an accident or a breakdown costs you the rest of the route. If you prefer the train, the HD heritage trains run the coast between Hue and Da Nang with a stop at Lang Co, and you continue to Hoi An by taxi.

Day 4: My Son at opening time, Hoi An by lantern light

My Son Sanctuary, the valley of Cham brick temples, is about 45 kilometres from Hoi An according to the site's management board. When we checked on 2026-10-03, the board's hours page listed opening every day from 06:00 to 17:00, and its visitor guide listed admission at 150,000 VND for international visitors, including the electric buggy into the monument zone, the site museum and the Cham folk performances. Guides are sold separately at the buggy stop. Leave Hoi An by private car or with an early tour, be there close to 06:00, and you will have the main tower groups in cool morning light and be back in Hoi An before the midday heat.

After lunch and a rest, use the afternoon for the Old Town. When we checked on 2026-10-03, the Hoi An World Heritage Conservation Centre's ticket page (posted in 2023) listed a 120,000 VND ticket covering the general Old Town area, either the Japanese Covered Bridge or the Quan Cong Temple, a museum of your choice and three other heritage buildings, with an 80,000 VND version that leaves out the museum and has one building fewer. Keep the stub: the centre asks visitors to hold on to it for going in and out of the Old Town. Choose houses that explain the town, such as Tan Ky House with its One Hundred Birds lacquered board, which the national tourism site singles out, rather than whichever door is nearest.

Stay for dusk. The same page listed the Old Town's walking-street hours, closed to motor traffic, as 09:00 to 21:30 in summer and 09:00 to 21:00 in winter. If your dates fall on the 14th night of the lunar month, the town holds its Old Town Night, with candles and lanterns in place of electric light and folk performances in the streets; it is the most atmospheric evening and the busiest.

Day 5: a slow Hoi An morning and the airport

Keep the last morning light. The national tourism site suggests cycling out of town towards Cam Thanh and Cam Chau past vegetable gardens and rice paddies, and An Bang beach is about 10 minutes from the Ancient Town by car. Alternatively, walk the Old Town at dawn, before the houses open and the tour groups arrive, and have a last bowl of cao lau. If you ordered clothes from a tailor when you arrived, this is the morning for the final fitting.

Allow the 50 minutes the tourism site gives for the drive to Da Nang airport, plus time for traffic and check-in. With an evening flight, stop at the Museum of Cham Sculpture on the Han River in Da Nang, which holds many of the carvings found at My Son: when we checked on 2026-10-03, the city portal listed opening from 07:30 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 17:00, closed on Mondays, at 60,000 VND.

The five days at a glance

This is an editorial suggestion, not a timetable. Check opening times, train times and the weather before each move.

• Day 1 — Da Nang to Hue: land at DAD, about two hours by car to Hue (or the train from Da Nang station), Thien Mu Pagoda at sunset if you arrive in time, dinner on the south bank. Night: Hue.
• Day 2 — Imperial City and tombs: the Imperial City from early morning with a guide, lunch and a rest, two royal tombs by car in the afternoon, the Ngo Mon Gate at dusk. Night: Hue.
• Day 3 — The Hai Van Pass: private car south, lunch at Lang Co, the lookout at the top of the pass, the Marble Mountains in the afternoon, evening in Hoi An. Night: Hoi An.
• Day 4 — My Son and the Old Town: My Son at 06:00, back for lunch, heritage houses in the afternoon, lanterns by the river after dark. Night: Hoi An.
• Day 5 — Hoi An to the airport: a bicycle ride or a dawn walk, a last lunch, then about 50 minutes to Da Nang airport.

Adding Phong Nha or the Cham Islands, and the October problem

With two more days, Phong Nha fits before Hue. The national tourism site lists daily open buses to Phong Nha from Hue and Da Nang, and Dong Hoi, about 45 kilometres from the caves, is a stop on the north–south railway. But the same site warns that many of Phong Nha's caves are inaccessible in the rainy season from October to December and that the area is prone to flooding, so this add-on belongs to the dry months. Our Phong Nha guide explains which caves you can see in a day.

The Cham Islands, about 15 kilometres off Hoi An, are a day trip by speedboat from Cua Dai pier, which the national tourism site puts at roughly 25 minutes. The same site says the islands are virtually inaccessible from October to February because of rough seas, and calm from March to September. Add the day only in that window, give it its own date rather than the morning of your flight, and keep the day after on the mainland in case the boats stop.

From October to January, plan the core route with flexibility. Hue often floods from October onwards, according to the national tourism site, and Hoi An expects rain and storms in the same months; Da Nang's long rains run from November to February. Keep the Hai Van Pass day movable, check the weather the evening before, and if a storm is forecast, swap the pass for the train and spend the extra time under a roof in Hoi An.