For years, the long-stay question in central Vietnam sounded like a choice between two places. Do you want the beach city with an airport, or the lantern town with the tailors? Since July 1, 2025, that framing has been slightly out of date. Hoi An is no longer a separate city. Its old town is now the Hội An ward of Da Nang, flanked by the Hội An Đông and Hội An Tây wards, in the same merged city that stretches from Hai Van Pass to Tam Ky.

The administrative map changed. The daily lives didn't. Here's how the two compare for a stay of a month or more, based on what can actually be checked.

Last verified: October 11, 2026. Prices, bus routes and rules change, so confirm before you commit to a lease.

How far apart they are

Hoi An's old town is about 28 kilometers south of central Da Nang, according to Wikipedia's entry on the old town. That's close enough for a day trip and far enough that you won't do it on a whim at rush hour.

There is public transport between the two. After the merger, Da Nang's Department of Construction adjusted bus route 2, which runs from the central bus station past the city administrative center to Cửa Đại, near Hoi An, with 72 trips a day at 15- to 30-minute intervals, Báo Văn Hóa reported in July 2025. In practice, most long-stayers also use ride-hailing apps. Read our guide to getting around without a motorbike for the full menu.

What you're actually choosing

Hoi An is a small historic town with a heritage economy. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1999, and covers 30 hectares with a 280-hectare buffer zone, according to Wikipedia. It survived largely because it stagnated: in the 19th century, Da Nang developed its own port and trading posts, and Hoi An's trade dried up. That history is why it looks the way it does, and why so much of the center is built around visitors.

Da Nang is a working city with beaches. It has the airport, the big public and private hospitals, the international schools, the government offices and most of the jobs. It also has traffic, construction and high-rises.

Neither is objectively better. If you want walkable lanes, rice fields and a slower evening, Hoi An has it. If you want services close at hand and a city that isn't organized around tourism, that's Da Nang.

The flood question

This is the factor that should weigh most heavily, and the one most lifestyle videos skip. Hoi An sits on the lower Thu Bồn River, and the old town floods.

In late October 2025, many areas of Hoi An ward were under two to three meters of water, with some places reaching 3.4 meters, Tuoi Tre News reported. Locals said the level matched the 1964 flood, one of the worst on record. Canoes and boats became the main way to move people and supplies.

Da Nang floods too, and the whole region has a rainy season you should plan around. But if you're signing a lease in or near Hoi An's old town for autumn, ask the landlord what happened to the building in 2025. Then ask a neighbor.

The coast is moving

Hoi An's nearest beaches have their own problem. Since 2000, the shoreline at Cửa Đại has retreated roughly 100 meters inland, Viet Nam News reported in 2024. A 42-million-euro protection project funded mostly by a French Development Agency loan was scheduled to run from mid-2024 to the end of 2026. If beach access matters to you, look at the specific stretch of sand before you choose a street. Our beach guide covers the differences.

Costs: what's the same and what isn't

Some baseline costs are now identical because they're set citywide. Both the central Da Nang wards and the three Hoi An wards fall in the same regional minimum-wage zone under the 2026 decree, for example. See our breakdown of the regulated costs of living in Da Nang.

What differs is the tourism premium. The old town has its own price: entry to the ticketed heritage sites costs 120,000 dong for international visitors and 80,000 dong for Vietnamese visitors, according to the city tourism portal's 2026 price list. Rents, meals and services in streets that cater to visitors tend to follow visitor demand. That's common practice, not a rule, and it varies by street.

A sensible way to decide

  • Try both before you sign. Spend a week in each, in the season you plan to stay.
  • Map your errands. Hospital, supermarket, visa office, school, gym. Then see which base puts them within reach.
  • Check the flood history and the beach for the specific address, not the neighborhood's reputation.
  • Don't assume the merger made the commute shorter. The road is still the road.

Sources

This story was compiled by the Da Nang Voice news desk from the published sources listed above. Facts, figures and quotes are attributed to those sources; Da Nang Voice did not conduct interviews for it unless the text says so. Corrections are dated and noted at the top of the story. Read our corrections policy. Spotted an error? Tell us.