From Nha Trang to Hoi An - TravellingMOOD

Known for its beautiful beaches and great diving spots, the coastal city of Nha Trang is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Vietnam and has a lot to offer in addition to the beach. An amusement park, cable car, magnificent temples and pagodas, and good seafood restaurants make Nha Trang the perfect place to spend a few days. After exploring this city, head north along the coast to another popular destination, Hoi An. Smaller than Nha Trang, this place is famous for its well-preserved old town, canals, fantastic colonial architecture and a Japanese covered bridge. All this gives Hoi An a calm and different atmosphere.

Travel options from Nha Trang to Hoi An

If you want to travel by road, you can consider several different routes, but the shortest and fastest is the coastal road, which covers a distance of 510 kilometers. If you’re driving a rental car, you can expect the journey to take around 9 hours, depending on how many times you stop to rest and admire the scenery. Fortunately, you don’t have to drive alone to get from Nha Trang to Hoi An, as there are buses on this route. Another faster option is by plane, ideal if you don’t have much time and want to get from place to place as quickly as possible.

From Nha Trang to Hoi An by bus

Buses are a common means of transport for both locals and tourists as they are a cheap means of transport. If you are visiting Vietnam and are on a tight budget, the bus is a good way to get around. Not only do you save money, but you can also enjoy stunning scenery along the way that you may not have seen from an airplane. The main problem with taking the bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An is the duration. The planned travel time is 11 hours, which in such a small space can be very long, although he makes stops along the way to rest and stretch his legs.

There are two good bus companies you can consider to do this route. Tickets for both options can be purchased through the travel website 12Go.asia. Check prices and opening hours at 12Go to decide which option is best for you. The two companies we recommend are The Sinh Tourist and Hanh Café. The prices are similar in both cases, but you will have to decide on which type of bus you want to spend the 11 hours. Hanh Café is served by a standard air-conditioned bus. It is quite comfortable, but there are no services on board and the seats are simple with not much leg room.

For a slightly higher price, you can travel with The Sinh Tourist on their half-sleeper bus. The seats on these types of buses recline so you can stretch out a bit to sleep better and offer more leg room. Both companies run overnight buses from Nha Trang to Hoi An, so you’ll probably get some sleep. In both cases, they leave at 7:00 PM and arrive in Hoi An around 6:00 AM the next day.

Flights from Nha Trang to Hoi An

Cam Ranh International Airport 25 kilometers south of Nha Trang © withGod / Shutterstock.com

If the thought of spending 11 hours on a bus doesn’t excite you, you might consider taking a flight from Nha Trang to Hoi An.

Flights are considered significantly more expensive than almost any other mode of transport. While it’s true that flying costs more than taking the bus, you might be surprised at how reasonable the price of a flight from Nha Trang to Hoi An is. They cost about twice as much as a bus ticket, and if you consider that buses are incredibly cheap, you will see that flights are not expensive at all.

There are two airlines to choose from and tickets for both can be purchased through 12Go. A flight with Vietnam Airlines will be slightly more expensive than with VietJet Air, but tickets with Vietnam Airlines include 20 kg checked baggage, while VietJetAir does not include checked baggage. The flight only takes an hour, but it should be noted that neither Nha Trang nor Hoi An has an airport. This means that you will depart from Cam Ranh International Airport, just south of Nha Trang, and arrive at Da Nang Airport, which is a few kilometers north of Hoi An.

Getting from the city to the airport and vice versa is not a problem as it is very easy to find buses and taxis to take you from one place to another, but keep in mind that the flight from Nha Trang to Hoi An is not a direct travel option as is the case with by bus. Even so, even taking into account waiting times at the airport and travel to and from the city, flying from Nha Trang to Hoi An is still a much faster option than traveling by bus.

While there are only two basic alternatives to travel from Nha Trang to Hoi An, both are good and neither is particularly expensive. With buses, you save money but invest more time, while flights are not expensive and allow you to travel in less time, even if you have the typical waiting time at airports.