Number of craft villages6 major villages · each with a distinct craft tradition
Distance from Ancient Town2–10 km · all reachable by bicycle or private car
Entry feesMost free or 30,000–50,000 VND · workshops extra
Best time to visitMorning · artisans most active before midday heat
Combine withHoi An Ancient Town visit · Cham Islands · An Bang Beach day
Private car to Hoi Andanangtohoian.com/hoi-an-xe-riêng · WhatsApp +84 905 989 702
Thanh Ha Pottery Village — 500 years of clay craft
Thanh Ha Pottery Village is the most visited of Hoi An’s craft villages and with good reason. Located 3 km west of the Ancient Town on the Thu Bon River, the village has produced hand-thrown terracotta pottery using locally sourced red clay since the 15th century — making it one of the oldest continuously operating craft communities in Central Vietnam.What you will see
Artisans working on kick wheels, shaping bowls, jars, and decorative pieces by hand using techniques passed down across generations. The clay is sourced from the Thu Bon River banks — a specific type that fires to the orange-red colour distinctive to Thanh Ha ware. Kilns (both traditional wood-fired and modern electric) are visible throughout the village.Hands-on workshop
Most visitors try the pottery wheel under guidance from a village artisan. The workshop is genuinely hands-on — you work the clay yourself, not just watch a demonstration. Sessions are short (20–30 minutes) and available to all ages. The results are inconsistent and often hilarious, which is rather the point. Finished pieces can be kiln-fired and collected later, or small pre-made pieces can be purchased to take home.Ceramic Museum
The village includes a small museum documenting Thanh Ha’s pottery history and its trade connections to Japanese, Chinese, and European merchants during the 17th and 18th centuries, when Hoi An was one of Southeast Asia’s most active trading ports.Thông tin chi tiết
Entry: approximately 35,000 VND per adult. Workshop: additional 50,000–100,000 VND. Open daily from 7:30 AM. Best visited in the morning when clay is worked most actively. The village is accessible by bicycle (3 km from the Ancient Town along the river road), by tuk-tuk, or on the way in or out of Hoi An by private car. Allow 60–90 minutes.
What makes Thanh Ha different from tourist pottery experiences: this is a working production village, not a purpose-built attraction. The potters producing pieces for local market use and for export are working in the same spaces as the workshop tourists. The overlap gives Thanh Ha an authenticity that staged craft demonstrations elsewhere in Vietnam lack.
Kim Bong Carpentry Village — the craftsmen who built Hoi An
Kim Bong Carpentry Village sits on the south bank of the Thu Bon River opposite the Ancient Town — accessible by a short sampan boat ride from Bach Dang Street (10,000–20,000 VND per crossing). The carpenters of Kim Bong built and maintained many of the wooden structures that make Hoi An’s Ancient Town the UNESCO-listed heritage it is today. Their joinery techniques — mortise and tenon construction without nails, using traditional hand tools — are still practised here.🪵 The woodworking tradition
Kim Bong craftsmen are specialists in the traditional Vietnamese joinery style that relies on interlocking wooden joints rather than metal fixings. The technique demands extraordinary precision — a miscut joint cannot be corrected. Walking through the village workshops, you see carpenters working on furniture, decorative panels, architectural restoration components, and wooden models of traditional boats.🚤 Boat building
Kim Bong is also one of the last places in Central Vietnam where traditional wooden fishing boats are still built by hand. The boat yard at the river’s edge has vessels in various stages of construction — from the raw timber frame to the finished and painted hull. The construction process uses techniques largely unchanged from those used centuries ago.🛒 What to buy
Small decorative carvings, wooden figurines, interlocking puzzle boxes, miniature traditional houses, and hand-carved chopstick sets are all available directly from the craftsmen. Prices are significantly lower than equivalent pieces in the Ancient Town shops that source from the village. Heavier furniture pieces can be shipped internationally through local exporters.📍 How to get there
Take a sampan boat from the Bach Dang Street riverfront (10,000–20,000 VND, 5 minutes across). Or drive 4 km around via the Cam Nam bridge. The river crossing is the better approach — it gives you a view of the Ancient Town from the water and is part of the village experience. Allow 60–90 minutes including the crossing.Tra Que Vegetable Village — the farm that feeds Hoi An
Tra Que Vegetable Village, 3 km north of the Ancient Town near An Bang Beach, supplies the fresh herbs and vegetables to Hoi An’s restaurants and has done so for centuries. If you have eaten Cao Lau, White Rose Dumplings, or any herb-forward dish in a Hoi An restaurant, the rau ram, morning glory, and holy basil almost certainly came from Tra Que.The village and the water
Tra Que’s distinctive agricultural character comes from the combination of alluvial soil deposited by the Thu Bon River and the water from the Tra Que Lagoon — a specific mineral-rich water source that local farmers credit for the unusual intensity of flavour in the herbs grown here. The same herb variety grown in other locations tastes noticeably milder, which Hoi An restaurants have long known.Farm experience workshops
Several Tra Que farms offer a 2–3 hour morning workshop that covers the full farm cycle: preparing the soil with traditional rakes, planting seedlings, watering, harvesting, and cooking a meal using what you have grown. The workshops end with lunch prepared from the morning’s harvest — rau muong stir-fry, herb salad, fresh spring rolls. A genuinely hands-on and satisfying experience, especially for families and food-focused travelers.Sunrise and golden hour
Tra Que is at its most beautiful very early in the morning — before 7:00 AM, when the mist sits over the vegetable plots and the farmers are at work with their lanterns before the sun rises. If you are staying in Hoi An (rather than day-tripping from Da Nang), a 6:00 AM bicycle ride to Tra Que is one of the best things you can do in the region.Thông tin chi tiết
Entry free or small fee depending on access point. Workshop: 300,000–500,000 VND per person including lunch. Book ahead — the good workshops have limited capacity. Accessible by bicycle from the Ancient Town (3 km, 15 minutes), by tuk-tuk, or as a stop on your private car route between Da Nang and Hoi An via An Bang Beach.Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village — the sound of Hoi An
Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village, 7 km south of Hoi An on the road toward My Son Sanctuary, is one of the least visited of the major craft villages — which makes it one of the most rewarding. The village has produced bronze bells, gongs, ritual vessels, and decorative objects for over 400 years, supplying pagodas, temples, and royal courts throughout the region.🔔 The craft
Bronze casting at Phuoc Kieu uses the lost-wax method (cire perdue) — a technique unchanged in its fundamentals since the village was established. A wax model is created, encased in clay, fired to melt out the wax, and then molten bronze is poured into the cavity. The resulting piece is unique — no two castings are identical. Watching the pour, when liquid bronze at over 900°C fills the mould in seconds, is one of the most visually striking craft demonstrations in Vietnam.🎵 The gongs and bells
Phuoc Kieu is particularly known for its ritual gongs and bells — both in tuned sets for musical performance and as single pieces for temple use. The acoustic quality of Phuoc Kieu bronze is considered exceptional — the sustained resonance of a well-cast bell from this village has a different quality to mass-produced alternatives. Several family workshops still supply Buddhist temples across Vietnam.🛍 Souvenirs
Small decorative bells, figurines, and miniature ritual vessels are available for purchase directly from the casting families. Prices are significantly lower than equivalent pieces in Hoi An’s Ancient Town market. A small Phuoc Kieu bell that sells for 300,000–500,000 VND in the village often appears at 800,000–1,200,000 VND in the tourist shops 7 km north.📍 How to get there
7 km south of Hoi An on the road toward My Son. Best visited by private car or motorbike — the distance makes bicycle access long for a day trip. Can be combined with a My Son Sanctuary visit (20 km further south) as a half-day excursion from Hoi An. Allow 45–60 minutes in the village.Phu Chiem Mat Weaving Village — silk grass and pattern
Phu Chiem Mat Weaving Village, 5 km east of Hoi An near Cam Chau commune, specialises in the production of traditional woven sedge mats (chieu) using a plant-based dye process that produces the warm earth tones and geometric patterns characteristic of Central Vietnamese textile tradition. The village has been producing these mats for over 300 years.The weaving process
Phu Chiem weavers work on large horizontal looms that fill the ground floors of the traditional stilt houses. The sedge grass (co bang) is harvested, dried, and dyed using plant-based pigments before weaving. A single mat takes one to two days to complete depending on size and pattern complexity. The geometric patterns — diamonds, florals, and traditional Vietnamese motifs — are woven from memory without any diagram or template.What to buy
Woven mats range from small decorative pieces (200,000–500,000 VND) to large floor mats (800,000–2,000,000 VND). Also available: woven baskets, small pouches, and decorative panels. The combination of natural materials and hand-dyed colour makes these among the most distinctive and transportable craft items available anywhere in the Hoi An region.Hoi An Silk & Lantern Making — inside the workshops
Two crafts that define Hoi An’s visual identity — silk and lanterns — are produced in small workshops scattered across the town and its immediate surroundings. Neither constitutes a single designated village in the same sense as Thanh Ha or Kim Bong, but both are accessible as workshop visits.🏮 Lantern making workshops
Hoi An’s iconic coloured silk lanterns are made by hand in family workshops, primarily in the streets immediately surrounding the Ancient Town. The frame is bent bamboo wire; the cover is silk, paper, or synthetic fabric depending on price point. Several workshops on Le Loi and Nguyen Thai Hoc streets offer 60–90 minute make-your-own-lantern sessions (150,000–250,000 VND) where you bend, assemble, and cover a lantern to take home. Book ahead — capacity is limited to 4–8 participants per session.🧵 Silk workshops
The Hoi An Silk Village (Lang Lua Hoi An) north of the town on Au Co Street offers a guided tour of the silk production process — mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, cocoon harvesting, thread spinning, and final weaving on traditional looms. The workshop ends in a retail area where finished silk products are available at prices competitive with the Ancient Town shops. Entry approximately 80,000–100,000 VND per adult, partially credited toward purchases.🎨 Why lanterns are worth understanding
The lanterns that illuminate Hoi An every night are not generic decorations — each neighbourhood and assembly hall has its own lantern colours and shapes that carry specific cultural and historical meaning. Understanding the craft behind them changes how you see the town at night. A lantern-making workshop is also one of the most child-appropriate craft activities available in Hoi An — results are tangible, the timeline is short, and the outcome is something children can hang in their room at home.🛒 Buying Hoi An lanterns
Lanterns bought directly from a workshop family cost significantly less than the same pieces in tourist shops. Sizes from small (30 cm, 50,000–80,000 VND) to large decorative (80–100 cm, 200,000–400,000 VND). Flat-pack and collapsible versions are available for international travel. The silk lanterns require careful packing — bubble wrap or a rigid cardboard frame inserted inside protects the shape in checked luggage.How to visit Hoi An’s craft villages
Village
Distance from Ancient Town
Best transport
Thanh Ha Pottery
3 km west
Bicycle or tuk-tuk
Kim Bong Carpentry
500m across river
Sampan boat from Bach Dang
Tra Que Vegetables
3 km north
Bicycle or private car
Phuoc Kieu Bronze
7 km south
Private car (too far to cycle)
Phu Chiem Mat Weaving
5 km east
Bicycle or private car
Hoi An Silk Village
2 km north
Bicycle or tuk-tuk
- Bicycle is the best transport for the nearby villages. Thanh Ha, Tra Que, and the Silk Village are all within comfortable cycling distance from the Ancient Town. Bicycle rental in Hoi An costs 50,000–80,000 VND per day. The routes are flat, the roads are quiet, and cycling between craft villages is its own experience.
- Private car for Phuoc Kieu and multi-village days. Phuoc Kieu (7 km) is too far for comfortable cycling in summer heat. For a day covering multiple villages plus the Ancient Town, a private car with Minh Vu Travel gives you flexibility to set your own pace and add or remove stops without committing to a tour schedule.
- Book workshops in advance. Tra Que farm workshops, lantern-making sessions, and the Silk Village tour all have limited capacity. Book at least 24 hours ahead, especially during summer peak season (June–August).
- Go in the morning. Artisans at Thanh Ha, Kim Bong, and Tra Que are most active before the midday heat sets in. Pottery wheels, bronze pours, and weaving looms run from around 7:00–8:00 AM. By 1:00 PM, many workshops slow significantly. A 9:00 AM start at any village gives you the best activity and the best photographs.
Suggested itinerary: craft village day from Da Nang
Giờ
Hoạt động
Ghi chú
8 giờ sáng
Dịch vụ đón khách bằng xe riêng tại khách sạn ở Đà Nẵng
Book with Minh Vu Travel
8:45–9:30 sáng
Tra Que Vegetable Village — morning walk with farmers
Drop in on the way south to Hoi An
10:00–11:30 AM
Thanh Ha Pottery Village — pottery wheel session
Book workshop slot in advance
12:00–1:30 PM
Lunch — Cao Lau in the Ancient Town
5 min from Thanh Ha
1:30–2:30 PM
Sampan to Kim Bong Carpentry Village
10,000–20,000 VND crossing
3:00–4:00 PM
Lantern workshop in the Ancient Town
Pre-booked · 150,000–250,000 VND
5:00–6:30 PM
Riverside café · optional evening Ancient Town walk
Return anytime via Minh Vu Travel
19:00–20:30
Dinner + lantern-lit evening (or return to Da Nang)
Pre-book return car
This itinerary adds Phuoc Kieu Bronze Village if combined with a My Son Sanctuary trip (add one full morning). Contact Minh Vu Travel via WhatsApp for a custom route covering your preferred villages.
Những suy nghĩ cuối cùng
Hoi An’s craft villages are the part of the town that most visitors miss entirely. The Ancient Town lanes get the photographs; the villages get the understanding. A morning at Thanh Ha or Kim Bong gives you context for the wooden houses and ceramic roof tiles you have been walking past — suddenly the town is not just beautiful, it is explicable. The craft tradition and the heritage site are the same story, told from different ends.From Da Nang, the craft villages are easily combined with an Ancient Town visit as part of a full day trip or a 2-night Hoi An stay. A private car from Công ty Du lịch Minh Vũ allows you to set your own sequence, stop as long as each village deserves, and return on your own schedule.Câu hỏi thường gặp
Các câu hỏi thường gặp
The six main craft villages are: Thanh Ha Pottery Village (terracotta, 3 km west), Kim Bong Carpentry Village (traditional joinery and boat building, across the river), Tra Que Vegetable Village (organic herb farming, 3 km north), Phuoc Kieu Bronze Casting Village (gongs and bells, 7 km south), Phu Chiem Mat Weaving Village (sedge mats, 5 km east), and the Hoi An Silk Village (silk weaving and lantern making, 2 km north).
Yes. The nearby villages — Thanh Ha, Kim Bong, and Tra Que — can all be combined with an Ancient Town visit in a single full day from Da Nang. Phuoc Kieu (7 km south) is best added as part of a My Son Sanctuary excursion. A private car with Minh Vu Travel gives you full flexibility over your sequence and timing. Book at danangtohoian.com/hoi-an-private-car or via WhatsApp +84 905 989 702.
Yes — it is the most accessible of the craft villages and offers a genuinely hands-on experience. The pottery wheel workshop is suitable for all ages and gives real engagement with a living craft tradition. Allow 60–90 minutes. Best visited in the morning when artisans are most active.
Take a sampan boat from the Bach Dang Street riverfront — 10,000–20,000 VND per person, 5 minutes across the Thu Bon River. This is the preferred approach: the river crossing is part of the experience and gives you a unique view of the Ancient Town from the water. Alternatively, drive 4 km around via the Cam Nam bridge.
At Thanh Ha you can throw and shape pottery on a kick wheel. At lantern workshops on Le Loi Street, you can build and cover a traditional Hoi An lantern to take home. At Tra Que, farm workshops include planting, harvesting, and cooking a full meal from the garden. Lantern workshops require advance booking; pottery and farm workshops can often accommodate walk-ins in the morning.
The lantern-making workshop is the most child-appropriate — short, hands-on, with a tangible result children can bring home. Thanh Ha Pottery is the runner-up — the wheel session is engaging for children aged 6 and above and the mess is part of the appeal. Tra Que farm walks work well for children who are curious about where food comes from.
Visiting Hoi An’s craft villages from Da Nang?
A private car from Minh Vu Travel lets you set your own route — Thanh Ha in the morning, Kim Bong after lunch, and the Ancient Town in the evening. No fixed schedule, no group tour pace. Đặt xe riêng WhatsAppMinh Vu Travel · danangtohoian.com · Da Nang ↔ Hoi An · Custom routes available
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