Hoi An honored as Asia's leading cultural city destination in 2025

Hoi An was just honored in the category "Asia's Leading Cultural City Destination" at the World Travel Awards 2025 held on the evening of October 13 in Hong Kong (China).

Hoi An excelled over 6 other nominated cities in Asia to be honored in this category for the 5th consecutive year.

The award is a recognition of the efforts of the local government and people of Hoi An in preserving and promoting heritage values and building the image of a unique and creative cultural city.

Previously, Hoi An was also honored with a series of international titles.

Online travel site Tourlane (France) honored Hoi An ancient town as the most charming historical center in Asia, based on four evaluation criteria: walking space, age of formation, tour cost and popularity on social network Instagram.

At the Travelers' Choice Awards, Tripadvisor - the world's largest online travel platform voted Hoi An into the category of top best destinations in Asia - a prestigious award for outstanding tourist destinations.

Travel platform Agoda named Hoi An (Vietnam) one of the top 5 cycling destinations in Asia.

International tourists experience basket boat rides at Cam Thanh tourist village, Hoi An Dong ward, Da Nang city. (Photo: Tran Le Lam/VNA)

Cam Thanh village, Hoi An Dong ward, has just been honored by Forbes Magazine (USA) in the "50 most beautiful villages in the world 2025", becoming the only representative of Vietnam in the ranking.

Previously, Tra Que vegetable village, Hoi An Tay ward, was honored by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) as "Best tourist village in 2024".

Located on the banks of the poetic Hoai River, 30km from Da Nang city, the ancient town of Hoi An has been a famous and attractive destination for domestic and international tourists for many years.

Through the ups and downs of history, the flow of time has covered Hoi An with a peaceful and quiet beauty.

In contrast to the modern city, Hoi An impresses visitors with its moss-roofed houses, ancient yellow-painted walls and lanterns that make up the Hoi An brand.

Formed and developed since the 16th century, Hoi An was once one of the busiest international trading ports in the region.

From the 16th century, this was the place where goods of merchants from China, Japan, the Netherlands, India, Spain... were gathered.

Therefore, the architectural works and cultural values of Hoi An ancient town are a convergence of many Eastern and Western cultures.

Hoi An ancient town is famous for its typical architecture of a traditional trading port in Southeast Asia and is still preserved almost intact.

The architectural works, religions, beliefs and cultural values of Hoi An ancient town are the most vivid evidence of the formation, development and decline of the ancient city.

This place owns a system of 1,360 relics, including 1,068 ancient houses, 11 ancient wells, 38 clan churches, 19 pagodas, 43 shrines, 23 communal houses, 44 special ancient tombs and 1 ancient bridge.

Stepping into this beautiful old town, one can deeply feel the diverse, artistic and ancient blend of houses close together bearing the architectural characteristics of different cultures.

International visitors take photos in Hoi An ancient town. (Source: VNA)

Walking in Hoi An, visitors will have the opportunity to visit hundreds of years old pagodas such as the Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuoc Lam Pagoda, Van Duc Pagoda, and admire the assembly halls and temples of the Chinese with elaborate and colorful architecture.

Next to it are roofs that record traditional Vietnamese features and houses with a strong French antique style.

Not only is it a living museum of architectural works, the cultural value of Hoi An ancient town also lies in its rich and diverse intangible culture.

Through many changes of the times, the daily life of Hoi An people still retains its original beauty and is far from all the hustle and bustle.

The streets are built in a checkerboard pattern, winding along the river and embracing the houses.

In each of those peaceful corners, visitors can easily find street vendors selling many famous dishes such as Cao Lau, Quang noodles, bread, chicken rice, etc. or shops selling handicrafts. All of these reflect the simple, slow and sincere life of the people here.

Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1999 and has been voted many times by other prestigious organizations and magazines in the world as the leading urban cultural destination in Asia, top 15 most wonderful cities in Asia, top most popular destination in the world./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/hoi-an-duoc-vinh-danh-diem-den-thanh-pho-van-hoa-hang-dau-chau-a-nam-2025-post1070380.vnp