The short version: Hoi An is a small, pretty town you can cross on a bicycle, with rice fields, a tight foreign community and a river that floods the old streets most autumns. Da Nang is a real city with the airport, the hospitals, the schools and the furnished apartments on six-month and one-year leases. They are 25 to 30 kilometres apart, about 40 to 50 minutes by scooter or car, and since July 2025 they are the same city on paper. Plenty of people live in one and use the other. We rent homes only in Da Nang, so we give numbers for Da Nang and say plainly where we have none for Hoi An.

How far apart they are

From the beach districts of Da Nang, My Khe and An Thuong, it is 25 to 30 kilometres to Hoi An's old town along the coast road. From the southern end of Da Nang it is closer: our map data puts FPT City and the villa compounds of Ngu Hanh Son 15 to 18 kilometres away, about 35 to 40 minutes by scooter.

Hoi An has no airport and no railway station. Everyone who lives there goes to Da Nang to fly or take a train, which is the first thing to count if you travel for work.

Since 1 July 2025, when Quang Nam province was merged into Da Nang, Hoi An is administratively part of Da Nang city. Addresses and paperwork changed with the merger; what that means for a lease is in our guide to the new ward names.

Flood season is the biggest practical difference

Both places get their rain from October to December. What differs is where the water goes.

In Da Nang some low streets flood for half a day after a heavy storm, and the real risk is a basement car park. What to check in a flat before the season is in our guide to the typhoon season for renters.

Hoi An's old town sits low on the Thu Bon river and floods most years in October and November. In late October 2025 many streets were under two to three metres of water and some points reached 3.4 metres; residents said it matched the flood of 1964 (Tuoi Tre News, 31.10.2025). If you rent in Hoi An, ask the landlord how high the water came in 2025, and prefer a house outside the riverside quarters or a room on an upper floor.

Housing

Da Nang's long-stay market is furnished apartments in towers with a pool, a gym and a front desk, plus houses and villas. Leases run 6 or 12 months, and 3 months is possible. Our catalogue on 11.10.2026 has 36 apartments from $654 to $1,808 a month, all furnished, in newer buildings by the river and the sea: see apartments for rent in Da Nang. To compare the buildings themselves, use the page with every apartment building on one map.

Hoi An is mostly houses and villas among the rice paddies and near An Bang beach, with very few apartment towers. Much of the stock works as homestays and short stays, so a lease of six months or more takes longer to find. We do not collect Hoi An prices and will not quote any; check current listings for the dates you need.

Daily life

Getting around. Hoi An is flat and small, and many people there live on a bicycle. Da Nang is a scooter city: distances between the river, the beach and the centre are too long to walk.

Work. Da Nang has coworking spaces in the beach districts and the centre, meetups and an IT sector. Hoi An is quieter, and people who work remotely there do it from home or from cafes.

Schools. Da Nang has several international schools with British, American and Singaporean programmes; which ones and what they cost is in our guide to Da Nang with kids. Hoi An has Green Shoots International School, which takes children from 18 months to 16 years and runs a daily bus from Da Nang.

Healthcare. The private hospitals with English-speaking doctors are in Da Nang: Vinmec, Family Medical Practice and Hoan My. Hoi An has clinics and a general hospital, and for anything serious people go to Da Nang.

Crowds. Hoi An's old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999 and is full of visitors every evening of the year. Da Nang spreads its tourists along thirty kilometres of beach, and most residential streets see none.

Who should choose which

What matters Hoi An Da Nang
A town you can cross on a bicycle yes no
Airport and railway in Da Nang, 40 to 50 minutes in the city
Furnished apartments on long leases few many
Houses with a garden many fewer, further from the centre
Flood risk in October and November high in the old town low streets and basements
International schools one several
Private hospitals in Da Nang in the city
Coworking and meetups few many

Our take, and it is biased because we live and work in Da Nang: if you fly often, have children in school, or want a tower apartment with a lease you can sign for a year, live in Da Nang and spend weekends in Hoi An. If you want a house, a garden and a bicycle, and you can live with the October water, Hoi An is the better home, and Da Nang is where you will go for the airport and the hospital.

Which part of Da Nang suits whom is in our guide to the best areas to live in Da Nang, and the whole move, with visas and first steps, is in moving to Da Nang. If the choice is between two beach cities instead, see Da Nang or Nha Trang.