Hoi An Pottery Village (Visiting as a Family)

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The Hoi An Pottery Village is a stand-alone attraction just outside the town of Hoi An, but within easy reach by push bike, scooter or taxi. The villagers have been traditionally involved in pottery for centuries and the craft continues today. The Thanh Ha village has been turned into a tourist attraction but in a very nice, low-key, way. There’s absolutely nothing shouting “tourist trap” here. We visited primarily for the children to try a pottery class, we’d read that there were pottery lessons available but searching online wasn’t showing us how to book them. So we just got on our bikes and went to find out. It was a lovely family half day trip.

Hoi An Pottery Village visiting
How to visit Hoi An’s Pottery Village, Thanh Ha, and is it worth visiting?

Hoi An Pottery Village, Thanh Ha

Watch our video below, or read, either is fine, both would be great.

How the Pottery Village Works

On approaching the village you’ll see a ticket booth on the right-hand side of the road. Visitors buy a ticket to the village (a dollar or so, kids are free) and can then freely wander the houses and workshops. Many villagers will be busy making pots and ocarinas, they’ll either invite you in or you can just watch a while. The kids made pots on a potter’s wheel in 2 homes, painted a terracotta mask and each made a little dog-shaped ocarina. There was no charge.

We bought their creations for just 1 dollar each by way of a tip for the villagers who had been so kind and patient with them. The painted mask and one of the pots came to us with no additional charge after we’d bought a coffee from that particular lady.  The pots aren’t fired, you can take them home straight away.

You can take your bikes in to the village and park up near the river, there was no charge for parking.

The terracotta museum on site is pretty spectacular, this carries an additional admission fee, higher than the village admission but well worth it. All admission charges are low and good value.

Inside Thanh Ha Pottery Museum
Inside the Thanh Ha Pottery Museum. You can explore the pottery sculptures (many are of historic buildings and world wonders) in the pretty gardens and see exhibits inside the museum building. The ponds and walkways are lovely. We thought it was a good place for a family excursion from Hoi An, and the kids learned about pottery and ceramics.

Thanh Ha Village

The village itself is a cute riverside cluster of homes and workshops, some ancient, some more modern. Hoi An floods every few years to anything up to 2 metres, this village may too. I’m astounded that ancient wooden homes have stood for so long.

Don’t expect paddy fields and water buffalo, you’ll find those elsewhere, this village is all about pottery and its river location allows easy shipping of products and raw materials.

The fishing port and a few boat makers’ workshops are Thanh Ha’s closest neighbours.

Travel Vietnam Hoi An Pottery Village Thanh Ha
Hoi An Pottery Village, pots drying in village.
Vietnam Travel Thanh Ha Pottery Village Hoi An
More pots in Thanh Ha Village, near Hoi An.

 

Hoi An Pottery Village Vietnam Thanh Ha
Ocarinas are popular at the pottery village, usually shaped like animals. These are great for your kids to make and take home.
Making Pottery Hoi An Vietnam Pottery Village
A craftsman making dragon ocarinas in Thanh Ha.

Pottery Lessons or Classes at Thanh Ha Village

 Hoi An Pottery Village Pottery Classes
Just outside Hoi An you can spend a day strolling a traditional village and trying your hand at various pottery crafts. Hoi An Pottery Village.
pottery lessons Hoi An Pottery Village Vietnam
Some houses have electric potters’ wheels, others are hand or foot powered, but almost everywhere they’ll let you try your hand at throwing a pot.

It’s simply a matter of approaching a villager and asking to try. Sometimes they will call you in, other times you’ll have to hang around and show some interest, maybe ask to try. The villagers were all kind and welcoming with the children and gave their time generously.

How to Get to the Hoi An Pottery Village

The village is on the river just west of Hoi An Old Town. Just follow the main road past the fishing dock and village and you’re there. The tourist boats at the dock in the Old Town will also take you to Thanh Ha pottery village.

Tours of the Pottery Village

You can book a designated tour online, usually we recommend Get Your Guide. We find them great for booking tours anywhere in the world, but Viator is good too, we use either.

Also, the boats at the jetty in the Old Town will take you down the coast to Thanh Ha or you can book a tour at local agents. We just turned up on our bikes, it’s probably better to just explore without a tour group and take your time.

If you do plan to cycle to Thanh Ha from Hoi An, it’s quite a long way in hot sun. Be sure your family is all used to cycle rides in the heat.

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Vietnam Travel Hoi An Pottery Village
You will see figures like this, and so much more at the pottery museum. It’s definitely worth paying for and can be a great worldschooling opportunity.

The Hoi An Pottery Village was a fantastic thing to do with kids and extremely cheap. We’d highly recommend it as something to do in Hoi An, particularly for families. More coming on things to do in Hoi An ( many are free) soon, our full Vietnam travel blog and guide is here for you.

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We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.

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About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011. Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest. A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site. Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.

1 thought on “Hoi An Pottery Village (Visiting as a Family)”

  1. This is my dream from long days that i will make a tour in Pottery Village, i searched on google that how to book them. But nothing shown me google !
    Your post make my dream fill up. Great thanks for sharing !

    Reply

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