VacationSelector
The Massachusetts State House, Boston
BostonThe Massachusetts State House
The Japanese Covered Bridge, Hoi An
Hoi AnThe Japanese Covered Bridge

Photos: Boston by Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Hoi An by François Guerraz, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Boston or Hoi An?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Boston for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Boston’s own page.

Choose Hoi An for

  • prices
  • beaches
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Hoi An’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Boston 35, Hoi An 72: Hoi An leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Boston 64, Hoi An 68: Hoi An leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Boston 72, Hoi An 66: Boston leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Boston 47, Hoi An 28: Boston leads by 19 points.
Nature & outdoors. Boston 60, Hoi An 63: Hoi An leads by 3 points.
Day trips. Boston 72, Hoi An 50: Boston leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Boston 72, Hoi An 58: Boston leads by 14 points.
Getting around. Boston 70, Hoi An 48: Boston leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Boston 55, Hoi An 57: Hoi An leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Boston 18, Hoi An 88: Hoi An leads by 70 points.
Live music & performing arts. Boston 72, Hoi An 24: Boston leads by 48 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Boston 30, Hoi An 65: Hoi An leads by 35 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Boston and Hoi An.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Boston
56match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips with your weighting.

Hoi An
57match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Boston in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
18 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Hoi An in July

35 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
83 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
29 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0200400600800JFMAMJJASOND
BostonHoi An

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Boston: 1991-2020 normals, Boston Logan International (3.5 km from centre). Hoi An: 1991-2020 normals, Da Nang (23.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBostonHoi An
Official language-Vietnamese
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Dong (VND)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzACFG220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+7
Emergency number911Police 113, ambulance 115, fire 114
Elevation43 m13 m
Main airportBoston Logan International Airport (BOS)4 km from centre144 non-stop destinationsDa Nang International Airport (DAD)23 km from centre47 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBostonHoi An
City population675,647121,716
People per km²2,910-
Museums within 10 km515
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °CNone12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Boston or Hoi An somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.