To welcome the 12 months of The Dragon and have fun Artwork’s birthday this yr, we took a week-long journey to Vietnam, touring from Manila to Hanoi and departing from Da Nang again to Manila. In case you didn’t know, Cebu Pacific flies nonstop to Da Nang from Manila, making this vacation spot extra accessible for Filipino vacationers. The airline launched direct flights right here beginning December 2023.
The biggest metropolis in Central Vietnam lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam on the mouth of the Han River. With its huge seashore proper within the metropolis, scenic river, superb café tradition, and handy location close to vacationer hubs, Da Nang presents an excellent all-year journey vacation spot in Vietnam.
Whereas we’ve beforehand been to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and thought we knew what to anticipate, we had been pleasantly stunned by Da Nang’s mixture of historic and fashionable sights. Our go to was proper earlier than Lunar New 12 months, so preparations had been in full swing, with plenty of flowers and ornamental lanterns put up in websites we visited.
In comparison with Hanoi and Saigon, it was much less crowded in Da Nang and the town felt extra laidback, compact, and straightforward to navigate with its huge streets and pedestrian-friendly riverside areas. It was a handy and inexpensive place to base for day journeys to different prime sights like Bana Hills, Hue and Hoi An.
In case you’re excited by visiting Da Nang quickly, listed here are some journey suggestions I can share together with issues to do, the place to remain, the place to eat, and potential itineraries in Da Nang primarily based on our journey final February 2024.
Dragon Bridge
One in every of Danang’s most iconic landmarks within the metropolis is the Dragon Bridge, a contemporary bridge designed and constructed within the form of a dragon rising from the ocean.
This bridge spanning the Han River is claimed to be the longest one in Vietnam. Apart for offering a handy hyperlink for autos to the seashore space and japanese a part of the town, pedestrians and cyclists may also cross this bridge by bike and on foot.
This Dragon Bridge truly breathes hearth and water each Friday, Saturday and Sunday night time at 9 pm, which you’ll look ahead to FREE. In case you occur to go to on a weekend, you’ll be able to catch the show from the riverbanks close to the dragon’s head. The very best locations to benefit from the hearth and water present are proper alongside the Dragon Bridge itself, on Bach Dang Avenue, and on Tran Hung Dao Avenue.
There’s a vibrant night time market with al fresco eating, riverfront pubs, cafes, and eating places close to the bridge on the Dragon’s head facet.
Han River
Take a leisurely cruise alongside the Han River passing 4 totally different bridges: the Han River Bridge, the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, the Dragon Bridge, and the quiet Thuan Phuoc Bridge, which opens to the ocean.
The 45-minute to 1-hour lengthy cruise features a brief efficiency by a Champa dancer and complimentary fruits and water on board. Some boats additionally provide dinner buffets for a further payment. The very best time to ebook that is at 8:00 pm on Saturday or Sunday night time, because the boats will cease for the dragon hearth and water spitting present.
COST: 150,000 VND per ticket or 6 USD per grownup
My Khe Seaside
My Khe Seaside is a scenic white sand public seashore with a 10-kilometer stretch of shoreline, the place you’ll be able to take pleasure in sightseeing, sunbathing, swimming, and parasailing. This seashore, only a 10 minute drive from the town heart, is a good place to bike, jog, or dine alongside the beachfront eating places. From the seashore, you may get a view of the Marble Mountains and Buddha statue, which you’ll stand up near on day excursions.
Since our resort supplied free bikes for friends, we determined to journey across the riverside areas, take a look at part of the seashore, crossing the Dragon Bridge on the best way again. Not like Hanoi, which appeared a bit scary to bike round due to the quantity of motorbikes, it felt safer to bike right here due to the huge streets and designated bike lanes. You may truly bike all the best way to Hoi An from the town heart (in case your bikes are in good situation).
From the seashore, we bought a view of Linh Ung Pagoda, the tallest statue of Buddha in Vietnam standing on a hill. Da Nang day excursions often embody visits right here, together with the Marble Mountains and stops at outlets promoting stone sculptures.
Hue
From Da Nang, you’ll be able to go on a day journey to go to the former capital metropolis of Hue and go to a number of necessary historic websites.
The town excursions often cowl three primary stops: Khai Dinh Tomb, Pagoda and the Hue Citadel, acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Web site in 1993 as a part of the Advanced of Hue Monuments.
COST: 1,000,000 VND or 45 USD per grownup for small group excursions (inclusive of switch by good-conditioned coach, good english talking information, lunch, entrance charges for sightseeing , mineral water). Children below 1m are freed from cost (shared lunch).
Hoi An
If there’s one place you need to go to from Da Nang, it’s Hoi An. This metropolis on Vietnam’s central coast is thought for its well-preserved Historical City, minimize by means of with canals.
This superb strolling city displays the previous port metropolis’s melting-pot historical past by means of its structure, a mixture of eras and kinds from picket Chinese language shophouses and temples together with pleasant French colonial buildings and cafes.
Whereas Hoi An is fairly through the day, it comes alive at night time with all of the lanterns totally on lit up alongside the streams. Discover a cafe the place you’ll be able to sit down with a glass of iced espresso or cozy craft beer bar hidden within the alleyways, and store for memento lanterns and low as you stroll round this magical-looking historical city.
COST: Guided excursions are supplied from Da Nang, however since Hoi An may be very walkable, it’s higher to simply ebook transport to and from there and go round by yourself. The very best time to go is round 2:00 pm to three:00 pm and you may keep till round 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Tickets to enter price 120,000 VND, inclusive of entrance ot 5 sightseeing locations (museums, people artwork efficiency, and so forth.).
Golden Bridge
Danang’s poster picture typically reveals a Golden Bridge being held up by the “Fingers of God.” This 150-meter lengthy pedestrian bridge, which opened in June 2018, has grow to be one of many city’s prime vacationer sights. The bridge offers a scenic overlooking spot above the clouds.
The Golden Bridge is positioned in positioned inside Ba Na Hills Resort or Solar World Ba Na Hills, a hill station and resort positioned within the mountains close to Da Nang. The hill station was initially based in 1919 by French colonists as a leisure vacation spot for French vacationers. Because the web site is positioned 1,500 meters above sea stage, the realm offers a view of the East Sea and surrounding mountains. As a result of increased elevation, the temperature right here is mostly cooler than the realm close to the coast.
Ba Na Hills cable automobile
Attending to the Golden Bridge entails driving one of many world’s most excessive cable automobile techniques, which is a worthy expertise in itself. The Ba Na Hills Cable automobile is 5.8 kilometer lengthy cable automobile system which presents superb views over the Ba Na Hills.
This cable automobile system holds 4 Guinness information, together with being the longest one-wire cable automobile on the planet and having the very best distinction between the arrival and departure stations (reaching 1,368.93m). Driving will take about quarter-hour at a pace of 6 m/s. You actually float by means of the clouds whereas going up by cable automobile.
Solar World Ba Na Hills
The Golden Bridge is only a small half of a bigger Ba Na Hills resort advanced up within the mountains, which additionally incorporates a Fairy Story-styled French village, Le sprawling gardens, and historic monuments.
Factors of curiosity embody the Linh Ung Pagoda, a 27 meter excessive Buddha statue, the L’Jardin Zone with its French structure, gardens, french secure, a wine cellar the place you’ll be able to go wine tasting, 100 yr outdated pomelo bushes, and outdated villas.
From the Golden Bridge, you’ll be able to take a second cable automobile system as much as Nui Cha Peak, the rooftop of Da Nang Metropolis, the place you could find a large amusement park advanced, together with a big buffet restaurant the place you’ll be able to take pleasure in a filling meal.
Solar World, with its castle-like buildings, funicular journey, and single curler coaster, is without doubt one of the most fashionable indoor recreation facilities in Asia. Although some areas nonetheless appeared to be nonetheless below building throughout our go to, there’s rather a lot to soak up right here. To be trustworthy, I wasn’t anticipating a theme park of this huge scale in Vietnam replicating Notre Dame Church, and different buildings.
In case you’re touring with children, you’ll need to embody this in your itinerary.
COST: Journey businesses provide day excursions that embody transport to and from Ba Na Hills by chartered coach, the cable automobile journey, entrance charges to primary sights, and buffet lunch for 1,530,000 VND or 60 USD per pax. The worth for the cable automobile journey for adults is 900,000 VND or 36 USD. There are different non-buffet eating choices accessible within the theme park.
Museums and different landmarks
In case you’re into historical past and nonetheless have time to spare, there are a selection of museums and different landmarks/spots you’ll be able to go to round Danang together with the Pink Cathedral, the Cham Museum of Sculpture, the Da Nang Museum of Effective Artwork, and the Han Market within the metropolis heart for memento purchasing.
Meals-tripping is without doubt one of the greatest issues to do anyplace in Vietnam, and Da Nang has plenty of nice cafes the place you’ll be able to pattern conventional and fashionable Vietnamese delicacies. Pattern avenue eats, benefit from the espresso tradition, or take your decide from the numerous roadside cafes and bars. Except for the breakfast buffet at our resort, and meals in different areas throughout excursions, listed here are only a few eating places and and standout dishes we bought to attempt.
Thien Kim: A family-style restaurant alongside the primary highway dealing with the Danang River. I beloved their Com Ga Hoi An (Vietnamese Hen Rice), a flavorful rice dish topped with Vietnamese coriander and mint.
We additionally bought to attempt Mi Quang, a dish that consists of flat rice noodles to be combined with broth with a selection of protein. Every little thing is tossed along with Vietnamese herb and topped with roasted peanuts, rice crackers and chili..
In Nha Bep Cho Han, I attempted the Bánh xèo (Vietnamese Pancakes), a savory Vietnamese crepe full of both pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, spring onions and mung beans. This was served with Nem lui or pork skewers, comprised of minced pork, salt, pepper, pork pores and skin, wrapped round a stick of lemongrass. We additionally tried Larue Beer, a localized model of Tiger Beer.
An Thoi was a homey restaurant that served good seafood dishes together with conventional Vietnamese aptitude. Da Nang is thought for its seafood, and we enhjoyed crispy shrimp, grilled scallops, and baked oysters right here. The oysters and scallops are usually grilled with scallions, crispy fried shallots and topped with crushed roasted peanuts.
We additionally had espresso at Pleasure Cafe, a contemporary cafe close to the Ho Chan market that serves coconut espresso, salt espresso and pastries.
Beer for P’s is a craft beer bar overlooking the Han River that makes a speciality of pizza, cheese, and sustainably produced beer, with attention-grabbing brews resembling a Dalat Whey Stout and Burrata Wheat Bitter Ale Bitter.
Solar River Resort
For this journey, we stayed in Solar River Resort, a resort overlooking the scenic Han River and the Dragon Bridge. Situated in central Da Nang, the resort is a few 10 minute taxi journey from the Da Nang Worldwide Airport and one other 10-minute drive from Danang Seaside.
24-hour room service and free Wi-Fi can be found. The snug rooms are embellished in a contemporary fashion and have nice views of the river, metropolis or mountains. The Deluxe Riverfront rooms are snug sufficient, however in order for you extra space, go for their luxurious nook rooms for the perfect view.
The resort presents early free verify in (so long as rooms can be found), a large buffet breakfast, and has a spa on the highest ground with an incredible view at night time. They provide bicycles freed from cost so friends can discover the town at their leisure. The Resort Solar River restaurant serves Asian and Western dishes with views of Da Nang and the Han River.
Cocktails and different refreshments will be loved at Bar and Espresso on the highest ground. There’s additionally a pleasant spa on the prime ground the place you may get a view of the river whereas getting foot massages.
Take a look at room charges and ebook stays at Solar River Resort in Da Nang right here.
In case you solely have 3-4 days to spare, the brand new flights from Manila to Danang by way of Cebu Pacific make it a worthy vacation spot by itself. Direct flights from Manila to Danang depart 3 occasions every week solely on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and take 3 hours (with a one hour time distinction). Flights depart from Manila at 7:30 pm and arrive at 9:30 pm, whereas return flights depart of 10:30 pm and arrive at 2:20 am the following day.
In case you have extra time, it’s also possible to mix journeys right here with different main hubs in Vietnam or different close by Asian nations. Land and rail journey from Danang to different main hubs is feasible. For this journey, we flew first to Hanoi, then took a VietJet flight from Hanoi to Danang, then flew out of Danang. Because the return flight departs late, you truly nonetheless have a full day to go round. We opted for late take a look at on the resort, or stash baggage first whereas maximizing the day.
As soon as we had been in Da Nang, we largely simply walked to get round. It’s straightforward sufficient to hail taxis and even rickshaws to go to primary hubs. You can too make use of the app-based bikes alongside the riverside. For day journeys to Hue and Ba Na Hills, we booked excursions that embody chartered vans or buses. For Hoi An, we employed a personal van to drop us off and decide us up at designated occasions. We requested assist from the resort for many of the transport preparations together with arranging a taxi to the airport for return flight.
I’ll attempt to write extra in-depth guides in regards to the particular locations like Hue, Hoi An, and Ba Na Hills in future articles, however hopefully these common journey suggestions will give readers an thought of what to anticipate.
