Da Nang

With fresh air, long sand beaches and interesting natural wonders, Da Nang offers numerous tourist attractions and exciting activities for you to enjoy. The list of the best things to do in Da Nang following is considered the must for anyone who is visiting here.

1. My Khe Beach

Once voted the most glamorous beautiful beach on the planet by Forbes Magazine of America. Only 3 km from the center of Da Nang city, looking down from above. My Khe beach is a vast blue strip and when it comes to new places, the beauty flares brilliantly. Walking on the beach, tourists will bear witness to the combination of clear skies, silky white sand, and palm trees of My Khe. Not only does the blue water of My Khe help you relax, it also contains lots of challenging sea activities that can be booked on the spot, including water skiing, wakeboarding, jet skiing, windsurfing, and kayaking.

2. Son Tra Peninsula

Located about 10 km from the center to the East, Son Tra is considered as the “precious pearl” with a long and curving beach and diversified fauna and sauna. It is a combination of the only marine ecosystem of natural forests in Vietnam. It’s about 10 km from the city center with 3 sides adjacent to the sea. The climate here is very fresh and clean. According to scientific research, every day the forest here recreates enough oxygen to supply 4 million people, a huge green lung of the city. This is also the home of many animals with 22 rare and precious species named in the red book, the most prominent is the primate population with the number of about 300-400 individuals.

3. Marble Mountains

The Marble, also known as Non Nuoc Mountains, is the symbol of Danang City and famous for the stone carving village, which produces many marble artifacts that are famous all over the country and abroad. The Marble Mountains is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills that are named based on five elements: Kim (Metal), Moc (Wood), Thuy (Water), Hoa (Fire) and Tho (Earth). Mount Thuy is the highest and most beautiful, and there’s even a path to go to the top of Mount Thuy. The Marble Mountains are a must-visit with amazing landscapes and various architectural and historical buildings. All of the mountains consist of cave entrances and a network of tunnels that tourists can explore. The mountains also have lots of Buddhist sanctuaries that can be found just by strolling around.

4. Ba Na Hill

Ba Na Hills is one of the top-notch attractions that every tourist should visit in their lifetime. The inviting and refreshing cooler temperatures up in the Ba Na Hills is enough to entice anyone to make the 50 km (31 miles) journey west of Da Nang on a hot summer day. It’s the views that will make you linger.

Far from the city center, about 40 km to the southwest, the scenery is quite natural. The weather in this area is very pleasant due to the high terrain (1487m above sea level). Come here visitors will have the feeling of four seasons in a day. It’s very suitable for leisure activities. At the summit of the Ba Na Hills, you will find spectacular vistas that stretch as far as the eye can see, and you can even take a cable car to the top if you are feeling lazy. There are so many must-see things in Ba Na but one of the main highlight attractions is the Golden Bridge. The bridge is supported by giant hands, contrary to the elegance of the bridge. The yellow color of this bridge is more prominent and displays a stark contrast between the forest and the giant hands. From the bridge, you can have a look at the magnificent landscape surrounded by clouds and mountains.

5. Hai Van Pass

The Hai Van Pass is probably the most spectacular coastal route in Vietnam. This 21km mountain pass between Da Nang and Hue offers some of the most incredible ocean views in all of Vietnam. The pass proved impassable for centuries and effectively divided the country. It remained a key strategic location right up until the end of the Vietnam War. These days, with all the heavy traffic travelling through a tunnel, the pass is blissfully quiet and the views are stunning. The remains of fortresses that were used from Nguyen Dynasty times through French colonial times, still sit at the top of the pass.

6. My Son Sanctuary

My Son Sanctuary is a temple complex, built between the 4th and the 14th centuries AD. The place consists of many ruined Hindu temples and tombs. There are over 70 temples at the sanctuary, spanning about two kilometers in width. My Son Sanctuary is known as one of the most amazing Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and one of the most important heritage sites in Vietnam.

It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in Southeast Asia, such as Angkor Wat of Cambodia or Ayutthaya of Thailand, as of 1999, My Son has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Although the majority of the ruins were destroyed and some statues are missing, there are still some impressive ancient decorations that have survived to the present day, including snakes, elephants, and priests.

7. Da Nang Museum

Da Nang Museum is unremarkable except that history buffs will be interested to note that it is located within the walls of Danang’s Nguyen Dynasty, Vauban plan, citadel.
The citadel is of special consequence as it is where Danang successfully fought off an early French assault on Vietnam in 1858. It’s remarkable how little is made of that impressive feat at the citadel. French forces left Danang following their unsuccessful conquest and headed south to Saigon where they proved, after a long battle, more successful. The museum collection is standard for Vietnam’s city museums. There’s little knowledge to be gleaned from a visit.

8. Museum of Cham Pa

The Museum of Cham Pa houses a truly impressive collection of Cham artifacts, statues, and other relics left behind from the ChamPa kingdom that ruled what is now the central and southern regions of modern Vietnam from the second century AD to the 19th century. Located at the intersection of Trung Vu Vuong Street and Bach Dang Street, the museum was opened to the public in 1939 by the French’s Oriental Research Institution.

An audio tour is available to visitors, and this tour is an excellent way to learn more about the hand carved statues, some preserved for centuries. For those who do not wish to have the audio tour, description tags and signs are written in Vietnamese, French, and English. Allow between one and three hours to visit the museum, depending on your level of interest. There is a small entry fee.

9. Han River Turning Bridge

This is a symbol and pride for the people of Da Nang city. Every night when the night falls, the bridge is colorful and shimmering on the calm river. Every year, at this location, Danang will host an international cultural tourism event: the Firework Festival, which will take place on April 29-30. This is a very special occasion for Da Nang tourism when attracting a lot of domestic and foreign tourists to visit this beautiful city as well as admire the very special themed firework displays. Da Nang city during that time was extremely bustling and vibrant.

10. Danang Dragon Bridge

As the heaviest bridge in Vietnam with a strong dome structure, the Dragon bridge is specially designed to use a combination of 5 steel pipes to decorate dragon scales. The bridge is also built quite elaborately when equipped with a lighting system consisting of a total of 15,000 LED bulbs. The most attractive thing in Dragon Bridge is the ability to spray both water and fire. However, the bridge only serves sprinkler screens, spraying fire on weekends, Saturday nights with Sundays or major holidays of the year. The time of spraying is 21 pm, then it will be a spraying screen; in which the number of fire sprays was 9 times, each time lasted 2 minutes, while water spraying was only 3 times but there was a longer time than 3 minutes / time.

Whatever it is that makes Da Nang so enjoyable, you should plan a couple of days to explore the delights this city has to offer. For most travellers, two days enjoying the city’s beaches, restaurants and nightlife is probably enough. Let’s examine our suggested 2D1N itinerary below for your travel plan to Da Nang.

Day 1: Marble Mountains – My Khe Beach – Da Nang Museum

AM: Head to Marble Mountains and enjoy fresh air in the morning. Visit some highlights on the mountain: Linh Ung Pagoda, Van Thong Cave, Tam Thai Pagoda. Then move on to My Khe Beach to enjoy pristine white beach and experience watersport.
PM: Get back to town and visit Da Nang Museum. Learn the history of Da Nang and witness some objects that recall the Vietnam War.

Day 2: Ba Na Hill – My Son Sanctuary – Linh Ung Pagoda

AM: Get to Ba Na Hill early and discover the architecture in Europe style. Have fun joining some theme park activities during the morning.
PM: Move to My Son Sanctuary. Admire the historical Da Nang’s wonder as if it is the Angkor Wat of Vietnam. Then get to the next stop of Linh Ung Pagoda to fully experience a spirit tour about Da Nang until late afternoon.

If you are a vetaren backpacker, please feel free to manage the trip on your own and alter it when needed, else, we recommend you join a tour organized by a professional company, that can free you from hassles and keep you safe throughout the journey.

1. Quang Noodle (Mi Quang)

Mi Quang is one of Da Nang’s most iconic dishes, a delicious noodle soup consisting of flat, thick rice noodles seasoned with turmeric, fish sauce and broth, pork, shrimp, boiled eggs, peanuts, and greens served alongside a bowl of salad and bean sprouts. It’s warm, it’s comforting, and it’s a dish that has made Da Nang cuisine famous.

2. Salad of Nam O fish

This is a famous specialty only in Nam O village when traveling to Da Nang. This dish is mainly delicious in fish meat that is caught directly from the sea, so it is very sweet and fresh, through the careful processing, the more special flavor, strange mouth but not fishy at all. Nam O fish salad is the best if processed from herring.

3. Da Nang chicken rice

Since long, chicken rice has become a typical dish in Da Nang. Specially fried chicken pieces with a bit of spicy chilli sauce and hot soft rice, when eaten with kimchi or cucumber has its own taste. Specially create special attractions for chicken rice dishes.

4. Noodle with fish (Bun cha ca)

Maybe a lot of people have eaten vermicelli and fish. But if you want to try a special flavor, do not ignore this dish in Da Nang. The scent is sweet and sweet broth, rich from fruits and vegetables, adds a little sweetness to the pilgrimage and the spicy taste of chili, making a delicious one of the special foods in Da Nang.

5. Pancakes (Banh xeo)

As a folk dish and appeared in many street food lists, banh xeo became familiar with many people. Pancakes are wrapped in a thin layer of rice paper, served with raw vegetables and dotted with sweet and sour fish sauce, eaten in a crispy crust of the crust and greasy bean sprouts of meat and shrimp.

The best time to travel to Danang is from March to September. Because Vietnam is a tropical climate country, Danang has an unpredictable climate that will prevent tourists from easy travel through the city. During the daytime, the city’s temperature may reach 26 – 30 Celsius degrees, while it will be cooler at night at around 18 – 23 degrees. This is also the perfect time for you to enjoy many activities like snorkeling and scuba diving.

From November to February, there is the winter season that lowers the temperature to about 10 – 18 Celcius. For this reason, don’t forget to bring some light sweaters with you when hanging out at night. Summertime, lying between June and August, has higher temperatures. Additionally, be aware of the peak domestic travel months of May to August or annual holiday seasons such as Tet or Christmas, which attract significantly more audiences.

You can reach Danang by all modes of transport. Feel free to consider one among the following at your discretion.

Flight: Hanoi to Danang, the fare is VND700,000 (U$35) to VND2,400,000 ($115) depending on the airlines. It takes about 1.30 hours for the trip. The fare and time for Saigon – Danang are quite similar to the former trip.

Train: Riding trains from Hanoi or Saigon will take you about 14 to 20 hours depending on fast or slow trains. It might take more time to travel from Saigon due to the longer distance.

• Fare for the train Hanoi – Danang varies from VND300,000 ($15) to VND900,000 ($45) depending on the type of cabins.
• Fare for the train Saigon – Danang varies from VND800,000 ($35) to VND1,500,000 ($70) depending on the type of cabins.

Public bus: The bus to Danang is often North-South sleeper buses. Price varies from VND500,000 ($23) to VND700,000 ($34) and consumes about 20 hours, for both Saigon and Hanoi to Danang.

• In Hanoi, you can take buses to Danang at Giap Bat or Nuoc Ngam stations.
• In Saigon, you can depart at Mien Dong bus station

Throughout this article, we wish you to have an idea of how to travel to Da Nang for your best experience. In case you are looking for your own travel agent, who can offer a wonderful and hassle-free trip to Phu Quoc, please feel free to let us know. We always commit our best to make it your once-in-a-lifetime journey.