The complete guide to visiting Da Nang, Vietnam

If you like well-connected coastal cities, Da Nang in Vietnam might be for you.

I visited Da Nang for two weeks whilst doing a Workaway in October. As I enjoyed my time slowly exploring the city, I’ve compiled this guide to share more information about Da Nang, as well as the top things to do and places to eat. I hope it’s useful!

About Da Nang

Da Nang is a coastal city in Central Vietnam.

Da Nang is notable for being the fifth largest city in Vietnam, and the largest in the central region. Given its seaside location and long sandy beach, it’s also a holiday destination for both domestic and international travellers.

However, compared to other tourist destinations in Vietnam, Da Nang still firmly belongs to the locals. There’s a small tourist centre to the city, and elsewhere the vibe is completely different.

A beach city

There are several coastal cities with great beaches in Vietnam, like Quoy Nhon and Nha Trang. Da Nang is up there with the best.

The city is split in two by the Han River, which is loved by locals and famous for its multiple bridges. To the east, running parallel to the river, you’ll find a long sandy beach extending more than 20 km to the south until it meets the mouth of the Thu Bon River, to the east of Hoi An.

The most famous part of the beach at Da Nang is My Khe Beach. This stretch is almost entirely occupied by a mix of hotels, resorts and developments, although fortunately most of it is free for anyone to visit.

Head to the north of the beach and you’ll find the Son Tra Peninsula. The Lady Buddha Statue, located on its southern side, overlooks the beach and is a constant sign of where you are!

Inside the city centre

Head inside Da Nang and you’ll quickly move away from the tourist centre. That isn’t to say you won’t still find tourists – Vietnam is a super popular country to visit after all – but there will be a lot less.

Da Nang, at its heart, feels like a relaxed city. Like much of Vietnam, most people use scooters, so there are less traffic jams. Talking to locals, I got the impression that the cost of living is more affordable compared to other Vietnamese cities, and life is less hectic as well.

I have to admit: if I had to move to a city in Vietnam, Da Nang would come out on top!

Is Da Nang worth a visit?

When travelling through Vietnam, I met a lot of people who skipped Da Nang. In fact, many of the people who did visit Da Nang were only doing so because they were using its train station or airport on the way to Hoi An (the most popular tourist destination in the region).

Why were they skipping it? Aside from time constraints, the most common reason appears to be that Da Nang is a big city without appeal for tourists.

I personally don’t agree. Da Nang has a lot to offer! There’s a nice beach, lots of attractions to visit and plenty of great food.

However, I do appreciate that many of its attractions can easily be visited from Hoi An, or by taking a tour between Hue and Hoi An. Visiting places like the Marble Mountains and Ling Unh pagoda is often included in these tours, so you don’t need to visit them separately.

Also, whilst Da Nang seems like a good place to live, it doesn’t seem to be as great as a tourist city. The city centre and touristy areas are spread out, and I’ve heard backpackers say they thought the tourist area had a bit of a weird vibe. Plus, anyone on a long tour of South-East Asia will find better beaches elsewhere.

To summarise: I loved my visit to Da Nang, but if you have to skip it, it’s not a big problem.

How to get there

Da Nang is easy to get to. It’s got an international airport with regular flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as cities from all across South-East Asia. There’s also a train station, with regular departures to the north, towards Hanoi, or south, towards Ho Chi Minh City.

It’s also pretty easy to get a bus to Da Nang from nearby destinations. This is probably the best option if you’re travelling from nearby tourist destinations not on the train line, such as Hoi An.

How to get around

Public transport isn’t great in Da Nang. We were a bit disappointed how few buses there are – certainly, there were none connecting to the area of town we were staying in. The schedule on Google Maps is not correct, so don’t trust it for information! I only saw buses from four or five lines the whole time I was there.

Locals seem to be entirely reliant on their own scooters to get them around. Therefore, for people who are confident driving scooters in cities throughout South-East Asia, the easiest solution will be to rent a scooter. However, the volume of motorbikes throughout Da Nang was crazy and I would only recommend considering renting one if you’ve had practice in similar environments!

Everyone else will need to take taxis. In Da Nang, I’d recommend using Grab – the fares are normally cheaper than what public taxis will quote, and they are plentiful across the city.

If you prefer using public taxis, it’s worth using the Grab app to make sure you’re getting a good fare. Often they will request a high fee, but when you show the Grab app they will agree to match it.

When should you visit?

Da Nang’s rainy season is the same as other locations in Central Vietnam. It’s rainy season in the second half of the year, with rainfall levels peaking in September, October and November.

If your trip is specifically to Central Vietnam, it’s worth avoiding September to November and travelling at other times of the year; the spring and summer months appear to be best.

However, I know that the rainy season in Central Vietnam is slightly out of kilter with North and South Vietnam, as well as in other regions in South-East Asia. On longer trips, it’s just not possible to time the weather to be good everywhere you visit!

Personally, I visited Da Nang in early November, during rainy season. During the two weeks we were there, around 50% of the days featured lots of clouds with intermittent intense rain, and 50% of the days were sunny without rain. Flash flooding is not unheard of and did happen to an extent whilst we were there. On one particularly bad Grab scooter ride, I drove through inches of rain on the roads, and the rain was so intense I nearly lost a contact lens.

However, the city is used to these rainy conditions so life and activities will continue how they can. Just prepare to be a bit soggy, or have to change your plans last-minute.

Ratings

As part of this blog, I give every place I visit a rating so that I can easily compare destinations and decide whether they’re worth a visit. Those are the scores you see at the top of the page!

This is how Da Nang rated:

• Safety: 5/5 – as far as big cities go, I felt very safe in Da Nang.
• Accessibility: 5/5 – Da Nang is super easy to get to, with many connections domestically and internationally. It suffers from the classic problem of scooters being parked on the pavement, making it hard to get around sometimes, but otherwise the city is fine.
• Enjoyment: 4/5 – it’s a great city to visit if you’re into cities. If you are more of a nature person, Da Nang won’t be so enjoyable.
• Value: 4/5 – compared to some rural areas, Da Nang might feel a bit more expensive, especially in the tourist area. However, there are plenty of street eats available, and lots of inexpensive accommodation.

Overall score: 4.5/5

If you’ve already visited, let me know if you agree with these ratings! Just to note, the ratings are my personal opinion based on my visit, so you might have a completely different experience.

More: how I rank destinations using the Everywhere Ratings system

Where to eat in Da Nang

I have SO MANY recommendations for places to eat in Da Nang. As they’re quite spread out across the city, I’ve split them up by location.

Near the Han River

• Bun Cha Chao Ba is a great option for all of you craving a bun cha fix. (Bun cha is a BBQ pork broth served with noodles and greens for dipping – so tasty!) It tasted like the bun cha in Hanoi and was reasonably priced, so we were happy.
• Com Nha 12 Trang was a comfortable meal which we thoroughly enjoyed!
• There are plenty of other Western restaurants in this area which have great reviews, but are a bit pricier than the local food.

Near My Khe beach

• Bikini Bottom Express does classic burgers. They’re ultra greasy but oh so satisfying! They also do all day breakfast if you fancy pancakes or an English muffin.
• Mom’s Kitchen by Chickpea Eatery is a restaurant serving vegan classic Vietnamese dishes. I am not vegan by any stretch, but eating at Mom’s Kitchen made me want to become one. The dishes were so tasty and were priced well too!

Near the city centre

• Mr Anh is a slightly fancier restaurant serving local food. The food’s quite tasty and they sometimes have a buffet. It’s close to Con Market which is worth visiting in itself!

Near the Marble Mountains:

• When visiting the Marble Mountains, we checked out Nha Nau, a classic Vietnamese restaurant. If you visit, ask for their combo menu!

What to do

1. Watch the Dragon Bridge

Da Nang is a city of bridges. You’ll find four main bridges crossing the Han River, and any trip you take across the city will ultimately involve crossing one of them.

The most famous bridge is the Dragon Bridge, so-called because it’s designed to look like a dragon. It has nice views across the river and is worth looking at if nothing else!

However, Dragon Bridge is most known for one oddity: the dragon spitting fire! This only happens at the weekend at 9 pm.

To be honest, when going to watch it, I was expecting a proper spectacle. This wasn’t the case in reality. However, it was still very fun and I’m glad we went to watch it!

2. Sunbathe on My Khe beach

If you head to Da Nang, you have to check out the beach. My Khe beach is the most popular stretch for domestic and international tourists.

We found My Khe Beach to be pleasant for a city beach. It was generally clean and there’s a lot of space for people to sit in that isn’t occupied by resorts or bars. In the week it was very quiet and made for a peaceful few hours!

Technically you can surf at the beach, depending on the season. When we visited in mid-October I wasn’t convinced by the wave quality, but how much this depends on the season or daily weather, I’m not sure. Either way there are lifeguard stations dotted along the beach and the water at these points looked fine to swim in!

In the afternoon, particularly further north of My Khe, keep an eye out for fishermen bringing in trawler nets. They often have five or six people working to bring these heavy nets in, and we found it impressive to watch.

3. Climb the Marble Mountains 

Another famous landmark in Da Nang is the Marble Mountains. These are a set of five karst hills on the south side of the city, which seemingly rise out of nowhere – the rest of the city is very flat!

The mountains were considered a holy site to the Nguyen dynasty (which also founded the imperial capital at Hue), who built a series of pagodas and temples on the top of the peaks and within the caves present.

It just takes a couple of hours to visit the Marble Mountains and you can combine them with a trip to Hoi An.

4. Explore Ba Na Hills

Possibly the most popular attraction in Da Nang is the Ba Na Hills. It’s so popular that many people skipping Da Nang will make the trip from Hoi An to see it!

Ba Na Hills is a SunWorld amusement park which can only be accessed by cable car. Inside the complex, you’ll find the most photographed site in Da Nang: the Golden Hands Bridge. Although a recent build, it captured the hearts of many people (and the lenses of many Instagrammers). It’s very popular to take photos here.

Golden Hands Bridge is pretty but crowded and not as spectacular as it looks in the photos. You’ve been warned!

Elsewhere in Ba Na Hills, you’ll find rides, theatres, a French style village, pagodas and gardens. It takes a full day to explore – and with a 900,000 dong ($37 / £29) price tag, it’s worth making the most of it!

Tip: there are several companies running shuttle buses from Da Nang if you don’t want to take a taxi. If you can drive a scooter, it’s also worth doing this as most tours leave between 3 and 4 pm, so you can get quieter time later in the afternoon!

5. Visit Ling Unh Pagoda

Another iconic monument of Da Nang is the Lady Buddha statue. Located within the Ling Unh Pagoda complex on the Son Tra Peninsula, you can see it far in the distance from My Khe Beach!

The whole complex is super impressive, with several temples and shrines available to explore over a 20 hectare area. For budget backpackers, you’ll be pleased to know it’s free.

I really enjoyed my visit. We stayed until dark to see the statue and surrounding area lit up and are so glad we did. The views of the beach and city are fantastic from the pagoda as well.

Just make sure to leave before it’s properly dark if you’re getting a taxi. By the time we left (around 6 pm), there were no public taxis around and it was too far away from the city to call a Grab!

6. Take a cooking class

Plenty of cooking classes are available throughout Vietnam. If you haven’t taken one already, Da Nang is a great place to do so, with several cooking classes on offer.

We took a cooking class with Jolie Da Nang Cooking Class and really enjoyed it. We began at 9 am, getting a coffee and visiting Han Market to get fruit and veg, then heading back to Jolie’s house to make four dishes. It was a fun experience, and the cooks were super friendly!

The main benefit of doing a cooking class in Da Nang is that the city is largely not touristy, so you can get a more “local” experience, visiting less touristy markets and attractions.

7. Go to “Santorini”

It’s popular for tourists to visit Son Tra Marina, a restaurant and marina on the Son Tra Peninsula. The place has been designed in a Greek style, with white-washed walls and blue accents. Hence, it’s often referred to as a chance to experience Santorini in Vietnam.

We only had time to visit in the dark, on the way back from Linh Ung Pagoda (itself a 30 min walk away). It’s pretty, don’t get me wrong, but I doubt European tourists would find it impressive. The real Greece is much better and anyone who’s visited will find this a parody of the real thing.

I personally wouldn’t consider this to be a must-do in the city. Perhaps save it for if you run out of things to do!

8. Head outside the city to My Son Sanctuary

My Son Sanctuary is a Cham temple complex located 1 hours’ drive from Da Nang. As a UNESCO heritage site which reflects an important area within the Champa Kingdom, it’s a popular attraction for visitors to the area.

It’s fairly easy to visit My Son as a day trip from Da Nang, although taxis from the city don’t work out cheap. To save money, you might want to take a shuttle bus (a couple are available), or save it for Hoi An, where shuttle buses to My Son are more common.

9. Go to a market

Da Nang is home to several big markets. Some are relatively touristy; others are less so.

Han Market is the most touristy market. It’s located close to the Dragon Bridge and includes souvenir stalls, so it’s more accessible to tourists than other markets in the city.

Alternatively, head to Con Market, one of the biggest in the city. This market is much less touristy and was pretty exciting (and eye-opening) to visit. You won’t believe the prices of some of the items – I certainly didn’t!

10. Indulge in city activities

If you’re on a longer trip through Vietnam, Da Nang is a good place to pick up essentials. It has all the amenities you’d expect from a large city, with a range of markets, supermarkets and malls, as well as cafes and restaurants.

As most areas are targeted at locals (with the exception of areas around the river and My Khe Beach), you’ll find prices are generally more reasonable than those in other tourist towns.

Conclusion

Da Nang, one of the biggest cities in Vietnam, is well worth a visit in my opinion. As a relaxed city with reasonable prices, a great beach and plenty of nearby attractions, it’s a good place to spend a few days.

Do you have any questions about visiting Da Nang? Let me know in the comments!

Visiting Vietnam on a longer trip? Check out my guides to other Vietnamese destinations: Cat Ba, Tam Coc (Ninh Binh), Phong Nha, Hue & Ho Chi Minh City