Things to do in Da Lat, past the swan boats

Da Lat markets itself on swan pedalos and a heart-shaped tunnel of flowers, which is why plenty of visitors leave underwhelmed. The things to do in Da Lat that repay a day are mostly outside the town.

What should you actually do here?

Canyoning, a waterfall, a farm and the night market. The Da Lat hub covers the town, the cold and what it costs, and where to stay in Da Lat covers which area puts the evening in walking distance; this page is how to fill two days.

Is the canyoning the real draw?

Yes, and it is the best adrenaline activity in the country. The standard trip at Datanla abseils down rock faces and beside waterfalls, with a couple of jumps and a natural water slide.

Check the operator's licence rather than the price. There have been fatal accidents here with unlicensed guides, and the difference between a good outfit and a cheap one is the equipment and the ratio of guides to guests. This is not the place to save 200,000 dong.

Which waterfall should you pick?

Pongour, 45 km south, if you have half a day. It is the widest in the region, spilling over tiers of basalt, and it is at its best in the weeks after the rains stop.

Elephant Falls, 30 km southwest, is closer and louder, reached down a staircase that is genuinely slippery in the wet. Datanla is fifteen minutes from town, busiest of the three, and where the alpine coaster and the canyoning are.

What about the coffee?

Worth a morning. Lam Dong province grows more arabica than anywhere else in Vietnam, which makes Da Lat the one place in the country where the coffee in the cup is not robusta.

Arabica is a real difference rather than a marketing one, and the coffee guide explains what it means in the glass. Several farms run tours, including the weasel coffee operations, which are worth deciding about on your own terms.

For the robusta side of the industry, Buon Ma Thuot is four to five hours north and a working coffee town rather than a resort.

Is the Crazy House worth it?

For twenty minutes. It is a guesthouse built as a concrete fantasy of caves, tree trunks and animal rooms, and it is genuinely unlike anything else.

The Crazy House is also small, crowded and photographed to death. Go early, walk it once, leave. The same applies to most of the town's built attractions, which is why this page spends its words on the country outside.

What is the night market for?

Food, mostly. Da Lat's night market runs down the steps below the central square and sells grilled corn, banh trang nuong — a rice-paper pizza that is a local speciality — and hot soy milk, which makes more sense here than anywhere else in Vietnam because it is genuinely cold.

The what to eat guide covers where the country's dishes belong; this is one of the few markets where the climate changes what is sold.

Where do the flowers go?

To Hanoi and Saigon, overnight, by the truckload. Da Lat grows most of Vietnam's cut flowers, and the greenhouses on the way into town supply the wholesale flower markets that trade in both cities while everyone is asleep.

When is Da Lat at its best?

November to April. The plateau sits at about 1,500 m and stays between roughly 14 and 23°C all year, which is why Vietnamese holidaymakers fill it and why you should pack a jacket.

May to October brings heavy afternoon rain, which closes the canyoning more often than it closes anything else. Weekends and public holidays fill the town year-round — the month-by-month guide covers the seasons and Phan Rang, three hours down the Ngoan Muc pass, is the dry-country contrast.