Da Nang

Da Nang is the airport people fly into for Hoi An, and that framing costs it a fair hearing. The city has 30 km of beach, a river lined with lit bridges, and mountains 25 km inland. Almost every itinerary passes through it at speed.

Everything on the site about the city is collected here.

What is Da Nang for?

A beach, at city prices, with an airport fifteen minutes away. My Khe runs as a long arc of white sand down the eastern side of the city. Unlike most Vietnamese beach destinations, it has a working city attached rather than a resort strip.

The practical consequence is unusual. You can land, be at the sand in fifteen minutes, and eat dinner somewhere that is not priced for holidaymakers. Nowhere else on the coast makes that as easy.

Where should you stay?

Beachfront for the swimming, riverside for the evenings. The two strips are about ten minutes apart and the choice decides what is outside the door.

The beach side, along Vo Nguyen Giap, is hotels and seafood restaurants facing the water. Quiet in a good way, and the sunrise is genuinely worth the early alarm.

The riverside, around the Han, puts you near the bridges, the night markets and the city's own restaurants. Cheaper, busier, and better if you want Da Nang rather than a beach holiday that happens to be in it.

What is worth doing in the city?

The bridges at night, the Marble Mountains in the morning, the beach in between. None of it takes a full day, which is why two nights covers the city comfortably.

The Dragon Bridge breathes fire and then water on Saturday and Sunday at 9pm, for about twenty minutes. It is free and there is no ticket. Stand on the riverbank rather than on the bridge itself, and arrive twenty minutes early.

The Marble Mountains are five marble and limestone outcrops 9 km south, full of caves and pagodas, climbable in a morning. They sit on the road to Hoi An, so they cost you nothing extra on a transfer day.

Is Ba Na Hills worth it?

Yes if you want the Golden Bridge, no if you want the mountains. The site is 25 km west and about an hour each way, with a cable car for the last stretch.

What is up there is honest about itself. A French-styled hill station rebuilt as a theme park, with gardens, replicas and rides. The Golden Bridge is the reason people come — a 150-metre walkway carried by two vast stone hands, and it photographs exactly as advertised.

Go early. The bridge is narrow, the queues build through the morning, and the cloud that makes the photographs dramatic also arrives most afternoons.

Should you base here or in Hoi An?

Da Nang if you want a city and a beach, Hoi An if you want the old town. They are 45 minutes apart, so either works as a base for both. The decision is about which one you want to walk out into after dinner.

Our Hoi An hub makes the case for the other side. The old town after the day trippers leave is the thing worth having a room near. Da Nang's equivalent argument is the sunrise on My Khe and a dinner bill that is half the price.

On a ten-day route through the country, Da Nang is where the train from Hue arrives and where the flight south leaves. Building a night into that transit is the cheapest upgrade available on the whole itinerary.

How long does Da Nang need?

Two nights, three with Ba Na Hills. One night is what most trips give it, and one night is a transfer with a bed in it rather than a stop.

For the detail, where to stay in Da Nang covers the choice between the beach strip and the city side, and things to do in Da Nang ranks what is actually worth the day.

If the choice is between this coast and the one further south, Da Nang or Nha Trang is the comparison. For a month rather than a week, the city is also the country's main base for working remotely.