Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge, priced honestly
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Ba Na Hills is a French village on a Vietnamese mountain, built in this century, reached by a record-breaking cable car, and photographed more than almost anything else in the country. Whether it is worth a day depends on what you think you are buying.
What is Ba Na Hills?
Ba Na Hills is a hilltop resort and theme park at about 1,400 metres, 25 km west of Da Nang, built on the site of a French hill station abandoned in the 1940s. The modern version opened in stages from 2009 and is run as a single ticketed park.
The centrepiece since 2018 is the Golden Bridge: a 150-metre walkway held up by two enormous stone hands, standing above the cloud line on a clear morning. It was designed to look ancient and is younger than most smartphones.
Around it sit a reconstructed French village, gardens, a wine cellar, a funicular, an indoor games hall and several restaurants. None of it is old and none of it pretends to be Vietnamese.
| What | What it is |
|---|---|
| Cable car | 5,801 m long, about 1,368 m of climb, 20 minutes |
| Golden Bridge | 150 m walkway, opened 2018, at about 1,400 m |
| French village | Built this century, restaurants and shops |
| Ticket | Roughly 900,000–1,000,000 dong, includes the cable car |
| Time needed | Half a day at speed, a full day as sold |
What does the ticket actually buy?
An adult ticket runs about 900,000 to 1,000,000 dong and covers the cable car both ways plus the park's attractions. At roughly 26,000 dong to the US dollar that is 35 to 40 dollars, and it is the most expensive single admission in central Vietnam.
Food and drink are extra and priced like a theme park. A meal at the top costs several times what the same plate costs in Da Nang, which the trip cost guide puts in context.
Children are cheaper and small children are free below a height limit checked at the gate. Tickets bought through a hotel or a tour usually bundle the transfer, which is worth comparing against a Grab.
How do you get there?
Ba Na Hills sits 25 km west of Da Nang, which is about 40 minutes by road. A car or Grab runs 300,000 to 500,000 dong each way, and shuttle buses run from hotels in Da Nang and Hoi An.
From Hoi An the journey is nearer an hour and a half each way, which turns the visit into a full day. The Da Nang things to do page lists what else fits around it.
Drivers wait in the car park for the return leg on an agreed time. Arranging that before you go up is easier than finding a ride at five in the afternoon with two thousand other people.
When should you arrive?
Take the first cable car, at about eight in the morning. The bridge is nearly empty for the first hour, the light is better, and the cloud has often not yet risen over the ridge.
Coaches arrive from ten and the park fills through the middle of the day. By midday the bridge is a shuffling queue and the photographs everybody has seen are impossible to take.
Season matters as much as the hour. February to August gives the best odds of a clear ridge; from September to November the typhoon season puts the top inside a cloud for days at a time.
What is it actually like up there?
Ba Na Hills is a well-run theme park with a spectacular approach. The cable car ride over forest and waterfalls is genuinely impressive, the bridge is worth the walk, and the rest is a French-themed shopping street with a games arcade attached.
The temperature drops about ten degrees from the coast, which catches people out in December and January. A layer in the bag is worth the space, as the packing guide says about the highlands generally.
Queues run at every attraction in the middle of the day, including the funicular and the restaurants. The park is busiest at weekends and on the dates the public holidays guide lists.
Who should skip it?
Anybody looking for old Vietnam should spend the day elsewhere. Ba Na Hills invents nothing and hides nothing — it is a theme park — but a traveller who came for temples, markets and street kitchens will find none of that here.
The Marble Mountains, 9 km south of Da Nang, cost a fraction as much and are the real thing. My Son is the Cham temple site, and Hoi An's old town is the heritage day.
Families with children under twelve, on the other hand, usually rate it the best day of the trip. That is the honest split.
Can you do it in half a day?
Half a day works if you take the first car up and leave by one. Two hours covers the bridge, the gardens and one walk through the village, and the cable car eats forty minutes of the total.
The park is sold as a full day and priced as one, so leaving early costs nothing extra. Nobody checks how long you stay.
Combining it with anything else in the same day is a stretch. The Da Nang page sets out what a sensible day either side of this one looks like.
FAQ
What is Ba Na Hills?
A hilltop resort and theme park about 25 km west of Da Nang, built around a French-style village at 1,400 metres and reached by cable car. The Golden Bridge, held up by two giant stone hands, opened there in 2018 and is what most visitors come for.
How much does Ba Na Hills cost?
Around 900,000 dong to 1,000,000 dong for an adult ticket, which includes the cable car and the park attractions but not food or the funicular add-ons. At roughly 26,000 dong to the US dollar that is 35 to 40 dollars, which makes it the most expensive single attraction in central Vietnam.
Is Ba Na Hills worth visiting?
Worth it for the cable car ride and the bridge, and not worth it for the theme park if you dislike crowds or pastiche. Families and photographers usually leave happy; travellers looking for old Vietnam do not. The honest answer is that it is a day out rather than a cultural site.
When should you go to Ba Na Hills?
On the first cable car of the morning, around eight, and on a clear day between February and August. Cloud sits on the ridge for much of the year, tour groups arrive from about ten, and the bridge is shoulder to shoulder by midday.
How do you get to Ba Na Hills from Da Nang?
About 25 km west, which is 40 minutes by car or Grab and costs roughly 300,000 to 500,000 dong each way. Shuttle buses and packaged tours run from Da Nang and Hoi An hotels, and the price usually includes the entrance ticket.
How long is the Ba Na Hills cable car?
The longest line runs 5,801 metres and climbs about 1,368 metres, both of which held Guinness records when it opened. The ride takes about 20 minutes each way and is the part of the day most people remember.