To welcome the Year of The Dragon and celebrate Art’s birthday this year, we took a week-long trip to Vietnam, traveling from Manila to Hanoi and departing from Da Nang back to Manila. In case you didn’t know, Cebu Pacific flies nonstop to Da Nang from Manila, making this destination more accessible for Filipino travelers. The airline launched direct flights here starting December 2023.

The largest city in Central Vietnam lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Han River. With its wide beach right in the city, scenic river, amazing café culture, and convenient location near tourist hubs, Da Nang offers a great all-year travel destination in Vietnam.

While we’ve previously been to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and thought we knew what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised by Da Nang’s mix of historic and modern attractions. Our visit was right before Lunar New Year, so preparations were in full swing, with lots of flowers and decorative lanterns put up in sites we visited.

Compared to Hanoi and Saigon, it was less crowded in Da Nang and the city felt more laidback, compact, and easy to navigate with its wide streets and pedestrian-friendly riverside areas. It was a convenient and affordable place to base for day trips to other top attractions like Bana Hills, Hue and Hoi An.

In case you’re interested in visiting Da Nang soon, here are some travel tips I can share including things to do, where to stay, where to eat, and possible itineraries in Da Nang based on our trip last February 2024.

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Things to do/where to go in Da Nang

Dragon Bridge

One of Danang’s most iconic landmarks in the city is the Dragon Bridge, a modern bridge designed and built in the shape of a dragon rising from the sea.

This bridge spanning the Han River is said to be the longest one in Vietnam. Aside for providing a convenient link for vehicles to the beach area and eastern part of the city, pedestrians and cyclists can also cross this bridge by bike and on foot. 

This Dragon Bridge actually breathes fire and water every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at 9 pm, which you can watch for FREE. If you happen to visit on a weekend, you can catch the display from the riverbanks near the dragon’s head. The best places to enjoy the fire and water show are right along the Dragon Bridge itself, on Bach Dang Street, and on Tran Hung Dao Street.

There’s a vibrant night market with al fresco dining, riverfront pubs, cafes, and restaurants near the bridge on the Dragon’s head side. 

Han River

Take a leisurely cruise along the Han River passing four different bridges: the Han River Bridge, the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, the Dragon Bridge, and the quiet Thuan Phuoc Bridge, which opens to the sea. 

The 45-minute to 1-hour long cruise includes a short performance by a Champa dancer and complimentary fruits and water on board. Some boats also offer dinner buffets for an additional fee. The best time to book this is at 8:00 pm on Saturday or Sunday night, as the boats will stop for the dragon fire and water spitting show. 

COST: 150,000 VND per ticket or 6 USD per adult

My Khe Beach

My Khe Beach is a scenic white sand public beach with a 10-kilometer stretch of coastline, where you can enjoy sightseeing, sunbathing, swimming, and parasailing. This beach, just a 10 minute drive from the city center, is a great place to bike, jog, or dine along the beachfront restaurants. From the beach, you can get a view of the Marble Mountains and Buddha statue, which you can get up close to on day tours.

Since our hotel offered free bikes for guests, we decided to ride around the riverside areas, check out a part of the beach, crossing the Dragon Bridge on the way back. Unlike Hanoi, which seemed a bit scary to bike around because of the volume of motorbikes, it felt safer to bike here because of the wide streets and designated bike lanes. You can actually bike all the way to Hoi An from the city center (if your bikes are in good condition).

From the beach, we got a view of Linh Ung Pagoda, the tallest statue of Buddha in Vietnam standing on a hill. Da Nang day tours usually include visits here, along with  the Marble Mountains and stops at shops selling stone sculptures.

Hue 

From Da Nang, you can go on a day trip to visit the former capital city of Hue and visit several important historical sites.

The city tours usually cover three main stops: Khai Dinh Tomb, Pagoda and the Hue Citadel, recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1993 as part of the Complex of Hue Monuments. 

COST: 1,000,000 VND or 45 USD per adult for small group tours (inclusive of transfer by good-conditioned coach, good english speaking guide, lunch, entrance fees for sightseeing , mineral water). Kids under 1m are free of charge (shared lunch).

Hoi An

If there’s one place you have to visit from Da Nang, it’s Hoi An. This city on Vietnam’s central coast is known for its well-preserved Ancient Town, cut through with canals.

This amazing walking town reflects the former port city’s melting-pot history through its architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shophouses and temples along with delightful French colonial buildings and cafes. 

While Hoi An is pretty during the day, it comes alive at night with all the lanterns fully on lit up along the streams. Find a cafe where you can sit down with a glass of iced coffee or cozy craft beer bar hidden in the alleyways, and shop for souvenir lanterns and coffee as you walk around this magical-looking ancient town.

COST: Guided tours are offered from Da Nang, but since Hoi An is very walkable, it’s better to just book transport to and from there and go around on your own. The best time to go is around 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm and you can stay until around 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Tickets to enter cost 120,000 VND, inclusive of entrance ot 5 sightseeing places (museums, folk art performance, etc.).

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Golden Bridge

Danang’s poster image often shows a Golden Bridge being held up by the “Hands of God.” This 150-meter long pedestrian bridge, which opened in June 2018, has become one of the town’s top tourist attractions. The bridge provides a scenic overlooking spot above the clouds.

The Golden Bridge is located in located within Ba Na Hills Resort or Sun World Ba Na Hills, a hill station and resort located in the mountains near Da Nang. The hill station was originally founded in 1919 by French colonists as a leisure destination for French tourists. Since the site is located 1,500 meters above sea level, the area provides a view of the East Sea and surrounding mountains. Due to the higher elevation, the temperature here is generally cooler than the area near the coast.

Ba Na Hills cable car

Getting to the Golden Bridge involves riding one of the world’s most extreme cable car systems, which is a worthy experience in itself. The Ba Na Hills Cable car is 5.8 kilometer long cable car system which offers amazing views over the Ba Na Hills.

This cable car system holds 4 Guinness records, including being the longest one-wire cable car in the world and having the highest difference between the arrival and departure stations (reaching 1,368.93m). Riding will take about 15 minutes at a speed of 6 m/s. You literally float through the clouds while going up by cable car.

Sun World Ba Na Hills

The Golden Bridge is just a small part of a larger Ba Na Hills resort complex up in the mountains, which also contains a Fairy Tale-styled French village, Le sprawling gardens, and historic monuments. 

Points of interest include the Linh Ung Pagoda, a 27 meter high Buddha statue, the L’Jardin Zone with its French architecture, gardens, french stable, a wine cellar where you can go wine tasting, one hundred year old pomelo trees, and old villas. 

From the Golden Bridge, you can take a second cable car system up to Nui Cha Peak, the rooftop of Da Nang City, where you can find a massive amusement park complex, including a large buffet restaurant where you can enjoy a filling meal. 

Sun World, with its castle-like structures, funicular ride, and single roller coaster, is one of the most modern indoor game centers in Asia. Though some areas still seemed to be still under construction during our visit, there’s a lot to take in here. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a theme park of this massive scale in Vietnam replicating Notre Dame Church, and other structures.

If you’re traveling with kids, you’ll want to include this in your itinerary.

COST: Travel agencies offer day tours that include transport to and from Ba Na Hills by chartered coach, the cable car ride, entrance fees to main attractions, and buffet lunch for 1,530,000 VND or 60 USD per pax. The price for the cable car ride for adults is 900,000 VND or 36 USD. There are other non-buffet dining options available in the theme park.

Museums and other landmarks

If you’re into history and still have time to spare, there are a number of museums and other landmarks/spots you can visit around Danang including the Pink Cathedral, the Cham Museum of Sculpture, the Da Nang Museum of Fine Art, and the Han Market in the city center for souvenir shopping.

What and where to eat in Danang

Food-tripping is one of the best things to do anywhere in Vietnam, and Da Nang has lots of great cafes where you can sample traditional and modern Vietnamese cuisine. Sample street eats, enjoy the coffee culture, or take your pick from the many roadside cafes and bars. Aside from the breakfast buffet at our hotel, and meals in other areas during tours, here are just a few restaurants and and standout dishes we got to try.

Thien Kim: A family-style restaurant along the main road facing the Danang River. I loved their Com Ga Hoi An (Vietnamese Chicken Rice), a flavorful rice dish topped with Vietnamese coriander and mint.

We also got to try Mi Quang, a dish that consists of flat rice noodles to be mixed with broth with a choice of protein. Everything is tossed together with Vietnamese herb and topped with roasted peanuts, rice crackers and chili.. 

In Nha Bep Cho Han, I tried the Bánh xèo (Vietnamese Pancakes), a savory Vietnamese crepe filled with either pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, spring onions and mung beans. This was served with Nem lui or pork skewers, made from minced pork, salt, pepper, pork skin, wrapped around a stick of lemongrass. We also tried Larue Beer, a localized version of Tiger Beer.

An Thoi was a homey restaurant that served good seafood dishes along with traditional Vietnamese flair. Da Nang is known for its seafood, and we enhjoyed crispy shrimp, grilled scallops, and baked oysters here. The oysters and scallops are typically grilled with scallions, crispy fried shallots and topped with crushed roasted peanuts.

We also had coffee at Joy Cafe, a modern cafe near the Ho Chan market that serves coconut coffee, salt coffee and pastries.

Beer for P’s is a craft beer bar overlooking the Han River that specializes in pizza, cheese, and sustainably produced beer, with interesting brews such as a Dalat Whey Stout and Burrata Wheat Sour Ale Sour.

Where to stay in Da Nang

Sun River Hotel

For this trip, we stayed in Sun River Hotel, a hotel overlooking the scenic Han River and the Dragon Bridge. Located in central Da Nang, the hotel is about a 10 minute taxi ride from the Da Nang International Airport and another 10-minute drive from Danang Beach.

 24-hour room service and free Wi-Fi are available. The comfortable rooms are decorated in a modern style and feature great views of the river, city or mountains. The Deluxe Riverfront rooms are comfortable enough, but if you want more space, opt for their luxury corner rooms for the best view. 

The hotel offers early free check in (as long as rooms are available), a wide buffet breakfast, and has a spa on the top floor with an amazing view at night. They offer bicycles free of charge so guests can explore the city at their leisure. The Hotel Sun River restaurant serves Asian and Western dishes with views of Da Nang and the Han River.

Cocktails and other refreshments can be enjoyed at Bar and Coffee on the top floor. There’s also a nice spa at the top floor where you can get a view of the river while getting foot massages.

Check out room rates and book stays at Sun River Hotel in Da Nang here.

Getting there and around (for Filipino travelers)

If you only have 3-4 days to spare, the new flights from Manila to Danang via Cebu Pacific make it a worthy destination on its own. Direct flights from Manila to Danang depart 3 times a week only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and take 3 hours (with a one hour time difference). Flights depart from Manila at 7:30 pm and arrive at 9:30 pm, while return flights depart of 10:30 pm and arrive at 2:20 am the next day.

If you have more time, you can also combine trips here with other major hubs in Vietnam or other nearby Asian countries. Land and rail travel from Danang to other major hubs is possible. For this trip, we flew first to Hanoi, then took a VietJet flight from Hanoi to Danang, then flew out of Danang. Since the return flight departs late, you actually still have a full day to go around. We opted for late check out at the hotel, or stash luggage first while maximizing the day.

Once we were in Da Nang, we mostly just walked to get around. It’s easy enough to hail taxis or even rickshaws to go to main hubs. You can also make use of the app-based bikes along the riverside. For day trips to Hue and Ba Na Hills, we booked tours that include chartered vans or buses. For Hoi An, we hired a private van to drop us off and pick us up at designated times. We asked help from the hotel for most of the transport arrangements including arranging a taxi to the airport for return flight.

I’ll try to write more in-depth guides about the specific destinations like Hue, Hoi An, and Ba Na Hills in future articles, but hopefully these general travel tips will give readers an idea of what to expect.