Da Nang, sorted before you land.
The Golden Bridge, the Marble Mountains, Hoi An after the lanterns come on, the Hai Van Pass by motorbike. What each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven bookings that carry the trip.
First visit or fifth, these are the ones that fill a Da Nang week: the giant stone hands of the Golden Bridge, a lantern night down in Hoi An, and a plate of mi quang where the locals actually queue.
Lady Buddha, Marble Mountains, and Am Phu Cave Tour
A half-day Da Nang tour to Lady Buddha, Marble Mountains, and Am Phu Cave, plus Monkey Mountain views, a local lunch, and handy transport.
From $23 per person
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★ 4.1Traveller favouriteHan River Local Cruise by NightFrom $61,152 reviews
★ 5.0Books out fastBa Na Hills and Golden Bridge TourFrom $66938 reviews
★ 5.0Crowd favouriteDa Nang & Hoi An: Food, Sightseeing, Culture & Hidden GemsFrom $72806 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the early startMarble Mountains – Am Phu Cave – Monkey Mountain Sunset tourFrom $22781 reviews
★ 5.0Easy winBa Na Hills with Golden Bridge Private TourFrom $75708 reviews
★ 5.0Local pickMarble Mountains – Hoi An Ancient Town Sunset Daily Ingroup TourFrom $33690 reviews
Up the mountain, onto the Golden Bridge.
The cable car climbs out of the coastal heat into Ba Na Hills, where two giant stone hands lift a ribbon of gold clear above the cloud. Add the French Village and the flower gardens, leave early to beat the queues, and you are back in the city by dinner. This is the day people fly in for.
Which day trip comes first?
Da Nang is the base; the best days are the ones you drive out for. Three that every first-timer weighs up, each already reviewed and priced, so you can pick the one that sounds like your kind of day.
Lanterns after dark
The lantern town
from $85 · 142 reviews
Forty minutes south, Hoi An swaps traffic for a car-free old town of tailors, teahouses and silk lanterns strung over the river. Go late and the whole place glows, a candle-boat drifting under the Japanese Bridge. The easiest, prettiest day you will book.
See the Hoi An day trips →
Over the pass
The imperial capital
from $43 · 362 reviews
The old Nguyen capital sits beyond the Hai Van Pass, and half the pleasure is the drive: switchbacks, coastline, then the walled Citadel, the royal tombs and the Perfume River. A long day, so pick the version that crosses the pass your way, by car or by train.
See the Hue day trips →
Older than Angkor
The jungle temples
from $75 · 109 reviews
An hour inland, red-brick Cham towers stand in a green valley, carved a thousand years ago and half-taken back by jungle. Quieter than the coast and best done early, before the heat. Some tours float you home to Hoi An by river afterwards.
See the My Son tours →
The Dragon Bridge breathes fire.
On Saturday and Sunday nights the great steel dragon over the Han River lets go with fire and water, and the whole waterfront turns out to watch. Ride the riverside by cyclo, drift past on a dinner cruise, then follow the smell of grilling seafood into the night market.
Eat where the locals queue.
Da Nang eats big and cheap: mi quang thick with turmeric, banh xeo crackling off the pan, seafood landed that morning. Best found on foot or on the back of a scooter, with someone who knows which stall to stop at.
Take the coast road by motorbike.
The Hai Van Pass climbs the headland in switchbacks a certain TV crew called one of the best roads anywhere. Ride it pillion behind an Easy Rider, or tour the city by Ao Dai motorbike with a local at the handlebars. No licence needed, just hold on.
A mountain full of caves and pagodas.
Five marble peaks rise straight out of the suburbs, named for the elements and hollowed with shrines. Climb Thuy Son past the pagodas to the lookout over My Khe beach, then drop into the Am Phu cave, where a shaft of daylight falls through the dark onto a carved vision of heaven and hell.
Every corner worth a morning.
The Golden Bridge for the photo. The Marble Mountains for the caves. Son Tra for the Lady Buddha and the view. Hoi An once the lanterns come on.
Know the kind of day you want?
Twelve ways to spend a day here: out on the water, in a kitchen, up a mountain road, or deep in a cave. Pick the one that sounds like you, every option behind it already reviewed and priced.
Six roads out of Da Nang.
One base, and the whole of central Vietnam within reach. Imperial Hue over one pass, the lantern town of Hoi An the other way, ancient Cham towers inland, and an island of coral just offshore.
Three days on this coast.
You can’t see all of central Vietnam in one trip, but three days out of Da Nang cover the best of it. Here is the order we would hand a friend landing at the airport tomorrow.
Day 1
Settle into the city
Ease in gently: the Marble Mountains and their caves while it is still cool, the Lady Buddha on Son Tra for the view, then the riverside once the Dragon Bridge lights up.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Up to the Golden Bridge
The big one. Cable car into Ba Na Hills, the two giant hands and their golden walkway, the French Village and gardens up top. Leave early, and keep the afternoon loose.
Plan day two →
Day 3
An evening in Hoi An
Spend the day among Hoi An’s tailors and teahouses, then stay for the part everyone remembers: the old town lantern-lit, a candle boat on the river, the walk back over the Japanese Bridge.
Plan day three →
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