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Da Nang itinerary: how to spend 1 or 2 days

This plan suits a short stop between Hue and Hoi An or a beach break with some sightseeing. Stay near My Khe Beach for the sea, or in the centre near the Han River for the market and the Dragon Bridge; the airport and the station are both about 5 km from the bridge. Vietnam Tourism names March to May and September to October as the warm, sunny months for the beach; from October to February rain can pause visits to the Son Tra Peninsula at short notice. Time a night here for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, when the Dragon Bridge breathes fire at 21:00. For Ba Na Hills, watch the forecast, keep a clear day for it and be at the lower station for the first cable cars at 08:00.

On this page
  1. How many days
  2. Day 1
  3. Day 2
  4. Tips
  5. Sources

How many days

  • 1 day: Day 1

    The city in one long day: My Khe at sunrise, the Marble Mountains, the Cham museum, Han Market, Linh Ung Pagoda and, from Friday to Sunday, the Dragon Bridge show; it leaves out Ba Na Hills.

  • 2 days: Days 1 to 2

    Adds Ba Na Hills as a full day: the cable car, the Golden Bridge early, the French Village and gardens, and a seafood or duck-porridge dinner back by the beach.

Day 1

My Khe, the Marble Mountains, Han Market and the Dragon Bridge

Beach at sunrise, the Marble Mountains as soon as they open, then the museum, lunch and the market in the centre before the midday heat. Late afternoon at Linh Ung Pagoda on Son Tra, seafood by the beach and the bridge show at 21:00 on Friday to Sunday.

05:30 to about 20:30 · 9 stops · entry fees VND 100,000 a person

1234567895 km
Numbers follow the plan below; solid lines by road, dotted on foot, dashed by boat, train or cable car. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Natural Earth.
  1. 05:301
    Wide pale sand and gentle surf at My Khe Beach, with hotel towers and palm trees on the left and mountains across the water

    Do · 1 h 15 min

    Sunrise swim at My Khe Beach

    Cost: Free; fresh-water showers and deck chairs cost extra

    Vietnam Tourism's first suggestion for Da Nang is a swim at sunrise on My Khe. From 1 October 2026 to 14 March 2027 the lifeguards cover the beach from 05:00 to 07:30 and from 15:00 to 18:30, and ask you to swim only between the buoys or the red and yellow flags. On rough days stay on the sand. Look north for the white Lady Buddha on the Son Tra hillside, where you will be this afternoon.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: My Khe Beach

    Image: Christophe95 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    About 10 min walk, 0.8 km. Along the beach road.

  2. 06:452

    Eat · 30 min

    Breakfast on the beach road

    Cost: Street breakfast; prices vary

    Dry off and eat close to the sand before the drive south. Vietnam Tourism says Da Nang's street food is famous across the country, from mi Quang noodles to grilled banh trang rolls, and the beach road, Vo Nguyen Giap, has fresh-water showers and parking along it. Keep it quick: the Marble Mountains open at 07:00 and are best before the heat.

    About 15 min by taxi or Grab, 9.7 km. About 11 km south.

  3. 07:353
    Inside Huyen Khong cave: a tall limestone chamber with a stone shrine and a seated Buddha carved into the rock wall

    Sight · 2 h 30 min

    Marble Mountains (Thuy Son)

    Cost: Thuy Son ticket; glass lift VND 15,000 each way and Am Phu cave VND 20,000 extra

    The site opens at 07:00, and the city's tourism office advises arriving before 09:00 in summer to dodge the heat. Buy the Thuy Son ticket at gate 1 or 2; the glass lift saves more than 150 stone steps for VND 15,000. Up top are caves, pagodas and two lookouts, one over the river and one over the sea. Am Phu cave at the foot of the mountain is the add-on worth its own ticket.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Marble Mountains (Ngu Hanh Son)

    Image: Christophe95 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    About 10 min by taxi or Grab, 8.8 km. About 9 km back to the centre.

  4. 10:204
    The yellow colonial-era wings of the Museum of Cham Sculpture around a courtyard with frangipani trees and a stone carving on the lawn

    Sight · 1 h

    Museum of Cham Sculpture

    Cost: Adult; children under 16 free

    Out of the heat and close to the river, the museum holds 12 of Da Nang's 19 national treasures, Champa sculpture from the 5th to the 15th century, with a room for the carvings from My Son. It is open 07:00 to 17:00 every day. Join the museum wifi and open chamaudio.com for the audio guide in English. If you are going to My Son from Hoi An, this is the visit that makes sense of it.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Museum of Cham Sculpture

    Image: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

    About 5 min by taxi or Grab, 3.2 km. About 3 km.

  5. 11:305
    A bowl of bun cha ca: rice noodles with sliced fishcake in a red broth, chopsticks resting on the rim

    Eat · 45 min

    Lunch at Bun Cha Ca 109

    Cost: Michelin rates it a good-value Bib Gourmand; prices at the counter

    The Michelin Guide gives this fishcake noodle shop at 109 Nguyen Chi Thanh a Bib Gourmand and says it has been in business for more than five decades, now run by the third generation. Order the bun cha ca: house-made fried and steamed fishcakes in a broth made sweet and sour with pineapple and tomato, with tuna, mackerel or crab cake as extras. It opens from 06:00 to 22:00 every day.

    Image: Everyday English / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    About 15 min walk, 1 km. About 1 km to Han Market.

  6. 12:306
    Inside Han Market seen from the upper floor: rows of stalls under a high roof, with shoppers on the ground floor

    Market · 1 h

    Han Market

    Cost: Free to walk in

    Da Nang's central market fills a block between Tran Phu and Bach Dang streets, open 06:00 to 19:00 daily. Upstairs and down you will find bolts of silk and linen, ready-made ao dai and tailors, and the region's fermented pastes (mam) in sealed jars beside dried squid and shrimp. Bargaining is normal, so treat the first price as an opening offer. Then go back to your hotel through the hottest hours.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Han Market

    Image: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

    About 15 min by taxi or Grab, 11.1 km. About 11 km across the river to Son Tra.

  7. 16:007
    The ornate three-arched gate of Linh Ung Pagoda at the top of a stone stairway, with Buddhist flags and trees on either side

    Sight · 1 h 30 min

    Linh Ung Pagoda and the Lady Buddha, Son Tra

    Cost: Free

    The pagoda on the Son Tra peninsula is free and open all day; its Lady Buddha, 67 m tall, faces the sea. Take the steps below the statue down to the balcony for the full view of the bay. From October to February the board that runs Son Tra pauses visits in heavy rain, as it did from 8 to 14 October 2026, so check Bao Da Nang the same morning. Do not feed the red-shanked douc langurs if you see them.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Linh Ung Pagoda and the Lady Buddha, Son Tra

    Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

    About 10 min by taxi or Grab, 8.2 km. About 8 km back to the beach road.

  8. 18:008
    Tanks of live shellfish, crabs and fish stacked along a Da Nang seafood restaurant

    Eat · 1 h 30 min

    Seafood dinner at Be Ni 2

    Cost: Seafood priced by weight; ask before they cook

    This Michelin Bib Gourmand at 228 Vo Nguyen Giap, on the beach road, is open around the clock: rice dishes by day and seafood at night. Michelin says most of the shellfish is local and you pick from the live tanks and say how you want it cooked; it singles out the grilled shrimp and the small starters such as quail eggs and boiled peanuts. Ask the price of anything sold by weight before it goes to the kitchen.

    Image: Jpatokal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    About 5 min by taxi or Grab, 3.3 km. About 3 km to the Dragon Bridge.

  9. 20:309
    The Dragon Bridge at night, its arched golden dragon body lit up over the Han River with colored reflections in the water

    Do · 45 min

    Dragon Bridge fire and water show

    Cost: Free; it is a public road bridge

    At 21:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and on major holidays, the dragon breathes fire for two minutes, then sprays water for three. Monday to Thursday you only see the lights. Get there by 20:30 and stand near the head, at the sea end, for the fire; once it stops, step back, because each three-minute water run blasts out 20 cubic metres of spray.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Dragon Bridge (Cau Rong)

    Image: Supanut Arunoprayote / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Day 2

Ba Na Hills for the day

A full day on Chua mountain: the first cable cars, the Golden Bridge before the crowds, the French Village and gardens, and back down in the afternoon for dinner by the beach. Pick a clear day; fog hides the bridge.

06:30 to about 18:30 · 7 stops · entry fees VND 1,000,000 a person

12345675 km
Numbers follow the plan below; solid lines by road, dotted on foot, dashed by boat, train or cable car. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Natural Earth.
  1. 06:301
    A bowl of mi Quang with pork, shrimp, peanuts and a sesame rice cracker

    Eat · 30 min

    Breakfast at Mi Quang Sua Hong Van

    Cost: Prices at the counter

    A Michelin Bib Gourmand at 59 Le Hong Phong in the centre, open from 06:00 to 13:00 and packed with people who come for mi Quang noodles. Michelin describes an orange-red broth made with shrimp, and you choose the toppings: quail egg, pork, shrimp, meatball or springy jellyfish. Eat quickly; the cable cars start at 08:00.

    Image: Jpatokal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    About 25 min by taxi or Grab, 24.5 km. To the Ba Na Hills lower cable car station, 25 to 35 km. Bus 03 runs from the airport bus station in about an hour.

  2. 08:002
    A red Sun World cable car cabin above the forested slopes of Ba Na Hills at dusk, city lights below

    Do · 30 min

    Ba Na Hills cable car

    Cost: Basic ticket for visitors from outside Da Nang: cable car, Golden Bridge and park; children 1 to 1.4 m VND 800,000, under 1 m free

    Cars run from 08:00 and the ride up takes 20 to 25 minutes. The ticket starts with the return cable car and covers the Golden Bridge, the French Village and the gardens; the wine cellar, the light museum, the toboggan and the games cost extra. The operator's guide says 08:00 to 10:00 is the easier window for photos at the bridge and the village, and weekends and peak season are the crowded days.

    Image: Vivu Vietnam / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

    By cable car, 5 km. 20 to 25 minutes up, by the operator's guide.

  3. 08:453
    The gold-railed Golden Bridge curving between two giant stone-textured hands above green forest, with mountains behind

    Sight · 1 h

    Golden Bridge

    Cost: Included in the cable car ticket

    Head straight here off the cable car: a 150 m gold-painted walkway held up by two giant stone hands, opened in June 2018. The Walk My World bloggers found it empty at 07:15 and crowded by 09:00, and noticed that nearly everyone stops at the first hand, by the cable car station, so walk on to the second. If fog rolls in, wait; on their visit it cleared every 15 minutes or so.

    Hours, fees and how to get there: Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

    Image: DvTor8303 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

    Walk. Up to the French Village.

  4. 10:004
    A red funicular train passing a stone castle on the forested slopes of Ba Na Hills

    Sight · 2 h

    French Village and Le Jardin d'Amour

    Cost: Included in the basic ticket

    The mock French village, the gardens of Le Jardin d'Amour, the fantasy park and the pagoda fill the rest of the morning and are included in the basic ticket, so you are not paying again to wander. When the crowds build around the village square, walk over to the pagoda, where the Walk My World bloggers met no one for half an hour. Keep a jacket handy: the park is more than 1,400 m up.

    Image: Hussain Badshah / Unsplash

    Walk. Within the park.

  5. 12:005

    Eat · 1 h

    Lunch on the mountain

    Cost: The combo ticket with a lunch buffet is VND 1,300,000, VND 300,000 more than the basic one

    If you bought the combo ticket, lunch is the buffet; for a family of two adults and a child of 1.2 m the combo adds about VND 267,000 a head over the basic ticket. Otherwise eat at one of the park's restaurants. Leave after lunch rather than staying for the afternoon: the drive and the cable car take three hours or more of the day, and the light at the bridge is best in the morning.

    By cable car, 5.4 km. 20 to 25 minutes down; the operator says the last cars can shift by 15 to 30 minutes with weather and crowds.

  6. 13:306
    Cable car cabins gliding over the forest below Ba Na Hills, cloud hanging over the slopes

    Travel · 1 h 30 min

    Cable car down and back to the city

    Cost: Taxi or Grab by meter

    Ride down and drive back to your hotel for a rest. If you want the evening up on the mountain instead, the Ba Na by Night ticket (VND 1,050,000) runs from 15:00 to 22:00 with a free shuttle from the 2/9 Monument in Da Nang at 14:00, a dinner buffet and a litre of beer, but by then the morning light at the bridge is long gone.

    Image: Raita Futo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

    About 30 min by taxi or Grab, 28.8 km. About 29 km to the beach road.

  7. 18:307
    A bowl of rice porridge with spring onion and black pepper in Da Nang, a dish of duck blood jelly beside it

    Eat · 1 h

    Duck porridge at Quan Nhan

    Cost: Prices at the counter

    Another Michelin Bib Gourmand, at 83 Phan Tu, close to the beach, open from 09:00 to midnight. People come for the duck porridge: a local duck breed from Cam Nam island, rice, mung beans and coix seeds simmered slowly in duck broth. Michelin also recommends the poached duck and the duck salad. It is a short walk from the beach for an evening stroll afterwards.

    Image: Christopher Crouzet / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Tips for Da Nang

  • Plan a night for Friday, Saturday or Sunday if you want the Dragon Bridge fire show at 21:00; Monday to Thursday it only lights up.
  • From October to February rain can pause visits to the Son Tra Peninsula at short notice, as it did from 8 to 14 October 2026; if it is shut, see the Lady Buddha from My Khe and spend the afternoon at the Cham museum and Han Market.
  • My Khe's lifeguards keep shorter hours from 1 October to 14 March (05:00 to 07:30 and 15:00 to 18:30); swim only between the flags, and on rough days stay on the sand.
  • Book the Ba Na Hills day for a clear forecast: the operator's two pages disagree on the last cable car down (about 19:00 on one, 18:00 on the other), so ask at the lower station before going up late.
  • At the airport, book a Grab or Xanh SM car in the app and check the number plate before you get in; a family in 2023 found men at the pick-up area trying to cancel their booking.
  • Bargain at Han Market and wait until after 10:00 to buy clothes or souvenirs: some stallholders believe the first customer sets their luck for the day.
  • At the Marble Mountains the lift only saves the first climb: a traveller on r/VietNam warns that some cave steps are wet and slippery, so wear shoes with grip, and Am Phu cave gets darker the deeper you go.

Getting there, where to stay and the weather by month are on the Da Nang page. Plan checked 24 October 2026.

Sources

Checked in October 2026.Show all 29 sources
  • vietnam.travel. Vietnam Tourism: swim at sunrise on My Khe; Marble Mountains by stairs or lift; Son Tra road, Lady Buddha, red-shanked douc langurs; street food from mi Quang to grilled banh trang, start at Han Market; best time March to May and September to October.
  • baovanhoa.vn. My Khe lifeguards 1 October 2026 to 14 March 2027: full cover 05:00 to 07:30 and 15:00 to 18:30; swim inside the buoys or red and yellow flags (as rows 1 and 2 of attr-my-khe-beach.sources.md).
  • sontra.danang.vn. My Khe free; showers and parking along the beach road (as rows 4 and 6 of attr-my-khe-beach.sources.md).
  • danangfantasticity.com. Marble Mountains: Thuy Son VND 40,000 adult; lift VND 15,000 each way; Am Phu VND 20,000; gate 1 or 2; leave the centre 07:30 to 08:00, in summer arrive before 09:00; about 15 minutes' drive; more than 150 steps; nine caves, two lookouts (as rows 2, 3, 6 and 7 of attr-marble-mountains.sources.md).
  • nguhanhson.org. Marble Mountains open 07:00 to 17:00 daily (management board, as row 8 of attr-marble-mountains.sources.md).
  • reddit.com. Marble Mountains community quote: some steps wet and slippery (user opinion, as row C3 of attr-marble-mountains.sources.md).
  • chammuseum.vn. Museum of Cham Sculpture VND 60,000, under 16 free, 07:00 to 17:00 every day; audio guide on chamaudio.com in Vietnamese, English, French (as rows 5 to 7 of attr-museum-of-cham-sculpture.sources.md).
  • danangfantasticity.com. 12 of Da Nang's 19 national treasures; 5th to 15th century (as row 2 of attr-museum-of-cham-sculpture.sources.md).
  • guide.michelin.com. Michelin Guide Da Nang Bib Gourmand list includes Be Ni 2, Bun Cha Ca 109, Mi Quang Sua Hong Van and Quan Nhan.
  • guide.michelin.com. Bun Cha Ca 109, 109 Nguyen Chi Thanh; over five decades, third-generation owner; house-made fried and steamed fishcakes; tuna, mackerel, crab cake; broth sweet and sour with pineapple and tomatoes; 06:00 to 22:00 daily.
  • guide.michelin.com. Be Ni 2, 228 Vo Nguyen Giap; open 24/7; rice by day, seafood at night; local shellfish; live tank; grilled shrimp; quail eggs and poached peanuts.
  • guide.michelin.com. Mi Quang Sua Hong Van, 59 Le Hong Phong; 06:00 to 13:00; orange-red broth made with shrimp; quail egg, pork, shrimp, meatball or jellyfish.
  • guide.michelin.com. Quan Nhan, 83 Phan Tu; 09:00 to midnight; duck porridge of Cam Nam island duck, rice, mung beans, coix seeds; poached duck and duck salad.
  • vietnamairlines.com. Han Market: 06:00 to 19:00 daily; non-food shopping after 10:00 for the first-customer belief; silk and linen, ready-made ao dai; mam in sealed jars, dried squid and shrimp; bargaining 40 to 50% (as rows 6 to 8 and 12 of attr-han-market.sources.md).
  • danangfantasticity.com. Han Market two floors, bordered by Tran Phu, Bach Dang, Hung Vuong and Nguyen Thai Hoc (as rows 1 and 2 of attr-han-market.sources.md).
  • danangfantasticity.com. Linh Ung Pagoda free, open all day, about an hour; 67 m Lady Buddha; steps near the statue lead down to a balcony (as row 1 of attr-linh-ung-pagoda-son-tra.sources.md).
  • tuoitre.vn. Son Tra hours 07:30 to 17:30 from October to February (18:30 March to September); visits can pause on dangerous weather warnings; don't feed wild animals (as rows 7 and 8 of attr-son-tra-peninsula.sources.md).
  • baodanang.vn. Son Tra paused 8 October 2026, reopened 14 October 2026 (Bao Da Nang, as row 19 of attr-son-tra-peninsula.sources.md).
  • danangfantasticity.com. Dragon Bridge: 21:00 Friday, Saturday, Sunday and major holidays; two minutes of fire, three of water; 20 cubic metres per run; free (as rows 1 and 2 of attr-dragon-bridge.sources.md).
  • vneconomy.vn. Friday to Sunday schedule confirmed August 2026 (VnEconomy, as row 4 of attr-dragon-bridge.sources.md).
  • sunworld.vn. Ba Na Hills basic ticket VND 1,000,000 (non-local adult), child 1 to 1.4 m VND 800,000, under 1 m free; combo with lunch VND 1,300,000; Ba Na by Night VND 1,050,000, 15:00 to 22:00, dinner buffet and 1 litre of beer, shuttle 14:00 from A1 at the 2/9 Monument; what the basic ticket includes and excludes (as rows 4, 6 to 9 and 13 of attr-ba-na-hills.sources.md).
  • sunworld.vn. Cable cars from about 08:00 to about 19:00, can shift 15 to 30 minutes; ride 20 to 25 minutes; night page lists 08:00 to 18:00 (as rows 11 and 12 of attr-ba-na-hills.sources.md).
  • sunworld.vn. Ba Na: Chua mountain, over 1,400 m; 08:00 to 10:00 the easier window for the Golden Bridge and French Village; weekends and peak season crowded; tour transfer 70 to 80 minutes each way; road routes 34.1 and 39.5 km (as rows 1, 3 and 14 of attr-ba-na-hills.sources.md).
  • en.wikipedia.org. Golden Bridge 150 m, gold-painted, opened June 2018 (as row 2 of attr-ba-na-hills.sources.md).
  • walkmyworld.com. Walk My World: bridge empty at 07:15, crowded by 09:00; everyone at the first hand; fog cleared every 15 minutes or so; no one at the pagoda for 30 minutes (as rows S2 to S5 of attr-ba-na-hills.sources.md).
  • danangbus.vn. Bus 03 from the airport bus station to the Ba Na Hills car park, 60 minutes a trip (as row 18 of place-da-nang.sources.md).
  • reddit.com. Airport Grab scam story, 2023 (as row S1 of place-da-nang.sources.md).
  • router.project-osrm.org. Drives (OSRM, our routing on the stop coordinates): My Khe to Marble Mountains 11.2 km, 16 min; Marble Mountains to the Cham museum 8.8 km, 12 min; museum to Bun Cha Ca 109 3.2 km; Han Market to Linh Ung 11.1 km, 15 min; Linh Ung to Be Ni 2 8.2 km, 11 min; Be Ni 2 to the Dragon Bridge 3.3 km; Mi Quang Hong Van to the Ba Na lower station 24.5 km, 26 min; lower station to Quan Nhan 28.8 km, 28 min.
  • openstreetmap.org. Stop points: Bun cha ca 109 (node 5484764821), Be Ni 2 (node 12372814701), Mi Quang Hong Van (node 12372824402), Quan Nhan (node 12606953537), Ba Na Hills cable car ticket office (node 5485470021), Sun World Ba Na Hills (way 359114064), Suoi Mo station (way 359114074).