(Best 24 things to do in Da Nang) –Danang – the biggest city in central Vietnam- is a popular stopover for tourists thanks to its closeness to other heritage cities such as Hue, Hoi An, My Son sanctuary etc. However, the city itself possesses many great things to do for tourists to experience. It is definitely a great idea to include Danang into your travel itinerary to the central part of Vietnam. If you are looking for the best things to do in Da Nang, then look no further than this article!
Before you read on, feast your eyes on the beauty of Central Vietnam in this video- made by Nam Trieu Dinh
1.Try Bun Cha Ca (Fish cake noodle soup) – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
If Pho is famous in Ha Noi, Fish cake noodle soup, and Quang noodle are definitely quintessential cuisine of Da Nang. However if I choose one for a food recommendation, Fish cake noodle soup is the best choice. Why? Since Da Nang is a coastal city. Therefore, the materials are usually fresh fish: Tuna, flying, lizard, barracuda, catfish…. We could not find any better place to try fresh and tasty fish cake noodle soup than Da Nang. To discover where to eat Bun Cha Ca in Da Nang, some interesting and useful information at this article
If you want to learn more about Da Nang cuisine and explore Da nang local life, culture from local guide, don’t miss out the food tour with knowledgeable guides from Danangfoodie.com. They will take you around to discover some hidden Da Nang streets, enjoy many kinds of delicious foods.
2. Dragon Bridge Breathing – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Some great bridges over the Han river and Dragon Bridge are one of the best! It’s especially eye-catching at night when it changes various color. On weekends (Saturday and Sunday night) at 9pm, the Dragon Bridge “show” of a dragon breathing fire and water is amazing. The public park around the bridge gives free access to watching this show and everyone space enjoy the outdoors. There were hundreds of locals there enjoying it too and many eat at the restaurants next to the bridge (head side) and overlooking the river. So, if you want to go there, make sure you arrived there at the latest at 8:30 PM. Stay at least 100 meters from the bridge unless you want to enjoy the sensation of the show.
3. Watch the Best Sunset from Sun Wheel – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Sun Wheel is a new spot to enjoy a romantic sunset and magical night of Da Nang. In particular, with an impressive 115m height and slow moving wheel (around 15 minutes), and great 360-degree view, the Sun Wheel offers us a breathtaking and spectacular view of an illuminated and sparkling city at night. Many famous landmarks are clearly visible including the Han river bridge, the Tran Thi Ly bridge, the dragon bridge, Da Nang Administrative building and so on. In addition, tourists will have an opportunity to enjoy a 4.7 meter high, 20-tonne Buddha statue, which was built near the wheel. Entrance ticket is 200,000 vnd which we could have adventurous games and Sun Wheel for free. The window on the cabin cannot be opened so we can make pictures only throw the window. We also should read and observe the regulations carefully which is written in a small paper and pasted on the mirror.
4. Get breathtaking Da Nang View – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Son Tra peninsula is a beautiful rainforest outside of the city of Da Nang. This place is a fun, interesting and adventurous place to discover the nature’s beauty. What you can explore at Son Tra peninsula is Linh Ung pagoda with the giant Lady Buddha statue (67m hight) overlooking the ocean, the Chinese chess peak on the top of the mountain or the 800-year-old historic banyan tree. Moreover, there are a few hidden beaches along the peninsula and some excellent viewpoints. Rent a motorbike or ride a bicycle up (if you strong enough) the peninsula is a good away to get away from the city life.
Don’t forget to visit Linh Ung Pagoda. You can go in the late afternoon to enjoy sunset view. Make sure you have a 125cc or more to go up the mountain as some of the roads were steep and the motorbikes really struggled.
Moreover, there are a few hidden beaches along the peninsula and some excellent viewpoints. Rent a motorbike or ride a bicycle up (if you strong enough) the peninsula is a good away to get away from the city life.
5. Join a da nang home cooking class – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Do I wonder how local people live and cook when I’m traveling? Cooking class in Da Nang is something unique and different, also a must do we should try. Let’s complete our wishes with Katie-a young local girl who is passion in cooking. As her advice, don’t skip our breakfast to have enough energy for our morning. They provide hotel pick up around 8.00 am. And she wakes up us with a supporting vegetable garden in a building city. Nearby river bank, the garden is charming with many kinds of herb that Vietnamese use in their meal. The farmer is welcoming. She’s so excited to meet and chat with us. So do i. We are not only fascinated by watching the farming procedures of local farmers but also have a chance to be a real farmer working in the garden, including raking the ground, sowing, watering, picking vegetables and many other activities which are rarely seen in modern daily life. It’s so great to open eyes and start the day. Saying goodbye to a great lady, we visit the local market to purchase some fresh ingredients. As market plays an important role in Vietnamese life, we know more about the lifestyle of local people here. With enthusiastic Katie, we get the full market experience to source our ingredients; sights, smells and the vibrancy of the place, with great tips for market shopping. After a quick coffee break to get out of the heat, we proceed on to Katie’s house. After washing up, we start cutting and doing the prep work for the dish that we have picked. Katie does a careful explanation on how to cook for every dishes. Yep, classes are completely hands-on. We get a lot of work, as well a ton of fun in this morning.What do we have in the cooking? Spring rolls, Vietnamese crispy pancakes, young papaya salad… These dishes create Vietnam cuisine’s soul and now we can bring this technique back home. So yummy! Free water and a beer bottle during the tour are pampering us. We feel we are visiting a local friend than a professional chef. So happy to learn local life and get many useful tips during our time in Vietnam.
Price: 39 USD/ 1 pax
Which cooking class in Da Nang? Find the best cooking class in Da Nang here 😉
6. Avoid the heat at Chan Troi Goc Be – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
“Chan Troi Goc Be” means the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet. In this crazy weather, finding a great place to hide from the heat is a good way to relax. The difference from air-conditioned building, Chan Troi Goc Be has fresh air from the lake and green. Think about Da Nang, people think about the third city of Vietnam with modern construction. However, Chan Troi Goc Be definitely brings us to a dreaming land as a rural area. Local people here are excited about this new experience where they have a great time with friends and family after a stress working week. The beautiful scenery is combined with many interesting activities as fishing, boating, cycling on a lake. There is a green and fresh vegetable garden where we can watch and join the farmers in preparing the land and growing vegetables. Besides, they are also serving many kinds of Vietnamese food.
All we need is to wear comfortable clothes, bring a camera and have wonderful moments.
7. Experience Adventurous Zipline at Hoa Phu Thanh – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Let’s experience great moments with adventurous activity at Hoa Phu Thanh natural tourist zone. From the top through the treetops, we will freely fly like a bird above the evergreen forest. It’s shorter than Zipline in Hue. With different height and speed up to 30m/s, Zipline will give us a pleasant feeling. Don’t worry about the safety, they have experienced staff who were trained in professional program and care us with safety protective gear
Price: Entrance ticket: 30,000 vnd
Zipline ticket: 100,000 vnd
Address: Km20 – QL 14G – Hoa Phu ward- Hoa Vang district – Da Nang city.
8. Drive up to Hai Van pass – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Hai Van pass (literally Ocean Cloud pass) is a 21 km long mountain pass on National Route 1A in Vietnam connecting Hue and Da Nang. Riding up to the top, this mountain pass offers you great views of the ocean, the cloud, and the sky. If you are adventurous travelers, don’t hesitate to rent a motorbike riding up to the top to admire its beauty. Your eyes will go in an “A” shape while your mouth goes in an “O”. The scenes here is marvelous!
If you want to take the great photos with the best view, you need to climb up the French bunker. Don’t go on rainy days.
9. Get away the heat on Ba Na hills – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
The heat seems to be a nightmare at Da Nang and Vietnam Central in summer. However with beautiful scenery, great food, and friendly people, Da Nang is a popular place for domestic and Asian traveling for their summer holiday. It could be super crowded in Ba Na hills during this time.We have to take a lot of time to queue and queue. But no one can deny how truly beautiful Ba Na is. The temperature there is so comfortable and fresh, around 20 degrees while the Da Nang city is 39 degrees. One is mainly a garden with flowers everywhere, a historical wine cellar for a free visit and of course, we can take a look of a large white pagoda there. And we could view from the top of the beautiful clouds, just like heaven. They also have the theme park and wax museum which is really fun to visit and play many games. For the food, they have stalls each station where you can buy hotdogs and bread. They also serve buffet lunch of different Asian delicacies.
Tips: It’s crowded in the summer holiday (May to the end of August), we should start in the early morning to save time and avoid the heat.
10. Get a magnificent view from Marble mountains -Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
The Marble Mountains (the Five Element Mountains) are a cluster of 5 marble and limestone hills together. There are plenty of grottos, caves, and Buddhist shrines to visit there. Step up to get to the top of “Water” mountain (the only mountain you can visit), you can get spectacular views over the entire area and the beach. The ticket is just 15.000 VND/person. Around the foot of the mountains is the famous stone sculpture carving and stone-cutting crafts village. All makes this a hot tourist destination.
Marble mountain is great activity for 1 day trip in Da Nang
11. Watch city life from Coffee shop – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Travel to Vietnam and don’t try local coffee is the same as going to Japan and not eat sushi. In Da Nang, we could find local people drinking coffee in the morning, noon or night, at café shops or on little plastic stools on the busy street pavements. Someone said that we have to spend 1 year to discover all coffee shops in Da Nang from luxurious coffee shop to garden coffee shop…to coffee carter. The most interesting thing about Da Nang cafe culture is that you will find a lot of people sitting on the old wooden or plastic stools along the pavements to sip their coffee cups and watch the world go by. Sit and sip – this is how people drink coffee in Vietnam.
Here’re a few of our picks for the best of coffee shops that you can watch local life with a great coffee cup:
Long Café: 123 Le Loi street, Da Nang
Molly’S Coffee Shop : 156 Bach Dang st, Da Nang
Find more interesting coffee shops here: Where to drink coffee in Da Nang
12. Relax at My Khe beach – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Da Nang is a beach city and its famous My Khe beach is no doubt one of the most attractive and beautiful beaches in the world voted by Forbes. With beautiful white smooth sand and slightly slope, this beach is perfect for everybody from the young to the old. There is nothing better than lying down on the beach sipping a coconut and have some sunbathing. That is how we call “Enjoy life!”. Many activities are available on the beach: playing sports, yoga, jet skiing, parachuting, swimming,…Or you can just stroll around enjoying the cool breezes from the ocean. That’s heaven guys!
My khe beach is a must visit for your trip to Da Nang
Want a fancy resort to stay in and enjoy the beaches? Here you are Top 10 luxury escape resort in Da Nang
13. Sleeping at Container house – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Finding a good place to stay in Da Nang seems to be an easy step to do in traveling plan list. Da Nang varied kinds of accommodation from homestay, hostel, 1 to 5 star-hotel…to serve any budget we have. However, it’s hard to find a place which is strange style and break out similar thing we’ve met before. Packo Hostel is a wonderful place to try. Built under the concept of environmental friendly and nature conserving design, PACKO is not just a bedding service, it is a place where we enjoy real local experiences among newly known friends. An exotic taste in our local-cuisine cooking class, a bargain at local fish market, a short food tour on bikes around the city, a day of farming for home growns, or a night of wandering the ancient city…everything eventually turns you into a storyteller on the way back home
Website: http://packohostel.com/
Price: from 150,000 vnd to 800,000 vnd
14. Enjoy all Da Nang cuisine via a food tour – Best 24 things to do in Da Nang
Da Nang food is famous not just in Central Vietnam but in the whole Vietnam with its unique and authentic cuisine. Some famous foods can be listed such as My Quang (Quang noodle), Vietnamese crispy pancake, fish cake noodle soup, pork and vegetables wrapped in rice paper. Let a food tour help you to enjoy the food here better.
Going on a food tour, you won’t not just eat the food but you enjoy the food and the story behind each with knowledgeable, friendly and happy tour guides. It’s not all about the food, it’s also about the people when you have some nice local buddies taking you around. It’s great, isn’t it?
What food tour to join? Why not a food tour by motorbike? Da Nang Food Tour by motorbike
Want a combination of food and sightseeing? Check out Da Nang By Night Tour
Visiting Da nang without food tour is not a great idea. Our Walking food tour in Da Nang is one of wonderful things to do. You will discover a lot of delicious local food and local life with friendly local guide. We offer a reasonable price for this tour. Let’s join us.
Want to discover more? Check out Best 24 things to do in Da Nang 2
How about rainy days? Here you are: 11 things to do in rainy days in Da Nang
What to do if you have kids traveling with you? No worry, this is your list 😉 Things to do with kids in Da Nang
