With its skyscraper skyline and LED-lit dragon bridges, Da Nang symbolises the rise of modern Vietnam from the rubble of war.
It was a small city under the French, the centre of military operations under the Americans, and nowadays it is an emblem of the new Vietnam: the country’s third city, and its most high-tech and modern. It’s also in a great position for tourists – close to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and with big, white-sand, resort-backed beaches.
Here’s what to do in Da Nang on your next visit.
Climb the Marble Mountains
Before the Ba Na Hills cable car opened (more on that in a moment), Marble Mountain was Da Nang’s star local attraction. It’s not really a mountain at all – more a cluster of five large, rugged limestone rocks, set in the flatlands south of the city, pocked with dramatic caverns (many of them filled with Buddha statues) and covered in pagodas and shrines. An easy though steep path (or lift) takes you up the principal mountain.
The mountains have been a religious centre since the Cham set up here some two thousand years ago, but most of what you see today dates from the early 19th Century and the time of emperor Minh Mang, who gave the mountains their name and built many of the pagodas.
Take the cable car to the Ba Na Hills
Ba Na Hills is a kind of theme park in the forested mountain above Da Nang. It’s aimed firmly at Vietnamese families. There’s a faux-French chateau and flower-filled gardens, gothic fantasy palaces overlooking a fountain tinkling plaza, a vast seated Boddhisattva gazing across the mountain and a golden bridge to nowhere, held by two giant Buddha hands. Its kitschy, with ketchup, burgers and fries restaurants and costly (for Vietnam) cable car rides. But it’s immensely popular, so be prepared to queue to get up the mountain.
Take a day trip to the Hue Monuments complex
The Hue Monuments complex is the most glorious of the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites lying within a day trip of Da Nang.
Leave after an early breakfast so you get there mid-morning, giving you enough time for a tour of the semi-ruined Forbidden Imperial City of the Nguyen Emperors, the pagoda-lined Perfume River that runs in front of its walls, and the myriad magnificent temple tombs that litter the surrounding countryside with time for dinner back in the city.
Day tours are easy to organise through hotels or agencies, or you can do it yourself by taking the train (with lovely views of the ocean and the mountains of the Hai Van Pass over the two-and-a-half to three-hour journey). There are multiple daily departures.
Witness how the city has changed since the Vietnam War
The American armed forces arrived in Vietnam at Du Lich Beach just to the north of the airport (a ten-minute cab ride) on March 1965, coordinating their amphibious landing with an airlift in to a dusty airstrip just to the beach’s south. Their would become the busiest airport in the world during the war, with more than 2,500 operations per day. Non Nuoc Beach immediately to the south was one of the most popular R&R destinations for US troops. There’s little to attest to American presence today; and deliberately so. When the city fell in March 1975, the Vietnamese government issued two special ‘total liberation’ commemorative stamps. And Da Nang became emblematic of the new Socialist Republic of United Vietnam.
The modern skyline looks as it does for this reason – Da Nang’s very appearance trumpets its victory, symbolises independence and promises prosperity. Red Beach now has a smart Copacabana-like promenade, Non Nuoc is lined with plush resorts and the airport is surrounded by confident glass spires and glittering bridges.
Drive the Hai Van Pass
Jeremy Clarkson declared the Hai Van Pass to be one of the most beautiful drives in Asia during the Top Gear: Vietnam Special in 2008, and with good reason: The road winds up from Da Nang’s steamy beaches into the forest-covered hills around 1,448 metre-high Hai Vong peak. The views are wonderful all the way – behind you, the snaking strip of asphalt dropping to ribbons of yellow sand, washed by a turquoise South China Sea. In front of you, bromeliad dripping crags, the tiny café and viewpoint at the top and then the drop into Northern Vietnam through the wild forests around the Lang Co Bay to tiny fishing villages peppering the coast, and Hue itself.
It’s an easy motor scooter ride, though be careful, as bus drivers and other motorists love to roar around the bends.
Spend the day in Hoi An
One of the best-preserved old fishing ports in Southeast Asia lies less than a half-hour drive south of the Da Nang – UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hoi An. Come in the late afternoon to browse the markets, which brim over with great arts and crafts, from knitwear to ceramics. Then hole-up next to the tiny Thu Bon River – there are plenty of cafés and bars, and watch the day fade into buttery yellows over the lovely Japanese covered bridges, Confucian temples and old merchant houses. Finally, wander the lantern-lit streets and take dinner on one of the myriad restaurants that sit in the old centre.
Read next: 9 of the best things to do in Hoi An
Visit the My Son Sanctuary & Cham Museum
Da Nang’s third nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site lies just an hour’s drive from the city centre in dense jungle at the feet of rugged mountains. With its vine-covered, crumbling stone and brick stupas and its elaborate carved Hindu deities, My Son looks like a mini Angkor Wat. But it was built by another civilisation altogether – the seafaring Champa, who between the 4th and 13th centuries were one of the most important trading empires in Southeast Asia. My Son was their capital.
It’s a lovely place to wander – with birds flitting through the trees and orchids in the branches. Come early before the tour buses. Make a day of your My Son visit by beginning or ending with Da Nang’s Cham museum, which tells the story of the Champa and which holds the largest collection of Cham objects in the world, including sculpture, effigies, and ceramics.
