Dalat things to do in Vietnam

Da Lat is so very much off the radar, in terms of Vietnam. Located in the south between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, it is a very quiet, quaint town. Rich in French architecture and oddities, you’ll feel miles away from Vietnam here. It shares none of the characteristics of other Vietnamese towns, such as the hustle bustle of daily life, thousands of motorbikes and general noisiness. Why more people don’t visit is beyond me, but with a little time to explore you can uncover some gems in this beautiful town. Here’s a run down of my faves.

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Datanla Dalat Waterfall

1. Dalanta Falls

Dalanta Falls is situated 5km outside of Da Lat. The road is a long windy one up the hills, with stunning view of the valley and endless tea and coffee plantations. The waterfall itself is really cool. Walking around across the rocks is certainly good fun and again, the views are absolutely stunning from the bottom of the fall across the valley. The greatest part of the falls is certainly the toboggan. Yep, you heard right. When you arrive you have the option to travel to the bottom of the fall by roller coaster. It costs around 25,000 Dong for a return journey and it is totally worth it. The track is 1km long and takes about 2 minutes to complete, winding down the side of the mountain through woods and ending up at the foot of the falls. So much fun.

Da Lat rollercoaster2. Crazy House

Built by Dang Viet Nga, a daughter of a Vietnamese communist party leader, it was opened to the public in 1990. It was quickly dubbed ‘the crazy house’ and it’s easy to see why. There is hardly a square edge in the tree shaped building. Staircases intertwine with branches to take you up and over the roof. The garden comes complete with toadstool chairs and fake, giant spiders. You could be forgiven to think you have fallen into Alice’s Wonderland. You also have the option to stay here for one night. It costs around $35USD per night, and you get to stay in one of the country themed rooms, or the wedding suite if you are newly weds. This is a real cool place to visit and well worth the walk if you are in town.

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Crazy House dalat3. Street food

The street food in Da Lat is some of the best I tried in Vietnam.. and I’ve tried a lot! We took a walk to the town square to sample some of the delights on offer. First up were the classic meat skewers. Flavoured to perfection, the meat melts in your mouth. If you’re feeling adventurous I would recommend the chickens feet or intestines. We found both really flavoursome and cooked beautifully. There is so much to choose from, it is easy to full up before you’ve completed a circuit so pace yourself. Watch out for the police though. Some of the vendors are not licensed to vend and will disappear into thin air at the first sight of the law, with your paid order possibly to never be seen again. So as a quick tip: pay for your food after you get your meal. And if you’re looking for something sweet to wash it all down head to the buffet restaurant (next to the market) for treats and ice creams.

4. Relax by the lake

The Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat is man-made. At 32ha with a perimeter of 5 miles, it is huge. Take a walk along the lake, soak up the views of Da Lat and stop for a coffee at the floating coffee house along the way. Da Lat is famous for its coffee and tea so getting a good cup of whatever you fancy is easy.  I dare you to try civet cat coffee, which comes from the cat’s poo,  surprisingly not as gross as that sounds! While it’s different to say the least, if you enjoy it you can pick some up quite cheap in the local market. If you still want more of Da Lat’s lake, hire a swan or rowing boat and enjoy a leisurely paddle across the lake .

The civets in Da Lat5. BBQ your own meal

Once you have covered off the local street food move on up into some of the local restaurants and try the ‘self BBQ’ style of eating. With menu’s written completely in Vietnamese I recommend taking a local  (we took our Stray Guide) otherwise bring a translation book along. We  went for goat breast, duck tongue and octopus, as well as a few jugs of local rice whiskey. A concrete pot of smoldering coals is delivered to the table and set inside a custom hole. A tile is placed on top with oil to baste the surface. From here it’s up to you to cook the food to your taste. While the goat breast had an odd taste and texture, the octopus and duck tongues are actually very good. I never realised ducks even had tongues, let alone how big they are. Wash it all down with rice whiskey and you have the recipe for a fantastic local style evening.

These were some of my favourite things to do in Da Lat. But don’t take my word for it. Get there with Stray Asia, lap up their local knowledge and then make your own mind up!

To discover Da Lat’s waterfalls, lake and other local wonders, check out Stray’s Vietnam tours.

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Wellcome to vietnam

The “Hanoi or bust” attitude, prompting new arrivals to doggedly labour between the country’s two major cities, no matter how limited their time, blights many a trip to Vietnam. If you want to travel the length of the country at some leisure, see something of the highlands and the deltas and allow for a few rest days, you’ll really need a month. With only two weeks at your disposal, the choice is either to hopscotch up the coast calling at only the most mainstream destinations or, perhaps better, to concentrate on one region and enjoy it at your own pace. However, if you do want to see both north and south in a fortnight, internal flights can speed up an itinerary substantially, and aren’t too expensive.

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VIETNAM TRAVEL GUIDE: WHERE TO GO

For the majority of visitors, Ho Chi Minh City provides a head-spinning introduction to Vietnam travel. Set beside the broad swell of the Saigon River, the southern capital is rapidly being transformed into a Southeast Asian mover and shaker to compete with the best of them. The city’s breakneck pace of life translates into a stew of bizarre characters and unlikely sights and sounds, and ensures that almost all who come here quickly fall for its singular charm. Furious commerce carries on cheek-by-jowl with age-old traditions; grandly indulgent colonial edifices peek out from under the shadows of looming office blocks and hotels; and cyclo drivers battle it out with late-model Japanese taxis in the chaotic boulevards.

Few tourists pass up the opportunity to take a day-trip out of the city to Tay Ninh, the nerve centre of the indigenous Cao Dai religion. The jury is still out on whether the Cao Dai Holy See constitutes high art or dog’s dinner, but either way it’s one of Vietnam’s most arresting sights, and is normally twinned with a stop-off at the Cu Chi tunnels, where Vietnamese villagers dug themselves a warren stretching over two hundred kilometres, out of reach of US bombing.

Another destination easily reached from Ho Chi Minh City is the Mekong Delta, where one of the world’s truly mighty rivers finally offloads into the South China Sea; its skein of brim-full tributaries and waterways has endowed the delta with a lush quilt of rice paddies and abundant orchards. You won’t want to depart the delta without spending a day or more messing about on the water and visiting a floating market, which is easily arranged at Cai Be and Can Tho.

Da Lat, the gateway to the central highlands, is chalk to Ho Chi Minh City’s cheese. Life passes by at a rather more dignified pace at an altitude of 1500m, and the fresh breezes that fan this oddly quaint hillside settlement provide the best air conditioning in Vietnam. Minority peoples inhabit the countryside around Da Lat, but to visit some really full-on montagnard villages you’ll need to push north to the modest towns of Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and Kon Tum, which are surrounded by E De, Jarai and Bahnar communities. Opt for Kon Tum, and you’ll be able to visit minority villages independently or join treks that include river-rafting.

Northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Highway 1, the country’s jugular, carries the lion’s share of traffic up to Hanoi and the north, though the recently completed Ho Chi Minh Highway offers drivers a tempting alternative route. For many people, the first stop along Highway 1 is at the delightful beach and sand dunes of Mui Ne, fast becoming one of the country’s top coastal resorts. Further north, Nha Trang is another beach resort that also boasts a lively nightlife, and the tirelessly touted boat trips around the city’s outlying islands are a must. North of Nha Trang, near Quang Ngai, Son My village attained global notoriety when a company of American soldiers massacred some five hundred Vietnamese, including many women and children; unspeakable horrors continue to haunt the village’s unnervingly idyllic rural setting.

Once a bustling seaport, the diminutive town of Hoi An perches beside an indolent backwater, its narrow streets of wooden-fronted shophouses and weathered roofs making it an enticing destination. Inland, the war-battered ruins of My Son, the greatest of the Cham temple sites, lie mouldering in a steamy, forest-filled valley. Da Nang, just up the coast, lacks Hoi An’s charm, but good transport links make it a convenient base for the area. From Da Nang a corkscrew ride over clifftop Hai Van Pass, or a straight run through the new 6km-long tunnel, brings you to the aristocratic city of Hué, where the Nguyen emperors established their capital in the nineteenth century on the banks of the languid Perfume River. The temples and palaces of this highly cultured city still testify to past splendours, while its Imperial mausoleums are masterpieces of architectural refinement, slumbering among pine-shrouded hills.

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Only a hundred kilometres north of Hué, the tone changes as war-sites litter the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which cleaved the country in two from 1954 to 1975. More than three decades of peace have done much to heal the scars, but the monuments that pepper these windswept hills bear eloquent witness to a generation that lost their lives in the tragic struggle. The DMZ is most easily tackled as a day-trip from Hué, after which most people hop straight up to Hanoi. And there’s little to detain you on the northward trek, save the glittering limestone caverns of Phong Nha, the entrance to a massive underground river system tunnelling under the Truong Son Mountains, which includes Son Doong, discovered in 2009 and now thought to be the largest cave in the world. Then, on the very fringes of the northern Red River Delta, lie the ancient incense-steeped temples of Hoa Lu and, nearby, the mystical landscapes of Tam Coc and Van Long, where paddy fields lap at the feet of limestone hummocks.

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The most attractive beach destination for your Muine Holidays

Golden Holiday Travel : Stretching 192km along the coast, the southern province of Binh Thuan boasts great potential for tourism development, especially sea tourism - the most popular destination in Vietnam and perfect beach to end your Vietnam Tours, Vietnam Holidays before coming home.

Mui Ne - Vietnam tours, Vietnam Holidays
“Paradise” of health resorts

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On October 24, 1995, a total solar eclipse occurred in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan province, attracting hundreds of thousands of domestic and international scientists and visitors. Since that day, the name Binh Thuan has become well established on the tourism map of Vietnam and the world, and October 24 has become the Province’s Tourism Day.
Regarding Binh Thuan’s tourism sector, it is impossible not to mention Mui Ne – Phan Thiet which is considered a paradise for health resorts. The image of Mui Ne with white sand dunes stretching out in the bright tropical sunshine, waves crashing into the calm fishing village, rows of coconut trees and stone steps, has long been familiar to visitors.

Mui Ne is also endowed with sand dunes, a magnificent landscape which has become an endless source of inspiration for photographers due to constant wind-driven changes in its appearance. It is also the capital of resorts in Vietnam, with over 100 eco-convalescence centres, resorts and villas, with natural, beautiful sites, modern architecture, a fresh sea environment, sunshine, wind and sand.
Binh Thuan province has Phan Thiet Bay which, rather shallow and very windy, is ideal for sea sports such as surfing, sailing and kite surfing. From October to April, when the wind gusts are at their highest, Binh Thuan is besieged by international friends who come to windsurf and kite surf.
Apart from sea related amusement activities, visitors can participate in other unique sports on land, such as conquering the sand dunes, paragliding in the brilliant sunshine, or golfing at Phan Thiet or Sea Link golf courses.

With these advantages, every year Mui Ne attracts over two million visitors, including over 220,000 foreign visitors, coming from Russia, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Britain, South Korea, China, Japan, the US, Canada and Mexico.

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Mui Ne, Vietnam Tours, Vietnam Holidays
Land of festivals

In addition to its sea tourism potential, Binh Thuan also has cultural and festival tourism strength because of its many cultural and architectural works, as well as unique festivals of the Viet, Cham and Hoa ethnic groups.

Binh Thuan is home to Po Klong Moh Nai Temple, a typical cultural work of the Cham people, where over 100 precious objects of Cham royalty are preserved, such as the crowns, robes, boots, shoes, rings and bracelets of the kings and queens. It also has Po Sah Inu Towers, dating from the 8th Century, devoted to the Shiva Genie and a sacred set of stone linga and yoni of the Cham people.
Binh Thuan also boasts many unique cultural works, such as the oldest lighthouse in Southeast Asia (built in 1899) at Ke Ga Cape, Vietnam’s biggest Buddha statue on Ta Cu Mountain, the biggest whale skeleton in Van Thuy Tu Communal House, the most colourful Co Thach stone ground in Tuy Phong District and the relic site of Duc Thanh School, built in 1907 in Phan Thiet City, where President Ho Chi Minh taught before he went abroad to seek ways to save the country. In particular, the project of Binh Thuan Water Tower, a unique architectural work designed by Lao Prince and architect Souphanouvong, was completed in 1934 and is considered a symbol of Phan Thiet City.
Apart from a system of tangible heritages, the community of ethnic groups living in Binh Thuan also has a rich system of festivals and rituals, such as Cau Ngu (fish worshipping) Festival of the Kinh ethnic group; Kate Festival of the Brahmin Cham ethnic group; Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh Festival of the Hoa community in Phan Thiet City; and Dinh Thay Thim Festival which bears the specific cultural features of Binh Thuan Province - it is one of few festivals in Southern Vietnam listed in the dictionary of Vietnamese Festivals.

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Vietnam Travel tourism

Few days ago, i read an article 15 interesting things about Vietnam tourism of blogger Tara Vargas. She said:

“I traveled to Vietnam in 2007 and wanted to share with you the knowledge that I have been to Vietnam, especially the Saigon Tourist. My thoughts may be right, may be wrong but that’s the experience I want to share with you!”

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The most of info that she shared are right, but few are not totally and i want to add few things. This’s not a rejection to her experiences, but I just want to add few things and explain them for more complete.

1. Iced tea is served free of charge in most restaurants. Some places serve hot tea, the other where both hot and cold.

Dat Hoang: It’s right because Iced tea is the most popular and cheap drink in Vietnam. 

2. When the Vietnam tea or water, they always leave 5 to 10% of water in the cup while standing up. They never drank.

Dat Hoang: Right, we consider that thing is the politeness in eating culture. 

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3. The Vietnam are friendly and smiles.

Dat Hoang: Yeah, most of Vietnam are like that when meeting foreign tourists. 

15 interesting truth about Vietnam tourism

(Photo of Herdailydigest)

4. The Vietnam often bath in the morning, but they usually shower at night.

Dat Hoang: Not totally right, it’s not often, we almost don’t bath in the morning, just late afternoon or evening. 

5. These young teens love food, music, hairstyle, clothing style Korea.

Dat Hoang: Totally right, the Korean famous singers and actors are idols of Vietnam youth. We see they have a perfect beauty of the Easterner (although we also know that beauty is almost from cosmetic surgery).

6. Vietnamese people usually have a nap after lunch, at around 12-13h, then very quiet street and very little traffic jam occurs.

Dat Hoang: Too right, 12-13h is quietest period on the streets in daytime. 

7. The songs of Abba Happy New Year, Hotel California by the Eagles and Papa Paul Anka is popular karaoke songs.

Dat Hoang: I think it’s not right, 2 these songs are in default list but we rarely sing them. Really, i and my friends have never sung them when karaoke. 

8. The Vietnam helmet is not so safe when traveling, which is to avoid the traffic police fines.

Dat Hoang: This’s really a complex problem that agencies have been trying to remove. However for now, there’re many people have strictly observing this rule when travelling (me too :P). 

9. Few people in Vietnam respects lanes for pedestrians. We often pray when crossing the street or walking on the sidewalk.

Dat Hoang: That’s right, because there’re too many vehicles but the roads are narrow so too difficult to respect lanes for pedestrians (although we want to do it). If you worry about this, let’s visit the article: How to cross the streets in Vietnam?!

10. Every family here has 2 motorbikes and they leave them on the ground floor. Living room is also room for parking.

Dat Hoang: It’s right, the leaving motorbikes in living room maybe from 2 reasons: Narrowness of the houses in big cities while cost of parking in outside is too expensive and the architecture of our traditional house doesn’t have garage.

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Vung Tau is a heaven sea tourism in Southern Vietnam

How to get Vung Tau

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Usually, you will come to Vung Tau from Sai Gon. There are 2 ways to go from Sai Gon, those are hydrofoil and bus. You should choose hydrofoil, it’s very quick, just over 1 hour.

Hydrofoil start at Bach Dang wharf (bến Bạch Đằng ) . Usually, in weekends and holidays, tickets are not avaiable, you must book, else, maybe you can’t buy the ticket or must wait few hours for next trip.

Bus. It takes more time, about over 3 hours. You can catch a bus in Mien Dong bus station (East bus station), 5 minutes / trip, or Hoa Mai bus station on Nguyen Thai Binh street – 1 district.

Moving in Vung Tau

Taxi. There are many taxi firms in Vung Tau and quite cheap. You should choose Mai Linh or Dau Khi taxis, they are repuration firms.

Cyclo and electric car for strolling on the beachs.

Motorbike, my favorite vehicle. You can rent a motor, $5 – 7 / day. Asking the locals or you hotels to rent or know lease places.

Let’s rent a motor to explore Vung Tau


Hotels in Vung Tau

I usually travel Vung Tau in 1 day so rarely rent hotels, but i knew few good hotels.

Hoang Kim Hy hotel at 209/54 Binh Gia (in an alley ). Tel +8464.3582 287 or +849.7979.3712

Nghinh Phong hotel, tel: +8464.852.478

Doi Dua (Đồi Dừa ) hotel, rooms are ok, nice view and popular price. Tel: +8464.3852.646

Bao Viet hotel, tel +8464.3525.589

Motel at 126 Hoang Hoa Tham, i don’t know number phone. This motel is quite ok.

An exprience when renting hotels in Vung Tau: You should rent in alleys, hotels in there are cheaper and the quality is not less than hotels on big streets.

>> Over 180 hotels in Vung Tau city at Agoda.com

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Attractions in Vung Tau

Beaches. Vung Tau is famous for beaches. Bai Truoc, Bai Sau are nice beaches and have many tourists. Chi Linh and Thuy Tien are pristine beaches, mostly locals so prices of sercices are also cheaper.

Vung Tau beach

Thich Ca Phat Dai (Thích Ca Phật đài), the bigest temple in Vung Tau, is located on Big Moutain ( Núi Lớn ).

White palace (Bạch Dinh ), on Big moutain, is a famous architecture of Vung Tau.

Jesus statue (tượng Chúa Jesu), on Small Moutain (Núi Nhỏ ), is 32 metres (100 ft) tall.

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5 best hotels in Dalat city Vietnam

 Through my experiences of  Dalat tourism and recommendations of friends, as well as reviews of customers on Agoda, I found out 25 best hotels in Dalat city , out of   200 hotels in the Dream City and are  going to share in this article. 

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I. 1-star hotels in Dalat

1. Dalat Flower hotel

Rates from $10 – $39

The Dalat Flower has enthusiastic and very friendly staffs. They are willing to guide in detail about Dalat tourism. Rooms are clean, cool and fragrant, especially learned many times each day (Very few 1-star hotels can do so). The hotel is in city center, closed to Dalat market, Xuan Huong lake so it’s very convenient for moving. 

The only con of Dalat Flower is that it’s located in a small alley so you should not back to the hotel too late at night. 

For me, this hotel has excellent quality with that price when compared to other 1-star hotels (even 2-star) in Dalat. 

Agoda link for Dalat Flower hotel

2. Tuan Pham villa hotel

Rates from $18 – $42

Tuan Pham villa has very good quality compared to low-price hotels in Dalat. New blankets, furnitures, clean and fragrant room, look quite simple but cozy, discreet and clean bathroom, quite full in-room facilities. The owner is very kind and friendly. You can buy foods in the market, borrow kitchenwares of the hotel and make an outdoor banquet at hotel’s back yard. 

Tuan Pham villa dalat hotel

The con is quite far from center, take 10 minutes going by motorbike. But with this price-range, I’m completely satisfied. 

Agoda link for Tuan Pham villa hotel

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3. Violet Bui Thi Xuan hotel

Rates from $8 – $15

The first impression is the  very cheap price for a 1-star hotel, but things are very ok. Good room, enthusiastic, friendly owner and staffs, dedicated guiding attractive sites, good restaurants,… in Dalat. The hotel is in center city so it’s convenient for moving. 

Violet bui thi xuan hotel dalat vietnam

However it’s quite  noisy as it’s near the center. 

Agoda link for Violet Bui Thi Xuan

4. Paris hotel

Rates from $13 – $23

Paris hotel is located in the center of Dalat city, take 10 minutes walking to get to Xuan Huong lake and Dalat market so it’s very convenient for moving, shopping and eating. Hotel’s room is wide, clean and comfortable, wide window with  bright sunshine and cool breeze. Clean bathroom. Strong wifi. 

paris hotel dalat

This’s a family hotel, 2 owners are a couple and also staffs. They’re nice, friendly, good at serving and can help to rent motorbike and book tour with affordable price. 

Agoda link for Paris hotel

5. Hai Long Vuong hotel

Rates from $7 – $16

This’s also a family hotel like Paris hotel. The owner couple is very funny and enthusiastic. The Hai Long Vuong is located in an alley  in the city center, very close to a very popular restaurant named Ba Hung baked roll, as well as many other tasty restaurants. About room, quite simple but very comfortable. 

hai long vuong dalat hotel

Although the hotel is slightly difficult to find and quite small room but with that price, I think there’s nothing to complain. 

Agoda link for Hai Long Vuong hotel

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