Da Nang: 4-Day Itinerary
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Four days lets you see the city properly and get a full day trip to Hoi An in without rushing either. Da Nang International Airport sits only 3-5km from downtown, close enough that a Grab into the city runs roughly 40,000-130,000 VND ($1.50-$5, verify), with the fare quoted upfront in the app before you commit.
Day 1: Downtown, the beach strip, and the Dragon Bridge
Check into the My Khe/An Thuong beach strip or the Han River riverfront, both work as a base for day 1. Spend the morning at My Khe Beach, then wander Han Market in the afternoon for local goods and a lunch of Mi Quang, Da Nang’s own turmeric noodle dish, from a stall for a small sum in VND. In the evening, walk to the Dragon Bridge; on Saturday or Sunday it breathes fire and then water around 9pm (verify current schedule). Finish with a drink at a rooftop bar along the Han River.
Tip: skip any restaurant with someone standing outside actively waving you in, in the Han Market area the busiest stalls with no hawking usually mean the best and cheapest food.
Day 2: Marble Mountains and Son Tra Peninsula
Grab south to the Marble Mountains, about 8-10km, roughly 40,000-70,000 VND. Entry is about 40,000 VND, with an elevator up Thuy Son for around 15,000-30,000 VND if you’d rather skip the 156-step staircase. Huyen Khong Cave, the largest cave here, is worth timing for late morning when its natural skylight lights the Buddha statue inside.
In the afternoon, head to Son Tra Peninsula, about 10km northeast of the city, home to Vietnam’s only remaining coastal rainforest and the critically endangered red-shanked douc langur. Linh Ung Pagoda’s Lady Buddha statue, 67m tall, is free to visit and visible from much of the coastline. Dinner back at your beach-strip base closes the day.
Tip: the langurs on Son Tra are most active at dawn and dusk, so a late-afternoon visit gives you a real shot at seeing them rather than just the empty forest road.
Day 3: Ba Na Hills, a full day
Ba Na Hills, about 40 minutes west, is a SunWorld theme park and cable car resort built on the site of a 1919 French hill station, not an ancient site despite how often it gets photographed like one. Tickets run around 1,000,000 VND for adults, covering the record-setting cable car, the Golden Bridge, and the French Village theming. Book online in advance; the same-day queue at the gate can eat an hour you don’t have. Grab to the base station runs roughly 350,000-380,000 VND ($13-$15, verify) each way.
Dinner back in the city or at one of the beach strip’s international restaurants closes the day; you’ll likely be tired enough to want something familiar after a full day of theme-park walking.
Tip: the altitude here, around 1,500m, runs noticeably cooler than the coast, bring a light layer even if you left your hotel in shorts and sweating.
Day 4: Hoi An, then departure
Hoi An sits about 28-30km south of Da Nang, 25-45 minutes by Grab, roughly 250,000-350,000 VND ($10-$13.50) one way. Walk the old town’s Japanese Covered Bridge and merchant houses, then have cao lau for lunch, the regional noodle dish locals say depends on the town’s own well water for its texture. If your flight allows, a return trip up Son Tra Peninsula in the late afternoon is a good half-day alternative if Ba Na Hills already covered your mountain-view fix.
Head to the airport with buffer time; Da Nang’s arrivals and departures halls can back up during peak flight banks.
Tip: if renting a motorbike anywhere in this itinerary, photograph every scratch and dent with the rental shop present before you ride off, undocumented pre-existing damage is the most common way tourists get overcharged at return.
Read more: our best day trips guide covers My Son Sanctuary and Hue for anyone extending this trip past four days.