Da Nang, Vietnam – Is It Worth Visiting

Da Nang or Danang, Vietnam has a busy international airport and a popular beachside location in central Vietnam. The city also has its own train station and is close to beautiful UNESCO-listed Hoi An Ancient Town, making it an important transit point for most people travelling to Hoi An. Da Nang is incredibly popular with expats, boasting long sandy beaches, cheap apartments and good food options. But is Da Nang worth visiting? A lot of expats and digital nomads choose to live there, but is it really a good place to stay?

We chose to base ourselves in Hoi An for months so we’ve visited Da Nang many times both as a young couple and later with our kids. We know this area, and Vietnam, very well, for foreigners. All opinions and reviews are our own. This post may contain affiliate links. We were last in Vietnam in 2026 and will be back in 2027.

Da Nang Vietnam

Da Nang is popular for vacations and for expats living in Vietnam short or long term. It has a lot of appeal, but is it really worth staying there on your next trip or holiday?

About Danang – Things You Need To Know

Danang is a large modern city with a lot of development, with more construction ongoing. Da Nang aims to be the “The Singapore of Vietnam.” Right now it has very little in common with Singapore other than high rise buildings, but there is so much building work going on that it may happen.

Most of Da Nang is new and modern. If you like the history and culture of old Vietnam, minus the highrises, go elsewhere. For modern convenience, you should pick Da Nang. For Old Vietnam, we highly recommend Hanoi, Hoi An or Saigon, even Hue.

Because Da Nang is mostly modern, the roads are wide and the traffic is much more free-flowing than in some parts of Vietnam.

Da Nang city is on either side of the Hàn River, with riverfront walking esplanades stretching from the mouth of the river to the famous Dragon Bridge. This whole are is well lit at night and on weekends the dragon spews both fire and water. It’s pretty spectacular.

Where To Stay in Da Nang?

We found that hotels in Da Nang were very cheap and had a lot of availability. Hotels along the beach front are high rise and many were brand new. We were the first guests to stay in our hotel room, it was huge and immaculate. We used this hotel behind the beach with amazing sea views.

For a luxury 5-star resort, try the The InterContinental Sun Peninsula Danang on Son Tra Peninsula (AKA Monkey Mountain), north of My Khe Beach a beautiful and more secluded setting than the long sandy strip of Da Nang beach.

Things To Do in & Near Da Nang

Because of Da Nang’s central location in Vietnam and good transport connections, it’s easy to explore more of Vietnam from here. Cheap flights could take you anywhere for the weekend or you can easily take trips to Hoi An, Hue or Khe San. We have another post listing the things to do in Da Nang, we give our top 10, but here’s a quick overview list of possible activities.

• See Danang’s Dragon Bridge By Night
• Visit Da Nang’s Beaches, the best is probably My Khe Beach (AKA China Beach, popular in wartime with American soldiers), to the east of Danang. Non Nuoc Beach is south of My Khe. There is also the North Beach on the Son Tra Peninsula, along with Black Rock Beach. Biển Thanh Bình beach is on Danang’s northern coast.
• Visit Linh Ung Pagoda on Monkey Mountain, overlooking Da Nang Bay, to see the towering Lady Buddha statue, Quan Thế Âm, the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Yes, there are monkeys.
• Visit Hoi An From Da Nang for the UNESCO-listed historic Old Town. Hoi An is particularly famous for food and cooking classes.
• See Marble Mountain from Da Nang. There are incredible caves, shrines and pagodas here and it’s very close to Da Nang. This tour is the most popular way to see Marble Mountain, Am Phu Cave and Lady Buddha (Monkey Mountain) in one day. It’s an easy way to see the major sights, and it’s cheap.
• Visit Am Phu Cave, it’s part of Marble Mountain and was a Vietnam War base.
• Explore Danang’s Food, Restaurant & Bar Scene, Seafood is particularly popular with huge rows of fresh, live, fish and shellfish. There are also Danang food tours available.
• See Historic My Son Sanctuary From Danang. These ancient ruins are well worth seeing and are closer to Hoi An that Da Nang. This is a private tour to My Son from Danang, it’s very affordable.
• Visit Hoi An’s pottery village, we wrote about the museum and pottery making here.
• Visit Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge from Danang, a man-made, recent, tourist attraction by Sun World, a bit like a theme park. Golden Bridge is the giant hand bridge, built for Instagram and selfies. There is a cable car to get there. If you’d like to check out Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge, take a look here.
• See the Hai Van Pass and continue to historic Hue. The Hai Van Pass takes you north of Da Nang, over the mountain. It’s the scenic route, there is also a tunnel. Hue is about 100 km north of Danang, and you can get there by train or bus is about 2 hours. Alternatively, take the chance to ride the Hai Van Pass with an Easy Rider motorbike tour. Take a day trip to Hue, Hue day trip from Danang here. You could also take the train to Hue. To book the train or bus from Danang to Hue, go here,

Is Danang Worth Visiting For a Vacation

Da Nang could be for you if you prefer modern destinations with affordable hotels and dining, plus good access to sandy beaches. If you enjoy cultural activities, there’s plenty to see and do nearby.

My choice would be to stay in Hoi An, not far away, but each to his own. Hoi An also has beaches, plus more of historic and cultural interest.

Is Da Nang A Good Place To Live?

I’ve seen plenty of YouTube videos from expats in Da Nang enthusiastically singing the praises of Da Nang as a place to live. It could be a great place to live if you like modern high-rises, affordable housing, expat communities, and modern convenience. The location and transport connections are outstanding. However, for me, I love old Vietnam, culture and history; I’d pick Hoi An over Da Nang, or even Hanoi. We have lots more on our travel blog about Vietnam, it’s one of our favourite countries and cuisines, see the related posts, below, or go to our Vietnam archives.

Is It Worth Visiting Da Nang in …

Da Nang is in the northern hemisphere in Central Vietnam, about 16 degrees north of the equator, so it is in the tropics, but in winter it may not feel very tropical. Our last visit to Da Nang was in winter, January, just before the Tet holiday (lunar new year.) It’s a very beautiful time to be in Vietnam as streets and homes are decorated with fresh fruit, flowers and flags, but it was windy, wet, the seas were rough and the skies were grey.

Central Vietnam can see heavy rain and storms in autumn and winter. We have experienced the flooding in Hoi An in October and November, and these can continue through December, January and February. I don’t think Da Nang floods, but I can’t guarantee that, obviously.

We enjoyed visiting Da Nang in winter because it allowed sightseeing without too many worries about sun and extreme heat. However, if you enjoy the beach, maybe you’d be better off visiting in spring and summer.

The “official” best time to visit Da Nang is March, April and May, when you should see warm weather and no to little rain.

We don’t let the time of year or weather conditions stop us doing anything; it’s not very important to us, but storms can close beaches, as we saw when we were based in Hoi An.

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