48 hours in Da Nang, Vietnam, September 2023

This was my 4th time visiting Vietnam, and first time visiting Da Nang. I spent most of 2023 traveling to the Philippines to see my family there, but a couple of times I was not able to find suitable tickets on my days off to go there, so I had a few chances to explore other destinations instead. This trip gave me 48 hours to explore Da Nang, Vietnam, a place I didn’t know much about before I went there, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

I booked tickets with Hong Kong Express, departing Hong Kong at 16:25 and arriving Da Nang at 17:20. For the return trip I departed 18:10 at and arrived back in Hong Kong at 21:10. The price for the ticket was HKD 2020. A quick re-view of the flight can be found here.

For my hotel, I booked the 4 Points by Sheraton, Da Nang, for the price of 5.230.000 Dong.. I booked a standard room, and was upgraded to a sea-view room at one of the top floors (I was Marriott Bonvoy Titanium member at the time). A full review of my stay can be found here.

I spent half my time there exploring Da Nang city, and it was not what I expected. The beach was stunning, the people were friendly, the food was exceptional, prices were low, and the layout of the city was very open and lots of air, wide roads, not many high-rice buildings. It felt like a real mix of old colonial French buildings, mixed with US military efficiency and layout, with a big splash of original Vietnamese buildings. Overall surprising, and definitely somewhere to go back to (which I did, trip report will be found here.) Full travel diary from my exploring the city here.

The second day I spend exploring Ba Na Hills, which was a real surprise for me. I hadn’t really heard about it before I came to Da Nang, I had just seend a lot of pictures of the hand statue holding up the bridge, but I had no idea that this was part of an old French style Alps village built in the mountains. This place was so special that I’ve make a full travel diary from my visit to it here.

That night as I headed back to Da Nang, I just went wondering around, visiting one of the markets, got some barbecue for dinner, and watched the fire show at the Dragon Bridge.

I then headed back to my hotel, visited the Mexican restaurant at the rooftop for a quick cocktail before calling it a night.

The last day was just a half-day there, so I woke up early to properly enjoy the breakfast again (the meatballs were amazing, should have ordered more of them), and then went for a very long walk on the beach. The beach there is perfect for walking, endless kilometers of white, firm sand, so you don’t get too tired.

I then booked a Grab for 80.000 Dong to the airport, and got to enjoy the lounge for a couple of hours before my flight back to Hong Kong. Although it was just a priority-pass lounge, I was really impressed, and a review of it can be found here.

This was my 4th time visiting Vietnam, and I must say things are improving. First time was around 2003, and I absolutely hated it (went to Ho Chi Minh). Then around 2007 I gave it a 2nd chance and went to Hanoi, and it was pretty good. Then in 2019 I went do Phu Quoc, and fell in love with the place (review here). And now loving it even more, and came back to Da Nang with my parent in 2024 (review coming here one day).

Read the rest of my holiday in Da Nang in this series:

• Introduction – 48 hours in Da Nang, Vietnam, September 2023
• Quick review – Hong Kong Express – Hong Kong – Da Nang – Hong Kong September 2023
• Exploring Da Nang in September 2023
• Exploring Ba Na Hills in September 2023
• Hotel Review – 4 Points by Sheraton, Da Nang, September 2023
• Lounge Review – Priority Pass Lounge, Da Nang International Terminal, September 2023