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Central Highlands1,500 metresCoffee country

Top 10 Things To Do in Da Lat

Country
Vietnam
Best months
Dec · Jan · Feb
Population
~258K
Language
Vietnamese
Budget / day
$35–70
Quick answer

Give Da Lat three days. Day one is the city: Xuan Huong Lake at dawn, the Crazy House, the market, and a roastery afternoon. Day two goes up, to Lang Biang, or down a canyon on a rope. Day three is the heritage train to Trai Mat and Linh Phuoc Pagoda, then the villa quarter. Book canyoning with a licensed operator and nobody else.

Da Lat sits at 1,500 metres on the Lang Biang Plateau, which is why the French built it and why Vietnamese couples still honeymoon here. Expect pine forest, greenhouse valleys, arabica by the kilo, and 15 to 24C while the coast bakes.

The 10 best things to do in Da Lat

1

Climb through the Crazy House

Architecture· 3 Huynh Thuc Khang, Da Lat, Lam Dong

Dang Viet Nga has been adding to this since 1990 and has not obviously stopped. Concrete banyan trunks grow into stairways, guest rooms are named for animals, and the walkways run along the roofline with very little between you and the drop. Come for the architecture, not the gift shop.

Time1 hr
CostTicket at the gate
Best atAt opening, before the coaches
TipThe roof walkways are narrow and mostly unrailed. Wrong place for a tripod or a toddler.
Map↗ Official site
2

Take the heritage train to Trai Mat

Railway· Da Lat Railway Station, 1 Quang Trung, Da Lat, Lam Dong

Moncet and Reveron drew the station in 1932 and it opened in 1938, art deco with three pointed roofs that answer the three peaks of Lang Biang. A national relic since 2001. A restored 7 km stretch of the old Thap Cham line still runs out to Trai Mat, half an hour of market gardens each way.

Time2 hr return
CostReturn ticket
Best atThe mid-morning departure
TipSeveral departures run only when enough seats sell
Map↗ Vietnam Railways
3

Walk into Linh Phuoc Pagoda

Temple· 120 Tu Phuoc, Trai Mat, Da Lat, Lam Dong

The broken-crockery pagoda, mosaicked head to foot in porcelain shards and bottle glass, including a 49-metre dragon built around some 12,000 beer bottles. The seven-storey bell tower and the painted hell chambers underneath are the parts nobody warns you about.

Time45 min
CostFree
Best atStraight off the train
TipTrai Mat station is a five-minute walk away. Shoulders and knees covered inside the halls.
Map
4

Go up Lang Biang

Mountain· Lang Biang, Lac Duong, Lam Dong, 12 km north of Da Lat

The roof of Da Lat, and the plateau that gave the city its climate. A paved road takes jeeps to Radar Hill at 1,929 metres, which is where the view and the crowds are. The real thing is Ba peak at 2,167 metres, six to eight hours on foot with a guide arranged at the gate.

TimeHalf a day
CostGate ticket, jeep extra
Best atBefore 9am, above the cloud
TipRadar Hill is about 90 minutes return by jeep
Map
5

Walk the loop of Xuan Huong Lake

Lake· Tran Quoc Toan, central Da Lat, Lam Dong

A dammed crescent through the middle of town with a five-kilometre path around it, and the one piece of Da Lat everybody actually uses. Runners at six, coffee carts at seven, swan pedalos by mid-morning. The north bank runs past the flower gardens.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best atDawn
TipStart at the Thanh Thuy end, where the cafes are, and walk it anticlockwise.
Map
6

Shop Da Lat Market, then the night market

Market· Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Da Lat, Lam Dong

The covered hall is the produce argument for the whole plateau: artichoke, avocado, strawberry, persimmon, and vegetables that grow nowhere else in Vietnam. After dark the steps above it turn into the night market, which is where the grilled rice paper is made.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best at7pm, for the night market
TipBuy dried artichoke and mulberry jam upstairs in the covered hall rather than on the steps.
Map
7

Ride the cable car to Truc Lam Zen Monastery

Monastery· Truc Lam Zen Monastery, Tuyen Lam Lake, Da Lat, Lam Dong

A working monastery above Tuyen Lam Lake, with gardens that are the point and monks who ask only for quiet. Reach it on the 2.3 km cable car from Robin Hill, running since 2003, which is fifteen minutes over pine forest and the best cheap view in the city.

Time2 hr
CostFree, cable car extra
Best atLate afternoon light
TipThe cable car pauses over lunch and runs a short day on Thursdays
Map
8

Canyon down Datanla Falls

Adventure· Datanla Falls, QL20, Da Lat, Lam Dong

Rappels, a water slide and a free jump through a canyon most day-trippers only see from the alpine coaster. It is why a lot of people come to Da Lat, and it is also where unlicensed operators have killed tourists. Book Phat Tire Ventures, Highland Sport Travel or Viet Challenge.

TimeFull day
CostGuided tour
Best atDry season, December to March
TipAsk to see the licence and the insurance before you pay
Map↗ Phat Tire Ventures
9

Walk the Cau Dat tea hills at dawn

Farm· Cau Dat, Xuan Truong, Da Lat, Lam Dong, 23 km east

The French planted Indochina’s first tea here in 1927 and shipped the black tea home. The hills still run to 230 hectares at 1,650 metres, the factory below is the oldest working one in the country, and the rows look their best in the hour the mist burns off.

TimeHalf a day
CostFree to walk, farm cafe extra
Best at6:30am, before the mist lifts
TipIt is 23 km out on QL20. Hire a driver rather than a scooter if the road is wet.
Map
10

Tour Bao Dai’s Summer Palace

Palace· 1 Trieu Viet Vuong, Da Lat, Lam Dong

Veysseyre and Kruze built it between 1933 and 1938 for the last Nguyen emperor, and it has been left roughly as he used it: the study, the children’s rooms, the map table. Restrained art deco, which is the surprise if you have come from the Hue palaces.

Time1 hr
CostTicket at the gate
Best atWeekday mornings
TipShoe covers are handed out at the door. The pine grounds are free and worth ten minutes.
Map

6 of the 10, mapped

Da Lat · 6 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Da Lat travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Da Lat?+
Three. One for the city (the lake, the Crazy House, the market and a roastery), one for the mountain or the canyon, and one for the heritage train to Trai Mat and the villa quarter. A fourth day buys the Cau Dat tea hills without rushing them.
When is the best time to visit Da Lat?+
December to March, the dry season, when mornings are clear and the mist burns off by nine. May to October brings heavy afternoon rain and closes the canyoning. Nights sit near 10C all year, so bring a jacket whenever you come.
How do you get to Da Lat?+
Fly into Lien Khuong, 30 km south, about an hour from Ho Chi Minh City or two from Hanoi. Overland, sleeper coaches take six to seven hours from Ho Chi Minh City and around four from Nha Trang. There is no mainline train to the city.
Is canyoning in Da Lat safe?+
With a licensed operator, yes. Phat Tire Ventures, Highland Sport Travel and Viet Challenge hold licences, carry insurance and use certified guides. Unlicensed tours have killed tourists here. Ask to see the licence before you pay, and treat a cheap street price as a warning.
Is Da Lat worth visiting?+
If you want cool air, pine forest, arabica and a version of Vietnam that looks nothing like the coast, yes. If you came for beaches and street-food heat it will read as a strange detour. It is at its best over three days, and it rewards an early alarm.
Where to drink

Best coffee & roasteries in Da Lat

Eight rooms, from the plateau’s own roasters to the valley terraces.
All 8 coffee & roasteries →
The roastery one
Nguyen Van Troi

La Viet Coffee

Specialty roaster

The city’s best-known specialty roaster. Glass walls, the roasters working at the back of the room, cupping most days.

Map↗ Website
Khu Hoa Binh

Tiem Ca Phe Tung

Institution

Serving since 1955, and the room where Trinh Cong Son and his circle drank. Order it black and sit by the window.

Map
Hung Vuong

The Married Beans

Roastery

A small roastery bar on Hung Vuong. Filter over milk coffee, and the grinder does most of the talking.

Map
The view one
To Ngoc Van

Me Linh Coffee Garden

Garden cafe

Terraces cut into a hillside west of town with a working smallholding below and the valley on three sides.

Map
Trai Mat

Panorama Da Lat

View cafe

Above the Trai Mat roundabout on the 723, high enough to sit level with the cloud on a good morning.

Map
Central

Bicycle Up Coffee

Specialty bar

Specialty bar and antique shop in one room. Small menu, careful brewing, no view to distract you.

Map
Prenn Pass

Horizon Coffee

View cafe

A pine hill above Prenn Pass, with the cable car line and the valley in front of the terrace.

Map
Central

Kokoro Cafe

Design cafe

Japanese-styled wood and stone near the centre, built around a koi pond and a stand of pine.

Map
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Da Lat

Six kitchens, from the bakery counter to the charcoal grills.
All 6 restaurants →
Tang Bat Ho

Goc Ha Thanh

Vietnamese

Northern home cooking on Tang Bat Ho, and the room most visitors are sent to first. Small, so go early.

Map
Open early
Ba Thang Hai

Lien Hoa Bakery & Restaurant

Bakery

A bakery downstairs and a proper kitchen upstairs. Banh mi at the counter, bo kho at a table.

Map
Tang Bat Ho

Banh Uot Long Ga Trinh

Breakfast

Steamed rice sheets with chicken offal, eaten for breakfast a few doors from Goc Ha Thanh.

Map
Phan Dinh Phung

Nem Nuong Ba Hung

Grill

Charcoal pork rolls, cold herbs and a thick peanut sauce you wrap yourself at the table.

Map
Central

Artist Alley

French, Vietnamese

French and Vietnamese plates in a room hung with paintings, with live guitar most evenings.

Map
Central

Com Ga Moc Linh

Chicken rice

Chicken rice, done plainly and well. The kind of lunch that costs almost nothing and settles the afternoon.

Map
Where the water is

Best waterfalls in Da Lat

Five falls on the plateau, two of them worth the drive out.
All 5 waterfalls →
QL20

Datanla Falls

Falls

The closest, on QL20, and the busiest. An alpine coaster runs down to the lower falls; the canyon above is where the rope tours go.

Map
Prenn Pass

Prenn Falls

Falls

At the top of Prenn Pass, rebuilt as a landscaped park. Good with children, less good if you wanted it wild.

Map
Wear grip
Nam Ban

Elephant Falls

Falls

Thac Voi at Nam Ban, 25 km southwest. A steep, wet scramble to the base, and Linh An Pagoda beside the car park.

Map
Xuan Tho

Tiger Falls

Falls

Thac Hang Cop, east of town past Trai Mat. Long stairs through pine, and far fewer people than Datanla.

Map
Duc Trong

Pongour Falls

Falls

Seven tiers about 50 km south, and the widest of them. Worth timing for the weeks after the rains stop.

Map
What grows here

Best flower farms & gardens in Da Lat

Five places the plateau earns its living, and two you can pick from.
All 5 flower farms & gardens →
Tran Nhan Tong

Da Lat Flower Gardens

Garden

Eleven hectares laid out in 1973 on the northeast shore of Xuan Huong. The city’s formal showcase.

Map
Van Hanh

Van Thanh Flower Village

Growers

The largest of the flower villages, 3 km out and given over mostly to roses under glass.

Map
Ha Dong

Ha Dong Flower Village

Growers

The first specialised flower village in the city, still laid out like the northern countryside it came from.

Map
Thai Phien

Thai Phien Flower Village

Growers

Chrysanthemum greenhouses on the eastern edge, where growers will walk you through the cycle.

Map
Pick your own
Than Tho

Biofresh Strawberry Farm

Farm

Hanging strawberry beds near Than Tho Lake, and the farm that started the pick-your-own habit here.

Map
What the French and the monks left

Best pagodas & churches in Da Lat

Five buildings that explain how the city was settled.
All 5 pagodas & churches →
Tran Phu

Da Lat Cathedral

Cathedral

St Nicholas of Bari, built through the 1930s and early 1940s. Everyone calls it the Chicken Church, after the weathervane.

Map
Ngo Quyen

Domaine de Marie

Church

A pink convent church on Ngo Quyen from the early 1940s, holding the tomb of the governor-general’s wife.

Map
Nguyen Van Troi

Linh Son Pagoda

Pagoda

The city’s oldest working pagoda, up a flight of steps on Nguyen Van Troi, with a bronze bell in the yard.

Map
Phu Dong Thien Vuong

Van Hanh Zen Monastery

Monastery

A standing Buddha tall enough to see from the road below, and a quiet garden almost nobody walks.

Map
Nam Ban

Linh An Pagoda

Pagoda

Out at Nam Ban beside Elephant Falls, with an enormous seated Maitreya facing the valley.

Map
Where to look from

Best lakes & viewpoints in Da Lat

Five stops for the water and the long view.
All 5 lakes & viewpoints →
Tuyen Lam

Tuyen Lam Lake

Lake

The biggest lake here, 320 hectares of pine islands 7 km south. Boats, forest paths and the monastery above it.

Map
Than Tho

Than Tho Lake

Lake

The Lake of Sighs, 6 km east, named for a drowning in a local legend. Quiet, and pine to the waterline.

Map
Lac Duong

Suoi Vang

Lake

Dankia and Ankroet, two linked lakes 20 km north under Lang Biang. The reservoir that supplies the city.

Map
Robin Hill

Robin Hill

Viewpoint

The cable car’s upper station, and the cheapest full panorama of the city and the valley behind it.

Map
Prenn Pass

Prenn Pass

Viewpoint

The QL20 climb from the coast, and the point where the heat stops and the pine forest starts.

Map
Out of town

Best day trips in Da Lat

Four trips off the plateau, from an hour away to the coast.
All 4 day trips →
Lac Duong

Lat village

Village

K’Ho weaving at the foot of Lang Biang, 12 km north, and the reason the mountain has two names.

Map
Bao Loc

Bao Loc and Dambri Falls

Town and falls

About 110 km down QL20, through the tea and silk country, to the tallest fall in the region.

Map
Khanh Hoa

Nha Trang

Coast

The nearest coast, roughly 135 km east and four hours by road. Sea level, and about ten degrees warmer.

Map
Phan Thiet

Mui Ne

Coast

The dunes and the kite beaches. Since the 2025 merger they are in the same province as Da Lat.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Da Lat (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan or Feb

Tet, Lunar New Year

Vietnamese families fill the city, rates climb and many kitchens shut for the first three days.

Jan · Feb

Mai anh dao season

The pink highland cherry lines the lake road and Tran Hung Dao for about a fortnight.

March

Da Lat Ultra Trail

Trail race over Lang Biang, 15 km to 100 km. The 2026 edition runs 27 to 29 March.

Apr 30 · May 1

Reunification Day and May Day

The long weekend that puts half of Ho Chi Minh City on QL20. Book beds and buses weeks ahead.

Sep 2

National Day

A public holiday and the last busy weekend before the rains taper off in October.

Nov · Dec

Coffee harvest

Arabica comes off the plateau and the roasteries put single-origin lots on the menu.

December

Da Lat Flower Festival

Biennial. The eleventh edition is planned for December 2026, with parades on Hoa Binh Square.

Dec · Jan

City anniversary and New Year

Da Lat dates itself to Yersin’s arrival in 1893 and marks it in late December. Peak season, book ahead.

Getting around

Da Lat transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.

Air

Lien Khuong (DLI) sits 30 km south on QL20, about 45 minutes from the centre. Ho Chi Minh City is roughly an hour in the air, Hanoi about two. International routes since 2025.

↗ Airports Corporation of Vietnam↗ Vietnam Airlines

Bus

Sleeper coaches are how most people arrive: six to seven hours from Ho Chi Minh City, about four from Nha Trang. FUTA runs the most frequent service and includes a shuttle into town.

↗ FUTA Bus Lines

Train

There is no mainline rail. The only track left is the restored 7 km heritage line out to Trai Mat from the 1938 station, run as an attraction rather than as transport.

↗ Vietnam Railways

Getting around

Grab covers the city and undercuts a metered taxi. Scooter hire is easy, but the passes are steep and wet from May to October, so treat the hills with respect.

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Da Lat, Vietnam

The classics to order before you leave.

Banh trang nuong

Grilled rice paper with quail egg, dried beef and spring onion. Da Lat’s own cold-night snack.

Nem nuong

Charcoal-grilled pork rolls with a thick peanut sauce, wrapped at the table with cold herbs.

Banh can

Rice-flour pancakes cooked in a clay mould, quail egg inside, served with a pork meatball in broth.

Kem bo

Avocado blended with condensed milk under coconut ice cream. The market queue is for this.

Sua dau nanh

Hot soy milk on the night market steps, sweetened and drunk standing up in the cold.

Lau ga la e

Chicken hotpot with highland basil leaf. A dish that only makes sense somewhere this cold.

Tra atiso

Da Lat grows Vietnam’s artichokes. The dried flower brews dark and faintly sweet.

Banh uot long ga

Steamed rice sheets with chicken and offal, eaten at breakfast rather than at dinner.

Da Lat fact sheet

Da Lat at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Vietnam
Region
Lam Dong province, Central Highlands
Population
About 258,000 in the city, the largest on the Central Highlands
Founded
1893, when Alexandre Yersin reached the Lang Biang Plateau
Nickname
The city of eternal spring
Language
Vietnamese
Currency
Vietnamese dong (VND)
Time zone
UTC+7, no daylight saving
Calling code
+84, area code 263
Airports
Lien Khuong (DLI), 30 km south on QL20
Power
220V, 50Hz, plug types A, C and F
Emergency
113 police, 114 fire, 115 ambulance
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
By Grab, by scooter, on foot in the centre
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Da Lat joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in October 2023, the first Vietnamese city admitted for music.
  • The plateau sits at about 1,500 metres, which holds the city near 15 to 24C while the coast runs past 35.
  • Lang Biang was recognised as a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2015, covering 275,439 hectares.
  • The French planted Indochina’s first tea at Cau Dat in 1927, and that factory is still the oldest working one.
  • On 1 July 2025 Lam Dong absorbed Binh Thuan and Dak Nong, so Da Lat and the Mui Ne dunes share a province.

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