Da Nang Itinerary

Da Nang in 5 Days

Q: Can I do Hue as a day trip from Da Nang?

Yes, but it is a full day, about 2 hours each way by car. Hue is 100km north. Best approach is a private car with driver (roughly $60-80 for the day). Leave by 7am for the Imperial Citadel and a couple of royal tombs before heading back.

Our pick for most first-time visitors.

Updated August 2026 · By Ryan Yousefi

Is this enough time?

This is the sweet spot. Enough time for My Khe, Hoi An, Ba Na Hills, Marble Mountains, Son Tra, and good food, without constantly packing the day. Add a 6th day if Hue is on the list, it's a 2-hour drive each way and needs most of a day to do properly.

5 Days

The Ideal First Da Nang Trip

With three days you have to make hard choices, Ba Na Hills or Hoi An, that kind of thing. With five you can do both without rushing either, and still have two genuine beach days rather than just a morning here and there. This itinerary itself is the pick.

Beach + culture + food No rushing Optional 6th day

Hoi An Day + Night

Day 4

Do not rush back before the lanterns come on. Hoi An is 45 minutes from Da Nang by Grab. Leave at 7:30am and you'll beat the cruise ship crowds by 90 minutes, a completely different experience from a rushed afternoon visit.

Ancient Town Lantern hour 5:30pm

The whole trip, at a glance

Your Five Days

Day 1

Arrive and Orient

Easy Beach Arrival

Morning

Land, Grab to your hotel ($4-6). Da Nang airport is compact, you're in a Grab within 20 minutes of landing. Check in.

Late Morning

Walk to My Khe beach, 5-10 minutes on foot from most An Thuong hotels. Get your bearings. Swim if the energy is there.

Lunch

An Thuong food street, Vietnamese rice dishes to fresh seafood. $3-7 per person. Sit down, eat well, orient to the neighbourhood.

Afternoon

Rest or explore on foot. Cafes, minimarts, small restaurants along An Thuong. Deliberately low-key, Day 2 starts the real activity.

Evening

Grab to Bach Dang riverside. Walk the promenade, take in the illuminated bridges. Saturday or Sunday: stay for the Dragon Bridge fire show at 9pm, position yourself on the western bank before 8:45pm.

Why Today Works

Don't schedule anything ambitious on arrival day. This gets you fed, oriented, and onto the beach without fighting jet lag, and ends with one genuine Da Nang moment if the timing lines up.

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Local Tip

Buy your SIM card at the airport arrivals hall, Viettel or Vinaphone, around 150,000 VND for 10 days of data. Don't waste your first evening hunting for a phone shop.

Getting Around

Grab

Eat This

An Thuong street, Vietnamese rice dishes and fresh seafood.

Lady Buddha statue Son Tra Peninsula Da Nang

Day 2

Beach Day + Son Tra

Easy Beach Relax

Morning

Full beach morning at My Khe. Best before 11am, less heat, manageable crowds. Swim, read, settle into Da Nang pace.

11:30 AM

If your hotel has a pool, an afternoon pool session is a legitimate option alongside the sea. The Hyatt, Sheraton, and similar properties near My Khe have strong pool setups.

2:30 PM

Grab to Son Tra Peninsula ($4-5). Drive up to Linh Ung Pagoda and the Lady Buddha statue. The vista covers My Khe, Non Nuoc, and on a clear day the Hai Van Pass. 45-60 minutes on site. The Banyan Tree viewpoint nearby is worth a stop too.

5:00 PM

Return to hotel, freshen up.

Evening

Dinner at An Thuong. The concentration of good restaurants in a small area makes this the most reliable evening dining zone in Da Nang. Seafood, Vietnamese street food, international options.

Why Today Works

It's tempting to pack every day with activities, but Da Nang is a beach city and part of what makes it work is letting the beach days be real beach days. You will not regret a morning where you just swam and read.

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Local Tip

The Lady Buddha is a working religious site, cover shoulders and knees. Ask your Grab driver to take the coastal road down for a different view on the way back.

Getting Around

Grab

Eat This

An Thuong evening dining, seafood or Vietnamese street food.

French Village Ba Na Hills Da Nang aerial

Day 3

Ba Na Hills, Full Day

Big Day Early Start Full Day

7:00 AM

Depart by Grab or pre-booked private car. 25km west, 30-40 minutes. A private driver for the day (roughly $40-60) gives more flexibility than individual Grabs.

8:00 AM

Gates open. Buy tickets in advance online ($35-40 per person including the cable car). The Toc Tien cable car is one of the world's longest, 5.8km. The ascent through clouds to 1,400m is the experience in itself.

9:00 AM

Head straight to the Golden Bridge first, before the tour groups fill the area after 10am. Allow 30-45 minutes.

10:30 AM

French Village, the mock-European complex at the top. Worth a wander, the scale is impressive even if the concept is peculiar.

12:30 PM

Lunch on site. Prices are higher than Da Nang city but not extreme.

2:00 PM

Fantasy Park indoor entertainment complex if you have energy, rides, games, a wax museum. Optional.

3:30 PM

Cable car down, Grab or driver back to Da Nang. Evening at leisure.

Why Today Works

Ba Na Hills is impressive as an engineering feat and the Golden Bridge is worth seeing in person. It's also unambiguously a theme park, you'll be surrounded by large tour groups. Going early and doing the Golden Bridge first makes a significant difference.

⚠️

Weather Note

Ba Na Hills sits at 1,400 metres. It can be cool, misty, or rainy at the top even on clear days in Da Nang below. Bring a light layer regardless of the forecast.

Getting Around

Private Car

Backup Plan

Low-effort dinner near your hotel, you'll be tired after a full Ba Na Hills day.

Day 4

Full Hoi An Day Trip

Big Day Culture Day Trip

7:30 AM

Grab or private car departs. 45-50 minutes, $12-15 one way. Book a return driver if you want flexibility on timing.

8:30 AM

Arrive before the crowds. Morning light is excellent and the lanes are manageable before 10am. Buy the combined ancient town entry ticket. Walk the main lanes, Japanese Covered Bridge, merchant houses.

10:30 AM

If custom clothing is on the agenda, visit a tailor now. Most reputable ones need minimum 24-48 hours for custom items. If returning to Hoi An later, get measured today.

12:30 PM

Lunch: cao lau, white rose dumplings, Hoi An chicken rice, the three things worth ordering specifically here.

Afternoon

Option A: An Bang Beach (15 min by motorbike taxi or Grab), quieter than My Khe, good for a swim. Option B: the silk roads neighbourhood south of the old town, less visited and worth a walk.

5:30 PM

Lantern hour. The old town lit by lanterns in early evening is the classic image. Worth 30-45 minutes before heading back.

6:30 PM

Return Grab to Da Nang. Dinner near your hotel or riverside.

Why Today Works

On Hoi An vs Ba Na Hills: keep them on separate days. Ba Na Hills is tiring, you're on your feet all day and arrive home late afternoon. Hoi An is also a full day but the energy is different, more wandering, less theme park. Back to back, you'd arrive at the second one tired from the first.

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Local Tip

If custom tailoring is a priority, structure the trip to have two Hoi An visits, or stay one night there. A single day trip is tight but doable if you can return the next morning for pickup.

Getting Around

Grab / Private Car

Eat This

Cao lau and white rose dumplings, Hoi An specialties you can't get elsewhere.

Day 5

Marble Mountains + Departure Prep

Moderate Culture Beach

8:30 AM

Grab to Marble Mountains ($3-4). Arrive early, before the tour buses. Climb Thuy Son, caves, pagodas, a viewing platform over Non Nuoc beach. 1.5-2 hours. Entry is 40,000 VND plus optional elevator.

11:00 AM

Walk or Grab (5 minutes) to Non Nuoc beach. The stretch near the Hyatt/Sheraton area is clean and well-serviced, a noticeably quieter, more resort-feeling beach than central My Khe. Good for a final swim.

1:00 PM

Lunch at a Non Nuoc beachside restaurant, fresh grilled seafood is the local standard here.

3:00 PM

Back to your hotel. Pack. Any last-minute shopping at Con Market or a nearby minimart.

Evening

Final dinner in Da Nang. Airport Grab costs $4-6. Da Nang airport is efficient, 60 minutes before domestic departure, 90 before international is adequate.

Why Today Works

Day 5 is intentionally slower. You're on vacation. One more culture stop early, then beach, then a relaxed wind-down into departure, no reason to end the trip exhausted.

Getting Around

Grab

Eat This

Grilled seafood at a Non Nuoc beachside restaurant.

Optional extension

Have a 6th Day?

If historical sites interest you, Hue is worth the drive. 100km north of Da Nang, roughly 2 hours each way by car. What makes it worth doing: the Imperial Citadel, Vietnam's former royal capital, the royal tombs scattered across the surrounding hills, and Thien Mu Pagoda on the Perfume River.

Book a private car with driver for the day, budget $60-80 for the return trip. Self-navigating by Grab doesn't work well here, you want a driver who knows the sites and can manage timing. Leave by 7am to cover the citadel in the morning and two or three tombs in the afternoon before returning.

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Hai Van Pass Note

Most drivers default to the tunnel because it's faster. Ask specifically for the pass route if you want the views, the difference is about 30 minutes and the scenery is considerably better.

Worth knowing

Practical Tips for 5 Days

⚠️

Watch Out

Da Nang hits 38°C in June-August. Schedule outdoor sightseeing before 11am and after 4pm. Marble Mountains at noon is genuinely unpleasant, go early morning.

🎫

Worth Knowing

Book Ba Na Hills tickets online at least 3 days ahead, the cable car queues during Vietnamese school holidays (June-August) are brutal, and the online queue is separate and much shorter.

🌉

Dragon Bridge, Weekends Only

The fire and water show runs Saturday and Sunday nights only, 9pm. If your trip doesn't include a weekend evening free near the Han River, you'll miss it. Plan accordingly.

Where to base yourself

Stay Near My Khe

Beach access is immediate, restaurants are walkable, and Grab distances to Marble Mountains, Son Tra, and the city are short. A practical base for the full 5 days.

My Khe Beach

Sheraton Grand Danang Resort

Full beach resort with a strong kids club and pool complex, right on My Khe.

See Sheraton Grand Prices →

Non Nuoc Beach

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort

Five pools along the beach, close to Marble Mountains, a reliable full-service pick for a longer stay.

See Hyatt Regency Prices →

An Thuong, My Khe

A La Carte Da Nang Beach

Rooftop pool, all rooms face the sea, walking distance to An Thuong restaurants.

See A La Carte Prices →

Common questions

5-Day Itinerary FAQ

Is 5 days enough for Da Nang and Hoi An?

Yes. Five days gives you a full Hoi An day, Ba Na Hills, Marble Mountains, Son Tra Peninsula, beach days, and city time without feeling squeezed. The days fill naturally. Adding Hue on top requires a 6th day.

Can I do Hue as a day trip from Da Nang?

Yes, but it's a full day, about 2 hours each way by car. Hue is 100km north. The best approach is a private car with driver (roughly $60-80 for the day). Leave by 7am for the Imperial Citadel and a couple of royal tombs before heading back.

Should I book Ba Na Hills tickets in advance?

Yes. Buy online before you go, it saves time at the gate, which can have significant queues on peak days. Tickets are around $35-40 per person including the cable car.

When is the Dragon Bridge fire show?

Saturday and Sunday nights at 9pm, about 15 minutes, free from the riverside. Position yourself on the western bank before 9pm. If your Saturday or Sunday is tied up with Ba Na Hills or Hoi An, keep one evening clear for this.

What is the best base for a 5-day Da Nang trip?

My Khe beach, specifically around An Thuong. Beach access is immediate, restaurants are walkable, and Grab distances to Marble Mountains, Son Tra, and the city are short.

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