Da Nang – Vietnam’s Golden Coast

Waves passing over the beach in Da Nang, with some light clouds in the sky and Cham Island in the distance.

Da Nang is a coastal city in central Vietnam, known for its long and beautiful beaches. Since the 2010s, Da Nang has been a popular beach resort, especially for holiday goers in east Asia. Since then, there has been a lot of development in the city, including new hotels and the Ba Na Hills resort. Many people will recognize the Golden Bridge from Ba Na Hills, the bridge held between two large stone hands. As well as the beach and Golden Bridge, Da Nang is also known for its Dragon Bridge, Marble Mountains, and various temples dotted around the city. Da Nang is the perfect city to relax in on a longer trip to Vietnam, especially after the crowds of the capital, Hanoi.

Things to do in Da nang

Da Nang Beach
Ba Na Hills
- Golden Bridge
- French Garden
- Chua Linh Ung Temple
- French Village
- Dinh Nui Chua Temple
The Marble Mountains
Linh Ung Temple
Dragon Bridge
Museum of Cham Sculpture
Buu Dai Son Pagoda

Da nang Beach

The beach in Da Nang is insanely long, stretching off into the horizon. From one end of the beach you can’t see the other end. I walked it for two hours and still didn’t cover half of it. When you search for the beach in Da Nang, you might see a list of different beaches, but these are all essentially the same long connected beach that you can walk along. The sands are white and the water is warm, making the beach of Da Nang a great place to relax.

As well as relaxing on the beach, you can of course swim in the designated areas. There are also water activities to take part in, such as parasailing or riding on a banana boat.

People swimming in the sea at Da Nang beach.

Along the central popular stretch of the beach (known as the My Khe Beach), you can find lots of beach bars, cafes and restaurants, and if you head up on to the main road next to the beach you’ll find even more to choose from. I recommend the Bread & Butter Bakery in 43 Town, a great cafe/bakery just behind the beach.

Eggs Benedict with side of fruit and an Oreo milkshake at the Bread & Butter Bakery.

Outside the most popular stretches of the beach it’s very peaceful. At the north end you can see lots of fishing boats, including the circular basket boats. Further south you can have stretches of the beach a kilometre long all to yourself, and enjoy views over to the Cham Islands.

Circular fishing boats on Da Nang beach.

Ba Na Hills

The Ba Na Hills are a mountaintop resort to the west of Da Nang. Here you can find the famous Golden Bridge, a French Garden and Village, a mini-theme park, brewery, temples, and much more to explore. To explore everything the Ba Na Hills has to offer will take at least a full day, with hotel options on the hills if you wish to explore for longer.

There are various cable car routes to the top, and cable cars connecting the different sections. From the entrance to the top takes about 20 minutes on one of the world’s longest cable cars, offering fantastic views over Da Nang Bay.

The view over the Bay of Da Nang from the Ba Na Hills cable car. There's a cable car in the foreground and the sea in the background.

You can organise a trip to Ba Na Hills yourself, or book through a tour group. I went using Klook which was well organised and gave me lots of time to myself to explore.

Golden Bridge

The Golden Bridge has probably become one of Vietnam’s most recognisable attractions since it opened in 2018, with an abundance of influencer photos dominating Instagram. This 150-metre-long bridge connects the cable car station to the French Garden, while offering amazing views from its walkway.

The view over Da Nang from the Golden Bridge, with cable cars in the foreground and the sea in the background.

The bridge is iconic because it is suspended between two large, weathered stone hands, making it appear as if a giant is holding up the bridge.

While everyone wants their Instagram shot, the weather can change rapidly, bringing tropical downpours to the walkway and giving the influencers a dose of reality.

french Garden

The French Garden, or Le Jardin D’Amour, is a series of themed gardens on the other side of the Golden Bridge. The heavy rain that covered the Golden Bridge continued as I entered the garden, so I rushed round it and didn’t experience it all.

The gateway arch to the French Garden, with flowers and butterfly sculptures decorating it.

The Love Garden features a large sculpture of hands holding a heart, while another has a giant chessboard. One garden below the Golden Bridge includes a fountain with fish sculptures.

A large sculpture of white hands holding a golden heart, with 4 golden children in the foreground.

The large chessboard at the French Garden.

A fountain of fish sculptures, with the Golden Bridge in the background.

There are a lot of different parts of the garden to explore (if the weather is nice!).

A monkey statue surrounded by plants and flowers.

Chua Linh Ung Temple

The Chua Linh Ung Temple sits on the other side of the French Garden from the Golden Bridge. The main focal point of this temple is the 27-metre-tall statue of the Shakyamuni Buddha statue.

The white Buddha statue of Chua Linh Ung Temple from directly ahead.

The path from the French Garden down to the temple takes you under colourful flags and past statues, including one that looks like the Monkey King.

The colourful Buddhist flags leading to the temple.

The statue of the Monkey King dressed in yellow on the path to the temple.

As you approach the Buddha statue you’ll see the dragon fountain on the left.

There are more halls of the temple to explore, however in the heavy rain I decided to skip that part.

The remainder of the Chua Linh Ung Temple, under dark clouds and heavy rain.

French Village

The French Village sits at the top of Ba Na Hills and is inspired by medieval European architecture. It’s a surreal place to visit with a lot to see and do. The area is split into the Sun and Moon Kingdoms, with the Sun Kingdom housing the medieval streets, brewery and amusement park, and the Moon Kingdom being home to large castles and enormous statues.

The red windmill of the French Village, with an arch underneath for people to walk through.

Starting in the Sun Kingdom, it’s worth exploring the streets to feel like you’re walking through medieval Europe. You can find lots of restaurants, cafes and shops, as well as street food style stalls selling coffee and banh mi. You can see the cathedral and the Pop Mart store that sits inside a castle turret.

A couple taking wedding photos in front of the French Village cathedral.

The Pop Mart store inside the castle turret. The store entrance sits between multiple castle turrets.

There is the amusement park area featuring carnival games and the big swing.

Many people riding the big swing in the French Village.

For adults there is the brewery and beer garden at the Beer Plaza. You can see where the beer is brewed and try all the different kinds on offer. When I visited, they gave everyone a voucher for two free 125ml beers. I’m not sure if this offer is always available or if it was just for summer 2026. They also sell food, with a bit of a German theme making it feel like Oktoberfest.

A statue of a king raising a cup of beer in front of the Beer Plaza sign.

Looking down at the large silver brewing casks.

Outside of the Beer Plaza is the Helios Waterfall, whose stairs lead to a garden of zodiac animal statues and a great view.

Water flowing down the Helios Waterfall, where gold statues stand.

There are a lot of fun things to see and do here, including an alpine coaster and food to try.

A gateway with a large sun sculpture and Medieval Fair writing across it.

Heading over to the Moon Kingdom, you’ll first come to a plaza with what looks a bit like a replica of the Louvre. Behind this glass pyramid is a massive pink palace.

The glass pyramid resembling the Louvre in front of the pink palace.

Beyond this is the Lunar Castle. This was pretty empty inside but still impressive to see from outside.

The outside of the lunar castle, with a sign reading "Welcome to Linar Castle."

In this area you can also see the statue of Atlas. He is holding up the mountain on which the pink palace sits, opposite the Lunar Castle.

The statue of Atlas holding up the mountain, with the pink palace on top.

All around this area there is European-style architecture and statues, making you feel like you’re stepping back in time to medieval Europe or renaissance France, but the view over the forested mountains brings you back to Vietnam.

Looking across to the Lunar Castle, with marble statues in the foreground.

Dinh Nui Chua Temple

A Buddhist temple hall with an orange roof and red lanterns.

The Dinh Nui Chua Temple marks the highest point on Ba Na Hills. It doesn’t take much effort to reach the highest point since the cable car has already brought you most of the way. The path to the top takes you through some gardens and past temple halls. There’s also a pagoda that was undergoing repairs when I visited.

White dragons and flowers decorate the stairs up to the entrance to the Buddhist temple.

It only takes 5 or 10 minutes to reach the Ba Na summit stone at 1487 metres.

The Ba Na Hills summit stone marking a height of 1487m.

The temple hall at the top has a large bell you can ring. The best part however, is the amazing view over the French Village and beyond to Da Nang.

The view over the French Village and wider Da Nang area from the top of Ba Na Hills.

The Marble Mountains

The Marble Mountains of Da Nang are a group of five marble and limestone hills to the south of the city. The Marble Mountains contain numerous caves and tunnels, with Buddhist temples hidden amongst them. There are various routes you can take around the mountains and lots to see. You can opt for the stairs allowing you to see more, or take the outdoor elevator to the top.

I started at the Am Phu Cave to the left of the elevator entrance. The entrance to this cave is over a small bridge, and once inside you are greeted by many Buddhist statues.

Looking out through the entrance of the Am Phu Cave.

Many Buddhist statues lined up on shelves inside the Am Phu Cave.

If you head left you can climb some very steep stairs for a bit of a view over the surrounding area.

People ascending the very steep stairs towards the sunlight inside Am Phu Cave.

The view over southern Da Nang from the top of Am Phu Cave.

Or towards the back of the cave you can descend deeper into its depths where you’ll find some pretty disturbing statues.

A statue resembling a devil stands over a defeated person.

A statue of a demon holding a woman captive.

Once you’re finished exploring the Am Phu Cave, head left (away from the elevator) and you’ll come to another entrance. You’ll need to buy a new ticket for the rest of the Marble Mountains, but the tickets are very cheap.

Heading up the stairs, you’ll reach the Ton Tam and Tam Thai pagodas.

The Ton Tam pagoda, with red lanterns hanging from its roof.

The Tam Thai pagoda with its orange roof and a fat Buddha statue sitting out front.

It’s also worth going a little higher to the Vong Giang Dai viewpoint for a decent view.

The view over western Da Nang from the Vong Giang Dai viewpoint.

Perhaps one of the best areas of the Marble Mountains is the Huyen Khong Cave. This large cave houses a small Buddhist temple and statues. The sunlight pours in through the cracks in the ceiling, sometimes appearing like a waterfall.

Entering the Huyen Khong Cave where crowds are gathered below the Buddhist statue.

Sunlight pours in through the cave roof, illuminating the Buddhist statue.

There are more caves and pagodas to explore, and you can also climb to the highest peak, but after the Huyen Khong Cave I headed east to the Linh Ung Pagoda, stopping for some freshly squeezed orange juice on the way.

Freshly squeezed orange juice being held in front of a red plastic table and chairs.

This last pagoda, with the Xa Loi Tower and more caves nearby, are also worth seeing. There are lots of beautifully crafted Buddhist sculptures and architecture in this area

A small pagoda with a statue of the lady Buddha inside.

You can easily spend a couple of hours exploring the Marble Mountains, and they can be reached by taxi from the centre of Da Nang.

A large white Buddhist statue in a sitting position.

A dragon statue with trees appearing to grow from it.

Linh Ung Temple

Of all the Buddhist temples and pagodas in Da Nang (of which there are many), the Linh Ung Temple stands out as the one worth visiting. This sprawling temple is the largest in Da Nang, located just to the north of the city.

The main gate to the temple sits at the top of the stairs and is accompanied by two dragons to either side.

People gather on the stairs to take photos leading to the temple gate.

A dragon statue at the side of the stairs.

As you approach the main gate, turn left to visit the lady Buddha statue, the highlight of the temple and one of the tallest statues in Vietnam. Unfortunately you can’t go inside and climb up the statue for a view, and there is not much to see in the base of the statue, but it is nonetheless impressive to see.

The giant white lady Buddha statue, with a smaller fat Buddha statue in the foreground.

After passing through the main gate you’ll come to the main hall of the temple. You can head inside for a look after taking your shoes off.

Inside the main hall of the temple, where a gold Buddhist statue sits at the back, and in the foreground there is a brown fat Buddha statue.

As for the rest of the temple grounds, there are lesser halls to look in and plenty of statues to see. You might also see some monkeys or the temple dogs wandering around.

A baby monkey clinging to the chest of its mother atop a low wall inside the temple.

A black dog walking away from the camera inside the temple.

On the other side of the temple car park you can visit the pagoda tower. Like the Lady Buddha statue, you can’t climb to the top, but the architecture and statues are still worth seeing.

The pagoda tower of the Linh Ung temple, with a white statue of a Buddha lying down in the front.

Dragon Bridge

The Dragon Bridge is a 666-metre-long bridge over the Han River in Da Nang. Running down the centre of the bridge is a golden dragon, worth seeing during the day or when it is lit up at night.

The dragon head lit up at night, with fire spewing from its mouth.

The best time to see it though it at 9pm on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday when the fire show takes place. Traffic stops on the bridge and people crowd around the dragon’s head, where fire spurts from its mouth. It’s pretty hot, even at a distance.

After several rounds of fire, water blasts out of the mouth. It’s best not to stand at the top of the nearby set of stairs unless you want to get completely soaked.

Museum of Cham Sculpture

A collection of Cham sculptures, with the largest seated at the back, and the rest in various positions in front.

Before visiting Da Nang, I had never heard of the Cham people. The Cham are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and now make up one of the 54 ethnic groups recognised by the Vietnamese government. The Museum of Cham Sculpture began with the efforts of the French archaeologist Henri Parmentier, and is now home to the world’s largest collection of Cham sculptures.

The museum is not particularly large and can be seen in under an hour. I felt like it had just the right number of displays to feel like you’ve seen and learned enough without getting bored with the repetition.

The displays include statues and sculptures of all sizes, many with incredible detail.

A large sculpture missing both forearms.

There are also replicas of crowns worn by Cham royals, displays of Cham clothing, and information about the festivals held by the Cham people.

A collection of 8 Cham people clothes on display inside the museum. Most are white, two are red, and one is brown.

Buu Dai Son pagoda

At the northern end of Da Nang Beach is the Buu Dai Son Pagoda. This pagoda is tucked out of the way and so is very quiet (I was the only person there) but the colour and architecture there is amazing.

A multi-coloured dragon statue to the side of the temple stairs.

It’s small and will only take a few minutes to walk around, but if you are in that part of Da Nang or walking along the beach, it’s worth going in for a look.