4 Days in Da Lat Vietnam – 📸 Photo & Video Journal

Da Lat is becoming one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam and everyone I know seems to love it. So Andrea and I decided to give the central highlands a visit to see if the city can live up to the high expectations. Here is our 4 day trip in photos and video snippets. Enjoy.

Life Updates

09.05.2021

Since the beginning of the year, Andrea and I have been inserting short trips each month to shake up our little routine. In March, we went to visit Hue and for April we decided to go to Da Lat that has been on our list for the longest time.

Now with rising temperatures in Da Nang it was the perfect escape. Da Lat is the largest city of the central highlands region and situated around 1500m above the sea level which comes with comfortable temperatures.

The fastest way to get from Da Nang to Da Lat is by airplane. It took around 1:15h to arrive at Lien Khuong Airport.

Da nang to Da Lat Flight — Andrea and I took care of the inflight entertainment ourselves. Best investment ever.

The cheapest way to get to Da Lat from the airport is using the airport shuttle bus (40.000VND) that stops in the city center. The trip takes approx. 30 min from the Aiport to Da Lat city center. If you don’t like to be cramped into a small mini van with 20 others, you can also go by taxi that won’t break your account either (~200k -250k VND).

Da lat map airport to city — Since Da Lat is situated in the mountains, the airport is a bit further in the south. There are taxis and shuttle buses going back and forth.

Being the nicest boyfriend in the world, I agreed to Andreas request to stay in the Crazy House for the first night. The Crazy House, as the name suggests, is probably one of the weirdest attractions / hotels in the world. I will let the photos and video speak for themselves:

Crazy House Entrance — Arriving at the Crazy House

Crazy House Garden — We stayed in this little mansion with a view on the main garden.

Crazy House Aquarium — The Aquarium is the biggest room and situated in the center.

The Crazy House is not just one house, but a collection of buildings that are connected through pathways and bridges.

Because our trip was only 4 days long, we thought it would be good to stay in the city for 1 night to get a feel for the vibes, explore food and coffee places and then venture outside into the nature.

Da lat map area — The southern lake area has resorts and is perfect if you want to get away from the busy day to day life.

Since Da Lat city is fairly small, 1 day is totally enough to explore the main areas. Here are some impressions of the city:

Da Lat city center streets — The streets in Da Lat are quite small. During our stay, we’ve noticed many traffic jams. And this even with borders closed. It’s hard to imagine how this little city handles international tourism.

Da Lat market artichokes — Apparently, artichokes are big in Da Lat…

Da Lat market avocados — … and so are avocados!

Da Lat market strawberries — White Strawberries!

Da Lat market 8 — It’s mindblowing to see that all stores are selling the same stuff. Not making any sense, but apparently it works for them.

Da Lat market 9 — Mouldy dried fruit. Yeiks!

A day full of exploration makes really hungry and so we ended up at this wonderful Korean BBQ place called Fungi Chingu.

Of course, we didn’t go to Da Lat to just eat something we could get everywhere else, but we also dived into some interesting local dishes the next day:

Da Lat Food Yellow Noodles My Quang — This noodle dish is very similar to the Mi Quang in Da Nang with the biggest difference being the yellow noodles and the shrimps. It was absolutely delicious.

After leaving the city, we arrived at our charming accommodation named Zen Cafe Lakeside. It was the best that I could have hoped for and the complete opposite of the Crazy House. While the Crazy house was a fun once in a lifetime experience, Zen Cafe just offered a space to relax and calm the mind. I can’t express how amazing the feeling is waking up in the woods with bird noises and enjoying a coffee on the balcony with this peaceful view. The next 3 days was just spent on relaxing and exploring nearby restaurants that served fresh local produce.

Da Lat also has a few attractions that are worth visiting if you’re getting tired of all the relaxing and lying around.

The highlights are the High Rope Course and the New Alpine Coaster.

Da Lat is definitely one of the places I would visit again.

While the city itself felt a little bit underwhelming, the nature and lakes nearby offer a great escape from the busy cities. The temperature is also much more comfortable compared to most parts of Vietnam and reminds me a little bit of Europe in the summer.