The Ultimate Guide To Da Nang, Vietnam 🇻🇳 – Updated for 2024

Quick overview

If you’re reading this article right now, chances are high you already have a certain interest in coming to Da Nang and have done your basic research, so there is no need to sell you on all the goodness this beautiful city has to offer, so let’s jump straight into the meat.

Before Arriving in Da Nang

A recommendation of apps and other tips to make your life a bit easier when you arrive:

1) Download GRAB app
This is the most convenient app to book taxis and order food or groceries: https://www.grab.com/global/download/

2) The Local Currency
The local currency is Vietnamese Dong (VND). $1 is around 25.000VND in 2024. For the first few weeks, I recommend to use XE Currency Converter to get a feel for the numbers:https://www.xe.com/apps

3) Airport Wi-Fi + Booking first ride to hotel
Da Nang international airport has free Wi-Fi. If you have the GRAB app installed before, you can book a taxi to your destination easily. GRABS are not allowed to wait directly at the exit, so you need to walk to the official pickup point. A ride to An Thuong area costs around 90-100k VND + 10k VND fee for the taxis to drive through the gates and takes approx. 15min.

4) Basic Words
While, most taxi drivers and service employees know basic English, it is good to add some Vietnamese to your own repertoire to start with:

Hello – Xin Chào
Goodbye – “Bye bye” or Tạm Biệt
Thank you – Cảm ơn
Yes – Dạ (zah)
No – Không
Good Morning – Chào buổi sáng
Good Evening – Chào buổi tối

5) Crossing Streets in Vietnam
A basic guide to not die in the streets of Vietnam and land on the front pages of vnexpress. If Da Nang is your first destination, you’re lucky. See it as a practice place because Hanoi and Saigon are much wilder. When crossing streets (especially the big one leading to the beach):

• in general, traffic will always flow around you
• fear and hesitation is your enemy and you end up waiting forever
• walk slow, but CONSISTENT so traffic can predict your path and circumvent
• Cars, trucks and busses will have the right of way
• honking is a way of saying: “I’m coming, watch out. I’m not stopping”
• tip: what I personally found helpful, is raising my hand and signaling a “stop” ✋ 🙋🏻‍♂️ towards the coming traffic… “I’m walking now”

How to withdraw money in Da Nang

Many places in Vietnam accept credit cards and cashless payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay) in 2024.

Note: Some merchants (shops, restaurants) will charge a 3% or more surcharge for using bank cards. The law (Chapter V, Section 2, Article 20 of Decision 371/199/QD-NHNN1 Oct. 19, 1999) and the card-issuing banks clearly prohibit this practice. However, do not get into an argument, it isn’t worth I, and you are not the police. To avoid the surcharge: pay cash and/or don’t shop at this location. If you have a lot of spare time, you can take a photo of the receipt and report the merchant to your card-issuing bank.

However, local street food vendors are still using cash, so it’s good to know where to withdraw money from ATMs.

Important: Most Vietnamese ATMs and banks charge a small fee for each withdrawal (~50.000VND), regardless of your home country bank.

The limit per withdrawal for most ATMs is around 2-5 million VND and for every new withdrawal, you need to pay the fee.

ATMs I tried myself and can recommend are: VPBank, TPBank or HSBC in Vincom Plaza.

You can also use Revolut or Wise to make bank transfers internationally to a Vietnamese bank account (Int. fees apply). This is helpful to pay for larger amounts like rent as credit card fees can be higher than transfers.

Using Crypto:
A friend of mine also shared that for people holding digital currencies, you can use bitcoinvn.io to exchange / swap many digital currencies (ETH, BTC, etc.) into VND paid directly into to a Vietnamese bank account by the exchange service, you can even pick up cash at cash office partners. See fees and info here.

Living in Da Nang

Da Nang is considered as one of the most live-able cities in Vietnam, yet comparatively with other cities, it is surprisingly affordable.

Even if you come from a place like Chiang Mai, where living costs are already low, you will be surprised how much more affordable Da Nang (or Vietnam in general) can be.

Your living costs will be mostly determined by the neighborhood and if you are willing to cook (most apartments have fully equipped kitchens).

If you stay in An Thuong / My An area, which in considered the more touristy area, you have to accept higher prices for accommodation and food.

Generally speaking, here is a rough estimate for an average lifestyle per month:

These very generous estimates includes all costs, such as accommodation + eating out all meals (70% local, 30% western food).

You can certainly live for much lower as a single person, considering that most locals earn between 5.000.000VND – 10.000.000VND ($200-$360). Or you can go absolute bananas with $10.000+ living in ocean mansions like Ocean Villas or Hyatt Regency. Choice is yours.

Racism and other things people worry about these days

Vietnam in general is a VERY safe place to travel and live. If you consider yourself being part of one of the minority groups, don’t worry, you are safe.

Nevertheless, just keep in mind that Vietnam hasn’t been open for a long time like Thailand, so locals are still adjusting the the influx of tourists. Staring, even being laughed at, is still quite common, so don’t take it personal. In fact, you’re not being judged, but rather you’re being admired for your difference / uniqueness. Smile, and use the situation to strike up a diffusing conversation, or just go on your way.

Basic daily etiquette

1) Eating out with locals
Always wait to be seated and don’t start until everyone else starts, wait especially for the elders.

2) Being invited to a locals home
Always! bring a small gift and NEVER come empty handed. Even if it’s just chocolate, flowers or a bottle of wine or tea.

3) Dress appropriately
Even if Da Nang is a beach city, we’re not on Bali. Don’t run around in a bikini or topless in the city nor walk barefoot in the streets. Especially in temples, cover knees, shoulders and take your hat off.

Where to stay in Da Nang?

The city is divided into 2 main areas by the Han River: the city side + beach side.

If you prefer a more local experience, stay on the city side. If you want to mingle with foreigners and nomads, stay on the lower beach side in My An / An Thuong area.

How to find Apartments in Da Nang

Personally, I would recommend staying the first week after arrival in a Hotel and then walk around in different neighborhoods.

When checking onsite, you can negotiate better deals compared to booking online. But most importantly, you see the quality of the apartment and the building first, as photos online are heavily edited. Many times it happens that people arrive and apartments are not as clean or spacious as expected. Apartments could also have been vacant for a long time, and now carry musty smells and moldy walls.

For short term stays < 30days

If you don’t plan to stay long term (lass than 30days), don’t bother and go straight for a nice hotel in My An / An Thuong area or along the beach to be in walking distance of most popular restaurants and coffee places.

Up to 90 days

If you plan to max out your 90 day visa, you can expand the search area by a bit to find better deals for long term accommodation and also get out of the busy area.

In 2024, it’s generally getting harder to find apartments during busy season (March – June) so consider expanding your search even beyond the border shown above.

Getting around in Da Nang & Hoi An

1) GRAB app
As mentioned above, this is the most popular ride booking app. It is the UBER of Southeast Asia.. On average, a car ride sets you back around 40-50k VND on the beach side area and around 70-80k VND to get to the city side. Use GRAB bikes as they are much cheaper and perfect for solo travelers.

2) Rent a motorbike
If you plan to stay longer, it is worth considering renting a motorbike on a monthly basis as it gives you more freedom. Rent from your hotel or apartment manager can be good, as if you get in to trouble with repairs or police, they have more incentive to take care of you and they already have your passport and personal information.

Here are popular bike rentals:
– JustBikes
– Moto Rental D&T
The monthly rental price really depends on the model, but should be somewhere between 1.2 – 1.6 million VND / month. Daily rent is around 120k VND – 200k VND.

You should not use your passport as collateral, give them some collateral you could replace easily, like cash deposit; or replace later. e.g. home country driving license.

Do you need a Drivers License?
Of course you legally need a valid international drivers license to operate a vehicle. But there are bikes like a 50cc that officially doesn’t require a license and can be a good choice. If you get stopped by the police and don’t have a license, be friendly! and pay the fine! You are guest in Vietnam and without a valid license there is no right to argue anyway.

3) (Currently) Cheaper Alternatives to GRAB
Grab has the biggest market penetration, so it’s worth looking at smaller competitors that offer cheaper fares :
1) Be App – cheaper than grab, but less popular
2) Xanh SM – Vingroup backed EV taxi company

Buying a SIM card in Da Nang (eSims available)

In many Airports in Vietnam, you can buy a Tourist 3G SIM Card when you arrive. While the process is fast and straight forward, I recommend buying a sim card in the city to get a better value.

The one I recommend is from Viettel. The investment is around 170.000VND, which includes a new SIM = 50k + a mobile internet package ST120k or SD120 (120.000VND). This gives you 60GB/month or 2GB/day. Viettel also offers eSims.

Important: You need to bring your passport for registration!

If you stay in An Thuong area,

1) Go to this store:

2) Show them the ST120K package on this site to get 2GB/day for 30 days: https://www.vietteltelecom.vn/di-dong/goi-data-2

3) Topping up packages
With the mobile data package mentioned above, you need to have a sufficient balance of 120k VND every month to activate the package otherwise it deactivates automatically. To top up, you can go back to the Viettel store and let the friendly staff do it for you, or you top up via Lazada = check next section.

Online Shopping

Unfortunately, Amazon is yet not available in Vietnam, or Asia in general. Lucky for us, there is a fantastic alternative: Lazada, Shopee.

Shopee is very popular among Vietnamese, but since I used Lazada a lot during my stay in Thailand, I was happy to see that Vietnam has it as well.

With Lazada, you can connect your credit card or pay cash when the product arrives. Note: if you’re not in a Hotel and don’t have a receptionist to receive your packages, pay attention to your phone as the Lazada drivers will call you on the day of delivery.

Sim card top up
You can also use Lazada to top up your phone:
For the Viettel package above, go here: C3TEK STORE ON LAZADA
Since the package costs 120k VND, you need to purchase the 100k VND + 50k VND package. Enter your phone number during checkout and purchase. Once all is complete, you will receive an SMS with the confirmation in Vietnamese.

Eating out vs cooking in Da Nang

From my personal experience, Da Nang is a good place to survive without ever visiting the grocery store. Similar to Thailand, the food culture has plenty to choose from, even on a tighter budget. I would argue that Vietnam has even more accessible dishes for foreigners than Thailand (maybe as a Vietnamese, I’m a bit biased).

To give you a better idea, I will share my personal eating and spending habit as a reference so you get a feeling of how much you would spend on food in Da Nang.

• I’m living in An Thuong area which is considered more pricey
• I eat 2 meals a day (Lunch + dinner)
• I eat out almost every meal (150-200k VND / per meal on average)
• I go out for coffee almost every morning (50 – 70k per cup)

In general, I never really worry about prices here and eat what I want. Let’s take an average spending for a day of 500.000VND * 30days which is around ~15 million VND (600 USD) / month. This includes everything from food, to coffee and snacks.

If you are on a tighter budget, you can certainly live on half of that if you consider cooking your own meals.

Where to buy groceries?

In An Thuong area, there are many small supermarkets like these:

1) Full Market
2) Moon Milk

There are many other supermarket brands too, but full market and moon milk are most popular. If you need more variety and more quantity, here are the largest supermarkets:

1) Mega Mart
2) Lotte Mart – delivers via GRAB as well
3) Big C
3) WinMart – in Vincom Plaza

If you want to save even more money, consider shopping at a super local markets, but beware that those are not the most vegan friendly. But they are for a sure a great spot to take travel photos.

1) Chợ Bắc Mỹ An – biggest one in My An area.
2) Chợ Cồn – big, touristy but less popular than Han market.
3) Chợ An Hải Đông

Food Ordering
If you love convenience, you can always order food and groceries via Grab or Foody as well. Foody has more local vendors and might be a bit cheaper.

Tipping culture in Vietnam

In general, it is not very common in Asia to tip, or at least it hasn’t been in the last decade.

However, I’ve witnessed an increasing tipping culture due to the influx of foreigners and bringing their western habits to Asia. Tipping is definitely not an obligation.

I do think we should reward excellent service, but I don’t think it is in the benefit of all when it becomes a blind habit. Tipping high amounts for every service regardless of quality doesn’t encourage great service and set’s unrealistic expectations as we can already observe in western countries.

Gyms in Da Nang

There is a handful of gyms in the My An vicinity but only a few have aircon. This is important as it get’s really hot during the summer months.

1) My An Sports Center (has aircon, but staff can sometimes be picky when to turn it on)
2) Pig Gym (NO aircon, very crowded at times)
3) CrossFit Harbour
4) Bina Gym (very cheap, NO aircon)
5) Wonder Fitness Center
6) Naomi Gym

Other activities
1) Climbing
2) Fighter MMA DaNang
3) Da Nang Muay Thai
4) Smile Yoga – Teacher kimchi speaks english
5) BMB Table Tennis
6) Coco Surfshop – Surfing

Coworking Spaces

Vietnam’s Co-working culture is a bit different compared to other countries. When the first Co-workings popped up a few years ago, it was mainly occupied by startups and small companies.

For most nomads and travelers, Co-working spaces are not necessary as many coffee places have electric outlets, free Wi-Fi and plenty of space. In comparison to Europe, people don’t look at you in a weird way if you get work done at a cafe. Vietnamese people also love working from cafes (and sometimes even 24/7).

Here are a handful of Coworking spaces in Da Nang, that I found:

1) ACE- Coworking (somewhat small)
2) Beans Workspace (very crowded!)
3) Enouvo Space
4) Diamond Time Complex – TikTak Coworking (modern)
5) DNC – Danang Coworking Space
6) Seaview Coworking Space Da Nang

Good coffee places to work from

There are soooo many coffee places in Da Nang and you could literally work from any of them. My personal favorites are actually the bigger ones with more space and outlets:

1) The Cups Coffee
Has many stores, but the most popular is the one at the beach, but it is very crowded in the morning. Here are quieter ones:
– The Cups at Euro Village
– The Cups at Nguyễn Văn Trỗi


2) Highlands Coffee
Also a franchise with many stores.
– Beach side – Nesta Hotel
– 95 Nguyễn Văn Thoại
– 517 Đ. Trần Hưng Đạo – Next to Dragon Bridge
– 74 Bạch Đằng – City side

3) The Coffee House
– 11 Đ Nguyễn Văn Linh
– 1 Núi Thành, Bình Thuận

3) The Local Beans
Has the main coffee area (not workspace on 3rd floor)

4) Gozar Coffee
Has more space compared to other smaller coffee places

Don’t be THAT person:
If you choose to work from a coffee place instead of co-working, just make sure you don’t be that annoying nomad…:

1. …who only buys 1 drink and stays the entire day
2. …who occupies a gigantic 8-seat table for him/herself
3. …who comes with 3 screens and occupies multiple tables at once
4. Respect the venue: if you see a lot of other customers waiting for food without having a table, pack up your stuff and go work somewhere else (I see this a lot in Roots Vegan Cafe or Vietnom with people just camping there the whole day while customers barely have any place to sit)

Networking & Socializing in Da Nang

How to stay updated about events in Da Nang and meet fellow expats / nomads. There are lot’s of things happening, so this is just a small selection:

Digital Danang
My friend Scott always consolidates upcoming events and posts on his site: digitaldanang.com or facebook.

For Board Game Fanatics
Federico hosts his popular weekly board game nights every Friday at 20:00 at My Casa. Join his fb group to find out more: Board Games Da Nang

If Friday doesn’t work for you, checkout another popular board game night every Wednesday at 20:00 at The Workshop. They host many other events as well.

Draper Startup House
If you want to mingle with other businesses owners, connect with Aaron from Draper Startup House Vietnam. Aaron has been in Vietnam for a long time and loves to helps young entrepreneurs and talk about ideas and businesses. Aaron hosts weekly Friday Socials at the Country Club BBQ.

Nomad Meetups
1) Digital Nomad Meetup – happening at My Casa every second Friday.
2) Nomad Socials – hosted by Scott from Digital Danang every Thursdays at Section30

Women Entrepreneur Meetup
I’m happy to see our community of women entrepreneurs growing. Check out the weekly Tuesday event here.

Restaurant Recommendations for Starters

1) You are vegan:
Important to know here: the Vietnamese word for vegetarian is “Chay”. If you’re vegan, you cannot rely on this word entirely and many locals are still confusing vegetarian and vegan. Here are 100% vegan places I know of:

• Roots Plant-based Cafe – Healthy Vegan Restaurant (Hipster vegan)
• Loving Vegan (good prices, very popular among locals too)
• Khong Vegan (great vegan tacos)
• Kurumi
• Quán Chay Phước Duyên (local but 100% vegan)
• Shala Vegan House (Hai Chau district, local, 100% vegan) 

2) You are a meat lover

• BUTCHER STEAK & BBQ
• RIO Restaurant- Brazilian BBQ
• COUNTRY BBQ & Beer
• Golden Meat House
• Poomba’s Smokehouse
• Burger Bros

3) You can only eat carbs:

• Olivia Pizza
• Pizza 4p’s
• Pizza House
• L’Italiano 
• Limoncello
• Torino

4) You don’t fear local dishes:

• Bep Cuon – Best Banh Xeo, Vietnamese Pancake
• Banh Canh – Fish soup
• My Quang – Noodle Bowl of the central region
• Banh Mi Ba Dao
• Bep Cua Ngoai – local restaurant with many dishes
  

5) You like Curry

• Family Indian (Indian “sit-down” style)
• Patakka ((Indian “street food” style)

Medical Care

Vietnam in general has very affordable health care and capable doctors. I would’t call it on par with Thailand yet, but if you look into getting smaller checkups done, it is a great place to be.

Medical:
1) Family Medical (international standard, high price, specifically targets international patients)
2) VinMec (local, private, high-standard, high price, can handle international patients
3) Hoan My Hospital (local, private, medium price, can handle international patients, will assign a translator to go with you to every station)
4) 199 Hospital (local, government, lower cost, can handle international patients, has a department focused on “medical tourism”)

Dentists
With all the food goodness in Da Nang, don’t forget to sharpen your tools:e

1) Picasso Dental Clinic (My go-to dentist)
2) Smile care dental clinic
3) No 1 Dentist (Nha Khoa No 1) (local, busy (this is a good sign), new equipment, low cost, but be prepared to use translation app, not all staff can speak English)

Self-Care

Massage
1) Herbal Spa – Hands down the best massage place in town. The Luxury spa across the street is the same brand, so don’t get confused.
2) Medical Massage – focuses on natural healing & accupuncture

Hair Dresser / Barbershop
1) Ly’s Salon – All the ladies go here. Not the cheapest one though, but has experience with women hair
2) Kenny’s – …Most guys go to Kenny (he has a dog though, so not for people with allergies)
3) Khói Barber – cheaper and more local alternative for men
4) Viking – focus on men, two locations, pool table, welcome drinks, hipster-retro style, locals and some international visitors, be prepared to use a photo to show the barber what you want accomplished