Tours in Da Nang

Start on the seafront at the end of the day. Families bring plastic stools to the sand, kids race scooters along the promenade, and the long curve of My Khe beach fills with people who simply live here. Da Nang is a city that is comfortable with itself. It does not shout for your attention the way some Vietnamese cities do, and that is a large part of its appeal.

The Han River runs through the middle, and the bridges across it are the thing everyone ends up photographing. Walk the riverfront after dark and you will see why. The Dragon Bridge draws a crowd, and the Love Lock bridge and the Cham-style sculptures along the bank give you reasons to slow down. Cross to the Son Tra side and the mood changes again, with the Lady Buddha looking out over the water and forest rolling up the peninsula behind her.

South of the centre, the Marble Mountains rise out of flat ground like something dropped there by mistake. Inside, you climb stone steps past pagodas and into caves where incense smoke hangs in the light. Non Nuoc Beach lies close by, quieter than the city beaches. Back in town, the Cham Museum is worth an hour for its sandstone figures, which give you a sense of a culture that shaped this coast long before the high-rises.

Most visitors also use Da Nang as a gateway to Hoi An, a short drive south, where lantern-lit lanes and tailor shops fill the old town. Our shore excursion links these places in one day, which suits anyone arriving by ship. If you want to see more, such as Ba Na Hills, the Hai Van Pass or the street food of the Con Market, ask. A local guide can build a day around it.