Da Nang, Vietnam

1. Ba Na Hills (Golden Bridge)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Stepping onto the curved span feels like walking on a ribbon above a sea of clouds, with giant, weathered hands cupping the walkway and making for surreal photos. Nearly 150 meters of dramatic walkway and carefully aged textures give the impression of an ancient relic, while clever modern engineering keeps the whole thing stable and surprisingly accessible.

Highlights: A 150-meter curving footbridge seems to float on a sea of clouds when mist rolls through the mountain, and two enormous hands, sculpted to look like cracked stone and flecked with moss, emerge from the hillside smelling faintly of damp pine. Local photographers and brides race to capture the golden twenty-minute sunrise window, so you’ll see tripods, trailing white gowns, and stall vendors selling sticky grilled corn while the light turns the bridge a soft honey color.

2. Marble Mountains (Ngu Hanh Son)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Warm breezes carry incense and the murmur of prayers through narrow stone stairways, leading to shadowy grottoes and cathedral-like caverns pierced by dramatic shafts of light. Five marble-and-limestone peaks correspond to the traditional five elements, and local sculptors still chip delicate statues from quarried stone in open-air workshops at the hills' base.

Highlights: Five marble-and-limestone peaks are named after the five elements, Kim, Moc, Thuy, Hoa, Tho; inside one cavern a 17th-century pagoda hides weathered Buddha carvings and a bell whose low toll you can feel in your ribs. Nearby stoneworkers still hand-carve sculptures in a village workshop, sometimes spending over 200 hours on a single 2-meter statue that is wet-sanded to a mirror finish, the smell of stone dust and engine oil hanging in the humid air.

3. My Khe Beach

Directions

Quick facts: Wide swathes of powdery, pale sand meet gently rolling waves, making early mornings ideal for swimmers and surfers chasing consistent, forgiving breaks. Beachfront cafés and vendors add a lively, informal vibe at sunset, while cooling sea breezes carry the scent of grilled seafood and salt.

Highlights: At sunrise dozens of elder locals in faded white shirts and conical hats practice slow, mirrored tai chi along the wet sand, while small round basket boats called thúng chai bob like melon halves at the waterline. By midmorning the beach fills with the smell of charcoal-grilled squid and the sound of vendors calling prices in Vietnamese, a sensory loop locals time to the tide rather than a clock.

4. Son Tra Peninsula (Monkey Mountain)

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Quick facts: Jagged, forested ridgelines tumble into the sea, where shy red-shanked douc langurs and curious macaques sometimes peek from the canopy while warm breezes carry the scent of salt and pine. You can spot more than 60 species of birds from coastal lookout roads, and quiet viewpoints reward early risers with sweeping panoramas from sunrise to sunset that feel largely untouched.

Highlights: Guess what: a wild troop of roughly 60 red-shanked douc langurs, with flame-orange legs and white moustaches, naps and leaps through the pine canopy, and on clear mornings their high-pitched chatter mixes with the salty spray from the sea. Local fishermen sometimes drive up the winding coastal road at dawn to leave tiny offerings of bananas and incense at a cliffside shrine, a quirky ritual said to bless a safe crossing, and the air fills with sticky smoke and the sweet, fried scent of plantain.

5. Linh Ung Pagoda (Son Tra)

Directions

Quick facts: Perched on a windswept headland, the complex offers sweeping ocean views where an enormous white statue rises above palm-dotted cliffs, a sight that leaves many visitors quietly impressed. Stepping through serene courtyards, you’ll hear the soft clink of prayer bells and see intricate rooflines and lotus motifs that blend traditional calm with unexpectedly grand scale.

Highlights: A 67-meter-tall white statue of Avalokiteshvara rises from the headland, its placid face turned to the sea so the sunrise paints the stone pink and fishing boats look like toy models below. On full-moon nights local families set out tiny woven votive boats with incense and coins, the soft candlelight drifting on the water like a trail of fallen stars while the temple bell tolls in slow, hollow beats.

6. Dragon Bridge (Cau Rong)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: At night the sinuous, golden-scaled sculpture glows with LEDs, and riverfront crowds line the banks to feel the heat and hear the roar when flame erupts from its mouth. Weekend evenings bring a choreographed sequence of lights, music, water sprays and a dramatic jet of fire that turns an ordinary stroll into a theatrical spectacle.

Highlights: At 21:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, a 666-meter, six-lane golden dragon breathes flames and sprays water from its head, sending a warm gust and a shimmer of steam across the river that draws crowds to the banks. Locals and wedding photographers often line the riverbanks, tossing coins and posing beneath the illuminated scales, a quirky weekend ritual that has unfolded since the bridge opened on March 29, 2013.

7. Han River Bridge (Cau Song Han) and Han River waterfront

Directions

Quick facts: Neon lights splash across water when the bridge pivots, turning a routine channel-opening into a cinematic moment for photographers and night strollers. Along the waterfront, a lively promenade of cafes, public art and weekend markets invites sampling street food while live music and lanterns coax locals and visitors onto the riverbanks.

Highlights: At night the central span rotates 90 degrees to let ships through, a mechanical ballet that takes about three minutes while more than 1,000 LEDs wash the steel in shifting blues and golds so you can hear gears click and sea spray on your face. Along the riverside promenade, vendors grill sizzling seafood skewers and coconut ice cream, and couples clip tiny engraved padlocks to the railing as paper lanterns bob on the water and the air fills with lemongrass and smoked fish aromas.

8. Museum of Cham Sculpture

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: Stepping into the cool, shadowed galleries feels like entering a stone storybook, where over 300 sandstone sculptures and reliefs whisper of rituals, kingship, and ordinary lives. Curators highlight subtle carving techniques and surprising traces of original pigments, making visitors linger to trace naga coils and weathered faces under soft, directional light.

Highlights: Step into a cool, sun-filtered courtyard where ancient sandstone faces stare back and you can hear the echo of a guide softly tapping a 1,200-year-old statue to demonstrate the hollow sound that proves its Cham origin. Run your fingers along the weathered relief of a smiling apsara and notice the faint red ochre smudges locals still regard as ritual offerings, a small living trace that makes the stone feel unexpectedly warm.

9. Han Market (Cho Han)

Directions

Quick facts: Step inside and your nose fills with sizzling street-food aromas and the sharp tang of tropical fruit, while stalls overflow with vivid silks and handcrafted lanterns. Narrow aisles hide unexpected bargains, with locals still arriving early to snag the freshest seafood and haggling that can shave prices by up to half.

Highlights: Walk under the low corrugated roof and you'll find vendors who still weigh produce on brass scales that clang as sellers call prices in a sing-song cadence, the air thick with the sweet-sour perfume of pickled papaya and the smoky salt of grilled squid. At midday a narrow stairwell becomes a ritual queue where five grandmother-run stalls ladle steaming bowls of bún riêu and bánh bèo, their savory broth and shrimp paste pulling in office workers and regulars who chat like neighbors.

10. Da Nang Cathedral (Pink Church)

Directions

Official website

Quick facts: A blush-pink facade and a slender bell tower that rings across the neighborhood give the place a storybook charm, photographers chase its golden-hour glow for portraits. More than half of weekend visitors are local families who linger in the leafy square, sharing snacks and stories beneath the stained-glass windows.

Highlights: Built in 1923 by French colonists and still painted a cotton-candy pink, the cathedral's rose-hued facade soaks up the late-afternoon sun and seems to glow like a sugar-coated cake against the blue sky. Every Sunday at 5:00 PM a small local ritual has elderly parishioners slipping folded paper prayers into the iron grille by the side door, so when a motorbike rumbles past you hear the soft papery rattle of dozens of notes.