Da Lat
Da Lat runs between seventeen and twenty degrees all year, which in Vietnam makes it a destination in itself. Three-quarters of every cut flower sold in the country is grown on this plateau.
Da Lat in a nutshell
Da Lat: what to expect
Da Lat is a highland town at roughly 1,500 m in the Central Highlands, and its whole identity is that it is cool. Mean monthly temperatures run 16.8–20.2 °C against tropical heat everywhere else in Vietnam, which is why it is nicknamed the city of eternal spring
It was built as a French hill station in the early 20th century, and the legacy is physical: pine-forested slopes, colonial villas, an Art Deco railway station and a cathedral, arranged around a lake
Xuan Huong Lake is artificial and is the town's social centre. French engineers dammed a branch of the Cam Ly river between 1919 and 1935; the crescent covers roughly 43 hectares and the promenade around it is where the evening happens
Para quem é Da Lat
Anyone overheating
the single strongest reason to come. After the Mekong, Hoi An or Saigon, 20 °C and pine forest is a physical relief
Adventure travellers
canyoning, rafting, cliff jumps and mountain biking are concentrated here and cheaper than anywhere comparable
Motorbike riders
the Da Lat–Nha Trang road is named by our sources as one of the country's best rides, and the Easy Rider tradition started in this region
Budget travellers
our own data rates it budget, the hostel scene is real, and food is cheap even by Vietnamese standards
Couples
it is Vietnam's honeymoon town and the whole aesthetic follows from that
Families
short walks, farms, a cable car and a lake, none of it strenuous
Maybe not for you: beach travellers and anyone on a tight two-week route. Da Lat is inland, high and often foggy; reaching it costs a long bus leg from either coast, and our sources repeatedly describes travellers cutting it to make the Hoi An–Saigon run work
Quando ir a Da Lat
Dry season
December–March
the reason to come. Clear skies, mild days, cold nights, and the flower farms at their most photographed.
Transition
April, November
warm and increasingly wet in April; drying out and still typhoon-exposed in November. Both are defensible if the alternative is not coming.
Monsoon
May–October
16 to 24 rain days a month, persistent fog by September, and canyoning conditions at their most variable. Waterfalls are at their most dramatic and their most dangerous.
- Da Lat Flower Festival, held biennially in the Flower Garden and across the town. Accommodation tightens; check whether the year is a festival year before booking
- country-level and the single biggest planning factor in Vietnam
Add your Da Lat dates and we'll flag the weather
Stippl shows the season, crowds and prices for every stop on your route.
Descreva a sua viagem e obtenha um roteiro de Da Lat em segundos
Tudo neste guia já está na Stippl. Diga ao planeador quanto tempo tem e do que gosta: ele constrói o roteiro, os dias e os tempos de viagem, e você edita o que quiser.
O que não perder em Da Lat
Canyoning at Datanla
abseiling two waterfalls including a 25 m drop, natural waterslides and a cliff jump into a plunge pool. It is the thing Da Lat is known for internationally, and it has killed people; Safety is not optional reading here
The Crazy House (Hằng Nga villa)
the architect Đặng Việt Nga's organic-surrealist guesthouse, a maze of tunnels, staircases and animal-themed rooms. Unmissable and genuinely strange
Linh Phuoc Pagoda at Trai Mat
a temple surfaced entirely in mosaic made from broken porcelain, glass and terracotta, with a 37 m bell tower, the tallest in the town. Reached by the heritage train
Lang Biang
the twin peaks north of town reaching 2,167 m, by jeep or on a roughly 4 km walk, with the K'Ho village of Lat on the plateau below
The Da Lat–Nha Trang road by motorbike
pillion with an Easy Rider or riding yourself; our sources rate it among the best roads in the country
Truc Lam Pagoda by cable car
a Zen monastery on Phoenix Mountain in about 25 hectares of gardens and forest, reached by cable car from town
Os bairros de Da Lat
Phuong 4 (Tuyen Lam Lake)*
Families, drivers
Lakeside and forested, several kilometres out; resorts rather than guesthouses
Forested lakeside resorts several kilometres out, quiet and away from the centre.
City Centre / Xuan Huong Lake
First visits
The lake, Hoa Binh Square, the central market, the 1938 Art Deco station and the pink cathedral, all walkable
The lake, the pink cathedral and the 1938 Art Deco station, all walkable.
Dalat Heights (District 3 / Phuong 3)
budget
Pine-forested plateau south of the lake, French villas and budget guesthouses along quieter roads; the Flower Garden is here
The Flower Garden and French villas on a pine-forested plateau south of the lake.
Trai Mat / Outskirts
Half-day trips
The working agricultural fringe east of town: strawberry and vegetable farms, and the mosaic Linh Phuoc Pagoda
Strawberry farms and the mosaic Linh Phuoc Pagoda, reached by heritage train.
Xuan Thanh / Lang Biang Highlands
Hikers
The northern rise toward the Lang Biang massif and the K'Ho villages below it
The Lang Biang twin peaks at 2,167 m and the K'Ho village on the plateau below.
Phuong 10 (French Quarter)*
Design-minded travellers
The colonial-villa quarter our sources single out as the town's most characterful base
Streets of French colonial villas, the most characterful corner of the town.
See every Da Lat neighbourhood on one map
Save the areas you like and Stippl plots your days so you're not crossing the city twice.
Onde ficar em Da Lat
The city centre around Xuan Huong Lake is the default base: walkable to the market, the station, the cathedral and the night market, and where a first visit should be
Phuong 4 (Tuyen Lam Lake)*
Lakeside and forested, several kilometres out; resorts rather than guesthouses
City Centre / Xuan Huong Lake
The lake, Hoa Binh Square, the central market, the 1938 Art Deco station and the pink cathedral, all walkable
Dalat Heights (District 3 / Phuong 3)
Pine-forested plateau south of the lake, French villas and budget guesthouses along quieter roads; the Flower Garden is here
Trai Mat / Outskirts
The working agricultural fringe east of town: strawberry and vegetable farms, and the mosaic Linh Phuoc Pagoda
Xuan Thanh / Lang Biang Highlands
The northern rise toward the Lang Biang massif and the K'Ho villages below it
Phuong 10 (French Quarter)*
The colonial-villa quarter our sources single out as the town's most characterful base
O que comer em Da Lat
The town's signature crop, sold fresh, dried and as jam; grown under greenhouses across the plateau
Brewed from the artichokes the highlands grow; sold everywhere as the local souvenir drink
The Vietnamese baguette sandwich, eaten here as a market and night-market staple
Coffee with a whipped egg-yolk custard on top
Cold-weather street food: the night market's business, and unusual in a tropical country
Discover food spots in Stippl
Find restaurants and markets on the map, save them to your itinerary, works offline too.
Cultura e etiqueta
A domestic-tourism town
The crowds are largely Vietnamese couples and families, and the town is shaped for them, heart-shaped photo props, flower gardens, pedal boats. Foreign travellers are a minority here in a way they are not in Hoi An
The K'Ho were here first
living around Lang Biang, with their own weaving and rice-wine traditions. Lang Biang was a sacred site long before the French arrived in the 1890s
Temple dress at both temples
covered shoulders and knees, shoes off where indicated
Fazer
- Pack a fleece or a jacket. Nights average 11–14° and drop lower in winter.
- Book canyoning on the operator's reputation, not the price,.
- Ride, or be ridden. The roads out of Da Lat are the point of Da Lat.
Evitar
- Don't treat the waterfalls as a swimming spot. Three tourists died at Datanla doing exactly that.
- Don't assume clear views. Fog is the plateau's default state for half the year.
- Don't plan Da Lat as a day trip. It is a long bus from anywhere.
Orçamento diário em Da Lat
Budget
Hostel dorm, street food, a shared motorbike
Mid-range
Guesthouse or villa room, restaurant meals, a guided activity
High-end
Lakeside resort, private guide, canyoning with a reputable operator
Track what you actually spend
Set a daily budget per country and log expenses in any currency while you travel.
Curiosidades sobre Da Lat
Da Lat produces roughly 70–75% of all cut flowers sold in Vietnam, on volcanic plateau soil that supports roses, hydrangeas and mimosas which will not grow in the tropical lowlands
The Da Lat cog railway, built by the French between 1908 and 1932, once ran to the coast at Phan Rang and was at the time one of the highest-altitude rack railways in Asia
Xuan Huong Lake's name means "Fragrance of Spring"
Linh Phuoc Pagoda's bell tower is 37 m, the tallest in the town, and the whole temple is surfaced in recycled glass, porcelain and ceramic
Dicas locais para Da Lat
Da Lat is a bus town.
It has an airport but the routes arrive overland, and the long night bus from Hoi An is the leg travellers most often swap for a flight
The Easy Riders are it
licensed guides who carry you pillion with luggage strapped on, for a day or for a multi-day circuit. Copycat operators are common; check reviews
The heritage train is a ride
7 km to Trai Mat, not transport. It runs from the 1938 station through the farms in about half an hour and exists to be ridden
Three died at Datanla in 2016
British tourists, in February. Christian Sloan and half-sisters Izzy Squire and Beth Anderson were found near the falls in Lâm Đồng province; the initial finding was that one of the group slipped and took the others down
Helmets and jackets, no ropes
it is what the group had. Nguyễn Văn Yên, deputy chairman of Lâm Đồng province, who ran the recovery, said the group had gone beyond the falls into the forest for canyoning and crossed a stream that fed a waterfall
The operator was suspended
its guide was questioned by police. The trip was sold by Da Lat Passion Travel; the guide said he had tried to warn them
Perguntas frequentes sobre Da Lat
Yes if you want cool air, adventure sports or the motorbike road to Nha Trang; no if you are on a tight two-week coastal route, because it costs a long bus leg from either coast.
Two is what most people take and three is what the destination record recommends; our own data says the average stay is 2.19 nights.
December to March. February is the driest month of the year at 10 mm.
At night, yes. January minima average 11.3° and our sources record 5–6°. Nowhere else on a Vietnam route asks for a jacket.
It has killed people, and the provincial tourism department has said in so many words that operator permits do not mean the equipment or the staff have been inspected. Choose on reputation,.
Often not. Fog is year-round and persistent in September and October.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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