Da Lat, Vietnam is Our Favorite French City!

Little Paris, the City of Eternal Spring, the City of Flowers. If I were to describe a place with such names, I’d bet your first guess wouldn’t be the beautiful city of Da Lat, here in the central highlands of Vietnam. A city just a few hours north of popular Saigon, Da Lat is a city infused with French architecture, year round cool temperatures and in this video, I hope to express why it’s a must visit destination here in Vietnam.

But to back up just a little bit, Da Lat was designed as a French getaway in the early 1900’s which shines through when walking around with such inspired buildings, cafes and even curvy streets spread throughout the city. The curves also extend out to the mountains that are readily visible as Da Lat is located about 1500 meters above sea level. This also translates to the climate here in Da Lat being generally cooler than both the north and south’s more tropical temperatures of Vietnam.

Da Lat is a city that although, popular to many, is one that one really needs to be experienced to feel how special it truly is. Compared to nearby Ho Chi Minh City, there’s a calmness that is more than welcome and this extends to the smiles that my finance and I received countless times from locals we encountered. However, this doesn’t mean there’s a lack of vibrancy or energy here, as plenty was found in the more popular areas such as the Da Lat Center Market as well as sites such as Hang Nga Guesthouse, better known as Da Lat’s Crazy House, we’ll get into that more later.

If one is visiting for the first time, accommodations were not terribly expensive as nightly stays average around 13-20 US dollars a night for 3 to 4 star hotels about a 15 minute walk from the center city area.

Regarding getting around, walking was very feasible as the infrastructure here such as sidewalks were well maintained and clean but on occasion, we also utilized ride sharing apps such as Grab that got us to wherever we needed for about 3 to 4 dollars on average. For much longer distances such as our trip from Saigon to Da Lat, we opted for a sleeper bus which only set us back about 10 dollars a ticket for a 6 hour ride.

Food was also easily available as with most areas of Vietnam and prices for meals ranged from 3 to 7 US dollars a person for eat in options such as vegetarian or Indian food. For my coffee fans out there, as Vietnamese coffee is commonly known as some of the best and strongest in the world, there was no lacking of that here in Da Lat so rest assured you’ll still be able to get your caffeine fix taken care of.

Safety was also of no concern as I mentioned earlier, people in Da Lat were extremely kind and I never felt uneasy walking around including at night.

In terms of things to do in Da Lat, I teased this earlier but the Hang Nga Guesthouse or more commonly known as “Crazy House”, was truly a blast. For just 40K Dong or about $1.75, we spent about 2 hours simply walking around all over this fairy tale, tree inspired house but honestly, even more time could’ve been enjoyed here. Originally opening in 1990, from its’ orgin, it drew attention for it’s daring design and bold take on what creativity could mold into, quite literally. In the mid 1990’s the guesthouse component opened to allow people to actually stay here for accommodation while in Da Lat and has remained not only open ever since, but has been appreciated ever more for how unique and exciting this place is.

So for those who feel the Crazy House might be too crazy, a 15 minute ride from here brings you to the Datanla New Alpline Coaster which made my fiancé and I feel like kids again with how much fun this was. For those who may be unfamiliar, it is essentially a DIY roller coaster that allows the passenger to operate the gears to either speed up or slow down, depending on your tolerance for thrill of course. What almost serves as a throw in is the fact the base of the coaster leaves you with a stunning view of the Datanla Waterfall. People can opt to pay an entrance fee of about 4 dollars to see the Waterfall if the coaster is a little too exhilarating but for me, combining the two made the visit that much more exciting.

The last thing I’d highly recommend visiting would be the Da Lat Center Market. If one is in the mood for street food, clothes or just want to feel the pulse of Da Lat running during the night, this is the place to be. It’s the perfect way to end a day of exploring this wonderful city.

As I prepared to leave this surprising city in Vietnam, it reminded that it’s always worth it to take a leap into the unknown. I didn’t expect to have such a great time but fortunately, it beat those expectations plus more. Da Lat is rich with genuine people, beautiful culture and a place I assure you that if you mention it to someone else that has visited, you’ll both share a smile that only a city like Da Lat could bring. I’m so appreciative of my time here in Da Lat, and I hope this video showed why.