Dalat: all useful information about the city. Review, many photos, videos

Guys, your notes help us a lot! In just three days we visited Vinpearl, Monkey Island and a waterfall (I forgot the name of 2 short words :)) - also on your recommendation. Today we arrived in Dalat. Wonderfully beautiful city!
We wanted to leave Nha Trang bus station at 09:00, but we were told at the ticket office that now there is no such bus. Available at 7:00, 8:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00. Therefore, at first we were upset that we would have to wait 2 hours, but then we were even glad that we had a whole 2 hours to walk around the city. We went into the temple and went up to a small non-tourist temple-house. Great! Thank you! Tomorrow we are traveling around Dalat, then I will definitely write)

1. Daria Belyaeva

   Thanks a lot for up-to-date information: we changed the departure time in the post from 9:00 to 8:00. We are waiting for stories about Dalat :)

   1. Lena Levanova

      Daria! It’s a miracle we liked this city... The air... The houses at the entrance)
      Briefly: we visited the Datanla waterfall - there are no words :)) we went to the Crazy House, to the flower garden. While we were riding a bike and looking for where to change money, we suddenly found ourselves in a local market. A very colorful place) we looked around) we bought mulberries)
      We also went to Mui Ne on a sleeping bus, it was cool and convenient. I dream of seats like this in economy class on airplanes))
      And we also went to Doclet beach on a bike. We lived in the hotel “Some days of silence” - the beach and place for a relaxing holiday - just chic.. But we had enough for 1 night 1.5 days) it became boring and we returned to the city, from where we went to Mui Ne in the evening)
      We have several photos from the trip on Instagram “lena_levanova” ;) Are you not there by the way? How to find?
      Thank you again for your efforts. The most useful site!)

Greetings. If you decide to spend your holiday in Nha Trang, then be sure to visit one of the wonderful places, which is located 130 km from the resort. An excursion from Nha Trang to Dalat is suitable for those who are a little tired of the sultry heat and lazy relaxation on the beach, and who want to see Vietnam from a completely different side.

Dalat – mountain city, located at an altitude of 1500m from sea level. At a time when Vietnam was still a French colony, it was a favorite vacation spot for French colonialists; here they hid from the sweltering heat. Now it is a resting place for Vietnamese officials.

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The city has several beautiful names: “City of Flowers”, “City of Love”, “City of Eternal Spring” and as a legacy from the past “Little Paris”. There are no narrow streets here, each house is beautiful and individual, the streets are clean.

An excursion to Dalat can be purchased at any travel agency in Nha Trang, or from a hotel guide. The price for a one-day excursion is approximately $25 per person, depending on where you buy it, for a two-day excursion from $70 - $80.

Departure early in the morning, at 7 o'clock, return back in the evening around 19 o'clock. This trip is for the whole day. Well, whoever takes a tour for 2 days will return the next evening. In general, find out all the details of the trip at the place where you are taking the excursion.

Excursion

A bus or minibus will pick you up from the hotel, depending on how many people are there, and that’s it, off you go. The journey takes a little over 3 hours. The first stop is at a roadside cafe, you can eat and relax a little.

Second stop at a mountain pass. Beautiful view, it's time to take out your camera and capture the beautiful landscapes.

Next stop is a coffee plantation. Those who haven’t seen it will see how real coffee grows.

Well, then you come to Dalat. Each agency's locations may differ from others, but they are generally the same. So, what will you see in Dalat on a one-day excursion:

• Famous Crazy House Hotel

• Truc Lam Pagoda and cable car

• Electric sleigh ride and Datanla Falls

• Will you visit national park Prenn

• Tea and coffee tasting

• Temple of the Golden Buddha

There will be lunch in a cafe with rum and local wine (vineyards grow here).

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Good to know

In Dalat, the world famous Kopi Luwak coffee is made from the dung of the small Musang animal.

But real “wild” coffee is hard to find or almost impossible to find on the open market. All of it is sold at auction and the price starts from $4,000 per kilogram. You can get coffee here for $180 a kilo, but it comes from a farm, not from the wild.

On a two-day excursion you will see many more attractions and have more time to explore them.

Before departure, you can ask the guide, who will come after you and entertain you throughout the trip, about the weather, because if it rains, an umbrella or raincoat will not hurt.

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Don't forget to take a blouse with you, because it is cooler in the mountains than on the beach and you may need it.

I personally liked the excursion. The road is not very tiring, the guide told us everything interestingly. Take it for one day or two days, well, you decide for yourself, if you have a lot of time, then 2 days are better, and if you come on vacation for 10 days, you want to swim, sunbathe, and visit different places, then of course one day is enough.

I wish you a pleasant and useful time.

Nha Trang - « beach capital Vietnam." I think it’s no longer difficult to guess why I decided to visit this city. :) Yes, yes, Nha Trang is for you Cote d'Azur, clear sea, stormy night life and therapeutic mud baths. There is everything your soul desires. I came to Nha Trang from Dalat, where I had previously spent several wonderful days. I can’t say that the journey was difficult. You can get from one city to another quite quickly and conveniently.

Bus

Da Lat Bus Station is located in picturesque place- around flower gardens and villas.

It is located on the very outskirts of the city. The best way getting there from a hotel or other place is a taxi, especially if you have a lot of things with you.

Not many buses depart from Dalat bus station towards Nha Trang per day (almost ten). The first flight is available as early as 07:30, and the last one only at 17:00. In the evening it is more problematic to get to Nha Trang.
Regarding carriers serving such a route, I will not surprise experienced tourists who have already traveled around Vietnam. Why? Yes, because in Vietnam there are several well-known companies that will deliver passengers to all points of the country. This also applies to the following two companies, serving the route Dalat - Nha Trang:

• Futa bus.

• The Sinh Tourist.

The drive from Dalat to Nha Trang is not very long - only four hours. But you won’t be bored on the road, because they’re waiting outside the window beautiful views.

I also traveled this way, because the bus is the only public transport, running between cities, there are no trains. Therefore, I also couldn’t resist and took a few photos along the way.

Ticket prices

The Sinh Tourist offers cheaper travel at 99,000 VND (4.5 USD).

But tickets for Futa bus are a little more expensive - 175,000 dong (8 US dollars).

By the way, the ticket price includes not only travel, but also a bottle of water and a cold towel.

Buying tickets

You can buy tickets quite quickly and conveniently on the websites of carriers that serve the required route. Here are the Internet pages:

But, in case of registration online and payment by bank card, you only receive a special voucher, which you then need to exchange for a ticket at the company office. Their websites contain the necessary addresses.

You can also contact the ticket office at the Dalat bus station; as a rule, tickets are always available. Only on weekends and holidays Demand is increasing, so there may not be room available.

Automobile

Another way of travel is by car. If you can’t rent through one, you can find companies in Dalat that provide similar services, or simply ask the hotel reception with this question. In most cases, they help with such a question.
By the way, you can rent a car directly with a driver. It will cost more, but it will be safer. :)
If you plan to travel on your own, you must first obtain a temporary driver's license from your local department. They take about a week to produce, and among the documents required are a valid driver’s license and an international passport.
Regarding the trip, it will take about four hours to travel from Dalat to Nha Trang. Why so long? Despite the fact that there are only 140 km between the cities, the roads of this Asian country There is a restriction - you can only drive 50 km/h. And you won’t be able to accelerate any further, because the tracks are designed with one lane in each direction. Plus you will have to drive along serpentine roads, the terrain is hilly.

Therefore, be attentive and careful, because, in addition, you may be distracted by the beautiful landscapes outside the window.

By the way, many roads are toll roads. The amount is small, just a couple of dollars.

Bottom line

Both options, in my opinion, are good and successful. But I chose the bus because I couldn’t get there by car myself. And trains do not run between cities.

We tell you how to get to Dalat on your own, how much it costs and how to find tickets online.

One of the economical options for traveling around Vietnam is bus. Buses run to Dalat from Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City and Phan Thiet. It is also possible to get there from Mui Ne. Almost every travel agency in Mui Ne and Nha Trang sends to Dalat with enviable regularity sightseeing buses, but mostly these are tours for 2-3 days.

Travel time to Dalat:

• from Nha Trang - about 4 hours;
• from Ho Chi Minh City - about 7 hours;
• from Phan Thiet - about 4.5-5 hours;
• from Mui Ne - about the same, as it is located 15-20 minutes drive to the center of Phan Thiet.

Many drivers refuse to go to Dalat later than 3-4 days (it gets dark in Vietnam at 6 pm), since the road after dark becomes dangerous due to sharp and sharp turns. The road to Dalat itself is very grueling and difficult due to constant shaking, but it is worth it: along the entire journey we enjoyed the stunning landscapes of Vietnam.

You can buy transport tickets to Dalat here

We got to Dalat from Phan Thiet. We were unable to find any accurate information about the bus schedule to Dalat, so in the first half of the day (10-11 am) we went in search of a bus.

Having reached bus station, it turned out that we had not quite arrived there. Before we even reached the ticket office, two Vietnamese men approached us with the words “Nha Trang” and “Motorbike”.Since they “refused” to speak to us in English, we had to communicate with them in one word: “Dalat”.

At the checkout, we continued our friendly communication with the Vietnamese men, only this time they connected us with a girl cashier who spoke broken English. In the end we realized that the bus is coming not from the bus station, but from another place. This mysterious place they kindly offered to show us just these Vietnamese men, of course for a modest fee of 25.000 VND.

Got to the right place with the breeze and in just 5-7 minutes, in fact, it turned out that we could easily get there on foot. Bus ticket to Dalat cost us about 130.000 VND per person.

The bus left at 11:30 , but for the first 30 minutes of the trip, our bus decided to play postman, and so all this time we drove around the city back and forth delivering packages. Ultimately, around 12 o'clock we set off towards Dalat, picking up people from a stop three steps from the bus station (!).

Shortly before Dalat, the conductor asks for addresses where to take passengers, so you can safely give the hotel address and you will be dropped off nearby. We didn't have a hotel booked, so we were just dropped off in the city center, near the Dalat market.

We easily found the street where each house has a hotel. Usoffered per day from 200 to 400 thousand VND for 2 local number. Surprisingly the number for 200,000 VND turned out to be more attractive than the rooms that cost more, there was a small balcony from which there was a good view of Xuan Huong Lake (Vietnamese: Hồ Xuân Hương).

Dalat, Xuan Huong Lake. Photo credit: qtchat2000, Flickr

The climate around Dalat is amazing, Fresh air, lakes, parks, gardens, mountains, coniferous forests, canyons, waterfalls, coffee plantations and vineyards. Dalat is called the City Eternal Spring and the city fully lives up to its name. In addition, Dalat is a kind of adventure tourism center. Here you can join tours around the surrounding area on motorbikes or bicycles and experience all the delights of rafting and canyoning.

Plan to spend at least two full days in Dalat, dedicating one day to exploring the city and the second to Dalat Adventure.

why go

Don't miss it in Dalat

• Take a walk through the streets of Dalat, admiring the colorful architecture and visit the main attraction of Dalat - the unusual and eccentric Crasy House.
• Try how coffee is brewed in local city cafes.
• Buy fresh strawberries, local strawberry jam and local wine from the market.
• Take the cable car up to Thien Vien Truc Lam Monastery, immerse yourself in an atmosphere of peace and quiet, walk through the beautiful grounds of the monastery and admire the stunning views.
• Join a motorbike tour around Dalat to see beautiful waterfalls and incredible landscapes, visit local small villages, see how local highland tribes live and try local delicacies.
• Choose your adventure: cycling, trekking, rafting or canyoning.

Crazy House

This strange and absurd large house without straight lines and angles, with a lot of bright details, stairs and bizarre shapes is a kind of challenge to traditional architecture. The house was built in the early 90s of the last century; today there is a hotel here, where you can easily rent a room. The territory of the Crazy House is open to visitors - for a small fee you can walk along the quaint stairs and corridors, look into unoccupied rooms and climb to the roof. The house is located 15 minutes walk from the center.

Crazy House. Photo credit: Lindsay Buckley, Flickr

Rooms inside Crasy House. Photo credit: Svetlana Mishina, Flickr

Motorbike tours in Dalat

Motorbike tours around Dalat are a great way to spend a day and get to know both nature and the culture and local customs of Dalat. Dalat motorcycle drivers call themselves Easy Riders, and tours are offered in all guest houses and travel agencies in the city. If you are an experienced driver, you will be given a motorbike; if you are not a driver at all, you will be given a motorbike with a driver. When riding a motorcycle yourself, weigh own strength and assess the risks - drivers drive fast, tour operators do not provide any insurance.

Motorbike tours in Dalat. Photo credit: Scrabulator, Flickr

Canyoning

Many agree that canyoning is a must-do experience in Dalat. Adventure day tours (usually in small groups) are offered at all guest houses and travel agencies in the city. The essence of such entertainment as canyoning is to descend waterfalls - partly along rocks with the help of special equipment, partly through water - as if sliding along gentle rocks in the waters of a mountain river downstream, the culmination of many programs is the descent over a large waterfall with a jump from height of several meters. The activity is, of course, extreme, but promising in terms of emotions.

Canyoning in Dalat. Photo credit: jennifer seroy, Flickr

Canyoning in Dalat. Photo credit: Kelly Mc, Flickr

Dalat waterfalls

The three most spectacular, large and easily accessible waterfalls in the vicinity of Dalat are the wide, very picturesque Pongour Falls, 30 km south of the city, Elephant Falls, 30 km west of the city, and Prenn Falls, 10 km from the city. Motorbike tours usually include a visit to at least one of big waterfalls, you can also go to the waterfalls on your own by renting a motorbike.

Pongour Falls, Da Lat. Photo credit: _smARTraveller, Flickr

Dalat waterfalls. Photo credit: mcolleague, Flickr