Explore Da Nang - Hoi An - Bana Hills in Vietnam for 4 Days 3 Nights with 5,500 THB!

Visiting Da Nang - Hoi An - Bana Hills, I have to say that each place comes with beautiful views.... If you like beautiful views, chill and walk around to take photos in ancient town and spectacular French style village, I can guarantee this trip is just for you!

This is our second trip to Vietnam. Last time we went to Dalat. We loved Vietnam so much that we have to come back. This time, we will take you to Da Nang - Hoi An - Bana Hills, 4 days 3 nights for 5,500 THB (exclude airfare).

So what can we have for 5,500 THB? Actually, we can have it all, with good food, nice hotels and convenient transportation ^^

Note: We didn't stay over in Da Nang city because we wanted to have a chill atmosphere. So we chose to stay at Hoi An city for the first and second nights.

Day 1 : Da Nang Half-Day Trip

1. Dragon Bridge and Lock Love Bridge Da Nang
2. My Khe Beach
3. Lihn Ung Temple
4. Lunch at Nam Danh Seafood
5. Marble Mountain

Day 1 - 2 : Eat, Travel, Chill, and Sleep in Hoi An City

1. Hoi An Town
2. Hoi An Night Market
3. Japanese Covered Bridge
4. First night at Little Boss Homestay
5. Second night at A Tran Boutique Hotel

Day 3-4 : Chill time at Ba Na Hills Sun World

1. Mercure Danang French Village Bana Hills
2. Golden Hand Bridge

As for the summary table of all expenses, we provided it at the end of this blog  in case you are interested to follow this trip ^^

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Enough for expenses, let's now go explore Vietnam together.

Start the journey..... This trip to Da Nang, we took a direct flight from Bangkok for over an hour with Air Asia #AirAsia. It's worth it with affordable price. ^^

We booked a morning flight at 07.25 a.m. and reached there around 9 a.m. so that we can have a full day to travel.

Book a great value pack that comes with 20 kg baggage + food + seat selection + guarantee that the flight won't delay and we can save 20%.

"Da Nang City"

Day 1: Da Nang Half-Day Trip

Like I said earlier, we didn't stay in Da Nang downtown but chose to sleep in Hoi An instead so that we could wake up early to take beautiful morning photos.

- After get all the luggage, we can immediately walk to buy SIM cards in the airport for 8 USD each.

- From the airport, we can call Grab right away. The price is affordable. You can check out the price from the application which will be the same as when you pay.

- Since we have a lot of things, we chose to hire Grab for a charter price, the one we took from the airport to continue to 5 places of city tour from 10.00-15.00 pm and drop us off at Hoi An city. We agreed with the price of 800,000 VDN or about 1,120 THB. We think this price is OK because it is more comfortable. In addition, the driver is very nice and friendly (we will provide his contact at the end of the blog, if anyone is interested to contact him).

Let's start with our first destination. 

📌 Dragon Bridge and Lock Love Bridge Da Nang

Dragon Bridge at River Hàn is a tourist spot that anyone who comes to Da Nang must take a photo because the view is so beautiful, especially at night.

The Dragon Bridge is not far from the airport, just 3.3 kilometers away. It is the main bridge that connects the city to the airport and other tourist attractions.

Lock Love Bridge Da Nang is the place that tourists like to take pictures and lovers like to put the locks at the bridge together. It is not far from the Dragon Bridge, just right next to each other. And actually, it'd be most beautiful to take picture of the Dragon Bridge from this angle because nothing blocks the view. There is a coffee shop to chill and a souvenir shop to buy in this area too.

📌 My Khe Beach

My Khe Beach is a famous and the most beautiful beach in Da Nang. It is beautiful and clean with fine white sand. The beach is wide and has a length of 10 kilometers.

My Khe Beach is not far away, only about 6 kilometers from Da Nang city, we stopped by for a short while because of the heat. The weather was similar to Thailand and you know what I mean, haha.

And if looking from My Khe Beach, we can also see the Guanyin of Linh Ung Temple's view from a distance.

As for the spectacular view, the driver pulled aside for us to take photos on the way up to the temple. On the hill there is a parking spot which gives us a full view of the sea and Da Nang city.

📌 Linh Ung Temple

Linh-Ung Temple is another famous tourist spot in Da Nang that everyone must visit. It is a great spot to take pictures of the sea view  and the highlight is the large white Guanyin statue that is over 67 meters tall, located on a hill and facing the sea. We can see both beautiful mountain and sea views at the same time. It's about 9 kilometers away from My Khe Beach.

📌 Hai San Binh Nam Danh Seafood, a famous local restaurant of Da Nang

Location: 139/59/38, 10 Trần Quang Khải, Thọ Quang, Sơn Trà, Đà Nẵng, Vietnam

Hai San Binh Nam Danh is a famous restaurant for local people which is truly local.The price is very cheap. The food is fresh. But we have to walk in by ourselves because the car cannot go in, only a motorcycle. The driver said it's a must try place. He then dropped us off at the entrance of the alley and we walked in ourselves following the sign.

Inside of the restaurant is similar to our Papaya salad's restaurant with a lot of people. There are fans to cooler the heat, the menu is in English. The staff can speak English.

We had a seafood hot pot and boiled clams, soft drinks and water.

Seafood hot pot came in such a big portion with very cheap price. 

They didn't have a seafood dipping sauce like Thai dishes. Here, they eat it with salt and lemon instead. Most of Thai people prefer seafood dishes with some spicy dipping sauces.  So, we would had enjoyed more because the clams were very fresh and came in so big a portion.

All of this only costed us 206.000 VDN or 288 THB. It's very worth it as it's a seafood meal. Try Hai San Binh Nam Danh next time if you visit Danang City. 

After we were full, it's time to move on....

📌 Marble Mountain of Da Nang

This Marble Mountain was caused by the combination of 5 mountains and each mountain is named after the 5 elements: wood, metal, earth, fire and water. It is about 20 minutes away from Da Nang city when driving or taking the Grab and it is also not far from My Khe Beach. Here is another interesting place to visit because there are temples, caves, statues and the remains of the history of World War II. It is also located on a way to Hoi An.

Admission fee and opening hours of Marble Mountain:

• The fee for getting up and down the Marble Mountain glass elevator is 30.000 VND or about 40 THB / person.
• The entrance fee for Marble Mountain is 40.000 VND, or about 55 THB / person.
• Opening hours is 07.00 - 17.30.

It is recommended to wear sneakers because we have to walk up and down stairs for each spot and walking down could be quite steep.

We didn't get to visit every cave because it was already 2 p.m. After, we spent about 50 minutes walking around. We had to hurry down to go to Hoi An. (It takes a little while to walk around this area, so we should have at least an hour for this place. But the weather is a bit hot, so please keep that in mind too).

"Hoi An" A World Heritage City

Day 1 & 2: Eat, Travel, Chill in Hoi An City

After tired of hiking, we went to Hoi An ... Speaking of Hoi An, this city is very charming and interesting for all visitors. Morning and daytime are in the slow life mood. Hoi An is a cultural city that has the glory of architecture in the past with colors of orange and yellow mustard tone. But after the sunset, this city will change into a colorful and entertaining city, with bright lights and crowded tourists.  Interesting views from the light of paper lanterns and the local street-side restaurants. You can also enjoy the river cruising along with the beautiful night views. 

- We spent two nights in this ancient town, our hotels are nearby within walking distance so there's no need to take a ride.

- It should be at least 1 night stay in Hoi An because the highlight is the beauty of the morning and the charm of the lively Hoi An Night Market with the localized culture of people that we could only see after the sunset.

Let's see that in the morning and after the sun goes down ... what has changed?

📌 Hoi An Ancient Town

The unique feature of this world heritage city of Hoi An is the mustard yellow houses and buildings, bright colored lamps, and historical trace. And of course, the way of life of the villagers.

Here is a beautiful morning light with no people in the frame (It is suggested to come early like 5-6 am.). We started shooting from 5 a.m. to almost 8 a.m. Here, the sun rises very quick, please check the sunrise time so that you also can get a beautiful view with no one in a frame like this).

The is the most popular spot to take a shot of Hoi An Town.

📌 Japanese Covered Bridge

The Japanese bridge is just a few meters from the bridge. It is another photography spot for tourists.

📌 Hoi An Night Market

After the sun is set, it's time for chill at the Hoi An Night Market, where the evening is bustling. There are lot of tourists and almost every restaurant is fully occupied. The weather is chill and nice. Many shops and restaurants are decorated with colorful lamps. The colors are bright, beautiful and charming. This is the beauty of the World Heritage City of Vietnam.

Fill with colors and cultural charming. We enjoyed the evening so much. 

Another highlight of pedestrian zone is taking photos with the background of paper lanterns which is considered as the highlight of this market. These paper lanterns are for sale so you can buy them back or simply just take photos. Some stores charge 1 USD and some 20.000 VND for photography (I'm not sure if you can take photo for free, you may try to see if there's any as this street is quite long).

About Food in Hoi An : 

Coming to Hoi An, it is guaranteed that there is no starving ... Whenever you are hungry, just leave your room and walk to the Hoi An Night Market (most of the accommodation is located around the night market, it's within 1 kilometer distance).

Popular dishes include BBQ and Pizza Vietnam or Bánh tráng nướng, which cost a few ten thousand VND. Just carry a hundred or two hundred THB each person and you will be full already! There are also many desserts to choose from like fried ice cream, crepes etc.

Generally, you can sit with low chairs at the back of each street food restaurant. 

Or if you want to sit in a nice restaurant or a bar, you can also choose it from the view you like, where most of them are on the waterfront. 

📌 Hong Phuc 2 Restaurant

I think the food at this restaurant is quite good. If you like pizza, then this restaurant is fine for you,  located nearby the river. Beer is as cheap as Coke. Pizza + Chicken Steak and Rice + Beer is about 416.000 VND.

Accommodations in Hoi An:

To be honest, I think we can stay anywhere if we are not serious about views. Easy pick would be around the Hoi An Night Market within 500 meters. Try to read the user review, if any place gets some 7.5 stars, just click for reservation.

Our first night at📌 Little Boss Homestay

It is a cute small homestay. The accommodation is clean and inexpensive. Deluxe room with a balcony is only 695 THB per night including breakfast. It is also near the Hoi An Night Market (about 400 meters), the owner is very lovely.

Our second night at 📌 A Tran Boutique Hotel

It is a nice small hotel, decorated in a boutique style, looks lovely, and friendly staff (near the Hoi An Night Market, within 500 meters). We booked in advance for only one night before staying and the price is 810 baht including breakfast.

Clean and comfy. 

Ba Na Hills Sun World

Day 3-4 : Chill time at Ba Na Hills Sun World

Bana Hills has become very popular tourist destination for Thais. It was built on a hilltop with French castle style, making you feel like traveling to Europe..... On the top, there are castles, a popular tourist attraction called the Golden Bridge (a hand-shaped bridge), a temple, a theme park, restaurants, shops, bars and a hotel (the only one is the Mercure Bana Hills French Village). Well, really, you must come to experience what it is like to be above the clouds.

Transportation:

1. From Da Nang Airport to a cable car for Bana Hills is about 30 kilometers. The fare for Grab is approximately 350.000 - 400.000 VND (or about 490-560 THB).

2. Traveling from Hoi An, the fare will be around 580.000-600.000 VND (or about 490-560 THB).

*If traveling from Hoi An to Ba na hills, you can try to ask for a chartered price. We got a fare of 500.000 VND (the same Grab car that picked us up from the airport and to Hoi An, we have his contact at the end of the review).

Weather at Bana Hills

This is the weather on top when we went (end of June). The daytime is sunny but not too warm, the temperature is still under 30 degrees Celsius with a cool wind. But in the evening, the weather is superb, about 17-20 degrees and the temperature will be cool until 9 a.m. the next morning (the weather is different from Da Nang and Hoi An because it's on the high hill).

A ticket fee for the world's longest cable car! (All in one price)

• The cable car starts from 7.30 - 21.00 p.m. (the ride takes about 20 minutes.)
• If not staying at Mercure Bana Hills hotel, the price is 750.000 VND/person.
• If staying at Mercure Bana Hills hotel, it is only 450.000 VND/person.

*At the top, we can take the other ride for free. There's no need to pay for additional cable car to the Golden Bridge. Tickets can be purchased at the cable station of Bana Hills.

After purchasing the ticket, prepare to take out the camera ... because the view in the next 20 minutes will be very good to the most beautiful!

Hotel Room Rates> It depends on the period of stay. We booked a Standard room at around 2,800 THB (weekdays), which I think it is very worthwhile. Because in one day trip, when taking photos, there'll be people in our photo frame. But if staying up here, we can start taking photos at 5 p.m. when there's fewer people until late at night. In the morning, we can again wake up early to shoot from the sunrise. Here, the sun rises quite early (please check beforehand, sometime, we can start taking photo at 5.30 a.m. )

When we reached the top and dragged our luggage out of the cable car, the staff would be there to take us to the hotel zone.

Check in time is 2 p.m. and check out is 10.30 a.m. (it's quite early for check out time but we can leave our luggage at the reception and continue to take photos. Whenever we are done, just take a cable care down).

Our Standard room comes with a balcony but not much of a view to look at (which I think the view is not that important because we spend most of our time outside taking photos and come back when it's already dark).

After unpacking our luggage....we rested a bit and left the room at 4.30 p.m. which was a good time as the weather started to get cooler and people were going down... You can check out our photos to understand how good feeling looks like :)

Top atmosphere and the right moment to take pictures ...

If you like to shoot without a lot of people or simply take out the camera and get beautiful photos in every angle,

- In the morning, it is recommended around 6 a.m. (or check for the sunrise time) After taking photos around, walk to take the cable car which opens at 7.30 a.m. so that you can get a Golden Hand Bridge view with no people in frame.

Morning time was so relaxing and chilling weather.

- In the evening, after 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. until dark.  At night with lights, it is also differently beautiful (for a one day trip tourists, they will start to go down and only those who stay up here are left, so we can enjoy taking photos).

If you are looking for a way to get on the cable car to the Golden Bridge viewpoint, walk towards this castle. When walking down the stairs on the side of the castle, you will see the entrance to the cable car.

Golden Bridge, a popular viewpoint that we must visit! 

A place where we can be above the clouds

• The first cable car starts at 7.30 a.m. It's so worthwhile to get up early and go as there'll be very few people.
• The last cable car is at 21.00 p.m. The place is so romantic with soft music playing along the way. What's more, with a light fog while the sun is about to set, oh my, it's just so good! And when looking down, it's all clouds! You can imagine, how high we are now....

This view up here is so amazing...

We took photos until 19.00 p.m. and took the cable car up to have dinner at the restaurant which closes at 21.00 p.m.

*It'd be bad if we didn't stay up here. At first we were planning for a one day trip too, luckily, we changed our plan in time :)

After check out at 10.30 a.m. we walked around to take more photos before calling that Grab to pick us again (the same diver whole trip) for 300.000 VND to the airport... Along the way, he dropped us at Aha coffee shop where they have good coconut coffee. If you have time left, you can also try it out.

Here is our driver who took us on a trip from Da Nang to Hoi An & Bana Hills.

If you also have a plan to visit several spots like us, you can ask for his package directly from his line id: 0916055666.  The prices may be different based on your visiting destinations, you can negotiate the prices with him, he can speak fair English). His Facebook is Hoai Thanh

Summary of total expenses from Da Nang - Hoi An - Ba Na Hills

Approximately it is 11,000 THB and when divided by 2, it is 5,500 THB each (excluding airfare).

That's it for our 4 days 3 nights trip. It really gave us lots of fun and joy. You can plan it out and see what kind of places you wish to visit. 

Good bye for now and see you guys again in our next trip. We will come back to update you guys again when we travel to beautiful places. Please stay tuned! 

On the way back, we flew with Air Asia again. Easy to fly with affordable price. This time, we tried the new menu, Roasted Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce. Clean, light, and comfortable meal for dinner :)

Goodbye ^ ^

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