Da Lat Guide - All you need to know

Thanks to the advantage of height, enclosing pine jungle and surrounding lakes, Da Lat has a temperate climate, with an average temperature of 18 – 21 C degree, and often called ‘Eternal Spring’. 

Offering travelers a package of comfortable weather, a peaceful atmosphere, French-styled villas, and surrounding farms of strawberries, coffee, and flowers, Dalat has become one of the most attractive tourist centers in Vietnam.

Da Lat

From dynamic city nightlife to relaxing lakes, beautiful farms, and delicious cuisine, Dalat has everything to offer.

Dalat was the home of various Montagnard (hill tribe) groups for centuries, which results in the fact that the name “Da Lat” means “river of the Lat tribe” in the Lat language. Then the area was discovered by Dr. Alexandre Yersin in 1893.

After being discovered, the city was established in 1912 with the population of Vietnamese and Europeans, especially during the French colonial period.

During the American War, Dalat was spared by the tacit agreement of parties from the South Vietnamese military to Viet Cong cadres, etc. In 1975, Dalat officially fell under North Vietnamese forces without a fight and remain its French look relatively until the present.

Busy lives which force people to find an instant relaxing trip during weekends may be the reason why Dalat welcomes more and more travelers in recent years. The city attracts not only foreigners but also being crowded by Vietnamese coming from many cities (which mostly come from Ho Chi Minh), which fortunately pushes Dalat to develop instead of being a rural French-styled city.

Main attractions in Da Lat

Bao Dai’s Summer Palace: Having been well-known as a charming landscape, comfortable weather city, Dalat also offers travelers a number of French antique villas. One of the most popular French architectures which is associated with historical era is Bao Dai Summer Palace. Visiting the palace, travelers can imagine the scene of Vietnam former King and his family working and living here since each room isl reserved in its same status quo as back in the history.

Prenn Waterfall

Prenn Waterfall: Prenn Waterfall has been an attractive tourism spots for ones who would love to explore Da Lat at its most natural form, which thanks to its authentic charm and beauty. The waterfall itself looks like a beautiful curtain running unstoppably years to years. Coming to Prenn, tourists are not only exposed to one of the most magnificent waterfall of Da Lat, but also get a chance to dive in nature while touring around the area.

Crazy House: Coming to Da Lat and looking forward to visiting and staying at a very unique villa that can only be found in Da Lat, travelers from all over the world pay much attention to Crazy House – the most free-wheeling architecture as a combined tourist attraction and accommodation. The Crazy house is also called “Hang Nga Villa” (named after the owner), “The house of Strange”, and “Spider’s nest Castle”. Since the idea of Hang Nga is to bringing people closer to nature, the villa itself and each tiny detailed decoration is supposed to make visitors feel like they are lost in a mystery forest with stones, plants, and sculptured animals.

Culture features in Da Lat

Dalat community is a combination of more than 20 ethnic groups from Viet people to M’Nong, Ma, K’Ho, etc. and the integration of people from the North, South, and Central of Vietnam. The variety of origins does not make Dalat become another Ho Chi Minh city. In fact, these people bear Datlat famous cultural identity of gentle, elegant and hospitable lifestyle. They rely on farming vegetables, and flowers to supply the Southern provinces, gardening, raising livestock, growing coffee, and tea for a living.

As a tranquil city, Dalat people are so friendly and gentle that you would feel surprised, and interested when seeing them dance, sing, and play music with unique instruments in festivals or family’s happy day.

Da Lat weather

Being elevated around 1,500 meters, Dalat’s weather is much cooler and more pleasant than other regions of Vietnam, which can be down to 10 degrees Celsius at night. It is generally comfortable to come to Dalat throughout the year.

Flower season in Da Lat

However, during summer months (which is rainy season of Vietnam southside), rain often comes once per day at least, which may irritate your outdoor trip. In return, Dalat looks more romantic with heavy fog, little bit rain, and dew-dropped plants in rainy season.

Da Lat transportation

It takes about 8 to 9 hours driving from Ho Chi Minh city to Dalat. Locals often prefer to popular sleeper buses such as Thanh Buoi, and Phuong Trang and travel through the night to save time, which is also recommended to travelers from other countries.

Dalat has been a tranquil city with less traffic, which results in the fact the there is no traffic light throughout the city. Tourists may prefer to walking around, renting motorbike to enjoy the nice mountainous view. However, Dalat has been more crowded recently, which makes it more difficult for foreigners to ride bike (just like Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, but less crowded undoubtedly).

Travel tips

• Beautiful homestay: If you are looking forward to a real authentic culture trip, booking a homestay hosted by locals is a good idea to explore their lifestyles. As Da Lat has so many comfy homestays which offer amazing view from highland, and special welcoming dishes, you should definitely pick homestays rather than staying at boring hotels.
• Suitable for both adventurous and relaxing travelers: With so much to offer, Dalat can welcome all kind of tourists, whether you are interested in hiking, camping trips to mountainous area for magnificent views or would rather staying in nice accommodation near city center for a food and cultural tour.