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It was a nice change of pace to experience Da Lat coming from the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh. It’s a beautiful city within the mountains and hills with plenty to see and do, most well known for its canyoning experience. If you like exploring and seek adventure I’d highly recommend making a stop here if you have the time. We spent 3 nights here which I think is the perfect amount of time to see everything. Canyoning takes a full day, and the other day we spent on a motor bike exploring waterfalls, silk farms, and coffee plantations. But inside the city there is a very unique vibe and has some very interesting areas to explore and see.

Getting Here

The great part about Vietnam is all the cities are quite close to each other so you can easily get on a quick flight or pay less and hop on a bus, which actually the buses in Vietnam are quite comfortable. We decided to fly from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat because it was so cheap! However the airport was quite far from the center of the city so we had to take a shuttle, but overall very easy and manageable.

• Flight: Jetstar – $27

Location

We stayed slightly northwest of the center of town, maybe about 5-10 minute drive, but the city is quite small and quaint, everything is pretty close to each other. One thing to note is that the streets can be confusing. There are a lot of winding one way roads that lead to two way streets, with a lot of round abouts so it’s easy to get lost. I’d recommend keeping a map with you for sure. Also be very weary of motorbikes here, well pretty much everywhere in Vietnam, but the round abouts are huge. Just walk with confidence and the traffic will work around you.

The city center is very nicely laid out with a big market place and large lake which makes for a nice stroll around the area. I recommend going for a quick ride around the town to check it out or spend the afternoon strolling around the lake.

Accommodation: Wolfpack Hostel

Ahhh, I absolutely loved this hostel. It was more of a homestay feel than anything. The owners made you feel completely at home and at ease throughout our whole stay, they even remembered our names. Upon arrival they gave us tea and bananas. There was free breakfast every morning and they’d have family dinners every night for $3. One thing that was very helpful was they provided a lot of information and insight into things to do and see which we had no idea about before arriving. When asked how to get around he said he could get a friend of his to bring a moped for us for only $5. The beds and rooms were very spacious and comfortable. They also had laundry and booked tours for us. Overall, loved this place and highly recommend it.

• Cost per night: $6

Activities

Elephant Falls

The falls are about an hour on moped from the outside of the. The drive out is very scenic and worth it. You have to pay a small fee to go down and see the falls. The hike down doesn’t take too long, just be weary that some of the path gets a little more rocky and may lack a bit of safety but it’s definitely doable for many hikers.

Once you get a good view down below the falls are pretty impressive and it’s fun to explore around and climb on rocks to get the perfect photo. There is also an area you can hike down a little further where you can go under the waterfall and see it from behind.

Silk Factory

The factory is not too far from the Elephant Falls, just bring a map because it’s towards a back alleyway that you can’t see from the main road. Again, a small entry fee to check this place out but it’s very interesting to see how they make silk cloth from worms. The factory isn’t very big but you can walk through the factory on your own while watching them work up close.

Bao An

It’s a very small shop on the side of the road on the way back from the Falls and Silk Factory. Here you can see how they make rice wine [which you can try =)] and also how they get their coffee beans from weasel poo!

Mei Linh Coffee Plantation

I’m not the biggest coffee fan but Vietnamese coffee is definitely a type that I enjoy. But regardless if you are a fan or not, you should stop here just to see the beautiful view overlooking the valley and plantation. Here they have a bunch of different coffee beans you can try but the main reason I wanted to stop here was to try weasel poo coffee! A little expensive but when will you ever get to say you tried that?! Personally, I hated it lol but it’s an experience right!?

Crazy House

I’m not sure if it’s worth the money but it’s worth checking it out because of how bizarre the place is. It’s very weird and almost theme liked hotel with interesting architecture straight out of an Alice in Wonderland movie, very fun to explore!

• Cost: 40,000 baht

Canyoning

The main reason for our trip to Da Lat was to experience canyoning! Unfortunately the day before our scheduled tour, 3 tourists died falling from a waterfall on one of the private guided tours. Due to the tragedy the government advised to cancel all tours. We were taken aback by the news and also bummed our tour was cancelled. After doing some searching and talking to some other tour guides we found one that still planned to depart but from a different canyon. We found out that the tourists got swept away from a strong current after swimming in a dangerous area. The tour guide ensured us that they take high safety precaution and to of course refrain from swimming in the water. It was really cold anyways, so we decided to go for it.

We did our tour with Groovy Gecko Tours and had an awesome time. It was definitely an amazing and once in a lifetime experience, a main highlight during our time in Da Lat and Vietnam. The tour picked us up and took us to a school up in the mountains where we transferred to an old school jeep where we then drove through the hilly and dense forest. We got all of our gear at one of the cabins deep in the forest. From there we hiked to the first waterfall where we were taught how to abseil. The guides were really informative and made sure we all felt comfortable and safe before we took on the first waterfall, which was small to begin with. Each waterfall got longer and progressively more challenging. We abseiled down about 4 waterfalls ranging from 8m-65m. We also got a chance to slide down backwards on one of the smooth rocks into the water which was really fun.

About half way through we stopped for an awesome lunch on the cliff side overlooking the beautiful canyon. They fed us with sandwiches, fruit, and dessert which was definitely needed to take on the next couple of waterfalls including the 65m! I consider myself pretty athletic and adventurous and I was honestly shitting my pants. I have never experienced anything like that in my life but felt pretty accomplished when I got to the bottom. The guides are really good at coaching you from up top and from the bottom so you feel like you at least have some help!

As scary and intense this was it was such a blast and something I thought I would never be able to do. I have done rock climbing plenty of times but this was on another level. The tour guides were so relaxed, funny, and really made the experience. All the other canyoning tours seemed pretty similar and also in price as well, but this one has the highest descent for sure. I’ve heard good things about the other tours, just make sure you go through a legitimate tour and follow instructions so you don’t end up in an area or place you don’t belong.

Food & Dining

100 Roofs Café

This restaurant got its inspiration from The Crazy House for sure. It’s very similar in how strange and bizarre it is. The architecture of the house turned cafe is filled with weird sculptures and art throughout, with long narrow and dark tunnels you can explore through and get lost. We bought one of the yummy shakes [which were bomb and also you can get alcoholic if you’d like] and just explored the weirdness. It’s different than any other cafe I’ve been to so definitely a highlight.

Deli BBQ

If you like to cook your own food like Korean BBQ then this place is good. You can get a lot of meat and vegetable for around $3 and is close to the city center and our hostel.

Lien Ahn Café

We heard about this place because of the sandwiches we had on our canyoning tour. They have really cheap bahn mi and tons of pastries and desserts to choose from. This place is really popular and super busy too so come earlier if you can to avoid the rush.