Da Lat - The city you should not miss in Vietnam


Overview of Da Lat city

Da Lat
 is the capital city of Lam Dong province, Vietnam. Dalat city is 1.412km from Hanoi (1A Highway), Ho Chi Minh City  308km (20 Highway), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) 135km (27C Highway - Khanh Vinh pass), Mui Ne (Binh Thuan) 160km (28B Highway). 

The first European to ‘discover’ Dalat was Dr Alexandre Yersin in 1893. The city was established in 1912 and quickly became fashionable with Europeans. At one point during the French colonial period, some 20% of Dalat’s population was foreign, as evidenced by the 2500-odd chateau-style villas scattered around the city.

dalat-city

Dalat is located on Lam Vien plateau, at an altitude of about 1,500m above sea level. Dalat has temperate climate with an average temperature of about 15 degrees, the highest is 24 degrees C. So Da Lat has a cool climate, pleasant.

Dalat has two seasons, rainy season and sunny season. Rainy season from April to November, sunny season from December to March. 

Da Lat is one of the cities in the Central Highlands Vietnam with many beautiful names

Dalat (or Da Lat) is known as the Flower city or honeymoon city  with ancient French villas, the fresh air, the beautiful waterfalls and lakes sits in a lush and green valley. The city’s temperate weather stands in contrast to Vietnam’s otherwise tropical climate.

dalat-flower-city

It’s also called “Little Paris” (“Le Petit Paris” in French) due to its French architecture villas and its replica of the Eiffel Tower built by the Telephone. Indeed, in the past when Dalat still had been under France, The French Officials want to set up this city as “Le Petit Paris” (A Little Paris), the ideal resort city, the meaningful education center for their life in Indochina, the place was far from their native land – remote France. So, Dalat was the capital of the Federation of Indochina during World War II.

Dalat-little-paris

Beside above names, Vietnamese also called Da Lat under many lovely names such as The city of Love, The Blossom city, The city in pines forest...

When should you go to Dalat?

Some people say you should go to Dalat in the spring, around January or February. There are some people said that you should go to Da Lat in summer, around June, July, August. And there are visitors requesting Vietnam Easy Riders Group (VERG) to arrange a tour to Da Lat around September to Decmeber. A group of customers of VERG likes to find here around March, April or May. Truly, to answer the question " When should you go to Da Lat?" to "satisfy" all visitors are difficult. As each person, each visitor has their own interests. Therefore, VERG think, the smartest answer, the most reasonable is that "any season in Dalat is beautiful, also have something interesting, so visitors to Dalat at any time themselves I like".

Which Transportation to travel to Da Lat?

There is no train to go to Da Lat, so you can travel by car, bus, motorcycle or airplane. Bus and car are quite safe and convenient, but it takes quite a long time up to 4 or 5 hours. The most interesting vehicle is motorcycle. You can discover a lot of things on the way. During the trip if you get tired or want to enjoy the landscape, you could stop at any time. However, it is dangerous if you are not familiar with driving or road in Vietnam.

Where should you visit in Da Lat?

- Crazy House

- Pongour Waterfall
- Tuyen Lam lake 
- Truc Lam monastery 
- Langbiang mountain
- Datanla waterfall
- Elephant waterfall
- Linh Phuoc pagoda

Dalat Railway Station

dalat-city-in-the-forest



Da Lat - The City 3 "NO"

First of all, there is no red light. Da Lat city is located on Lam Vien plateau, so there are many hills and slopes. Traffic lights are not installed here. At the crossroads junction, people built the roundabout. Dalat is not much traffic means so the road is very airy, and people's sense of law is very good.

Secondly, Dalat was not Xich Lo (Pedicab). Due to the sloping terrain, Xich Lo is a difficult thing in this city of flowers.
 
The last thing that is not air-condition. Da Lat is about 1,500 m above sea level, with high mountainous climate and average temperature of about 18-21 degrees. Due to the cold climate, almost all the houses, villas, hotels...do not use air conditioner.
 
12 reasons why you should not miss Da Lat as traveling to Vietnam:

1. The Fog City:
In the South only has two seasons wet - dry and temperatures range from 25-37 degrees, but sometimes can be down to 11 degrees. The city is so really cool that people also feel happy, comfortable and peaceful.

2. Flower City:
Where you can stumble across flowers everywhere, all the time, even in a crack of the wall.

3. French villa architecture:
Dalat has over 2000 villas but each was different. Each villa carries a separate beauty. The villas usually have gardens, wide apart and there is a nice sight: Overlooking the pine forest, overlooking a valley or toward Langbian mountain view. Especially the villas in Da Lat no higher than three floors.

4. Local People:
Da Lat people are gentle, friendly and hospitable and willing to help when someone ask for direction.

5. Wandering night market and enjoy the local delicacies ...
Besides, it's also place to go shopping. You can choose yourself a wollen scarf, wollen hat, shirt or cloak with the price of only a few tenths to several hundred thousand VND.

6. Beautiful Nature and Landscapes:
The landscapes of this fog city such as Gold Stream lake, Langbian lake, Tuyen Lam lake ... is not only sublime but also poetic, and romantic. Every corner, every destination in Da Lat makes all visitors wish to record this moment, space or simply mark their track there.

7. Fresh air:
With pine forests, lakes, rivers, streams and cool climate ... Dalat brings about a new sense different from the stuffily crowded atmosphere as other cities.

8. Experience the 4-season-weather in a day:
with the weather in the morning is spring, the summer is at noon, the afternoon is autumn, winter is at night.

9. Take a leisure walk along Xuan Huong Lake
To ramble and relaxedly enjoy the beauty of the lake with a crowded road.

10. Exploring the strawberry garden
Learning about processes in growing vegetables, hand-picking and enjoying fresh strawberries.

11. Drop yourself in coffee and music:
The cafe shops in Dalat are designed in many styles, from budget inns to luxurious, from lively to quiet or romantic ones, all create a magical attraction for tourists.

12. Place for you to live slowlier:
Pleasant space, cool air, gentle locals, lustiness and romance of this land will make you wish to live slowly, live for yourselselves more.

VERG organize the Motorbike Tours from Da Lat to any cities in Vietnam such as Saigon, Muine, Nhatrang, Hoian/Danang, Hue...The detailed information about the tours are display on our site. Please click the Easy Rider Tours from Da Lat to book !
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