Da Nang

Why go

Between two UNESCO sites — Hue's imperial city north, Hoi An's old town thirty minutes south. The Cham collection — the largest holding anywhere of a kingdom that ruled this coast for a thousand years. A beach city that rebuilt itself — thirty kilometres of sand and a skyline that did not exist in 2000. Mountain passes and marble — the Hai Van pass and the Marble Mountains within twenty minutes.

The character

Da Nang was Tourane under the French, the site of the first American combat landing in 1965, and a modest port for most of its history. What it has become since 2000 is the clearest example in Vietnam of a city choosing a future: the riverfront was cleared and rebuilt, bridges were thrown across the Han — one shaped as a dragon that breathes fire at weekends — and the beach the American forces called China Beach filled with resorts.

Underneath that is something much older. The Cham kingdom ruled this coast from the fourth to the fifteenth century, Hindu and maritime, trading with India and Java, and its sandstone sculpture is the finest early art in Vietnam. The museum the French built in 1915 to hold it is still the best reason to stop here. So Da Nang works as two things at once: a comfortable modern base with an airport, and the doorway to an older coast — imperial Hue over the pass, Cham towers at My Son, and the merchant houses of Hoi An down the road.

Places of character

Museum of Cham Sculpture — French colonial pavilions holding a thousand years of Hindu sandstone carving. Marble Mountains — five limestone hills with Buddhist caves and shrines inside them, and a stone-carving village at the base. Hai Van Pass — the cloud pass north toward Hue, with the best coastal road in the country and a French-era fort at the top. Son Tra peninsula — a forested headland with rare langurs and a lookout over the whole bay. Han River bridges at night — including the dragon bridge, which is unabashedly theatrical and enormously popular. Con Market — the working market where the city buys its food, unmodernised and worth an hour.

The way to do it

Use Da Nang as a hub rather than an end: hoi An for a day and a night, Hue over the pass for another, My Son early in the morning. Ride the Hai Van pass by motorbike or car ahead of taking the tunnel. Eat mi quang and banh xeo in the city, where they are better and cheaper than in Hoi An.

One perfect day

Breakfast of mi quang at a street stall, then the Cham museum before the heat, moving slowly through the Tra Kieu and My Son galleries. Late morning at the Marble Mountains, climbing into the caves where shrines sit under natural skylights. Lunch of seafood at a beach restaurant on My Khe. Afternoon over the Hai Van pass with stops at the top for the coast in both directions, or out to Son Tra for the langurs and the bay. Back for a swim as the light drops. Dinner at a riverside place, then the dragon bridge at nine on a weekend when it breathes fire, which is silly and which everyone watches anyway.

Grand hotels

InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula — Bill Bensley's terraced resort on Son Tra, black and white all the way down the hillside; the definitive contemporary address on this coast. Furama — the first international resort on China Beach, opened 1997, and the one that started the transformation.

When to go

Best expression: February to May, dry, warm and before the summer heat settles. Consider: June for the international fireworks festival on the river. Avoid if possible: October and November, the typhoon and flood season on this coast.

The frame

Ideal stay 3 nights · Minimum 2 nights · Best arrival by air; the airport is inside the city · Airport DAD, 3 km · Walkability the riverfront and beach; the rest needs transport · Best without a car yes, with taxis and motorbike hire