Da Lat Delights: An Unforgettable 3-day Vacation Experience
A beautiful sunset view of Da Lat and its magnificent French influenced architecture.
Da Lat, also known as the City of Flowers, is a charming hill town located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It is famous for its stunning scenery, picturesque landscapes, and romantic atmosphere.
Our trip to Da Lat was nothing short of unforgettable. From exploring the lush green valleys to marveling at the majestic waterfalls, Da Lat has something for everyone. In this article, we will share our 3-day itinerary showing how we experienced the best of this beautiful hill town.
We spent 3 extremely beautiful days in Da Lat including the day we arrived here. On that particular day, we could only explore the neighborhood streets and Morning in Town cafe which was still lovely to experience. The Cafe offered a viewpoint for a beautiful sunset and night view of this romantic town. We loved the Croissant here(nom nom).
Da Lat during the day as shot during the cable car ride.
On the second day, we woke up early in the morning with the aim of exploring the captivating destination of Da Lat.
We rented a scooty (a two-wheeler without the Gear) for almost INR 450 from our Hotel and went to the famous Elephant waterfall. We chose this place because it was a bit far from the central part of the city and it will allow us to see the shops, greenhouses that grow all sorts of flowers, cafes, local culture and architecture, and different aspects of the landscape around Da Lat.
However, before reaching our destination, we wanted to grab some coffee and probably eat something too in order to get ourselves fueled for the day.
We were lucky enough to find Chuon Chuon Cafe Bistro & Bar on our way to Elephant falls. We visited one other franchise of this brand in Phu Quoc and my understanding is that their USP apart from good coffee and other unique beverages is the “Location” they choose which mostly is at the top of a hill or at scenic spots which have great views of the surroundings.
Chuon Chuon Bistro and Bar is located between Da Lat and the Elephant Waterfalls.
The one at Da Lat was slightly different as they also had a mini theme park where one can see beautiful flowers, ponds filled with colorful fish, swings, some cool painted vintage cars, and a glass viewpoint to have great views of the highlands.
We spent a few hours here and chilled next to the swimming pool they have next to the coffee bar. We fed fish in the pond, took rides on multiple swings, walked the stairs all the way from bottom to the top towards the cafe, and filmed ourselves while enjoying the cool breeze. It was a nice break from our journey toward the falls.
You should visit this place to have great views, capture cool pictures, and a break from the hot weather for some time. The place is also very windy due to its location.
We gathered our stuff and wore our helmets and moved towards our destination. The Elephant waterfall was beautiful and we reached there around 11-11:30 am in morning when the temperature was started to pick up there. However, the magnificent views of the Waterfall, the Lady Buddha Statue, & Linh An Pagoda within the campus made us pay very less attention to the hot sun.
Lady Buddha Statue alongside the Linh An Pagoda.
We highly recommend visiting the waterfall, taking a lot of pictures, walking all the way up to the top of the statue from inside (do take off your shoes when you start walking on the stairs), and exploring the campus to see the architecture, statues, and peace that prevails in the air.
The magnificent and picturesque, ‘Elephant Waterfalls‘.
While returning, we were pretty exhausted and hungry and thought of eating at an Indian restaurant in the city itself. However, we found a restaurant/open kitchen sort of place where they were serving vegetarian food. We went there and they served us rice with jackfruit, some tangy pineapple, some shredded veggies, and salad. They also gave us bowls of veg soup which was good.
I enjoyed this version/style of making Jackfruit in comparison to how we make it at home(which I love too) and asked for more of it. They refilled my plate way too generously. ;)
We spent most of the day in our Hotel and relaxed and ate a KFC Zinger burger and wings for the late lunch and ordered a pizza with a Pineapple for dinner.
The next day was filled with fun and adventure. We satisfied our craving for Indian Desi food by visiting India Gate restaurant which was a little difficult to find.
Google maps told us we had arrived at the location but we were not able to find it for a good 10-15 minutes. After wandering here and there our eyes landed on a small hoarding and a painting on the outer wall which gave us the clue. The food was good and we asked them to make it slightly spicier to suit our taste buds the quantity was great justifying the slightly higher price range for everything on the menu. The roti cost 30000 dong which is equivalent to 100 INR. I have never paid 100 rupees for a Roti in my entire lifetime. In any case, we were well and started our day on a good fulfilling note.
We went to the Datanla Alpine Roller Coaster of which we had seen several reels and YouTube videos to get excited and thus included it on our bucket list. The roller coaster was amazing, thrilling, & worth the money we spent on it. It goes through several ups and downs, and curves, & you can control the speed of the ride with the brakes by pushing it forward. We got to see the dense jungle around and we were photographed by the cameras installed on the sides of the track. Later, we got the hard copies of our photograph which cost 90000 Dong. This adventurous ride took us to a waterfall where all the tourists were assembled for 30 minutes. We got to see a few shops of locals who displayed traditional items to sell. After exploring the place we took the roller coaster ride to get back to the parking area where we parked our scooty.
Things to Note:
1. Park your vehicle near the entry point. The parking charges will be 3000 Dong which you can pay during the exit. Do park it somewhere you can find some shade or else your butt will be on fire when you try to sit on your bike later.
2. If you are carrying a backpack then you will still be able to carry it with you and tie it to your ride on the roller coaster.
3. At times, the angle of the ride seems suspicious and you feel that you may fall and so use your brakes(maybe not too hard) to slow down a little on such points.
Later, we went to another cool spot that was the Dalat Cable Car ride which showed some beautiful views of Dalat city which is based on hills. We also got to see a lake and the ride ended near a monastery which is another popular spot to visit.
The famous cable car of Da Lat.
Things to Note:
1. Park your vehicle at the entry point and the parking price will be the same as above(3000 Dong) which you can pay at the exit.
2. If you are planning to shoot on a camera then having an ND filter will be useful as it will be a bit bright and most pictures will be blown off due to excess sunlight. If the weather gods favored you then you might have a cloudy sky which will solve that issue.
3. You can experience this Cable car from both entry and exit points. So, the typical exit point is actually closer to the Datanla Roller Coaster and we could have saved time if we knew that we could start from the exit point. Honestly, we thought it was a separate cable car when we were passing through and totally dependent upon Maps to guide us.
In the afternoon, we went to the local day market to buy some souvenirs and eatables for the family members back home.
We bought some snacks, some clothes, & a travel bag as I had too much luggage to adjust in 1 trekking/hiking bag. We had a quick lunch at Da Lat BBQ and enjoyed our meal.
A mesmerizing sunset of Da Lat.
In the evening, we enjoyed an incredibly beautiful sunset which was very romantic and picturesque. We were too tired to do anything after we arrived at our Hotel and spent the rest of the day packing for the next day's trip to Saigon and eating an interesting Pizza that did not look great but tasted fine.
Da Lat for us was one of the highlights of the trip. This pristine, beautiful, magical hilly town deserves at least 3-4 days to be experienced. We did not manage to cover all the cool and iconic spots but we were not intending to do that from the beginning of the trip. The intention was to feel the beauty of the place, be in nature while we experience the thrill and adventure of some rides, and eat a good meal and delicious coffee while looking over the iconic French Architecture and lush green Pine forests of Da Lat. Lastly, the folks we met here were very kind and sweet. Like other places in Vietnam, here also we faced a bit of communication problem but everyone had smiles on their faces and we always felt welcomed. We loved Da Lat and can't wait to return soon :)
FAQ’s:
Q: What is the best time to visit Da Lat?
A: The best time to visit Da Lat is from December to March when the weather is cool and dry. We chose February to experience the cool weather and the early spring at the same time.
Q: Is Da Lat expensive?
A: Da Lat is relatively affordable compared to other popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. The place is very walkable but if you want to go out of the city then renting a scooty/bike will be a better option if compared to renting a taxi or booking from Grab.
Q: What are the must-see attractions in Da Lat?
A: The must-see attractions in Da Lat are the Crazy House, Xuan Huong Lake, Dalat Flower Gardens, Pongour Waterfall, Elephant Waterfall, and the Van Thanh Flower Village. As stated before, we did not cover most of these places but these and a few other hotspots are popular among tourists and locals.
