Da Nang Self Care Updated

Da Nang · 4 days · first visit

Da Nang in four days, with times that actually work

Built around the two facts that decide a Da Nang itinerary: Ba Na Hills wants your morning, and every museum in town closes before five.

Short answer

Four days covers Ba Na Hills, the Marble Mountains, Hoi An and a beach afternoon, as long as Ba Na and Hoi An stay on separate mornings. Day 1 arrival, day 2 Ba Na, day 3 Marble Mountains then Hoi An, day 4 museum and beach.

Ba Na ticket
1,000,000₫Adult, visiting from another province
Ba Na to Hoi An
Two daysDo not put both in one day
Museums close
16:30–17:00Cham Museum last entry 17:00
Hoi An drive
32.2 km30 min with clear roads, longer in rain

The plan in brief

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Four days at a glance
DayMorningAfternoonEveningIf it rains
1Land, drop bagsMy Khe from 16:30Han Market, Dragon Bridge 21:00Museum instead of beach
2Leave 07:00 for Ba NaBa Na until 15:30Rest hour, dinner near An ThuongSwap with day 4
3Marble Mountains 07:30Hoi An from 15:00Hoi An old town after darkDrop Marble, keep Hoi An
4Cham Museum 08:30Beach, then airport—Museum already indoors
Times are built around published opening hours, not preferences. Hours and prices: Da Nang City Tourism Portal, checked 2 Nov 2026.

Read this before you fix the dates

Six constraints decide the order of these four days. They are not preferences; they are the things that ruin a plan when ignored.

Day 1 — land, beach, river

The airport is 6 km from the An Thuong hotel strip, about 10 minutes. Whatever time you land, the shape of day 1 is the same: drop bags, eat, and be on the beach road by 16:30, when the heat breaks. My Khe is 4.7 km from Han Market — six minutes by Grab, twenty on foot along the beach.

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Day 1, with times
TimeWhatNote
On landingGrab to An Thuong or My Khe6 km, 10 min
16:30Swim at My KheAt no charge
18:00Han Market, then dinner on Bach Dang4.7 km from the beach
20:45Walk to the Dragon Bridge for the 21:00 showFriday, Saturday, Sunday only
Distances measured on OSRM, 2 Nov 2026. Bridge schedule: Da Nang City Tourism Portal, checked 2 Nov 2026.

Day 2 — Ba Na Hills, and the ticket rule most people miss

The cable car base is 31.8 km from the city centre, about 29 minutes with clear roads — leave at 07:00 and you are in the queue before the first big groups. An adult ticket bought by a visitor from outside Da Nang is 1,000,000₫; children between 100 cm and 140 cm and visitors aged 70 and over pay 800,000₫; Da Nang residents pay 650,000₫ and 550,000₫. Children under 100 cm enter at no charge.

Sun World also runs a one-ticket, three-day policy, and the detail matters: the three-day use is only granted if you upgrade from a one-day ticket at the ticket counter and register FaceID at the gate before your first ride. You cannot decide on day three that you would like two more days on the same ticket. If the forecast for your Ba Na morning is bad, this is the one upgrade worth doing — see the Ba Na page for how to use it.

The rest hour after Ba Na

LENA Nails & Beauty (our salon)

Day 2 ends with sore legs: cable car, then 1,500 m of walking on stone, then the ride back. This is the evening to sit still for an hour. LENA is 20 minutes from the An Thuong strip and open until 20:30, so a 17:30 booking fits between getting back to the city and dinner.

The Deluxe Foot Spa is 300,000₫ (about 12 USD): nail shaping, cuticle work, heel scrub, dead skin removal, a hot towel and a cream massage, with no soak. The VIP 4-in-1 at 400,000₫ (about 16 USD) adds the soak plus a salt scrub, mud mask and lotion, with five scents to choose from. If you would rather sit for a manicure, the manicure with gel polish is 230,000₫ (about 9 USD).

Deluxe Foot Spa300,000₫
VIP 4-in-1 Foot Spa400,000₫
Manicure + gel polish230,000₫
  • 89 Pham Tu, Son Tra
  • 211/88 Nguyen Van Thoai, An Hai
  • 34 An Thuong 3, An Thuong
  • Open daily 8:30–20:30
Message LENA on WhatsApp

Prices from the salon's menu of 1 November 2026, three branches, open daily 8:30–20:30.

Nude square nails with hand-made 3D white petals, photographed at LENA in Da Nang
A set from the salon's own gallery

Day 3 — Marble Mountains in the morning, Hoi An after dark

The Marble Mountains are 9.7 km from the centre, 14 minutes, and open 07:00–17:00. Go early: the stone steps hold heat and the caves are cooler before ten. Two hours covers Thuy Son (40,000₫) and the Am Phu cave (20,000₫); the lift is 15,000₫ one way or 30,000₫ return. Hoi An is another 30 minutes south, and the ticket bought in Da Nang does not cover it — the old town has its own, 80,000₫ or 120,000₫.

The reason to hold Hoi An for the late afternoon is the light: the old town runs until 21:30 in summer and 21:00 in winter, the lanterns come on around dusk, and the tour buses leave by 17:00. Walk the lanes after 18:00 and you get the same town with a third of the people.

Day 4 — museum, beach, flight

Keep the last day light. The Cham Museum opens at 07:30 and costs 60,000₫ (20,000₫ for Da Nang residents and students); it takes about 90 minutes and it is the strongest indoor hour in the city. Then the beach until the airport run, which is 6 km and 10 minutes from An Thuong — leave three hours before an international flight and two before a domestic one.

Cut to three days without losing the trip

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What to cut, and what it costs you
CutWhat you lose
Marble MountainsThe caves, and the closest thing to a half-day hike near the city
Day 4 museumThe Cham sculptures — but Hoi An has museums too
Beach afternoonThe one thing most people came for; do not cut this one
Keep Ba Na and Hoi An on separate mornings. Both need the early start, and back-to-back they will both be worse.

What we could not pin down

Questions people ask

Is four days enough for Da Nang?

For Da Nang, Hoi An, Ba Na and one proper beach afternoon, yes. Four days is the point where you stop rushing: three days forces you to choose between Ba Na and Hoi An, five lets you add Hue or My Son.

Should I do Ba Na Hills and Hoi An on the same day?

No. Ba Na needs 07:00 to mid-afternoon and Hoi An is 32 km in the other direction; doing both means arriving in Hoi An at dusk with nothing left. Put them on consecutive days instead.

Where should I stay for this itinerary?

An Thuong or the My Khe beach strip: 6 km from the airport, walkable to the beach, and a short Grab ride to Han Market. Staying in Hoi An makes day 3 easier and every other day worse.

Do I need to book Ba Na tickets in advance?

Not in low season, but in October and around holidays the queue at the cable car is the constraint, not the ticket. Buying ahead saves the ticket-window line; arriving before 08:00 saves the cable car line.

Can I swap the days around if the weather changes?

Keep day 4 as the flexible one. Day 1 is fixed by your flight, days 2 and 3 are the two big outings, and day 4 carries only a museum and the beach, so it is the least expensive day to move.

Sources and check dates