Son Tra Peninsula, and the pagoda at the end of the road

To Linh Ung

12.8 km / 14 minFrom Han Market, measured on OSRM

What the peninsula is

Son Tra is a headland that curves north-east from the city, 693 metres at its highest point and close enough that the road along it starts within the city limits. Lonely Planet's 2027 entry for Danang singles it out for quiet and coastal views, which is a fair description: the peninsula is where a city of a million people stops being a city.

There are two ways to do it: the short version, which is the pagoda and the beach at the foot, and the long version, which is the road up to the top and back. Both are half-days. Neither needs a tour, and a Grab to the pagoda costs less than a tour bus ticket.

Linh Ung Pagoda and the Lady Buddha

The pagoda is the reason most people come: a working temple on the hillside with the 67-metre Lady Buddha facing the sea, and a view back along the coast to the city. It is a religious site rather than an attraction, which sets the dress code — shoulders and knees covered, shoes off inside the halls.

It does not appear in the city's 2026 admission-price list, and there was no ticket counter in the published information we checked. That is as far as we can go: if a fee appears at the gate, it is small and new, and we would rather say so than print a number we have not seen.

The road to the top

The road up is 18.6 km from the city, about 32 minutes, and it is the part that rewards a motorbike or a hired car rather than a Grab you have to keep waiting. It climbs through forest, with viewpoints over the bay and — on a clear day — the Cham islands to the south.

Two cautions. The road is narrow and unlit in places, so do it in daylight. And the monkeys that live on the peninsula are wild: they will take food and sunglasses from an open bag, and they are the reason not to leave a helmet on the seat with a snack inside it.

What is not published

What we can tell you is how to get there and how long it takes, because those are measured rather than assumed: 12.8 km and 14 minutes from Han Market, 8.5 km and 11 minutes from My Khe.

Doing it without a car

A Grab to the pagoda works: 12.8 km from Han Market, 14 minutes, and there is a car park at the bottom of the steps. The awkward part is the return — the pagoda is not a place drivers sit and wait, so book the car back before you walk up, or accept a few minutes of trying.

For the top road, a motorbike gives you the thing a car cannot: the ability to stop at a viewpoint for two minutes and carry on. If nobody in the group rides, a hired car with a driver for three hours is the honest alternative, and it is the one we would choose with children.

Bring water and sun protection whatever the forecast says. The peninsula is exposed, shade is patchy, and the difference between the pagoda car park and the top is several degrees and a lot of wind.

A rest hour near the end of the day

LENA Nails & Beauty (our salon)

By late afternoon on a wet day your shoes are finished and the museums are closing. LENA is an indoor stop with fixed prices and no weather risk, and all three branches are a short Grab ride from My Khe and An Thuong.

The Deluxe Foot Spa is 300,000₫ (about 12 USD): 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 in a single-use liner, a salt scrub, mud mask and lotion, with five scents. Staff speak English and Vietnamese; open 8:30–20:30.

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

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Prices from the salon's menu of 1 November 2026. USD figures use 25,000₫ = 1 USD.

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