Dalat is a south central Vietnamese town that offers travelers good weather, great food, fun shopping and plenty of things to do. In the city you’ll find many interesting French colonial buildings and deeper inland and in the mountains there are waterfalls, hill-tribe villages while farms and rice paddies can be seen everywhere.
dalat in Viet Nam
Dalat is never short of fun outdoor opportunities such as golf, horseback riding, kids-friendly horse-and-cart rides, hiking, paragliding, and cooking classes. Those who come here just for a few days break from big hectic cities like Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi, will definitely enjoy it here. Its mild and pleasant temperatures alone (usually between 17°C to 25°C even in summertime) make Dalat worth a visit and as a result it’s a refreshing destination to escape the constant heat from lower-lying regions.
This doesn’t mean Dalat is a quiet town though; it is a very popular holiday destination for local tourists but the attractions are spread out over vast rolling green hilly areas, meaning you won’t feel crowded out most of the time. Da lat is things to do in vietnam
7 things to do in Da Lat
1. Easy Riders
The first thing on my list of 12 top things to do in Dalat is to take an Dalat Easy Riders tour. Actually, if it wasn’t for this, the rest of these things may not even be on this list, and because of that, it was also my favorite of my top things to do in Dalat, Vietnam.
I have heard a lot about Easy Riders, so thought I should try it for myself. The great thing about it is it is not a tour group. Just you and the driver. They had a bunch of options, but by the end of it all I just said I’d give him 400,000 dong for the day to take me to his favorite destinations.
Note: There is the official Easy Riders which is all over Vietnam. Many places also have their local ‘rip off’ versions e.g. Dalat Easy Riders. In my opinion, unless you are doing a cross country tour e.g. Hanoi to HCMC, then go with one of the local Easy Rider ‘rip offs’ e.g. Dalat Easy Riders. They are much more knowledgeable about the local area, and also more than likely, owned by Vietnamese.
2. Go to the Market
That evening I went for a walk into town around the market. Dalat is cool mountain weather and has a vibrant market place with a few street foods I haven’t seen before. I tried a few. Nice, but still not as good as Hue or Hanoi (in my opinion).
3. Eat at Le Voy
I got dinner at a place recommended by the Dalat Easy Rider Guide (Chilli), called Le Voy. Had Roast Chicken Rice. Very good and reasonably priced (40,000 vnd). It was just up the round from the hotel at the round about. People know it, just ask someone where Le Voy is.
4. See the Vegetable Plantations
My Dalat Easy Riders tour started at 0900 and was a full day for $20usd, which includes all (well most) entry fees. I chose a countryside tour of Dalat. First stop was at a viewpoint, which I guess is the first stop for everyone. Next was another viewpoint with a ten minute hike up. I like hiking and the guide just points you in the right direction and you take yourself which was good.
Apparently, Dalat is famous for growing vegetables. so the view points overlooked these things.
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| Overlooking the vegetable plantations |
5. Coffee Plantation
Third stop was the coffee plantation. Good thing about tours is that they give you information also. Dalat is the 2nd biggest exporter of coffee in the world (according to my guide). First is Brazil, third is Colombia.
In Dalat they make Weasel coffee. Weasels eat the coffee beans, shit it out, then humans drink it.
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| The weasel eats the Coffee beans, then shits it out, then humans drink it. |
6. Rice Wine
Then we went to where they make rice wine. Not a factory, just out the back of some ones property, whom also sold coffee. Chilli explained the process and then I got a shot of rice wine afterwards. Much nicer than I’ve tasted before, I guess because it had not been mixed down.
7. Village
Next stop was a village. They had a pet monkey (chained up, bit cruel I thought) and my guide (Chilli was his name) told me about the different local tribes. I talked to some village elder. Nice experience.
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| Monkey at the village. I felt bad for it, the guy just caught it in the jungle and decided to chain it up as a pet. |