City of Flowers
Dalat (or Da Lat) is located just a short flight away from Ho Chi Minh City. It’s a frequent travel destination for Vietnamese locals and international travellers. It’s a city of flowers and natural beauty, a city surrounded by mountains, farms filled with fruits, vegetables, or coffee looking over it. It’s a city with an amazing abundance of natural, fresh ingredients located a stone’s throw away. Arrive hungry, and you’ll leave full. I explore the things to do, eat, and build a sample itinerary below.
Check Places to Stay in Dalat (Expedia) | See Food Tour Prices (GetYourGuide)
Things to Do & See
Dalat Cable Car
Visiting the tram is a great way to see the city of Dalat from above. As a bonus, upon arrival, there are a few notable stops mentioned below that can all be tackled in one go. Note here that the tram closes for lunchtime, so you’ll have to schedule your trip around that.
Kayak or Paddleboard Tuyền Lâm Lake
Tuyền Lâm Lake is a vast lake located just a few minutes walk after you arrive on the cable car. Arrive with a group for a beautifully scenic paddle around the lake. I will say that on windy days that it’ll be a tad more challenging. Arrive early for the sunrise paddle, or later for the sundown paddle, but plan around the cable car schedule.
Book Kayak or Paddleboard Tour
Datanla Waterfall
Assuming you’ve taken the cable car over, it’s a short drive away from the arrival point, also walkable, to the Datanla Waterfall. A serene waterfall that’s enough to look at on its own, the park area also offers a rollercoaster, zipline, and ropes course. Good family fun, and a great way to take in the natural beauty of the city.
Directions to Datanla Waterfall
Truc Lam Buddhist Monastery
Truc Lam Buddhist Monastery is a peaceful hilltop retreat overlooking the Tuyen Lam Lake. Built in 1994, it’s one of the largest Zen monasteries in Vietnam, and a great spot to visit in one go after you’ve taken the cable car over.
Directions to Truc Lam Monastery
Puppy Farm
Puppy Farm is a charming attraction where visitors can play with guinea pigs, camels, raccoons, and, of course, cute puppies (and the older versions of them, too). But it’s not just about the animals here; the grounds are very large and feature tremendously well-maintained flower gardens, strawberry fields, and also feature a grand tube slide, which is incredibly popular.
Note: Grabs are nearly impossible to find out here, so be ready to taxi back, especially if you’re leaving later at night
Da Lat Night Market
The night market at the main city centre comes alive each evening with food stalls, local crafts, and the occasional street performer. The banh trang nuong is a must-try here, and every stall offers a delicious variation of it. Pull up a plastic stool and enjoy a delicious array of Dalat specialty foods at this market.
Directions to Da Lat Night Market
Things to Eat & Cafes
Kem Bo
My favorite discovery about Dalat was that the region is well-known for producing some of the world’s best avocados. Avocados grow in abundance in the Central Highlands, and these avocados are some of the creamiest you can eat.
Now, the Vietnamese don’t waste their avocados on toast, but rather, they blend them up until the texture is creamy like ice cream. Combine it with coconut ice cream and some of the best toppings to pair, like coconut flakes and durian puree, and you’ve got yourself one of the most addictive desserts out there.
Where to go: Kem Phụng Chợ Đà Lạt, Kem Phụng, CHẠM Cafe & Kem Bơ Đà Lạt
Nem Nuong
On my first night in Dalat, I asked a few locals what foods I should try and what their favorites. There was a very common answer for both, nem nướng. Grilled pork sausages, traditionally grilled with lemongrass stalks, served with fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, chilis, wrapped in a rice paper, and finished with a dipping sauce.
After trying it a few times myself, I can confirm that it’s a tremendously addictive snack or lunch. There was one place in particular that offered a special nước chấm (dipping sauce for the wrap), and it is the main one I’ll recommend here.
Where to go: Nem nướng Bà Nghĩa
Banh Trang
Walk around any night market or on the corner of a busy street in the afternoon, chances are that you’ll find a bánh tráng stall there. Nicknamed ‘Vietnamese pizza’, bánh tráng is a simple, crispy rice paper snack grilled and topped with ingredients such as scallions, dried shrimp, chillis, and chilli sauce. It’s then folded two times, where it resembles a taco rather than a pizza.
Plastic stools usually compose the dining area for these, often surrounding the stall itself. I grabbed a few of these and often sat with a group of locals while they chatted about their days.
Where to go: Chuối nếp nướng Võ Văn Tần, Chuối Nếp Nướng
Strawberries
Strawberries grown in Dalat are on a list of the top ten specialty foods in all of Vietnam. The climate and rich volcanic soil create great strawberries, and these are typically smaller and more aromatic than those found in other countries.
Where to go: Đèo Mây Farm
Read more about my experience at Deo May Farm here.
Weasel Coffee Farm
Weasel coffee, aka weasel poo coffee, or better known in Vietnam as cà phê chồn, has its roots tie back to the French colonial period in Vietnam. Farmers were unable to afford coffee harvested from plantations, but experimented with the coffee beans excreted by wild civets. They’d take these beans, clean them, and roast them, and discovered that they’d produce a smoother, more aromatic flavour.
Where to go: Weasel Coffee Farm
I reviewed the Weasel Coffee Farm in Dalat in my other blog here, which you can read in-depth.
Cho Da Lat
The Dalat Market, or Cho Da Lat, is located at the heart of the city, where the city’s main night market also takes place. Outside, you’ll find fresh fruits, produce, and flowers.
Inside the market complex, you’ll find two floors across two main buildings. One houses a majority of the linens, clothing, and small gadgets. The other features include the food, fresh produce, meat, and a bustling food court. Highly recommended to try the kem bo (avocado ice cream) here in the iconic Kem Phung.
Food Guide for Dalat
I dive much deeper into many of Dalat’s specialty foods in an in-depth post below.
See Food Tour Prices (GetYourGuide)
Places to Stay
Areas to Stay: City or Mountains
Dalat features two main areas to stay: in the city, or in the mountains that surround it. If you are here for a very short stay (under 2 days), it may be recommended to stay in the city so you can easily walk or Grab to central points.
If you have longer, I‘d recommend staying in the mountainous region surrounding the city, specifically south of the city, as it’ll feature Dalat’s natural beauty, views, all while being still only just a short drive away from the city center.
May Trang Villa
I had a tremendously peaceful stay at May Trang Villa in Dalat. The staff here always went above and beyond to help me out, looking for things to do, booking a private yoga session in their meditation building, cooking meals for me even when the restaurant was closed (I arrived very late that night), and even helping to deliver me something I left in my room.
They never expected anything back, which was very surprising considering that practically all hotels pestered me for reviews after a stay. Would highly recommend staying here. I’ll be back on my next Dalat visit.
Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1
Morning: Visit Weasel Coffee Farm, Deo May Strawberry Farm
Afternoon: Lam Dong Museum, My Quang at Ms. Xi Noodle Shop, shop at Cho Da Lat
Evening: Nem Nướng at Nem Nướng Bà Nghĩa, Da Lat Night Market
Day 2
Morning: Take Da Lat Cable Car, Kayak or Picnic at Tuyen Lam Lake, Visit Truc Lam Monastery
Afternoon: Datanla Waterfall, cable car back, Hotpot at Léguda Buffet Rau Đà Lạt, Flower Park
Evening: Sữa Đậu Nành Hạnh Sữa Việt Anh, explore the Dalat night life area
Day 3
Morning: Coffee at Lam Vien Square, Bánh Căn for Breakfast
Afternoon: Cho Da Lat food court, avocado ice cream (kem bo), Puppy Farm
Evening: Walk Xuan Huong Lake, enjoy street food by the lake
General Recommendations
- Da Lat Night Market (Chợ Đêm Đà Lạt) is a great night market to try many of the items on this list
- During the day, I’d recommend Da Lat Market (Chợ đà lạt) as a one-stop shop to try a lot of the foods mentioned
- Do not underestimate how cold and windy it can get here, bring a jacket and layers
- Go with on a food tour, meet fellow foodie travellers and ask the local guide a lot of questions
- Make use of Grab bikes to easily go from place to place
- Have masks handy at all times (some areas are smoky, especially in the mornings when they burn garbage)
- If you venture far out of the city, make sure you plan a way back as Grabs are very rarely found outside the city
- Bring cash, especially for taxis
Check Places to Stay in Dalat (Expedia) | See Food Tour Prices (GetYourGuide)
Thanks for Reading!
My name is Alex Lau, and I’m a travel blogger and photographer. I’ve worked in the digital marketing business for 7+ years before I decided to uproot and explore this little blue marble we find ourselves on, meeting new people, telling their stories, and discovering new places.
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