Day Trip from Da Nang to Hue

“So much to see, so very little time” is everyone’s little worry bubble when planning an itinerary. Let’s face it, it seems easier to pack the days and leave the nights for overnight travel and commute, hoping to bounce back on track to do another day of exploring in a new location without losing time. But this only works for extreme schedules and time-strapped tourist checklists. Some even argue that flying home to the comfort of your bed after a single day of travel is a lifestyle, a mini adventure between the buzzing calendar. I flipped the script on that during my month-long slow travel in Vietnam, and it’s been such a refreshing gamechanger. The country being super accessible by domestic flights, trains, buses and private taxis was perfect to test out this concept. I now strongly believe that even commute days can be turned into a rich, experiential day trip. Here are some top reasons why commutes don’t have to be chores:

• Uncomfortable Overnight Travel: fretting over buses and trains, which seats, and topping it off with additional charges for comfort and shorter travel times will still not give you the good night’s rest offered by your accommodation. Worse, you’ll wake up tired

• Spontaneous Experiences: During the day, all pitstops and landmarks are open for a quick visit allowing you to plan a custom route vs the set route in the dark where even a window seat won’t help. Most day commute options, like the train from Da Nang to Hue, stop at scenic spots, making sure you miss nothing

• Acclimatizing to New Geography: If you have motion sickness like me, let’s say you already know the story of traveling with that yucky, queasy feeling. Overnight travel with no visual cues for your brain, or haphazard mountain bends can really leave you disillusioned in the morning.

• Mental Clarity: Filling your eyes with sights on the road keeps you fully present, calm, and engaged. Your brain can then use that to do deep thinking, listen to podcasts, give updates to family back home and more. If nothing, observation is creative inspiration

• Connections to Culture: Overnight commute makes me feel like cargo most times, with the occasional bio break being the only thing that makes this experience human. Day trips on the other hand allow for interactions with nature, places, and people making it a more richer, social experience
  

Da Nang to Hue in Central Vietnam is roughly 93km or 2.5hours by road. While the original plan was to bundle up my belongings on a motorbike and cruise through this day trip I decided to book myself a taxi and avoid the rain-heavy clouds should they start to pour. Hoa Sen Taxi Service came recommended by some other travelers and I customized my route to cover some ground while getting to the imperial city of Hue. Pro Tip: If you’re travelling alone and the weather allows it, I’d recommend booking an Easy Rider for the route. You could self ride or ride as a pillion too and any extra baggage can be shipped to your hotel directly. This lets you take in the majestic route through the cloud-wrapped roads and scenic bays along the way. 

Now, let’s get down to it and explore exactly what a day trip from Da Nang to Hue holds in store and how you can map this route according to your preferences. My driver from the taxi service was called Tam, this entire name loosely meaning ‘of gentle heart’ and I couldn’t agree more all the way till Hue. We had overcast skies with crisp cold and sometimes wet roads, soft music on the player, and endless roads flanked by the oceans and green. Da Nang to Hai Van Pass The first stop in my route was the legendary Ocean Cloud Pass and highest motorable pass in Vietnam. A strategic military resupply base from the older days, this scenic pass is a 21km stretch through the Annamite range that juts into the South China Sea. Atop the pass, the bunker is a common pitstop - to catch the fresh mist rising from the sea and to warm yourself with steaming hot tea.

View of Da Nang City enroute Hai Van Pass

Lang Co Bay & Lap An Lagoon The whole way down and across to the bay, the granite mountains loomed to meet us, their intensity cut off by thick clouds. As we raced with passing trains, my mind struggled to understand the geography and what a lagoon here would look like. And then, there it was - 800 hectares of brackish water home to fishing communities that farm an abundance of oysters, crabs and lobsters. Stop by at Lang Co Restaurant for lunch and dine in the typical stilt house-styled ambience.

Scenic Lap An Lagoon against Bac Ma Mountains

Bac Ma National Park This is my perfect nature escape on the day trip from Da Nang to Hue. Waterfalls, trek trails, lakes, and thick forest canopy deserve more time than a quick visit so make sure to go prepared. Make sure your cab booking is inclusive of entrance and transfers and pre approved. If not, you can always use the internal transport system the park provides. You can also do this a separate day trip from Hue if you intend on spending a whole day in quietude but remember to always check for weather first. An Bang Cemetery Here’s a cultural gem not on the usual map: a 3km-long grand cemetery along beach shores with towering mosaic structures that gave the burial tombs another name: City of Ghosts. Elaborate yet intricate architecture borrows elements from Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism etc meaning that you’d see family mausoleums with Mother Mary adjacent with those having Lady Buddha. Walk through dizzying colorful dragons, phoenixes, and mythical creators lavishly crafted in competition to their neighboring tombs. Cultural Nugget: Structures of these ancient creatures are sometimes laid with pieces of broken pottery and other ceramic objects belonging to the deceased person. It forms an inconsistent mosaic pattern and contributes to the cemetery’s mixed artistry.

The Burial Tombs at the City of Ghosts

Tam told me that local folk call it ‘The Million Dollar Cemetery’ because of the sheer expense involved in the structures. When Vietnam went through Reunification, many of the Vietnamese were able to work overseas and send money back to their families. While the graves originally had a bit of funded flair, over the years it’s turned into a luxurious and prestigious affair. And so, simple graves sat alongside color-themed ones, and some were empty plots ready to join the grandeur when time came. We had 40km left on this 143km journey and the rain came down on us fast. It was almost magical to be warm and dry while driving through the village roads and again I was reminded of how drastic environments change between small distances. Wasn't that what happened when I moved from Cham Island to Da Nang? How quickly city characters morph into subtle culture shifts - and how lucky to catch it all in the daylight as the scenery changed. Want to do this route in reverse? Sure can, with the same taxi provider too! Read on about slow travel in your probable next destinations: Da Nang & Hoi An