Three nights in Da Nang for the Golden Bridge, the Marble Mountains and old Hoi An, then a flight south for two nights of beaches and cable cars on Phu Quoc.
Vietnam is long, and most first trips try to cover too much of it. This one takes the two halves that work best together. Da Nang gives you a beach city with the Marble Mountains on its doorstep, the Ba Na Hills cable car above it and the lantern-lit lanes of Hoi An half an hour down the coast. Phu Quoc, off the far south-west, is the island half — soft sand, a cable car that runs out over the sea, and a night market that opens when the heat drops.
You stay three nights in Da Nang without moving hotel, then fly to Phu Quoc for the last two. Airport transfers, a private air-conditioned vehicle with an English-speaking driver, daily breakfast and the internal Da Nang to Phu Quoc flight are all arranged. International flights and the Vietnam e-visa are on you, and we will talk you through both when you enquire.
The essentials
Trip information
Package code
EH06VN003
Pickup
Da Nang International Airport, Da Nang
Drop
Phu Quoc International Airport, Phu Quoc
Night count
05 Nights, 06 Days
Travellers
6 pax
Vehicle
Toyota Hiace (AC)
At a glance
Itinerary highlights
Day 1Arrive in Da Nang and walk the river
Day 2Up to Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge
Day 3Marble Mountains and a full afternoon in Hoi An
Day 4Son Tra in the morning, then fly to Phu Quoc
Day 5Across the island — cable car, Sao Beach and the fishing village
Day 6Check out and fly home from Phu Quoc
Your route, day by day
Day-by-day itinerary
Da Nang
A coastal city on the Han river, with a long city beach on one side and the mountains behind it.
Day 1
Arrive in Da Nang and walk the river
You are met at Da Nang airport and driven the short distance across the river to the hotel. The airport sits inside the city, so the transfer is quick and you usually have most of the day left. The afternoon is free for My Khe beach, which is a few steps from the door. In the evening walk up the riverside promenade to the Dragon Bridge — at the weekend it breathes fire and water after nine.
Starts from Da Nang International Airport, ends at My Khe Bay Hotel, covering around 6 km in an estimated 20m.
Sightseeing
My Khe BeachOpen all dayAllow 120 min
Da Nang's main city beach, a wide arc of pale sand running several kilometres north from the Son Tra headland. It is calmest from March to August, and lifeguards work the marked swimming stretches through the day.
Swim in the marked section
Walk north towards Son Tra
Eat seafood at a beachfront stall
Ba Na Hills
A hill station the French built above Da Nang, now reached by one of the longest single-span cable cars in the world.
Day 2
Up to Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge
An early start, because the queues at the cable car station build fast. The ride up climbs more than a kilometre in altitude in about twenty minutes, and the temperature drops with it. At the top you have the Golden Bridge held up by its two stone hands, the mock-French village with its square and church, the flower gardens and an indoor games hall that is useful if the cloud comes in. You are back in Da Nang by early evening.
Based at My Khe Bay Hotel, covering around 70 km in an estimated 9h 00m.
Sightseeing
Ba Na Hills Cable CarOpen 8 AM – 5:30 PMAllow 45 min
Several cable car lines run up Ba Na mountain, and two of them have held world records for length and height difference. The lower stretch passes over forest and a waterfall before the towers disappear into cloud.
Ride the record-holding line up
Photograph the waterfall from the cabin
Take the shorter internal line between stations
Golden BridgeOpen 8 AM – 9 PMAllow 60 min
A curved pedestrian walkway at around 1,400 m, carried by two enormous weathered stone hands. It opened in 2018 and is short — the point is the drop on either side and the view down over the Da Nang plain when the cloud lifts.
Walk the full span
Wait out the cloud for the valley view
See the hands from the lower path
French VillageOpen 8 AM – 9 PMAllow 120 min
A built village of squares, a church and a bell tower in French colonial style, sitting at the top of the hill. It is unashamedly a set piece, and it works — the square usually has a street performance running.
Sit in the main square
Watch the costumed street show
Look through the church interior
Hoi An
A trading port that stopped growing three centuries ago, kept intact and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Day 3
Marble Mountains and a full afternoon in Hoi An
You head south down the coast road, stopping first at the Marble Mountains, then carry on into Hoi An for the rest of the day. The Ancient Town is closed to cars, so you walk it. Stay until dark if you can — the whole quarter switches to silk lanterns after sunset and the boats on the Thu Bon start selling paper lantern rides.
Based at My Khe Bay Hotel, covering around 70 km in an estimated 9h 30m.
Sightseeing
Marble MountainsOpen 7 AM – 5:30 PMAllow 120 min
Five limestone and marble outcrops rising straight out of flat coastal land, each named after one of the elements. Thuy Son, the water mountain, is the one you climb — there is a lift for the first stage, then steps to the pagodas and the caves cut into the rock, including Huyen Khong with its opening to the sky.
Take the lift up Thuy Son
Walk through Huyen Khong cave
Climb to the summit viewpoint over the coast
Hoi An Ancient TownOpen 8 AM – 9:30 PMAllow 180 min
A few hundred metres of mustard-yellow shophouses, assembly halls and merchant homes along the north bank of the Thu Bon. Some buildings need the town ticket to enter; walking the streets does not.
See the Japanese Covered Bridge
Go inside a merchant house
Order a tailored shirt
Eat cao lau at a street stall
Thu Bon River Lantern BoatsOpen 6 PM – 10 PMAllow 45 min
Small wooden rowing boats run short circuits on the river after dark, and you buy a folded paper lantern with a candle in it to set on the water. Busiest on the full moon, when much of the town's electric lighting is switched off.
Take a rowing boat after dark
Float a paper lantern
Photograph the town from the water
Phu Quoc
Vietnam's largest island, off the south-west coast in the Gulf of Thailand, closer to Cambodia than to Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 4
Son Tra in the morning, then fly to Phu Quoc
Check out after breakfast, but there is time first for the Son Tra peninsula on the city's northern edge — the road climbs through forest to the pagoda and the standing Lady Buddha, which you can see from most of Da Nang. You are then driven to the airport for the flight south to Phu Quoc. On arrival you are met and taken to the resort on the west coast. Sunset here is at Dinh Cau rock, and the night market is a short ride from it.
Starts from My Khe Bay Hotel, ends at Long Beach Island Resort, covering around 1,100 km by air in an estimated 2h 05m flight.
Sightseeing
Son Tra Peninsula & Lady BuddhaOpen 6 AM – 9 PMAllow 120 min
A forested headland north of the city, still home to red-shanked douc langurs. Linh Ung pagoda sits on its lower slope with a 67-metre white statue of the Lady Buddha facing out to sea — the tallest of its kind in Vietnam, and a landmark from the beach.
See the Lady Buddha statue up close
Walk the pagoda grounds
Stop at the coastal viewpoint over My Khe
Dinh Cau Rock at sunsetOpen 7 AM – 9 PMAllow 60 min
A rocky outcrop at the mouth of the Duong Dong river with a small shrine and lighthouse built onto it, dedicated to the sea god the island's fishing families pray to. It faces due west, which makes it the standard sunset spot.
Climb the steps to the shrine
Watch the fishing fleet leave
Stay for sunset over the gulf
Phu Quoc Night MarketOpen 5 PM – 11 PMAllow 90 min
A street of seafood grills and souvenir stalls in Duong Dong town, where you pick what you want from the ice and it is cooked in front of you. Busiest between seven and nine.
Pick seafood off the ice
Try grilled scallops with spring onion
Buy pepper and fish sauce to take home
Day 5
Across the island — cable car, Sao Beach and the fishing village
A full day around the island. You go south first for the Hon Thom cable car, which is a long ride out over water and fishing boats. From there it is a short run across to Sao Beach on the east coast, then north to Ham Ninh for the pier and the last of the light. On the way back the driver can stop at a pepper farm and a fish-sauce works if you want them — both are working businesses, not shows.
Based at Long Beach Island Resort, covering around 85 km in an estimated 8h 30m.
Sightseeing
Hon Thom Cable CarOpen 8 AM – 5 PMAllow 90 min
Nearly eight kilometres of cable running from An Thoi in the south out to Hon Thom island, and one of the longest sea-crossing cable cars anywhere. The cabins pass low over the An Thoi archipelago, so you look straight down on the fishing boats and the reef.
Ride the full crossing
Photograph the islands from the cabin
Spend an hour on the beach at the far end
Sao BeachOpen all dayAllow 120 min
A short crescent of very fine white sand on the south-east coast, backed by coconut palms. The water is shallow and calm for a long way out, which makes it the easiest swim on the island — outside the July to September monsoon, when it can churn up.
Swim in the shallow water
Lunch at a beach restaurant
Take a kayak out along the bay
Ham Ninh Fishing VillageOpen 6 AM – 7 PMAllow 75 min
An old village on the east coast where the houses stand on stilts and a long wooden pier runs out over very shallow water. The catch here is crab, and the restaurants at the end of the pier cook it within an hour of it landing.
Walk the pier out over the water
Eat Ham Ninh flower crab
Watch the boats come in at dusk
Pepper Farm & Fish Sauce Works (optional)Open 8 AM – 5 PMAllow 60 min
Phu Quoc pepper is grown on wooden poles in red soil in the island's interior, and the island's anchovy fish sauce carries a protected designation. Both can be added to the drive back and take under an hour together.
See pepper drying in the yard
Look into the fermenting barrels
Buy graded pepper direct from the farm
Day 6
Check out and fly home from Phu Quoc
Breakfast, then check out by noon. You are driven to Phu Quoc International Airport for the flight onward. If your international connection runs through Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, tell us the timings when you enquire and we will set the transfer to match. Late departures can usually keep the room a few hours longer on request.
Starts from Long Beach Island Resort, ends at Phu Quoc International Airport, covering around 12 km in an estimated 25m.
Airport pick-up and drop
× 4
Full-day Ba Na Hills transfer
Full-day Marble Mountains and Hoi An transfer
Full-day Phu Quoc island transfer
The fine print, clearly
What’s included
Inclusions
Five nights of accommodation in the selected hotel category.
Daily breakfast at the hotel.
Internal one-way flight from Da Nang to Phu Quoc in economy class, with cabin and check-in baggage.
All arrival and departure airport transfers at both Da Nang and Phu Quoc.
Sightseeing by private air-conditioned vehicle with an English-speaking driver.
Ba Na Hills cable car ticket and the Hon Thom cable car ticket on Phu Quoc.
24×7 destination support for the whole trip.
Exclusions
International airfare to and from Vietnam.
Vietnam e-visa fees and any service charge on the application.
Travel insurance, which we strongly recommend you take.
Lunch, dinner and anything ordered outside the breakfast buffet.
Entry tickets not named in the inclusions — VinWonders, Vinpearl Safari, museums and the Hoi An Ancient Town ticket.
Boat rides, basket boats, spa treatments and any optional activity.
Personal expenses such as laundry, tips, drinks and shopping.
Good to know
Policies
Payment policy
50% of the package cost is needed at the time of booking to confirm it.
The remaining 50% must be cleared at least 21 days before departure.
Peak season (December to March) needs full payment at booking.
The internal flight is ticketed only after the advance payment reaches us.
Payment by bank transfer or UPI.
Cancellation policy
0–15 days before departure: 100% of the booking amount is charged.
16–30 days before departure: 70% of the booking amount is charged.
31–45 days before departure: 30% of the booking amount is charged.
Internal flight tickets are non-refundable once issued, whenever you cancel.
A minimum cancellation charge of 15% applies in all cases.
No refund for unused nights, missed transfers or an early check-out.
Important information
Indian passport holders need a Vietnam e-visa. It is applied for online before you travel, is normally issued in three to five working days, and your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of arrival — apply at least three weeks ahead.
The sea around Phu Quoc is at its roughest roughly from July to September, when the south-west monsoon runs. Boat trips and the Sao Beach swim can be cut short or cancelled in that window.
Ba Na Hills sits above 1,400 m and is often in cloud. Carry a light jacket even in summer — the Golden Bridge can be completely white out for an hour and then clear.
Hoi An Ancient Town charges a separate entry ticket at the gates, which covers a set number of heritage houses. It is not included and is paid on the spot.
Da Nang and Hoi An see heavy rain from October to December, and low-lying streets in Hoi An do flood.
Carry your passport, e-visa printout and return ticket. Hotels take the passport at check-in for registration and return it the same day.
Easy Holiday
