Okay, I finally checked Da Lat off my list after postponing it for so many years. I always thought it would be similar to our mountainous province of Mondulkiri since they’re not that far apart, in terms of development, weather, and lifestyle. Turns out, I was completely wrong.

My boyfriend and I recently spent 4 nights and 5 days in Da Lat and still couldn’t visit all the places we had planned.

But well, that just calls for a second visit (please don’t tell my boyfriend lol). I love mountains and cold weather, so Da Lat, to me, was love at first sight.

If you’re planning a trip to Da Lat soon, you might find this itinerary helpful, even though we didn’t manage to cover everything.

Getting to Da Lat

Normally, I would have taken the bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh, then a domestic flight from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat. But I decided on my year-end holiday a bit too late, so even domestic flights were already expensive.

While comparing options, I noticed that a flight from Phnom Penh to Da Lat was only about $60 more than the bus fare plus the domestic flight combined. Even though I didn’t tell you which option I went with, you could probably already guess. It’s right there.

I booked a flight from home, Phnom Penh. Just to be clear, it wasn’t a direct flight. There’s currently no direct flight from Phnom Penh to Da Lat, so we had to fly to Ho Chi Minh first and then transfer to Da Lat after.

We booked in early December for a year-end travel date, and the roundtrip flight with Vietnam Airlines cost us $270 per person. That included 23kg of checked baggage each.

Techo International Airport (KTI), Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Before we continue, let me show off our new airport first. This is Techo International Airport (KTI).

Beautiful, isn’t it?

After checking in, we headed straight to the Plaza Premium Lounge at the airport.

This isn’t a sponsored post. I’m just sharing how we used the Plaza Premium Lounge for free.

My boyfriend recently got his AMEX card with Maybank, and one of the perks is access to airport lounges worldwide up to 12 times a year, FOR FREE. So of course, we took full advantage of it and ate before boarding.

Like most airport lounges, the food was set up buffet-style.

I’m not sure if they change the menu daily, but when we were there, they had appetizers like spring rolls and onion rings, main dishes like noodle soup and caramelized chicken, and some desserts.

There was also a drink station with infused water, a coffee machine, wine, champagne, and beers.

The food wasn’t amazing, but it was edible. And honestly, as long as you can sit comfortably and eat for free, that’s already a win.

The lounge time limit was two hours, and our boarding time was 1:50PM, so we left the lounge and waited at the gate before our time was up.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

The flight from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh takes around 40 minutes. We landed at about 2:30PM.

That’s when we knew we had made the right decision flying from Phnom Penh to Da Lat. Just look at this immigration line at the international terminal.

I was actually a bit annoyed at first because Vietnam Airlines aircraft was quite old and not very well maintained. The windows were scratched and bubbly, making it hard to take photos. But what happened next completely saved my mood.

Since this wasn’t a direct flight, when we landed in Ho Chi Minh, there was a group of Vietnam Airlines crew holding a “Transit” sign and calling out “Da Lat, Da Lat” near the immigration area.

I stopped when I saw them, and they stuck a “Transit” sticker on my shirt and told me to continue walking toward immigration.

I think there was supposed to be another crew waiting for us at immigration, but that person was nowhere to be found. So we did what normal tourists do, we lined up.

After a short while, the same Vietnam Airlines crew who had held the “Transit” sign walked over to the immigration line, this time holding a paper with our names on it.

My boyfriend immediately told them it was us. They then put another sticker on our shirts, this one saying “Last Minute Passenger.” Haha

Okay, stickers all set. Now this is where it gets interesting.

With the normal line, we would have easily spent at least three hours at immigration. And Vietnam Airlines clearly knew that.

Thanks to those stickers, we were allowed to use a special lane, which made the process incredibly fast. In my case, it took less than 30 minutes.

After immigration, we collected our baggage and followed the signs until we saw another Vietnam Airlines crew.

They then checked our boarding pass, took our baggage, and guided us toward the domestic terminal, Terminal 3.

We hadn’t flown domestically in Ho Chi Minh for a few years, so we both were surprised to see how new and modern Terminal 3 was.

We also didn’t realize how far Terminal 3 is from Terminal 2, but because the Vietnam Airlines team escorted us through a special route, we got there very quickly and made it to our next flight on time.

We only fully realized how far apart the two terminals were when we flew back from Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh and had plenty of time before our connecting flight back to Phnom Penh. The shuttle bus between T2 and T3 actually drives on the main road with regular traffic. Yep.

Okay, enough about Terminal 2 and Terminal 3.

Our flight to Da Lat was scheduled for 5:20PM but got delayed to 5:40PM. Ten minutes was fine, but once everyone was on board, we ended up sitting on the plane for another 30 minutes before takeoff.

There was no explanation, just an apology. The actual flight from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat is only around 30 minutes, but we spent an hour on the plane.

Normally, I would have been mad. But considering what they did for us during the transit, I really wasn’t.

Lien Khuong International Airport, Da Lat, Vietnam

We finally landed at Lien Khuong International Airport in Da Lat at 7:08PM.

I read a few articles online saying that there’s a bus from the airport to the city center, operating daily from 6:00AM until 8:00PM, and that the ticket costs only 40,000VND per person.

We were actually planning to take the bus. As soon as we collected our luggage from the belt, we walked around trying to find it. But it was nowhere to be found. Not even a sign.

In the end, we booked a car on Grab as usual.

The distance from the airport to our hotel was around 33.7km. We had subscribed to some plans on Grab and were able to claim a discount right away, so the ride cost us 259,000VND ($9.66) after discount and including the toll fee.

*The exchange rate I used for this trip was 26,000 VND = $1, so all expenses mentioned are calculated based on that rate.

Dalat Roof Hotel

We arrived at our hotel at 8:15PM.

We booked a Deluxe King Room for 4 nights at $120, excluding breakfast. The hotel doesn’t have a restaurant, so breakfast wasn’t an option anyway.

Of course, there are plenty of cheaper places in Da Lat, and also many that are much more expensive.

I’m the kind of person who needs more space (room space, not intimacy-issue space lol). So when I look for a hotel, I usually go for rooms that are at least 25sqm.

Most of the cheaper hotels I found were either very small or not located in an ideal area. And when the room was big enough, it was usually out of our budget.

So here we are at Dalat Roof Hotel, staying in a Deluxe King Room measuring 28sqm.

What I liked about this room was, first, the space, and second, the balcony overlooking Da Lat.

The view looks great both at night and in the morning.

What I didn’t like was that the bathroom rug wasn’t very clean.

When we first checked in, the rug in our bathroom was stained with red earth, so we asked them to change it. They did come and replace it right away, so a fast service made up for that.

After settling in, we headed out for dinner.

Da Lat Night Market

Since it was already nighttime, renting a motorbike just to go to one place felt like a waste. So we took Grab to Da Lat Night Market instead.

The night market is open every day. I’m not exactly sure about the official hours, but according to Google Maps, it runs from 5:30PM to 12:00AM.

There’s a lot of street food here. And because Da Lat is colder than most parts of Vietnam, most of the food you’ll see are warm and comforting.

You’ll see grilled corn, grilled potatoes, and hot soybean milk everywhere.

My boyfriend and I are Southeast Asians, so eating street food in Vietnam or other countries isn’t a big deal for us. Our stomachs are somewhat immune to certain bacteria, and we don’t get diarrhea easily.

But if you’re from outside of Southeast Asis or regions where street food hygiene standards are very different, this might be something to be cautious about.

I believe you guys generally eat cleaner food, so even a small amount of bacteria can upset your stomach and make you feel like you need to use the toilet all the time. No kidding. 🙄

We had a bit of this and that and spent 200,000 VND ($7.46) on street food snacking.

Besides street food, you’ll also find plenty of clothing stalls.

And of course souvenirs.

I saw so many people wearing gloves at the night market, even though the temperature that night was only around 17°C.

I remember thinking, “Why is everyone wearing gloves? Is it just for style?”

Let me explain. We Southeast Asians tend to go a bit extreme with cold-weather wear (it’s not exactly winterwear) because we rarely get to wear it back home.

So when we travel somewhere slightly colder, we pull out the thickest jackets and sweaters we own and wear them proudly. And that’s why I had that thought.

I only realized the real reason for the gloves the next day when I rode a motorbike myself. It was freezing.

I seriously underestimated Da Lat’s cold weather. Since it’s not that far from our hillside province of Mondulkiri, I automatically assumed the weather would be similar—cold, but not unbearably so.

I even tracked Da Lat’s weather a week before the trip to see how low the temperature could drop, just so I could pack properly.

The lowest I saw was 12°C, and I thought, That should be fine. I’ve experienced 12°C, even 10°C, in Sapa and handled it just fine.

Oh boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong. 15°C in Da Lat is freezing. It’s not a dry cold like in Sapa or Mondulkiri, it’s a humid cold. You can literally feel the moisture in the air.

I packed way too light. I had a sweater, but no proper underlayers. So I had to return to the night market the next day to buy myself a jacket and gloves.

And yes, now I fully understand why gloves are necessary. Definitely not for fashion.

Oh, you could see a Da Lat “Eiffel Tower” from the night market. 🤣

We came back to the hotel after finishing our walk around the night market.

Day 1

Rise and shine! This photo was taken straight from our room balcony.

According to my planned itinerary, we were supposed to head to the mountains on Day 1.

But when we asked the hotel receptionist the night before about renting a motorbike, he told us there were none left and that we’d only be able to get one by lunchtime the next day.

We didn’t want to go searching around town for a rental, so we decided to switch up our itinerary and wait to collect the motorbike at 12:00PM.

Renting a motorbike in Da Lat is a bit stricter compared to other parts of Vietnam I’ve been to.

In other cities, I was never asked for a driving license. But here in Da Lat, the receptionist asked for an International Driving License before renting the motorbike to us.

I told him we didn’t have one, only our national driving licenses from our home country, and asked if that would be okay. He said he needed to check first, and then allowed us to rent the motorbike.

That said, I think some rental places in Da Lat wouldn’t allow you to rent a motorbike without an International Driving License. So it’s better to search around before you go, or apply for one ahead of your trip to be safe.

The motorbike rental from our hotel cost 150,000 VND ($5.59) per day.

1. Waken Beans Coffee & Roastery

Waken Beans Coffee & Roastery wasn’t in our original itinerary. I didn’t even come across it when I was searching online for cafés to hop around. But I clearly remember how attractive it looked when we drove from the airport to the hotel the night before.

I knew it was close to our hotel, and since we didn’t have a motorbike that morning, we decided to visit places within walking distance. So Waken Beans it was.

It looks just as attractive in the daytime.

We ordered two iced lattes, which cost 125,000VND ($4.66) in total. The coffee tasted alright.

At first glance, the place looks a bit weird. But it’s clearly designed that way on purpose.

The space is decorated mainly for photos, with lots of different angles to shoot from.

I’m not someone who enjoys being in photos, and I’m definitely not photogenic, but I still ended up taking plenty of photos of myself here.

2. Villa D’Hiver Cafe

After leaving Waken Beans, we were planning to head straight to Crazy House.

But I was stopped by these cutesy bears hanging at the entrance of Villa D’Hiver. This café is right next door to Waken Beans.

I didn’t go inside, so I can’t comment on how well it’s decorated or how good the drinks are. I just took a few photos and went on my way.

This was taken on my way from Villa D’Hiver to Crazy House.

3. Crazy House

Finally, our first stop following the planned itinerary.

Crazy House is actually a hotel, but it’s also open to the public for a quick visit, with an entrance fee of 80,000VND ($2.98) per person.

It’s literally true to its name. The architecture is wild, with maze-like pathways connecting one structure to another.

Imagine being drunk and trying to navigate your way back to your room. Haha

There’s also a small souvenir shop and a little café inside.

Honestly, there isn’t much to see here beyond the crazy structures. We spent around 40 minutes walking around.

That said, I’d still recommend stopping by. It feels a bit like a mini theme park.

By the time we finished exploring Crazy House, it was already lunchtime. So we walked back to the hotel, picked up our motorbike, and headed out for lunch.

4. Lunch at Com Tam Lao Tru

I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it again.

After being deceived by fake reviews countless times while searching for places to eat, I usually go for spots with fewer tourist reviews and more locals. Bonus points if the menu is only in their language and not in English.

With the motorbike fully fueled, we headed straight to Com Tam Lao Tru, a place known for its pork rice.

Pork rice is also a popular breakfast in Cambodia, but the taste of Cambodian pork rice and Vietnamese pork rice is completely different. So I’d invite you to try both and see which one you like best when you’re in Vietnam and Cambodia.

We ordered two of their “special” pork rice plates.

In Vietnam, “special” usually means a mix of all the meats they have on one plate, and it’s also more expensive than the regular options.

We also ordered one seaweed soup. The total came to 135,000 VND ($5.03) for both of us.

The taste wasn’t the best we’ve had, but it was alright. Here is their menu.

5. Bao Dai Palace 3 / Dinh III

We continued to Bao Dai Palace 3 after lunch.

This is one of the three summer palaces of King Bao Dai in Da Lat, and also one of the historical monuments of the Nguyen Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty of Vietnam.

I also wanted to visit Palaces 1 and 2, but both were temporarily closed during my visit. So Palace 3 was the only one I got to see.

The entrance fee is 80,000 VND ($2.98) per person.

According to the information displayed, this palace was built in 1933 and completed in 1938.

It was designed by both a French and a Vietnamese architect, and the building materials were brought from France and central Vietnam.

The palace has 26 rooms, divided into four areas; workrooms, reception areas, entertainment spaces, and bedrooms.

There’s also a beautiful European-style garden behind the palace.

6. Domaine de Marie

After leaving Bao Dai Palace 3, we headed straight to Domaine de Marie Church.

Not there to confess my sins or ask for forgiveness, only guilty of taking too many photos. Haha

It was really pretty, and the Christmas decorations added even more charm.

7. Lam Vien Square

Lam Vien Square was our next stop after the photo session at the church.

Da Lat has a big and beautiful lake called Xuan Huong Lake, located right in the city center. Lam Vien Square sits on one side of the lake.

My photos don’t really do the lake justice. It’s much prettier in real life. It’s also a great spot to watch sunset, and there’s no entrance fee. In the evening, both locals and tourists gather here to relax, hang out, or take photos.

The square itself is quite large, with two oddly shaped dome structures. I honestly have no idea what inspired them. My non-creative side can’t guess.

Inside the green dome is a Highlands Coffee, while the other dome is empty.

You’ll also find plenty of street food around the area. Vendors set up their little plastic chairs all around the park.

Look at these two cuties.

I’ve never seen huskies this big before. I guess their owner brings them here to earn a bit of money for their treats. Haha

I didn’t ask how much they charge for photos with these two cutie pies.

I really wanted to take photos with them, but I was worried I’d smell like huskies. I mean I still had other places to go, no one would want to smell like huskies walking around, right?

There’s also a small shopping area in the park, with a supermarket, clothing shops, food stalls, and even arcades.

8. Chuyen Cua Mo

When planning an itinerary for every trip, I usually divide cafés into two categories. One is for photos, and the other is for taste.

I chose Chuyen Cua Mo purely for photos, based on the beautiful decoration I’d seen all over Instagram and TikTok.

They have a small counter at the entrance selling tickets.

An entrance ticket for a café? Not that weird, actually. I guess they’re just trying to avoid situations where a group of five or more comes in and only orders one drink. Fair enough.

The entrance ticket costs 80,000 VND ($2.98) per person and is exchangeable for one drink at the counter.

I ordered a Jasmine Oolong Milk Tea, and my boyfriend got the Golden Lotus Tea. We asked for less sugar. The drinks were unexpectedly good.

I mean I originally came here just for photos and didn’t expect much from the drinks, but they turned out quite decent. That’s a win.

This is one of those rare moments when TikTok and Instagram didn’t disappoint me.

The decoration at this café is beautiful, with a European-style setup, fresh flowers, and so many photo angles. Any photo enthusiast could easily spend a few hours here.

What I personally dislike about visiting Instagrammable cafés is, first, the crowd. And second, how long people take to get their photos. This especially applies to Vietnamese visitors.

I can’t say this applies to everyone, of course. But from my experience at cafés like this, many people take no less than 30 minutes at a single spot until they’re fully satisfied.

Even when they see someone else waiting, they just continue their photo session. And this didn’t happen just once, every Instagrammable place I visited in Da Lat was the same.

So if you’re that kind of person… maybe be demure, be mindful?

We left the café around 6:30PM. Even after dark, the place is still beautiful.

9. Dinner at Nam Nuong 1900

We had no idea what we wanted to eat for dinner.

My boyfriend remembered driving past this restaurant the night before when we were heading to the night market and mentioned that he saw a lot of people there.

So we decided to give Nam Nuong 1900 a try.

We didn’t have a reservation, so the staff seated us outside for about five minutes before letting us in.

Surprise, surprise! Nam Nuong 1900 and Com Tam Lao Tru, where we had lunch earlier, are actually the same place.

What a coincidence that we ended up at the same restaurant twice in one day!

They serve grilled meats along with some Vietnamese dishes.

There’s no English menu, and most of the staff don’t speak English either. To make things easy, we went with their beef set.

We asked for steamed rice to go with the grilled meat, but they didn’t have any—only fried rice.

The price of the fried rice was almost the same as ordering another beef dish, so we skipped it and ordered more beef instead.

We also got a Vietnamese salad.

We got our food surprisingly fast despite the crowd.

The food was great. The beef wasn’t tough, the seafood was fresh, and I especially liked the sauce. It was slightly spicy, a bit sour, and totally to my taste.

We left with very full stomachs, and the total bill came to just 675,000VND ($25.18) for the two of us.

10. The Roof by Banla Dalat

We didn’t want to head back to the hotel just yet after dinner.

We wanted to warm up our stomachs a bit, so I did some quick research and decided on The Roof by Banla Dalat.

I chose this place specifically because the vibe felt very similar to a bar in Phnom Penh that my boyfriend likes.

For round one, I ordered one of their signature cocktails called Tomorrow, while my boyfriend went with a classic Negroni.

Mine didn’t really taste like a signature cocktail and was very light, even though I’m a lightweight myself. My boyfriend felt the same; his drink was just okay.

So we ordered another round.

For round two, we both went for signature cocktails. I had Summer, and my boyfriend chose Winter.

Ummm… don’t overanalyze things like a literature major. There’s no “the curtain is blue” meaning here. Haha

Once again, the drinks were okay and still very light.

We didn’t want to spend too much, especially since their signature cocktails already cost 260,000VND per glass, excluding the 5% service charge. So two drinks each was already pushing our budget.

The total bill came to 1,050,000 VND ($39.17). And honestly, we were a little disappointed.

Nice atmosphere, though.

After that, we went back to the hotel.

Day 2

The original plan was to wake up early and head to the mountain area on our second day.

I set my alarm for 6:00AM and even double-checked it before going to bed. But somehow, I still missed it the next morning.

I finally woke up at 7:30AM on Day 2, thanks to my bladder. If it weren’t for that, who knows what time I would’ve woken up.

I did set my alarm for 6:00AM, but it was set for Monday to Friday only. And Day 2 happened to be a Sunday.

This is the true definition of traveling and completely losing track of what day it is. So yes, we had to revise our itinerary again.

1. Lang Biang Mountain

It was already 8:30AM by the time we were finally ready. Well, within that one hour, I took a solid 55 minutes. My boyfriend only needed 5 minutes to get ready. 😂

Our first stop on Day 2 was Lang Biang Mountain, which is known as a spot for panoramic views of Da Lat.

Lang Bieng Mountain is about 12.6km from our hotel, and we arrived around 9:05AM.

The entrance ticket costs 50,000VND ($1.86) per person.

To get from the entrance to the top of the mountain, you can either walk or take a car for an additional fee.

There are two car options. The shared car costs 120,000VND per person, but you have to wait until the car is full with six people before it departs. The private option costs 720,000VND ($26.80) per car.

Of course, we chose the shared car. There was no reason for us to overspend here.

The ride up takes about 10 minutes, and the road is extremely winding. If you usually get carsick, you’ll probably throw up. One aunty in our shared car actually did.

This is the first view you see when you reach the top.

There are some signs guiding you on where to go, but honestly, we thought the area would be much bigger.

We only spent about 30 minutes walking around.

Yes, you do get a panoramic view of Da Lat from here. But after spending some time in the city, this kind of view starts to feel repetitive.

You can see similar views from cafés or even while driving around town. So personally, I wouldn’t really recommend coming here.

Even though we finished early, we still had to wait for the other people who shared our car. We were done by 9:40AM, but didn’t head back down until 11:30AM.

I tried to entertain myself by taking photos while waiting, but it was still incredibly boring.

Yep, that’s the price you pay when sharing a car with people outside your group. One place ended up taking half a day.

2. Lunch at Bun Bo Co Be

By the time we got back to the city center, it was already lunchtime.

We went to Bun Bo Co Be for some bun bo, which is beef noodle soup.

Once again, we ordered their “special.” The portion was big, and the taste was okay. Nothing to write home about. It was similar to what we’ve had before.

We spent 160,000 VND ($5.97) for this lunch.

3. The Married Beans

We hadn’t had a single drop of coffee since morning. The Married Beans was our stop for taste, so we had high hopes it would be good.

Many people online recommended this place for its coffee, and they mentioned they even sell their own coffee beans here.

I ordered an iced latte, and my boyfriend got an iced matcha latte. Even though we were the only ones in the shop, it took about 10 minutes for our drinks to be prepared.

We didn’t mind though. Maybe the barista was just being extra thorough.

And it was worth it. The coffee was super smooth, and the iced matcha smelled great.

We were really happy with our drinks. Both drinks cost us just 125,000VND ($4.66).

4. Cao Nguyen Hoa Da Lat

I’m sure you’ve seen those “Mario Kart” videos when searching for Vietnam.

What many tourists compare to Mario Kart is actually called the Green Line Luge.

And yes, after fueling ourselves with caffeine, this was our next activity.

There are several places where you can try the luge, but I chose Cao Nguyen Hoa Da Lat.

It’s about 10.4km from the city center, and the road leading there is insanely winding. It almost felt like a warm-up before the luge ride. Haha

The ticket costs 300,000VND ($11.19) per person, which includes two rounds on two different tracks.

For helmets, they offer both regular ones and those with a clip for your phone.

Before you start, the staff gives a quick and simple briefing on how to use the luge. It’s basically like riding a motorbike with hand brakes.

I don’t even know why I was scared, considering I ride a motorbike almost every day in Phnom Penh. I kept bumping into things, and each round took me around six minutes.

After finishing round one, we waited at the shuttle station for them to take us back to the starting point for round two.

Besides the ride itself, the view here is also beautiful.

This photo was taken around 2PM when the light was at its strongest. It would probably look even better early in the morning or later in the afternoon.

There are also cafés on-site if you want to hang around a bit longer.

Originally, I had planned to visit a few more places around the area after the ride. But after reading through the reviews one by one, it seemed that most of the places I had in mind involved animals like sheep, rabbits, capybaras, and others.

Many people mentioned that the animals weren’t in great condition and felt like they were there just for show, with little care from the people running the places.

I’m an animal lover myself, and I know I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing animals treated that way. So I decided to skip those spots and head straight back to the hotel after the ride.

5. Thac May & Chill

We took a short rest at the hotel for about an hour before heading out to another café.

Thac May & Chill was chosen purely for photos, not for taste.

This café is quite far from our hotel, about 12.2km away.

Unlike the café we visited the evening before, this one doesn’t charge an entrance fee. You just order whatever you like and sit wherever you want.

I ordered a Sudachi Oolong Plum Tea, and my boyfriend went with a Matcha Blueberry. The barista also upsold us a tiramisu, so we went along with it.

The total came to 205,000VND ($7.64).

My plum tea was okay, but the matcha blueberry was surprisingly good. The tiramisu, however, was a bit too sweet for our taste.

The theme of this café seems to revolve around flowers, streams, and waterfalls.

It wasn’t until I got back to the hotel that I realized we’d come at the wrong time, and so had everyone else who was there during our visit.

The café opens as early as 5AM, and in the early morning, you get amazing views of clouds floating all around.

You can search Thac May & Chill on Instagram or TikTok to see what I mean.

So yes, if you’re planning to add this café to your itinerary, go in the morning.

But I still didn’t regret coming in the evening. I at least had some nice photos.

6. Quan 33 Oc Nhoi Thit

We left Thac May & Chill after sunset and headed straight to dinner at Quan 33 Oc Nhoi Thit.

My boyfriend had spotted their steamed snails stuffed with minced pork while searching for where to eat. It looked mouthwatering, so we decided to give it a try.

When we arrived, we ordered that dish along with a Vietnamese hotpot, which came with brisket in the soup, plus vegetables and noodles on the side.

The waiter even came over to show us how to eat the snails.

I usually struggle to get all the snail meat out of the shell when eating steamed snails, but here, I managed to get everything out easily. All because they tie the snail and minced pork together with a thin piece of lemongrass, which acts like a string you can pull.

The snails are meant to be eaten with the vegetables they provide and dipped in sweet fish sauce. It was really good. We both like it a lot!

As for the hotpot, we didn’t enjoy it as much. I guess I still prefer our Cambodian beef soup.

It was also a bit strange that there was no rare beef included in the set, nor listed on the menu as an add-on.

We spent some time explaining what we wanted before they finally brought us an extra plate of beef. I guess we just brought our Cambodian beef soup culture all the way to Da Lat. Haha

The total bill came to 540,000 VND ($20.14).

We went back to the hotel directly after dinner.

Day 3

The plan for Day 3 was to catch the clouds and sunrise at Cau Dat Tea Hill. That meant waking up at 4:00AM and hitting the road early, since Cau Dat Tea Hill is about 27.1km from our hotel.

I told my boyfriend about this plan, and he wasn’t exactly convinced. So no cloud chasing for us. But we still made it to the tea hill.

1. Cau Dat Till Hill

We left the hotel for Cau Dat Tea Hill at 7:00AM and arrived around 8:00AM.

We were lucky enough to catch a bit of cloud floating by, but it disappeared so quickly that I couldn’t capture it in photos.

I only had this one. If you notice, you can see a little cloud in the background.

The windmills here are actually numbered, though I’m not sure which one this was.

It stood alone on an empty stretch of land, so we parked our motorbike nearby and took some photos.

And this is the view of other windmills around the same area.

2. San May Cau Go

San May Cau Go is one of the famous cloud-chasing spots in Cau Dat.

Even though we knew there wouldn’t be any clouds left by the time we arrived, we still wanted to check it out and see how nice the setup was, especially since it looks almost heavenly in videos and photos.

Besides, I figured that even without clouds, we’d still get mountain views. So it wasn’t really a loss for us.

The entrance fee is 80,000VND ($2.98) per person, which is exchangeable for one drink.

Their coffee tasted horrible, but never mind. We were there for the view.

They’ve divided the place into two areas; one for sunrise and another for cloud chasing.

This is the sunrise area.

And this is the cloud-chasing area. It’s an easy journey walking downhill, but walking back up can be quite heart-pounding.

It’s layered beautifully, and from the videos and photos I’ve seen, the clouds usually flow through all these layers.

Go search San May Cau Go and you’ll want to be there immediately.

Oh, there are also accommodations around here. So you could actually spend a night in this area and wake up early for sunrise and cloud chasing, without having to drive all the way from the city center.

I did know this beforehand, but I chose to stay in the city center instead. I didn’t want to move around too much during a 4-night, 5-day trip. It would’ve been too tiring.

After checking out this place, my boyfriend suddenly asked me, “Do you regret not coming early in the morning?” He said he did, and apologized.

No apology needed. Just take your girlfriend here again next time. 😛

3. Euro Garden Cau Dat

I didn’t even know Euro Garden was a café until I arrived. I honestly thought it was a theme park.

The entrance fee is 80,000VND ($2.98) per person, which is exchangeable for one flavored tea.

The tea tasted like sugar.

But again, I didn’t really mind. I was there for photos, and the views didn’t disappoint.

The garden is beautiful, and there’s also a decorative train that adds to the whole setup.

4. Linh Phuoc Temple

Linh Phuoc is a rather weird-looking temple located along the route back from Cau Dat to the city center, so we stopped by on our way before heading to lunch.

From the photos I’d seen, I thought it was just one temple. But once we arrived, I was surprised to see there are actually three temples here, plus another building at the back.

See that huge Goddess Guanyin Bodhisattva? It’s made entirely of flowers and is said to be the world’s largest statue created from immortelle flowers.

Under one of the temples, there’s a basement filled with Buddha statues, rare stones, and… hell.

The audio played inside the hell section was honestly scary, and I almost didn’t dare to go in. But I still did, just to check my friends’ future residence. Lol

Kidding. Even though my friends love to gossip and badmouth people, they don’t stab anyone in the back nor harm anyone. They’re actually good people. 😌

5. Lunch at Atispho

My boyfriend and I were chatting and suddenly realized that we’d been in Da Lat for a few days already and still hadn’t had pho. That felt a bit uncultured.

So he searched around for a bit and eventually decided on Atispho, even though there were quite a number of negative reviews about the portion size.

We originally planned to just eat pho, but once we arrived and saw the menu, we ordered one more dish to share because it looked really good.

I forgot what that dish was called. It was similar to banh sung, but with thinner noodles and more toppings.

Talking about pho, their pho noodles are pink because they’re made from artichoke. That said, I couldn’t really taste the difference—pho still tasted like pho to me.

And if you’re wondering about the little quail eggs in my bowl, those didn’t come with the original pho. I ordered them as an extra topping.

What I really liked about Atispho was how well they cooked the noodles. The texture was just right, not too gooey like in many other places.

Both the pho and the extra dish tasted good.

And honestly, I don’t get why so many people complain about the portion size. We could barely finish the pho, let alone the extra dish we ordered.

How big are their stomachs?

After finishing our lunch, we went back to our hotel for a rest and change of clothes before heading out again.

6. Barn House / La Viet Coffee

It was Day 3, and we still hadn’t visited Datanla Waterfall or done the iconic rainbow slide and alpine coaster ride.

We checked the distance, and it was about 20km away.

Having already driven almost 60km earlier that morning, neither of us felt like doing another 40km roundtrip. So we decided to skip it and just chill.

We chose La Viet Coffee.

This café wasn’t actually on our original list. I searched for cafés known more for taste than aesthetics, and La Viet kept coming up.

I was convinced by the fact that they have multiple outlets across Vietnam and sell their own coffee beans, so I dragged my boyfriend along.

We ordered two iced lattes and one tiramisu.

The iced latte was just okay, honestly not up to my expectations. It couldn’t be compared to the iced latte we had at The Married Beans on another day.

Tiramisu was too sweet.

My boyfriend also had a draft beer. The total came to 200,000 VND ($7.46).

They have some kind of showroom here, and I even saw people on a coffee tour while we were there.

I like jasmine in general. And I noticed they had a jasmine coffee product on display for sale. I don’t remember the exact name.

I was interested, so I asked the staff if they had samples. Since I wasn’t sure whether it was pre-mixed or black coffee (and I don’t drink black coffee), I wanted to try it first.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have any samples available. I found that a bit disappointing, especially considering all the equipment and coffee tours they offer.

So I ended up not buying anything. And to sum up our experience at La Viet, it wasn’t as good as I had expected it to be.

7. Bao Tien Mot Mo Binh Yen

It really was one café after another on our last day. Bao Tien Mot Mo Binh Yen was our next stop.

Because we were lazy to go to the waterfall that is 20km away, we comforted ourselves and went to a cafe with a baby waterfall instead.

This place is the true definition of hidden.

We had to park our motorbike at the entrance, walk past what looked like a green farm (I wasn’t quite sure what it was), and then we reached a two-way path.

We tried using Google Translate since everything was written in Vietnamese, but there was no signal.

So we just trusted our guts and took the path on the right.

There were many steps going down, and as soon as we heard the sound of water and saw the café from above, we knew we were on the right track.

When we arrived at the entrance, we were welcomed by the most adorable furry family.

I’m not sure if we came at the wrong time of day or if this café is usually this quiet, but we basically had the whole place to ourselves.

I ordered a Jasmine Lychee Tea, my boyfriend ordered another tea that I’ve already forgotten the name of, and we also got some sunflower seeds. The total came to 155,000 VND ($5.78).

The barista didn’t speak English, so I couldn’t ask for less sugar. And yes, you guessed it. The tea was very sweet. Even after leaving it for an hour for the ice to melt, it was still sweet.

That said, the atmosphere was great. It’s not the cleanest café I’ve been to in Da Lat; the chairs, tables, and umbrellas are quite old, but I was honestly just happy we didn’t have to wait for the crowds to leave just for photos.

To me, this place felt more like someone’s farmhouse than a café.

I could easily imagine it being many people’s dream—to have a small house hidden in nature, doing a bit of farming, slowing down, and relaxing next to a small waterfall.

Or like that cliché line characters always say in movies about running away to a faraway land with waterfalls, when they’re not sure whether or not they’ll survive an illness or a villain.

In Mike and Eleven’s case from Stranger Things Chapter 5, they settled for one waterfall instead of three, if their plan to defeat Vecna works.

The Golden Retriever mommy didn’t look very happy. I’m not sure if she was hungry or just annoyed with her pups.

But she looked healthy, just with a slightly sad face.

A total opposite from her pups that keep chasing each other and playing around.

We headed back early for dinner on our last night.

Sushi Akashi

I was craving sushi for our last dinner in Da Lat. We searched around and found several places we wanted to try, but unfortunately, most of them were closed on Mondays, which happened to be our last day in town.

So we settled on Sushi Akashi.

The reviews said things like “don’t be fooled by the simple look, the sushi here is really good” and “please be patient because they only have one chef, but it’ll be worth it.”

We started by ordering chicken skewers, a combo set, and fried rolls.

I was surprised to see that the chicken skewers were fried, not grilled and glazed with sauce like the ones we usually eat in Phnom Penh. But honestly, they weren’t bad. They were crispy, and the oil didn’t taste heavy.

The sushi itself was okay, not quite as amazing as the reviews made it sound.

But the fried rolls… those were horrible. They had a cube of cheese inside, which made everything overwhelmingly cheesy to the point where I almost wanted to throw up. On top of that, the batter was tough. It was just bad.

To get that cheesy taste off our tongues, we ordered 4 pieces of yellowtail, and thankfully saved the meal a bit.

The total bill came to 518,000 VND ($19.32). Very affordable, and fair for what we got.

Restaurant Drinkery

We still had some budget left, and since it was our last day, my boyfriend suggested going to a pub.

This time, I let him choose. He picked Restaurant Drinkery.

Most of the reviews mentioned that the food here aren’t great. But since we were only there for drinks, we ignored that part.

For the first round, I ordered a Vietnamese sangria, while my boyfriend went for a beer.

He had to change his order a few times because the beers he wanted from the menu were out of stock and they didn’t leave a remark on their menu. After the third attempt, he finally got one.

My sangria tasted okay. Not very strong, but still a bit stronger than the pub we went to on our first day.

For round two, I went with a bespoke cocktail. I asked for something sweet, sour, and creamy, with vodka as the base and a medium strength. When it arrived, it tasted like yogurt.

It wasn’t bad, though. I was lying to organs that it probably did no harm to my liver and might even be good for digestion because of the yogurt taste. 😂

My boyfriend ordered a Negroni.

Lately, he’s been ordering Negroni at almost every new place he visits. All because he really likes one specific Negroni at a bar in Phnom Penh, and he’s still searching for something even better.

Well… no luck here. The Negroni at Restaurant Drinkery was just okay.

He also ordered a BBQ beef skewer, thinking nothing could possibly go wrong with something so simple.

It still tasted wrong. The beef was sweet. I don’t even know how else to describe it. It was just bad.

See? Those reviews weren’t baseless. Their food really is terrible, even a simple BBQ beef skewer went wrong.

We spent 940,000 VND ($35.07) in total here. Again, more than our dinner.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and started packing for our early flight the next day.

Back Home

Time to head home.

Linh Khuong International Airport is very small. The gate is literally right there after you scan your items. No long walks, no confusion.

And the view from the airplane? Amazing. You’ll see mountains and lush greenery everywhere as you take off.

Expense Breakdown

Here’s the expense breakdown for our 4 nights 5 days trip. Out of the $275 we spent on food and drinks for the both of us, $73 already went to alcohol at pubs. I’m sure you could definitely spend less than we did.

• Roundtrip Flight: $270
• Hotel (4 Nights): $120
• Food & Drinks: $275
• Entrance Fee & Activities: $58.95
• Transportation (Grab): $22.68
• 3-Day Motorbiike Renting: $16.79
• Gas: $2.83
• Others: $10.55

Total: $523.4 Per Person

Please note that these expenses cover accommodation, food and drinks, entrance fees, activities, Grab rides, motorbike rental, fuel, and other costs for two people in Da Lat and layovers in Ho Chi Minh City. Flights are calculated per person. Please refer to the total below for the estimated expense per person. Again, the exchange rate used is 26,800VND to 1USD.

More Places in Da Lat

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it wasn’t possible for us to visit everything.

Some places were intentionally skipped, some were simply missed, and there are definitely others you might enjoy more than we did.

So I’m leaving a list of these places here for you to check out one by one and add to your own itinerary, depending on what you like.

Cafés:

• Mien du Muc
• Floating Town Coffee
• Ban Leo Dalat
• The Florest
• Happy Hill
• Thon 13
• Hidden Land
• Jju Coffee Da Lat
• Persimmon Cafe
• Hoàng Long Ohayo
• Still Cafe
• Tiệm Cà Phê Túi Mơ To (Reply 1994)

Attractions:

• Datanla Waterfall
• Elephant Falls
• Prenn Waterfall
• Mongo Land Da Lat
• Pink Valley Da Lat
• Hydrangea Flower Garden
• Valley of Love
• Sculpture Tunnel
• Da Lat Fairy Tale Land
• Da Lat Cable Car – Robin Hill
• Tuyen Lam Lake
• Xuon Huong Lake
• Da Lat Railway Station
• Da Lat Cathedral
• Da Lat Flower Park
• Cho Da Lat (Da Lat Market)

And that’s it for this trip. Hope this is helpful for you. See you in the next article.