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Is Dragon Bridge in Da Nang worth staying the night?

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Hello all!

I'd love to hear some opinions on Vietnam itinerary. Visiting for the first time to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary! 😃

We arrive in Hanoi around 11:30 AM on March 19th and staying 3 nights. After that, we have booked a 3 day 2 night cruise in Halong Bay. (We chose Elite of the Seas, by our hotel recommendation.)

After the cruise is over on March 24th, the hotel has arranged transportation back to Hanoi Old Quarter and then to the airport to catch a flight to Da Nang.

Because of the time we get back from the cruise, the earliest we could fly was 6pm and won't be landing in Da Nang till about 7:25pm. I have booked accommodations in Hoi An for 3 nights and was just planning to go there straight from the airport.

However, while I was doing research I found out about the 9pm "fire" show at the Dragon Bridge on the weekends. From the pictures, it looks really pretty! So now I'm debating if I should cancel one night at our hotel in Hoi An and stay the night in Da Nang, close to the bridge. (I was looking at Haian Riverfront Hotel.) We could grab dinner, watch the show at the bridge and get some rest, then head to Hoi An first thing in the morning.

If we do it this way, we'd still have 2 full days and 2 nights in Hoi An. (The only downside is that we had booked an early morning tour to My Son and Marble mountains on the first day and then a trip to Bana Hills on day 2.) By staying in Da Nang the first night, we wouldn't make the tour to My Son first thing in the morning, so we'd need to reschedule it to the second day in Hoi An and just skip Bana Hills.

If I go with our original plan and go to Hoi An straight from the airport, we could still do our tours as scheduled.

Downside: We really wouldn't be spending any time in Da Nang and would miss the Dragon show. (Which to be fair, wasn't part of our original itinerary. )

Another option: I emailed our hotel in Hoi An and they said they could arrange a car to pick us up from the airport in Da Nang and stop by Dragon Bridge for a bit. (300,000 dong for the ride and 100,000 dong per hour if we want to stay around in Da Nang for a little while.)

Thoughts on Dragon Bridge detour: yes? No? Worth it?

Also, we're no big theme park people so I understand we could probably just skip the whole Bana Hills thing...but the hand bridge looks so cool! Should we pass on this?

After our 2 days in Hoi An, we're flying to Saigon for the last 2 days of our trip. Redeeming some Marriott points and staying at Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon. No real plans for Ho Chi Minh yet, since we might be exhausted by then lol. Probably just do a walking tour or a hop on hop off bus and chill at the bar in our hotel.

Any thoughts, tips, or advice are welcome and truly appreciated!

Posted by
2760 posts

Sorry can't help with the side trip questions as those attractions weren't open when I visited. They do look cool, but your itinerary is very fast paced and I wouldn't try to cram in more things. But I will say that Hoi An was one of my favorite cities. You're going to arrive very late (it's an hour drive from airport) and it sounds like you are doing day trips for both of your full days there? It seems a shame not to spend a little time in Hoi An proper, it's particularly beautiful. I did a bike tour/cooking class that was amazing and there are excellent restaurants there as well.

For HCM I recommend the War Remnants Museum for a very different view of the conflict. In Hanoi, consider a Hanoi Kids tour, meeting a delightful young person was one of the highlights of my visit.

Posted by
9 posts

Hi! Our itinerary is definitely very fast paced! We're highly active people. (Think running and/or hiking all day, then partying all night! Lol) We can never really do the chill, "sit by the pool" kind of vacation. Tried to do an all inclusive once, and it drove us bonkers! We like being out and about doing all the things.

The day trip from Hoi An on the first day would be a 8am to 6pm type of thing, leaving the rest of the night to walk around in Hoi An. I suppose we could totally skip the second day trip to Bana Hills and just stay in town.

Thank you for the tip on War Remnants Museum! I will definitely put that on top of the list for HCM.

Posted by
2555 posts

From HCM, you can also go to the Cu Chi Tunnels or do a Vespa food tour.

Posted by
31 posts

I considered time in Da Nang on my Viet Nam trip last year-specifically to see the bridge. Wound up enjoying Hoi Ann too much to leave it for another city.

I would caution you to rethink the 2 night cruise. As very active people you may find it is just too much sitting to see the bay sites. A one night cruise was actually one night too much for both my son & I. And at 70+ years old I do not consider myself highly active.

After our one night cruise we arranged transport from Cat Ba to Ninh Binh and spent a few nights there. Totally preferred it over Ha Long Bay. Lots of outdoor activities there.

Enjoy your trip! I had a great time in Viet Nam and would not hesitate to go back.

Posted by
1105 posts

I would do the 3 day two nights in Halong Bay. We did. You will get to see sunrise and sunset from the boat in the bay. You will get to kayak into a cave and out into a fully encircled lagoon inside a mountain. One night means the next Am you are up and gone. The ship will most likely stay out on the water and you will be taken back by a small boat. It is about a 4 hour trip each way from Hanoi to the docks. However, you seem to like the go-go aspect of traveling.

The war remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh is heartbreaking and we had to leave earlier than we would in other museums. You could flash it and not read too much and get out of there OK.

Posted by
539 posts

But I will say that Hoi An was one of my favorite cities

What year did you go to Hoi An? The reason I ask is that I keep hearing Hoi An suffers from “Cinque Terre disease” these days; the tranquil beauty is neither tranquil nor beautiful when you’re fighting throngs of like-minded tourists.

Posted by
9 posts

I would do the 3 day two nights in Halong Bay. We did. You will get to see sunrise and sunset from the boat in the bay. You will get to kayak into a cave and out into a fully encircled lagoon inside a mountain. One night means the next Am you are up and gone. The ship will most likely stay out on the water and you will be taken back by a small boat. It is about a 4 hour trip each way from Hanoi to the docks.

I read a lot up on the cruise options before making the decision to do the 2 nights. Yes, it might be a lot of sitting around on the boat with no much to do, but the sights will be beautiful! Another thing is that Elite of the Seas has a swimming pool and I'll be fine doing drinks 🍸 and watching the sunset. It might also be our only "downtime" during the whole trip. My husband loves the water so this is a good fit for us. Thank you for the reassurance on the 2 night cruise! (It took me forever to pull the trigger on this one.)

Posted by
539 posts

Isn't the big benefit of doing the 2-night Halong Bay cruise, that you actually get out into some areas that are cleaner (trash-wise), and a bit less crowded with boats?

Posted by
9 posts

Isn't the big benefit of doing the 2-night Halong Bay cruise, that you actually get out into some areas that are cleaner (trash-wise), and a bit less crowded with boats?

I think that's part of it, but also depends on the cruise itinerary. I know for ours there's a cooking class and a 8 course dinner on the nights that we're on the ship.

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