How to get to Dalat (Vietnam), transportation in the city

Overview of ways to get to Dalat

• Dalat on the map of Vietnam
• The distance from Ho Chi Minh City is 340 kilometers / 1 hour by plane, 6-10 hours by land.
• The distance from Hanoi is 1500 kilometers / 2 hours by plane, at least 24 hours by land.
• The distance from Nha Trang is 140 kilometers / 4-6 hours by land.
• The distance from Mui Ne is 160 kilometers / 4-6 hours by land.

Dalat is located in the mountainous part of Vietnam. This is one of the major transport hubs: there is an international airport and a large bus station with a huge number of flights. There is no railway.

Getting here is not difficult at all, here are brief instructions on directions to begin with:

• From the cities of Russia, the CIS and other countries. You can fly directly to Dalat airport, but this is a long flight with several transfers, so it makes sense to fly to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Nha Trang, fly from there or go to Dalat.
• From Ho Chi Minh City or Ho Chi Minh City Airport. You can fly, take a taxi (comparable to tickets, but mono to save in a group), or by bus with a transfer through the city center.
• From Hanoi. It is best to fly. In extreme cases, you can get to Nha Trang by train or bus and change to a bus to Dalat there.
• From Nha Trang. Very often and there are a lot of buses, only 4-6 hours on the way, but only during the day.
• From Mui Ne/Phan Thiet. Buses run several times a day from 05:00 to 15:00.
• From Fukuoka. By plane with a transfer through Ho Chi Minh City airport, or arrive in Ho Chi Minh City and then taxi or bus.
• From Vung Tau. Futa Bus sleeper buses run several times a day, including comfortable night buses.
• From Da Nang and Hoi An. There are direct flights from Da Nang. It is also possible by bus, there are convenient overnight, 16-20 hours on the way.

And now in detail about each method:

By plane

30 kilometers from Dalat is the international airport Lien Khuong / Lien Khuong International Airport (Dalat airport on the map). It operates flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Haiphong, as well as international flights from neighboring countries. There is no way to get directly from the Russian Federation and CIS countries, but there are convenient flights with transfers.

You can find flights to Dalat, including with a transfer, using the search form from Aviasales or to Trip.com :

Minimum prices for tickets from Moscow to Dalat:

Minimum prices for flights from Russia to Dalat:

How to get from Dalat Airport to the hotel

A taxi from the airport to the city center will cost you 250,000(9.61 rubles, see currency of Vietnam, exchange rate). You can take a taxi when leaving the airport in the parking lot (but you need to bargain), use an official taxi, order through the Grab or Maxim applications. The official taxi counter is located at the airport in the baggage claim area. There you pay for the trip and get a receipt, with which you get into the right car on the street. Travel time is 30 minutes.

Taxi in Dalat

A cheaper way to get to the city is to take a bus from the airport, which will take you to the city center. They do not go to the bus station, but to the parking lot at the Ngoc Phat Dalat Hotel (that's where this parking lot is on the map). From here to many hotels in the center with a backpack can be reached on foot, or book a city taxi from 30,000 VND. Buses run quite often, the fare is 40,000 VND(1.54 rubles). Bus tickets are sold at the counter in the baggage claim area (ask shuttle bus service) or purchased at the entrance to the bus. Tickets are sold more expensive at the airport counter. It is better to hurry up and buy tickets quickly, otherwise there is a chance not to get on the bus. Travel time is 40-60 minutes. Buses run from 06:00 to 20:00.

By taxi or car from Ho Chi Minh City Airport

Sometimes it is more convenient and even cheaper to fly not to Dalat Airport, but to fly to Ho Chi Minh City International Airport and take a taxi to Dalat there. From Ho Chi Minh City, including from international airport, Dalat can be reached for 160 dollars. But be sure to bargain and negotiate the price before the trip. You can also order a transfer on the sites Kiwitaxi, Intui.travel or via the form:

How does the transfer booking works  see more >

Find the route

Book your transfer online

The driver meets you at the airport or train station

An even more convenient way is to rent a car at Ho Chi Minh City Airport and use it to get to Dalat. But to do this, you must have a good driving experience, since not everyone can handle road traffic in Vietnam, besides, you will have to overcome 300 kilometers, including along serpentines.

To manage a rented vehicle, you will need an international driver's license (IDP) that meets the requirements of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (learn more about renting a motorcycle and a car in Vietnam). These are the ones issued in the Russian Federation, and previously it was necessary to obtain temporary local rights, and no others were recognized in the country. Now you can safely drive with a driver's license issued in Russia. Just do not forget that the IDP operates only in conjunction with national rights, so you need to take both types of rights to Vietnam at once. You can get an IDP from the traffic police (traffic police), their cost / state duty is 1600 rubles. Taking exams for obtaining an MBA is not required.

The price for renting a car is still quite high, from $ 50 per day. Offices of international distributors have opened in the country, you can book a car with receipt at the airport:

• 🚗 Rent a car on Discover Cars (our choice in terms of price/quality ratio).
• 🚗 Rent a car on Economy Bookings (the lowest prices are most often found here).
• 🚗 Rent a car on LocalRent (best Russian-language support).

By bus

Bus to Dalat

The most economical way to get to Dalat from the cities of Vietnam is by bus. Just do not treat buses with caution or disdain. Buses in Vietnam can be very comfortable, you can even go lying down and sleep on the road. This method is also good because from the bus window you can look at Vietnam not only in tourist areas, but also the real Vietnam. The road from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat is considered very beautiful.

You can get to Dalat by bus from almost any popular tourist destination in Vietnam. The most popular tourist destinations are Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Vung Tau, Fanrang, Da Nang, Hoi An. Theoretically, it is possible to get even from Hanoi, but it will be a very tedious and long journey, sometimes even with a transfer. Therefore, it is better to go from Hanoi with a rest somewhere along the way, for example in Dalat.

All large long-distance buses arrive and depart from the main bus station of Dalat. This is a large bus station, located a couple of kilometers from the center (Dalat bus station on the map). Most of the flights here are operated by a large bus company FUTA Bus Lines, but there are others.

Bus station in Dalat

Inside the bus station

To get from the bus station to the hotel in Dalat on arrival or vice versa, you can take a taxi from 30,000 VND (it is better to order through Grab or Maxim applications), and some hotels can even be reached on foot. But the cool thing is that if you buy tickets at FUTA Bus Lines, then within the center they will take you to the hotel for free, and pick you up from the hotel to the departure station if you buy tickets in advance. They also pick up /deliver to hotels at least in Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City. Only for this you need to request this moment when buying a ticket, because we know from our own experience that they don't always talk about it at the ticket offices. You can buy FUTA Bus Lines tickets on their website https://futabus.vn / (but does not accept Russian cards), at the ticket offices of bus stations and bus stations, as well as at the company's offices in tourist areas, you can find them on the Google map on request Futa or in contacts on the company's website. It is not necessary to buy tickets in advance, you can safely leave for most destinations on the next or next flight right after the bus station, but it is still better to buy at least the previous day to guarantee the availability of seats.

In addition to the main bus station in Dalat, there are several other places for sending branded minivans of small companies from the tourist center from their offices or they pick up from hotels. Tickets for them can be purchased online at 12go.asia (does not accept Russian cards) or in street travel agencies and hotels.

You can also check the bus schedule to Dalat using the search form:

And now more about popular bus destinations:

• From Ho Chi Minh City and airport

  Drive 8-10 hours, cost from 290 00 VND (11.15 rubles). Buses run every 10-30 minutes around the clock.

  There are no buses from Ho Chi Minh City Airport directly to Dalat. But many flights depart from bus stations and from the tourist area of Ho Chi Minh city. It is most convenient to go from the tourist area, because there are several bus stations here and it is difficult to deal with them, plus you need to get to them. From the airport to this area is easily accessible by city buses and taxis, read more in our instructions here...

  In the tourist area on Famngulao Street (Pham Ngu Lao) from the side closer to the Ben Tan market, there are a number of offices of companies and travel agencies where you can buy tickets and leave immediately. There are minivans of small companies, but we traditionally advise you to go on large Futa Bus sleeping buses, their office is also there. True, Futa first takes you to one of the bus stations, where you will transfer to a large bus, so the time is longer than if you go straight from Fanmngulao in minivans, but that's up to you to decide.

• From Nha Trang

  It takes 4-6 hours to drive, the cost starts from 170,000 VND (6.54 rubles). Buses run only during the day from 07:00 to 19:00 every 30-60 minutes.

  From Nha Trang to Dalat, you can buy minivan tickets at street travel agencies, but be careful, check the prices. The fact is that there are a lot of Russian travel agencies working in Nha Trang, some of which dishonestly speculate on prices, i.e. they can sell you the same ticket two or three times more expensive than in a neighboring non-Russian-speaking agency.

  But even here we will advise you to go with Futa Bus. They also offer a free transfer from the hotel to the new bus station in Nha Trang (and it is now very far from the center), you only need to request it when buying. You can buy tickets at the ticket offices of the new bus station, and they also have two offices in the center near the tourist area of Nha Trang, here they are on the map:

  • Futa Office in Nha Trang, 176 TrầN Quý Cáp, PhươNg Sài
  • Futa Office in Nha Trang, 7. Hoàng Hoa Thám, XươNg Huân

• From Mui Ne and Phan Thiet to Dalat

  It takes 4-6 hours to drive, the cost starts from 220,000 VND (8.46 rubles). Buses run only during the day from 05:00 to 15:00 every 10-30 minutes.

  Several companies carry from Mui ne to Dalat. You can buy tickets at street travel agencies and hotels in the resort area of Mui Ne. In particular, take a look at Hanh Cafe, their office is located in the center of the resort area, they have everything. You can also check the schedule for 12go.asia , but they don't accept Russian cards there.

  There are also Futa Bus buses from Phan Thiet bus station, but only two flights a day and the place of departure is inconvenient. Therefore, calmly buy tickets at Hanh Cafe or another travel agency, and you will leave the hotel right away without any problems.

📅 Bus schedule to Dalat