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VietnamIs It Worth Going to Ba Na Hills: Park Overview and the Golden Bridge
A 45-minute drive from Da Nang, 20 kilometers to the west, lies Ba Na Mountain (Ba Na Mountain on the map). Its height is 1,487 meters above sea level. In 1920, a French resort was built on its flat summit, which became known as the second Da Lat or the second Sa Pa. A special feature of the mountain is that during the day, Ba Na experiences all four seasons: morning – spring, afternoon – summer, evening – autumn, and late at night – winter. Clouds only rise to the middle of the mountain, and the summit is almost always clear and warm. This place remains popular for rest and health restoration for Vietnamese and foreign tourists, as well as the Bana Hill Fantasy Park amusement park for children and adults.
Important: despite the heat in Da Nang, it's always 7–8 degrees cooler at the summit. Even in summer, you should bring a light windbreaker or sweater. During the winter months (December to February), temperatures can drop to +13–19°C, and during the rainy season (September to January), the summit is often shrouded in fog.
You can visit Ba Na Mountain as a day trip, preferably a full day. You can even stay at one of the hotels for a few days, but prices are very high. Here you can stroll among replicas of ancient buildings (the atmosphere and architecture of the old French resort are recreated), enjoy views from observation decks, visit the temple and the 24-meter seated Buddha statue, visit the wax museum, walk through beautiful themed gardens, play golf, undergo spa treatments, and much more. In short, this place is definitely worth visiting, though you'll need to bring plenty of money to see and try everything.
Golden Bridge Held by Hands – The Main Attraction and How to See It
The latest addition to the mountain was the opening of a new attraction in June 2018 – the Golden Bridge (bridge held by hands). This is a 150-meter pedestrian bridge built on the edge of a cliff, offering stunning views. The bridge's architecture is also amazing: it appears to be supported in the air by giant concrete palms (Golden Bridge on the map).
However, there are a few significant issues here. In the middle of the day, the resort is visited by many local tourists and guests from China. They occupy literally every centimeter of space, taking selfies everywhere and constantly, so forget about getting nice photos without them in your frame. Moreover, all the attractions are occupied by them, and they cut in line without ceremony, and if you don't do the same, you might not get to ride any of the carousels. To avoid this, you need to arrive early, before they start bringing them in on large tourist buses.
You can reach the summit of Ba Na via the cable car, which, by the way, is one of the brightest attractions of this resort. Until 2010, this was the highest cable car in the world, listed in the Guinness Book of Records (now the longest cable car is in Armenia at 5.4 kilometers). Its length is 5,042 meters, height is 1,291 meters above sea level. The ascent takes 15 minutes. Now there are 5 cable cars in total: three for going up (arriving at different points) and two for moving between parts of the resort.
🌐 Official website: https://banahills.sunworld.vn/en/
🕐 Opening Hours
The main operating hours of the cable car are from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Individual attractions and sights on the mountain operate on their own schedules.
During the peak dry season (February to September), some routes may start as early as 7:00 AM. We recommend checking the current schedule on the official website on the day of your visit (link above). Also consider the weather factor, as the cable car may stop operating in bad weather, especially during the rainy season (October to December). In any case, we strongly advise visiting the mountain in sunny weather, as it's difficult to take good photos on cloudy days.
💵 Entrance Fee / Ticket Prices
Many different tickets are offered, from the cheapest entry with just the cable car to comprehensive tickets with transfer, dinner, and entertainment. Tickets are sold at the cable car station at the bottom and include ascent/descent, access to the amusement park, and the bridge. You can also buy tickets online on the official website and many other sites, but Russian cards are only accepted on Trip.com.
Minimum ticket prices on the official website:
- Adults – 1,000,000 VND / 38.2 USD
- Children 100–140 cm tall and seniors over 70 – 800,000 VND / 30.56 USD
Prices often change; check on the official website or on the spot.
Discounted tickets to the mountain and bridge with payment via Russian cards or SBP can be bought on the aggregator Trip.com. For example, you can currently buy an adult ticket for 970,000 VND. Also pay attention to combo tickets, which can also save you a fair amount. For example, a ticket for two adults and one child can be bought for 2,400,000 VND.
🚶 How to Get There
Ba Na Mountain is located 20 kilometers from Da Nang and 60 kilometers from Hoi An (Ba Na Mountain on the map). A cable car leads to the park at the summit and the Golden Bridge, and it's included in the entrance ticket price.
At the lower cable car station, you need to buy a ticket or pass through the turnstiles with an electronic ticket, and then go up via one of three routes. Keep in mind that one of the cable cars goes directly to the very top of the resort, and from there you'll need to transfer to another short section to reach the bridge, so it's better to choose the right one right away to avoid extra transfers. But even if you get confused, there's no problem – you can transfer and go anywhere at any time for free.
In turn, you can get to the Ba Na Mountain ticket office and cable car in several ways:
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With an Excursion
It's easiest and cheapest with an excursion from Da Nang, Hoi An, or Nha Trang. You can buy excursions at hotels, street agencies, or online:
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By Rented Transport
You can rent a vehicle in Da Nang or Hoi An and drive here on your own. Just follow the navigator to the Ba Na cable car station (Ba Na Cap Treo), where there's free parking (cable car station on the map). You'll have to leave the vehicle there, as it's not possible to drive up to the top – the road is closed.
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By Taxi
A taxi ride to Ba Na from central Da Nang costs from 350,000 VND one way (13.37 USD) and from 620,000 VND round trip (23.69 USD) with waiting time for the car when booking at a fixed price at a travel agency or hotel. Via Grab, XanhSm, Maxim apps, you can get there for 300,000 VND one way (11.46 USD). We've covered how to use taxis in our article about Da Nang transport.
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By City Bus
City bus No. 03 goes to Ba Na from Da Nang. It departs from Da Nang Airport, fare is 30,000 VND. Runs every 15-30 minutes from 07:00 to 19:00. Check current information on the official city bus website here – https://www.danangbus.vn/roadmap.html. But the inconvenience is that you first have to get to the airport, and city buses to the airport run very poorly, so you'll still have to get there by taxi. Read more about Da Nang city transport, buses, and which taxi to use here.
Here are brief instructions on how to get here from other Vietnamese resorts:
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From Mui Ne or Phan Thiet
You won't be able to visit the bridge in one day; it's very far. You'll have to set aside 2-3 days with an overnight stay in Da Nang. You can get from Mui Ne to Da Nang by bus from Phan Thiet bus station, or buy a ticket directly from the Mui Ne resort area at street travel agencies – we recommend checking out Sinh Cafe. You can also get to Ho Chi Minh City airport and fly to Da Nang, or transfer to a train. In any case, the one-way journey will take at least one day.
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From Nha Trang
From Nha Trang to Ba Na Mountain is about a 6-hour drive, so theoretically you could visit even in one day. There are tours for this, or you can order a private taxi ride. You can also take buses to Da Nang (frequent), and there transfer to a city bus or taxi to Ba Na. And finally, there are flights from Nha Trang to Da Nang, but that will be more expensive.
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From Phu Quoc
Only by flying directly to Da Nang or with a layover in Ho Chi Minh City; there are no other reasonable options.