Da Lat is located on the Lang Biang Plateau, southern area of the Central Highland of Vietnam. Da Lat is characterized by pine forests, lakes, waterfalls, beautiful flower fields and French architecture.
Da Lat City is 1475m in elevation and has a temperate climate. There are high mountains surrounding the city including the Lang Biang (2163m), the Elephant Range (1800m) and the Lapbe (1732m). The average temperature of Da Lat is around 18-21C and it’s never more than 32C in the city. With the ideal climate and the ever blossom flower fields, Da Lat has earned the nickname “The City of Eternal Spring”.
Da Lat was built into mountain resort area by the French and was planned to have been the capital city of former French Indochina replacing Ha Noi. Even though the plan didn’t come true, Da Lat had been home to many VIP in the French government, the Vietnamese King and the former President of South Vietnam Republic.
Traveling in Da Lat visitors can not only adore the fresh nature beauty and the temperate climate but also the colorful legends of ethnic people. For those that seek adventures, you can climb the Lang Biang Mountains and get the reward of the stunning panoramic view of the surrounding from the top.
Dalat abounds not only in wild orchids but also in land orchids (Địa lan) that is the kind grown in earthen vases.
Besides, biking in Dalat is highly recommended; it is a way to enjoy the natural beauty of Vietnam.
Dalat has few rivers and canals but many picturesque waterfalls. It takes tourists several days to visit all the waterfalls in the area. The famous Cam Ly Falls, only 2 km from the heart of the city as the crow flies, is high on the tour programs.
The Prenn Falls is also called Thien Sa, 13 km from south of Dalat, and is a pride of its people, who always advertise it to tourists in the first place. The falls are the first place to be seen by tourists, the first rendezvous between them and Dalat.
Standing before the Prenn Falls, man blends with Nature, and feels free from the earthly world. The water pours down from a height of 15 m (49 ft) like a white curtain hiding a frog-mouth-shaped cave inside which tourists will cross a small bridge and sneak behind the falls. Around the Prenn Falls are the Thousand Flowers Valley and green Pine Hills.
The Datanla Falls, about 6 km south of the city, cascades on two tiers of tone hemmed in by high rocky walls, creating a wild beauty. Come to Datanla Falls, tourists can do some activities as rock climbing, waterfall canyoning (water abseiling).
When traveling to Dalat City, tourists can not miss a visit at Tiger Cave Falls, which are named after the local legend of a ferocious tiger living in a nearby cave. There’s a huge ceramic tiger statue here, as well as one of a hill-tribe hunter. The falls themselves, about 14km east of Dalat, are set in a quiet pine forest, and are very photogenic. There are good hiking trails in the area so a 6-hour trekking trip with Vietnam Jeep Tours is considered as the must-do for trekking lovers to challenge themselves.
The Pongour Falls like as mystic picture, lies deep in a thick forest, 50 km from the heart of Dalat. It evokes primeval forests with the footprints of wild beasts that prowl and play there at night. Its water, falling from a height of 30 m, makes it one of the most picturesque waterfalls in Indochina. In the rainy season tourists can hear it even from a distance of 3 km.
If tourists choose one of the most charming falls to see in the morning, they should reserve the late afternoon for a visit to the Love Valley and the Than Tho Lake (Lake of Sighs), both are covered with dense pine forests.
More than in other cities of Vietnam, roads and streets in Dalat are rendezvous of lovers. Not only in the late afternoon, but even at noon, the mist, like a thin cloud, hovers over the roads and streets, making them look more eerie.
Taking the national culture as the background and assimilating the world culture, the tourist service of Dalat is striving to develop an elegant style-allying the antique and the modern receiving tourists. It is restoring its infrastructure, its existing hotels and restaurants, boldly transforming and upgrading them to keep pace with the advance of the modern world.
At this City, tourists can get up early in the morning to welcome dawn on the highlands. Opening their windows, they will have a breath-taking view of nature, and inhale the fragrance of wild flowers wafted by the clouds which fly in as lightly as silk yams.
Twilight on Dalat also brings many pictures and sensations. The silhouettes of mountains are dimmed while the fragrance of night rises up. It is the time of lovers. As a poet says, Dalat is a “city of honey- moons”, a “city of love”. The clouds, skimming the ground, reveal off and on couples of young lovers strolling on the roads, clasping each other.
In the morning, the Dalat market -a harmonious architectural work -gathers people of all ethnic origin, wearing multicolor traditional costumes, and coming from surrounding villages. Dalat abounds in fresh vegetables and fruits, which are piled up like mountains. One of the most appreciated of them is avocadoes which are rich in lipids, and strawberries which are much bigger and more fragrant than mulberries. Vegetables and fruits are daily sent by truck- loads from Dalat to Saigon. They are also exported to many countries.
When visit Dalat market, tourists can see and buy a wide range of art and craft articles made by the skilful hands of local people who have come here from various parts of the country.
These include fur clothes and hats, rattan boxes, handbags made of “ivory bamboo” tapes, pressed flowers, wooden logs for grafting orchid flowers, and especially engravings on pine wood with a “fire-pen” devised by a family still reserves the copyright.
Continue to explore this City, tourists can visit villages and hamlets inhabited by ethnic minorities such as the Mnong, Koho, Ma, etc. who live on hillside farming, hunting, gardening, coffee, tea and tobacco planting… They will keep unforgettable memories of the customs and ways and especially the village festivals of this Central Highlands area.
Many tourists have written their Vietnamese friends, saying that they still feel lovesick of Dalat with the wind rustling through the pine leaves, the roar of waterfalls, the chirping of birds, the clatter of horse hoofs, the pure and wholesome atmosphere… How they miss this mountain resort.
For more information about Dalat accommodation, click here.
Vietnam Jeep Tours is offering many adventure trips to those highlights of beautiful Dalat such as full day rock climbing tour, water abseiling tour, biking tours, and trekking tours which are daily attracting both local and foreign tourists. For more information about tour please visit www.vietnamjeeptours.com or www.trekdalat.com or contact via adventure@vietnamjeeptours.com / hotline: +84 909 602 370.
Related programs to Dalat:
Full Day Dalat – Rock Climbing at Datanla
Full Day Biking to North of Dalat
Full Day – Biking Off-road to South of Dalat
Hardcore Trekking at Tiger Cave Falls
Full Day River Rafting in Dalat
Full Day Dalat – Tuyen Lam Lake Kayaking
2 Days Dalat Jungle Fever Trekking
