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Morning mist filling a valley, seen through pine trunks on the edge of Đà Lạt

Sample journey · 9–11 days

Vietnam in the cool: pine hills, coffee country and Lắk Lake

Ho Chi Minh City, Đà Lạt, Lắk Lake & Buôn Ma Thuột

Photo: Jeremy Brady / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Many travellers know Vietnam from its coast: the bays, the lanterns of Hội An, the Mekong Delta. This route climbs inland to the Central Highlands, where at around 1,500 metres the air stays fresh all year and the hills are covered in pine forest, market gardens and rows of coffee. Đà Lạt, founded by the French as a hill station, still keeps its own mood: villas on the slopes, a lake in the middle of town, a morning market of strawberries, artichokes and avocados, and cafés where locals arrive in padded jackets.

From Đà Lạt the road descends into Đắk Lắk province, broad hills of red earth where much of Vietnam's coffee is grown. M'nông communities live around Lắk Lake, and around Buôn Ma Thuột the Ê Đê, whose longhouses on stilts still stand in the villages. The journey suits active travellers and couples who like to eat and to walk: there's canyoning, mountain trails and coffee farms, and the stays range from a cosy guesthouse among the pines to a simple, well-kept house by the lake.

The route

The journey

  1. Ho Chi Minh City
  2. Đà Lạt
  3. Langbiang & the coffee farms
  4. Datanla canyon
  5. Lắk Lake
  6. Buôn Ma Thuột
  7. Dray Nur Falls
  1. The Ho Chi Minh City skyline across the river in evening light

    01Day 1 · Ho Chi Minh City

    One night in the big city

    The long-haul flight usually lands in Ho Chi Minh City, so the first night is here. This route doesn't linger in the big city, but the evening is still worth having: a walk down the Nguyễn Huệ promenade towards the river once the heat eases, a bowl of phở in a plain neighbourhood place and your first Vietnamese coffee with sweet condensed milk. If your flight arrives early, there's time for Bến Thành market or the War Remnants Museum, a hard but illuminating visit. Most travellers, though, simply rest tonight, because the next morning brings a short domestic flight, about an hour, up into the hills. If you'd like longer in the city, an extra night fits naturally at the start or the end.

  2. A trader beside a stall of vegetables and fruit at a market in Đà Lạt

    02Days 2–3 · Đà Lạt

    A town that wears a jumper

    After an hour in the air and about half an hour's drive from the airport, Đà Lạt, and four nights among the pine-covered slopes. The first two days are for the town itself. Mornings begin at the market, where farmers from the surrounding hills bring vegetables, flowers and fruit you won't find in the lowlands; then a walk around Xuân Hương Lake, past the pink cathedral and the old railway station. Afternoons suit the villa streets, the flower gardens and the eccentric Crazy House, an architect's concrete fantasy that resembles a tree. In the evening, the night market smells of grilled rice-paper 'Đà Lạt pizza' with egg and hot soy milk. These days are light and slow: time to settle into the altitude, the cool and the rhythm of the hills.

  3. Sunrise over a grassy meadow, trees and hills near Đà Lạt

    03Days 4–5 · Around Đà Lạt

    Canyons, a mountain and a coffee farm

    Two more active days. One morning, canyoning near Datanla with experienced instructors: abseiling down wet rock, jumping into deep pools and sliding down natural stone chutes. It's a half- or full-day adventure for the fit and the brave; we choose partners on their safety standards, and outings may be cancelled after heavy rain. The next day, a hike up Langbiang, the highest peak around, with views over pine forest and valleys, or a gentler trail through the woods. In the afternoon, a coffee farm in the hills, where the family shows how arabica is grown, picked and dried, followed by a tasting on the veranda. If you'd prefer a slower pace, the canyon can be swapped for a cycling route through the flower-growing villages.

  4. A 'Welcome to Daklak' sign among green hills on the road into the province

    04Days 6–7 · Lắk Lake

    Dugout canoes on a quiet lake

    On the sixth morning, about four hours by road with a driver, down from the Đà Lạt hills into Đắk Lắk province. Pine forest gives way to red-earth hills and pepper and coffee plantations. Two nights by Lắk Lake, Vietnam's second-largest natural freshwater lake. M'nông communities live along its shores; with a local guide, and on the village's terms, you're paddled out in a traditional dugout canoe as the sun sets over the rice fields. The next day, a walk through the village and its longhouses, a bike ride around the lake and, if you wish, the climb to the hill where Emperor Bảo Đại kept a summer lodge. Elephant rides are sometimes offered by the lake; we don't include them. The stays here are simpler, the calm considerable.

  5. A waterfall pouring over dark rocks near Buôn Ma Thuột

    05Days 8–10 · Buôn Ma Thuột

    The coffee capital and the falls of the Sêrêpốk

    About an hour by road brings you to Buôn Ma Thuột, a town that calls itself Vietnam's coffee capital. Two nights here. The morning goes to the World Coffee Museum, housed in a building inspired by Ê Đê longhouses, then your first iced robusta in a local café, where strong coffee is drunk slowly. In the afternoon, an Ê Đê village on the edge of town, where a local guide talks about the longhouses, the matrilineal family tradition and gong music; we enter homes only when invited and follow the hosts' customs. The next day, the waterfalls of the Sêrêpốk River, among them Dray Nur, falling in a broad curtain over basalt, and a walk on a forest trail. On the last morning, a short flight back to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi and the connection home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Đà Lạt's markets, morning and night

    Highland vegetables, flowers, strawberries and evening 'Đà Lạt pizza': a town best understood through what it eats.

  2. 02

    Canyoning near Datanla

    Ropes, jumps and natural stone slides with experienced instructors, when water levels and weather allow.

  3. 03

    Sunset on Lắk Lake

    A dugout canoe, a M'nông guide and rice fields in the evening light.

  4. 04

    The coffee trail

    From an arabica farm in the Đà Lạt hills to robusta and the coffee museum in Buôn Ma Thuột.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a slower pace

    Instead of the canyon, bikes through the flower villages and pine-forest trails, and an extra night by the lake with no plans at all.

  • With teenagers

    Canyoning, the mountain hike and the canoes usually go down best with teenagers; instructors will advise on minimum ages.

  • In the coffee harvest

    Roughly from November to January the coffee trees turn red with cherries and the farms are busy picking and drying: a good time for coffee lovers.

  • With the coast

    From the Đà Lạt hills a road descends to the coast at Nha Trang or Quy Nhơn, and from Buôn Ma Thuột flights connect towards the Côn Đảo islands: four or five days by the sea round the journey off well.

Practical considerations

  • The Central Highlands' dry season usually runs roughly from December to April; from May to October afternoon rain is common, and canyoning is cancelled after heavy downpours. Nights in Đà Lạt are cool all year, so bring a warm layer.
  • Between Đà Lạt, Lắk Lake and Buôn Ma Thuột you travel with a local driver: the roads wind and landslides happen in the rainy season, so we allow more time than the map suggests.
  • In M'nông and Ê Đê villages we visit with local guides, on their terms, and always ask before photographing people or entering a home.
  • Domestic flight schedules change, and we check current entry requirements and travel advice before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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