Nha Trang Travel Guide

In addition to having fun at the beach, visitors can visit Monkey Island, Ponagar Tower and enjoy delicious coastal dishes.

Nha Trang, a coastal city located in the center of Khanh Hoa province, has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. Blessed with beautiful beaches, bays, and many large and small islands, the city also has many scenic spots, sightseeing spots, entertainment venues, and resorts.

What season is Nha Trang beautiful?

The climate in Nha Trang is relatively mild, with a dry season lasting from January to August, without a cold winter. Therefore, tourists can come here to travel all year round. From April to the end of June, the weather is more sunny and hot, but not too hot. In September, it starts to rain sporadically, so it does not affect tourists' activities too much. From October to December, it rains more, possibly accompanied by cold air. This is no longer the peak season for domestic tourism in Nha Trang, so it is suitable for tourists who want a quiet vacation.

Move

Currently, Vietnamese airlines such as Vietnam Airlines , Vietjet Air, Jetstar, all operate flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang, via Cam Ranh airport. Bamboo Airways has flights from Hanoi. Ticket prices range from 1,400,000 VND to 2,500,000 VND. Cam Ranh airport is about 35 km from the city center. There are taxi companies here that pick up passengers for about 300,000 VND per trip. In addition, visitors can use bus route 18, priced at 50,000 VND per trip.

Nha Trang city seen from above. Photo: Efired/Shutterstock

Nha Trang city is not too big, the main road runs along the beach, so visitors should rent a motorbike to visit, especially if they want to enjoy local cuisine . Motorbikes cost about 100,000 - 150,000 VND to rent. Usually hotels will provide this service.

Hotel, resort

Tran Phu is a road running along the beach, there are many hotels for tourists to choose from. Some suggested hotels are Muong Thanh, Novotel, InterContinental Nha Trang, Sheraton Nha Trang, Lodge... With the advantage of being close to the beach and the center, hotels on this road cost from 900,000 VND per night. More high-end ones cost 2 - 3 million VND per night.

To save money, tourists can find hotels and homestays after Tran Phu. Specifically, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hung Vuong or Nguyen Thien Thuat streets. For tourists who love resort tourism, with private space, not close to the center, Amiana resort on Pham Van Dong street; Vinpearl Resort, Hon Tre or MerPerle are suitable choices.

Amiana Resort.

What to eat

In addition to seafood, the city also has many specialties and attractive dishes such as squid pancakes, grilled spring rolls, fish noodle soup, banh can, banh uot... Below are the addresses and places to eat in Nha Trang.

• Lac Canh Grilled Beef - 44 Nguyen Binh Khiem
• Thanh Da Goat Restaurant - 66 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
• Anh Sang Oxtail Hotpot - 126 Nguyen Khuyen
• Beefsteak, beef la restaurant Hoa - 9 Co Bac (only open in the morning)
• Ba Le Bread - No. 2 2/4 Street
• Aunt Loan Rice Cake - 16A Hong Linh
• Hiep Grilled Spring Rolls - 96 Luong Dinh Cua
• Small pan shrimp and squid pancake - 3 Tran Kim Hung
• Large Pancake - Dam Market
• Fish noodle soup - 24 Nguyen Cong Tru
• Oc Le - 76 Vo Tru
• Snail Alley 89/5 Van Don
• Son Cang Seafood Restaurant - 142 Pham Van Dong

In addition, there are also many coffee shops, lemon tea shops, milk tea shops, and sweet soup shops that are loved by many tourists and locals.

• Mrs. Nhi's Sweet Soup - 19 Phan Dinh Giot
• Son Juice & More Juice World - 102 Hong Bang
• Coffee and Beer Talk 1992 - 2/4 Street
• Sunday Coffee - 336 Da Tuong
• Coffee Shop 1925 Roastery - 27 Cau Be Street

Where to play

Nha Trang Beach runs along the city, just walk from Tran Phu Street to reach the beach. However, the most crowded place for bathing is in the area around Tram Huong Tower. The city's beach is rated by many tourists as clear, clean, with fine yellow sand.

Photo: Studio Flash/Shutterstock

The islands in Nha Trang Bay have their own beauty, with fishing villages, pristine beaches, the "kingdom" of monkeys and colorful coral reefs. Hon Mieu is known as one of the most beautiful islands in the bay, located close to the mainland. Here, Tranh beach stretches nearly 500 m, with one side being fine white sand, the other side being a shallow beach with many small pebbles. The sea water here is clear blue, especially gentle slope, suitable for swimming. Tranh beach is also a gathering place for a series of games, sea sports such as jet skiing, parasailing, banana floats, flyboards... Here, visitors do not forget to visit Tri Nguyen aquarium , with a giant ship design. Inside is a basement with 4 fish tanks. This is the main sightseeing area, gathering hundreds of marine creatures like a miniature ocean. On the 2nd and 3rd floors are restaurants and souvenir shops. Hon Tam is about 7 km southeast of the city from the mainland. This is an island with green forests, long sandy beaches and gentle waves, especially suitable for tourists who love resort tourism. Hon Chong is located on Pham Van Dong Street, about 3 km northeast of the city center. This is a complex of large rocks with various shapes, stacked on top of each other running from the high shore down to the sea. This tourist destination is also one of the most beautiful places to see the coastal city, with fresh, quiet air.

Hon Chong. Photo: Khoa Tran

Hon Mun is the most beautiful destination for diving and coral viewing, 12 km from Cau Da port. With the intersection of two hot ocean currents, the island has about 2,000 species of coral and many tropical marine creatures. Joining the diving tour at a depth of 6 - 8 m, visitors will admire the colorful ocean world and touch many species of stars, sea fish... Yen Island - Hon Noi , 25 km from the port, is famous for its wild and peaceful beauty. There is a double beach here, with a white, smooth sandbank with clear blue sea water on both sides. Visitors can see the entire sea view from the top of Du Ha mountain, with about 200 steps. Monkey Island - Hon Lao is a special attraction, with about 1,500 monkeys living in the forest. Walking around the island, visitors can encounter them anywhere. Most of the monkeys here are friendly to people, but visitors need to be careful because they often come close to steal food. On the island there is also a circus performance area with time slots at 9:30, 10:30 and 15:15.

Hon Mot Island attracts tourists by the peaceful beauty of a fishing village on the sea, with tiled houses covered with green moss and boats bobbing on the sea. Here, visitors will enjoy the fresh sea air and observe the life of fishermen. On the island, there are also many other activities such as scuba diving to see corals, jet skiing, glass-bottomed basket boats, parasailing canoes... Tourists traveling in large groups can rent a canoe for about 1,300,000 VND to visit the islands here. Some islands have entrance fees such as Hon Mun for 22,000 VND, Monkey Island sells tickets for adults at 144,000 VND and children at 72,000 VND. However, to save money and time, visitors should book island tours. Beach and game tours at Hon Mun - Tranh beach, or Hon Tam cost 450,000 - 600,000 VND. Mun Island diving tour costs 600,000 VND. In addition to visiting the island, the tours often include mud baths, lunch at the fishing village...

Museum of Oceanography The Museum of Oceanography is part of the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, established in 1923, located at 1 Cau Da. The museum includes a marine life domestication area, a natural disaster area, an artificial mangrove forest, a large marine life specimen area, oceanographic research equipment and intangible resources. Here, visitors will admire more than 20,000 specimens of marine and freshwater species. Some creatures are kept in glass tanks such as stonefish, lionfish, tube anemones... showing the diversity of Vietnam's marine ecosystem. In particular, the museum also displays an 18-meter-long whale skeleton and a Dugong specimen, caught in a fisherman's net in Phu Quoc in 2003. The entrance fee to the museum is 40,000 VND per adult, 20,000 VND for students and 10,000 VND for pupils.

Ponagar Tower This is a Cham Pa temple located on the top of a hill about 10m above sea level, at the mouth of the Cai River, now in Vinh Phuoc Ward. This is one of the largest Cham Pa cultural heritages in the country. The architecture consists of 3 floors, going from bottom to top by stone steps. Of which, the Gate Tower area no longer exists. The middle floor or the Mandapa front area is where guests rest and prepare offerings. There are 4 rows of octagonal columns, including 12 small columns outside and 10 large columns inside.

Photo: Khoa Pham

Following the steep steps, visitors will come to the temple tower area, including 6 red brick Kalan (temple towers), of which 2 towers have been destroyed, leaving only the foundations. The towers are built in the same style but differ in size, of which the northeastern tower is the tallest, about 23 m. The four corners of the roof are three miniature roofs decorated with many mascots such as elephants, swans, goats... Around the temple tower area, there are many trees for visitors to sit, rest and enjoy the cool air. In addition to pilgrimage and taking photos with the majestic ancient towers, visitors can watch the bustling boats on the river. Fairy Mountain Visitors to Nha Trang City, following Pham Van Dong Street to the north, to Duong De area, will see Fairy Mountain in Vinh Hoa ward, made up of three adjacent peaks, from 200m to more than 300m high. The destination is about 10km from the city center, often climbed by coastal residents to exercise or camp. The road up to Co Tien Mountain is not too difficult, children can also climb with adults, the time is about 30-45 minutes, starting from the foot of the mountain to the campsite on the first peak. The time to climb to see the sunrise is from 5:30 am and to watch the sunset from 3:30 pm. If you go by motorbike, you can park your motorbike at a local's house on Ngo Van So Street, the price is 5,000 VND/motorbike. There are tents, flashlights for rent here...

Camping on Fairy Mountain. Photo: Duc Hieu Media

VinWonders Nha Trang Park This is an entertainment and resort area located on Hon Tre Island, with a total area of ​​200,000 m2, connected to the mainland by a modern cable car system. The entertainment area is divided into indoor, outdoor, water park, aquarium, performing arts area, ocean movie castle and food court. Here, visitors have many options to have fun at the water park or experience thrills with games such as free fall tower, thrill swing, roller coaster... For families with children, don't forget to visit the movie castle or candy fort.

At the end of the day, visitors can experience the 120 m high Ferris wheel with their family to admire the majestic landscape of Nha Trang Bay.

The entrance fee and round-trip cable car ticket for adults is 880,000 VND, and for children from 1m to 1.4m, the ticket price is 660,000 VND. Customers over 60 years old get a discounted ticket price of 530,000 VND.

Orchid

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