Things to Do in Da Nang, Vietnam: Walking Guide

Da Nang is a coastal city shaped by the Han River, Cham heritage and its position in central Vietnam. The city is worth visiting for its museums, bridges and nearby historic sites, including the ancient sanctuary of Mỹ Sơn and the old trading town of Hội An. Neywo has a free audio guide for Da Nang with 20 narrated places.

What to see in Da Nang

Museum of Cham Sculpture

The Museum of Cham Sculpture, near the Han River, houses the world’s largest collection of Cham sculpture. Its origins go back to a proposal made in 1902 by the EFEO’s Department of Archaeology, and the first building opened in 1919.

Archaeologist Henri Parmentier played an important role in its creation, while French architects M. Deleval and M. Auclair designed the original building with traditional Cham elements. Later galleries displayed works from Mỹ Sơn, Trà Kiệu, Đồng Dương and Tháp Mẫm. A two-storey wing added in 2002 provided more space for exhibitions, storage, a library and a restoration workshop.

The museum is one of the clearest places to begin understanding the Champa civilization and the art found across central Vietnam.

Zone 5 Military Museum

On Duy Tân Street, the Zone 5 Military Museum traces Vietnam’s long history of resistance. Its displays cover the Chinese occupation, the First Indochina War against France, the Vietnam War and the continuing dispute with China over the Spratly and Paracel Islands.

Artifacts and documents bring together these different periods of Vietnamese history. The museum is also one of the stops on Neywo’s walking route through Da Nang.

Dragon River Bridge

Dragon River Bridge, or Cầu Rồng, crosses the Han River in the form of a steel dragon. Measuring 666 metres long and 37.5 metres wide, it has six lanes and provides a direct route between Da Nang International Airport, the city’s main roads and the My Khe and Non Nuoc beaches.

Construction began on 19 July 2009, and the bridge opened to traffic on 29 March 2013. Its dragon can breathe fire and water during a show held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m., as well as on major holidays. The bridge is described as the world’s largest dragon-shaped steel bridge.

Han River Bridge

Han River Bridge is another prominent crossing in the city and one of the five narrated stops on Neywo’s “Dragons, Roosters and Cham Gods: Da Nang’s Han River” walk. Together with Dragon River Bridge, it shows how closely Da Nang’s urban identity is connected to the river.

Da Nang Cathedral

Da Nang Cathedral stands in the Hải Châu ward at 156 Trần Phú. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Da Nang and is also known locally as the Rooster Church.

The nickname comes from the rooster statue placed on top of its bell tower. The cathedral was originally called Nhà thờ Tourane and remains a symbol of Catholicism in Da Nang.

Mỹ Sơn

Mỹ Sơn is an archaeological site in a valley between two mountain ranges, a short drive from Da Nang. The UNESCO World Heritage site contains more than a hundred ruined Hindu sanctuaries built by the Champa civilization between the 4th and 13th centuries.

Its red-brick towers form an architectural ensemble dedicated chiefly to Shiva, known locally as Bhadreshvara. For almost a thousand years, Cham kings held religious ceremonies in the valley, which also served as a burial ground for Cham royalty and national heroes.

A week of US bombing during the Vietnam War damaged much of the complex, but Mỹ Sơn remains Vietnam’s foremost Shaiva Hindu temple site. Its scale and significance have led to comparisons with Angkor Wat and Borobudur.

Golden Bridge

The Golden Bridge, or Cầu Vàng, is a pedestrian walkway in the Bà Nà Hills resort. It spans 150 metres and links the cable-car station with the resort’s gardens, creating a high viewpoint over the surrounding landscape.

The bridge is held by two giant stone-like hands made from fibreglass and wire mesh. It stands at roughly 1,414 metres above sea level on Bà Nà mountain and opened to the public in June 2018 after construction began in July 2017.

Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum

The Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum is in Hội An, making it a possible addition to a wider central Vietnam itinerary from Da Nang. It celebrates Vietnam’s ethnic diversity through large-scale portraits, traditional costumes and recorded personal stories.

The museum opened on 1 January 2017 as part of Réhahn’s Precious Heritage Project, begun in 2010 to document Vietnam’s ethnic communities. By 2020, Réhahn had photographed and documented all 54 officially recognized ethnic groups, while continuing to research additional subgroups.

Da Nang International Airport

Da Nang International Airport is the main air gateway to Vietnam’s central region and lies a short drive from the city centre. It is Vietnam’s third international airport.

The airfield was built between 1932 and 1935 and later served as Danang Air Base during the Vietnam War, from 1959 to 1975. During that period, Agent Orange was loaded there, leaving contaminated soil that led to a major U.S.-led cleanup effort beginning in 2012.

Da Nang’s place in central Vietnam

Da Nang provides a base for discovering several important places in central Vietnam. The former province of Quảng Nam, home to both Hội An and Mỹ Sơn, merged into Da Nang on 12 June 2025. The region’s history also includes the Champa civilization, Vietnamese imperial rule and the trading connections that shaped Hội An.

For travellers continuing through the country, Hue lies nearby to the north, while Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City offer further stops to the south. Hanoi is another major destination for exploring Vietnam from north to south.

Explore Da Nang with Neywo

Neywo’s free Da Nang audio guide includes 20 narrated places and one walking tour: “Dragons, Roosters and Cham Gods: Da Nang’s Han River”. The walk covers 5.02 km, takes about 100 minutes and has five stops: Zone 5 Military Museum, the Museum of Cham Sculpture, Dragon River Bridge, Han River Bridge and Da Nang Cathedral.

It works as a Da Nang self-guided walking tour: the app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages. Download Neywo and explore Da Nang with the city’s history unfolding as you walk.