Ba Na Hills — Attraction in Quảng Bình Province

To begin with, one must ask — in the spirit of scientific inquiry — how so many of our fellow travellers come to confuse Ba Na Hills with Bach Ma National Park? It’s rather like muddling a military tattoo with a pagan woodland rite, or assuming the M25 to be a nature trail because it’s sometimes green on the traffic app. The difference is elementary: one is a fabricated Franco-Vietnamese fantasy where the trees are mostly decorative, the other is what the Romantics used to call “nature”.

Upon arrival, one is whisked upwards by a cable car of Wagnerian ambition, dangling in the ether like some mildly reluctant soul being hauled toward a minor celestial being. From there, the view opens out into a spectacle of such improbable grandeur that one momentarily forgets their arthritic knees have locked and are aching severely. Even Mandy, from Manchester, who’d thought she was in Cambodia, let out an involuntary “Ooh!”

At the summit you emerge in France, but France imagined by someone who had read about it once in Paris Match and decided to recreate it with the help of a Swiss chocolatier, a theme park consultant from Brentwood and a slightly drunk planning committee. The cobbled squares, the mock-turrets, the balustrades — all entirely synthetic, yet not without charm. It’s Strasbourg-by-moonlight, after a séance.

The soundtrack deserves a mention - something suspiciously adjacent to John Williams on a loop. It surges in as you admire a fountain or misplace your spouse. It lends the place a cinematic quality, though the film in question seems to hover uncertainly between Star Wars, The Sound of Music, and an ill-advised Life of Brian prequel set in Indochina.

The staff, however, are the saving grace. Impossibly courteous, composed, and unflappable, they tolerate the sort of Westerners who perspire publicly, massacre the local language (“cam on” pronounced as if it’s an Essex exhortation to get a move on), and assume that tipping fixes everything. These young men and women, with the forbearance of saints and the timing of butlers, smile through it all and deserve immediate canonisation. Their training must have been Jesuitical.

In sum, Ba Na Hills is ludicrous, overwrought, and utterly delightful. One leaves uncertain whether one has visited a resort, a hallucination, or a kind of post-colonial allegory - but one does leave smiling, and it lasts for...

We visited Ba Na Hills on a Friday during our stay in Da Nang, which was about a 30–40 minute drive away. Once we got to the drop-off area, we took a short 1-minute bus ride to the entrance and then walked to the cable car station. The cable car ride itself was around 20 minutes long and offered stunning mountain and forest views, definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

It was quite humid in Da Nang that day, but noticeably cooler once we arrived at Ba Na Hills. The French Village was absolutely breathtaking, it truly felt like stepping into Europe. No surprise it's such a popular spot, as it was packed with tourists. Pro tip: wear comfortable shoes because you’ll be walking 90% of the time!

Expect prices here to be much higher than in the city. We ate at a Chinese restaurant, but honestly, the bill could’ve easily covered the buffet we saw just outside. It’s a good idea to eat early or late to avoid the lunch crowds.

The Flower Garden and the castle at the far end were also beautiful. You can take the train back to the Pop Mart Castle area, which helps save your feet a bit. One of the most fun parts of our visit was the Alpine Coaster.. the line was a bit long, but it was worth it! You control your own speed, which made the ride even more fun.

Food overall was average.. not bad, but nothing to rave about. Next time, we’d love to stay overnight at the hotel to catch the views early in the morning before the crowds come in.

Overall: 4/5. Would visit again, but with an overnight stay next time for a more...

I'm not sure it worth the trip from SGN or Hanoï but if you pass by Danang or Hôi an you've got to get there. Only 30km away from Danang. You have to pat the fare to enter the Sun World parc to access the golden bridge. Of course do not dream to make photos alone on the bridge 😂 i did avoid to get there on sunday and prefered monday, since 9:00 am even if only 2 out of 5 cable cars were operating, the crowed was really there, not a surprise to me but i do not want to imagin what it could have been while the 5 cables cars were under operation ! Actually do not only go there for the golden bridge but to spend a whole Day in the hills where temperature is very mild and confortable, the sceneries are spectacular, you can eat and drink at very afordable prices even in the recommanded Michelin restaurant 😍 the french village is so... French 😊 a whole...