Ba Na Hills — Attraction in Quảng Nam Province

So after queuing at the base station, I finally hopped on the cable car up to Ba Na Hills — and wow, the ride itself is honestly one of the highlights.

You’re floating through clouds, passing waterfalls, forests, and misty mountains. It’s long too — apparently, it holds the Guinness World Record for the longest single track cable car ride (I totally believe it, felt like a scenic dream that just kept going).

If you're afraid of heights, brace yourself, but it's really quite stunning.

Now, a bit of backstory: Ba Na Hills was originally built by the French in the early 1900s as a mountain retreat to escape the hot weather in Da Nang.

They built villas, wine cellars, and basically turned it into a mini Europe in the clouds. It was later abandoned and overgrown — but in the 2000s, Sun Group came in and transformed it into this massive hilltop attraction we see today.

Building this place must’ve been crazy tough — imagine hauling building materials through thick jungle and rough terrain. Respect to the engineers.

Once you reach the top, it’s kind of surreal. The first thing that hits you is the famous Golden Bridge — the one held by two giant stone hands.

It’s as beautiful as it looks in photos, but expect heavy crowds. Everyone’s trying to get that perfect photo, so it’s near impossible to get a clean shot.

Still, standing there with the cool mountain breeze and the view below is something else.

Then there's the French Village — it’s like you’ve stepped into a European town with cobbled streets, gothic-style buildings, fountains, and street performers.

It feels a bit theme park-y, but it’s fun and charming in its own way.

There’s a Fantasy Park too, if you're into arcade games, mini rides, and quirky indoor attractions.

I didn’t spend too much time there, but families with kids seemed to be loving it.

There's also a peaceful spot near the Linh Ung Pagoda where you can catch a breather from the crowds and see the giant white Buddha statue overlooking the mountains.

As for food — you’ll find mostly buffet-style restaurants around, which are fine if you just want to sit, eat, and recharge. The food's decent.

There’s also Beer Plaza, which had live music and was packed with people eating grilled meats and enjoying cold beers. Definitely more lively if you want to soak in the atmosphere.

Overall, Ba Na Hills is a mix of nature, history, and modern-day theme park. It’s super popular with both Vietnamese and international tourists, and I can see why — it’s not something you’d expect to find in Vietnam.

Just be prepared for crowds, a bit of walking, and some tourist pricing.

If you’re not going with a tour group like me, I recommend taking inDrive instead of Grab — it’s cheaper but note you’ll need to pay in cash.

Or you can try their local electric taxi brand Xanh SM, which I heard is cheaper too. After getting dropped off, there’s a free shuttle bus provided by SunWorld that brings you to the actual cable car station.

Totally worth a day trip if you’re in Da Nang or Hoi An. Just come early, bring a jacket (it gets chilly up there), and don’t forget...

What an amazing place. A must visit of course, if you are visiting Danang. From a 5.8 Km long cable car (it was once world's longest) taking you into the clouds, a replica of Europe at mountain top, would famous Golden hand bridge, varuous rides and live shows, there is plenty to do in a day.

It's basically Sun World amusement park at the top of bana hills. A return cab from city centre took 600K (30 SGD) Dong with unlimited time in the amusement park. We just had to call driver 40 mins in advance and he came to pick us back. I checked GRAB which was charging more than this for sure. It takes 45 mins from city centre took reach there. Tickets: 922K Dong (SGD 46) per person for adults. For locals it's cheaper at 582K only. Ticket prices vary a little depending on season and day of the week. PRO TIP: go for Ticket + Buffet combo. Buffet costs only 380K extra but this will make your day much longer and comfortable as you can take a nice break for lunch once tired walking around this enormous place. Once you have tickets you take a bus to go to Trolley base station and line up for the Trolley. And wow what a ride it is. You can see Han river frolicking below and then the Trolley keeps going up taking you towards clouds with panoramic views of the city behind. One of the best Trolley rides I ever had. First station is Marselle station where you see the the famous Golden bridge (Hands bridge). PRO TIP: It gets really crowded so go as early as you can to avoid crowds and also enjoy better weather. From here you can go down a bit to explore Flower garden and wine cellar and also enjoy beautiful toy train from La Jardin station. After exploring this area you can take another trolley from Debay station to reach Morin station. Here also there is plenty to to explore from French village, Saint Denis church,Beautiful Helios waterfall to lot of restaurants (you can have your lunch buffet here) to enjoying the Coasters (they are included in ticket) to Fantasy park. It's strongly advised to climb up to Ling ung pagoda, views from there are breathtaking. You can also visit the Lunar castle and pink castle where they also have two amazing 4D shows...free for you. Quality of visuals and effects is top notch. After a long day you can head back down by taking the Trolley. PRO TIP: Always carry an umbrella as it can get very hot even at hill top. Also outside Pop Mart there are various live performances by international artists. Check their schedule and attend one, its free. Lastly there is Highland coffee outlet at French village also, try their Phin coffee....

Although no one will listen to me: DO NOT GO HERE!

It's one of the top places to visit in Vietnam and I don't have the slightest idea why. But I'll take it step by step.

After paying not less than 40 $ you'll take the cable car up. Arriving on the mountain the best thing will be to your right: the Buddhist temples. Best? Yes, hardly any people and quite nice, though as plastic and fake as everything else here. Walk on through the "French village", an over-the-top, plastic interpretation of a middle age central European village. Each building houses a restaurant, all of them overpriced and probably with questionable quality.

And this is the core of it: you pay the high entrance fee just to get milked at each and every corner. Nearly everything will cost extra and everything that costs is overpriced.

The Alpine Coaster was closed - of course. Most cheaper food options, stalls here and there selling fast-food, were also closed. The only positive part of our visit was that we got vouchers for 2 beers each, at the Bana Brew House. Should've been 0,25 l, was more like 0,2 l, but you'll be thankful for it. And opposite to what's stated on the voucher you can't choose which kind of beer you'll drink, you'll just get one randomly (randomly = the cheapest).

It's a disaster. And if you think a family with children might have a better time here - only if your children like to sit at Starbucks or any random restaurant.

Finally, some statistics to support my claim: the map names 60 places of interest on the mountain. Of these are 23 restaurants, 8 hotels, 6 squares of some kind and most of the 23 remaining statues, pagodas or temples.

We've been warned by a fellow traveler that this is a terrible place but as everyone is so lyrical about it we thought he was exaggerating a bit. We should've listened to him instead. So, please, listen to me and hop over this, save both...