I wanted to write this Nha Trang Travel Guide to help travelers who visit my beautiful city of Nha Trang. I want them to discover new places, interesting tours and have a great time here. I’m also very practical and only want to write about things that I have experienced myself. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Nha Trang General Information
Nha Trang is a coastal city nestled between a chain of mountains and the sea. It’s mainly a resort town where many tourists come to enjoy the amazing beaches and the beautiful islands where they can dive or snorkel to their heart’s content!
Name: Nha Trang – capital city of Khanh Hoa Province
Location: South Center Coast of Viet Nam (447km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City >> 219km north of Mui Ne (Phan Thiet) >> 135km east of Da Lat >> 499km south of Hoi An >> 1,287km south of Ha Noi)
Area: 251 sq km
Time zone: GMT+7
Administrative division: 19 wards, 08 communes
Population: 480.000
Ethnic groups: Mainly the Viet (or Kinh)
Climate: The city has a tropical savanna climate with the dry season lasting from January to September and the wet season from October to December. Although climate change has affected the weather in Nha Trang, making it a little messier, it’s still one of the best destination to soak up the sunshine in Viet Nam, especially from April to July. By the way, during the wet season, heavy rain might cause flooding in the streets. If you stay in or around the tourist hub, there is a big chance you could do kayak racing on the streets!
The city rarely has big typhoons due to its unique geographical position: it lies in a bay protected by mountains and 19 big and small islands. But in 2017, Nha Trang was hit severely by Damrey – the biggest typhoons in the last 30 years which blew the roofs of thousands of houses, felled trees and electricity poles. But no worries, we are ok now.
Annual mean temperature: 25°C
Features: One of the leading holiday destinations in Viet Nam – Among the world’s most beautiful bays – Among the world’s most affordable places to retire – Diving sites – Popular destination of backpackers – Tourist city – Coastal city – Beach city – Luxury beach resort city – Party town
Telephone area code: (0258)
How To Reach The Town
The city is accessible by bus, train, cruise ship (Cau Da Tourist Habor) and air plane (Cam Ranh International Airport)
The quality of National Highway 1A is good so it’s easy to get to the town from the South or the North. If you go by sleeping bus, you have many choices like Phương Trang Bus, Hạnh Café, Phương Nam, Nam Phương, Trà Lan Viên, Huỳnh Gia, Xe Nhà, Cúc Tùng, Liên Hưng but the best one for foreigners is The Sinh Tourist because their staffs can speak English and their offices are located in the cities’ tourist hubs. A note on using those buses: avoid if you are taller than 5’10’’! You won’t be able to lie down comfortably and the way from Ho Chi Minh can take between 08 and 10 hours.
The provincial road 723 from Da Lat is a little bit rough. Be aware that your risk encountering landslides during the rainy season. In 2016, two major landslides happened and were pretty serious: rock falling that caused traffic interruptions for several days. In 2017, the rainy season was even worse with one fatal accident caused by flood waters. Outside of the raining season, the top of the pass is usually foggy and the temperature drops significantly. It is suggested that you make sure your lights are on at all time and don’t forget to bring a raincoat or jacket.
Currently the number of passenger trains seems to be decreasing due to the appearance of low cost airlines. But traveling by train is still a unique experience in Vietnam. The coastal track North or South of Nha Trang offers some of the most beautiful views of the sea and the price is still reasonable.
Starting in May 2017, Sai Gon Railways Joint Stock Company put into operation NH1, NH2 running Nha Trang – Da Nang – Hue. This is called low cost train with the purpose of developing tourism of central coastal localities.
From Jan 2018, the Vietnam Railway has also put into operation six North-South trains, the SE4. Those trains have some very high-class luxury saloons and are equipped with mattresses, TV, reading lamp, USB charger etc and also got staffs speak English. Read more
Before to 2004, Nha Trang Airport was located in the center of the city at 86A Tran Phu. For safety reasons and long-term development, the airport was moved to Cam Ranh – which was a US military airport during the Vietnam war. In 2007, it was expanded and upgraded to an International Airport.
Cam Ranh International Airport ( IATA: CXR – ICAO: VVCR) offers direct flights from Nha Trang to Saigon, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue, Hai Phong, Vinh, China, Korea, Russia, Malaysia etc. To check the schedule, you can visit Skyscanner.com and buy tickets online. If you want to get cheaper tickets, 0vnd ticket or special offers, please follow the fan page of Vietjet, Jetstar, Vietnam Airline or AirAsia, they almost always offer some kind of promotion.
Going from Cam Ranh Airport to the Nha Trang city center takes about 40 minutes by taxi or 60 minutes by shuttle bus for a distance of 35km. The information of bus and taxis as below:
Shuttle bus:
– Dat Moi Bus (white-yellow bus) – 55.000vnd/ pax
– Bus route from Nha Trang – Cam Ranh International Airport: Bus station (10 Yersin street) – Hoang Hoa Tham – Le Thanh Ton – Nguyen Thien Thuat – Tran Quang Khai – Tran Phu – Hoang Dieu – Nguyen Duc Canh – Nguyen Tat Thanh – Cam Ranh International Airport. Cam Ranh
– Bus route from International Airport to Nha Trang: Cam Ranh International Airport – Nguyễn Tat Thanh – Nguyen Đuc Canh – Hoang Dieu – Tran Phu – Biet Thu – Hung Vuong – Tran Hung Dao – Bus station (10 Yersin Street)
Taxi:
You can take any taxi at the gate of the airport with fixed price. The trustworthy ones are: Mai Linh Taxi (green); Asia Taxi (yellow), Quoc Te Taxi (blue-white), Vinasun (white)
In addition to the above ways of transportation, international tourists can also come to Nha Trang by cruise ship. Nha Trang welcomes around 10 multinational cruises each year. The cruises usually anchor at Cau Da tourism habour within 06 to 08 hours (from 7h00 to 15h00) so that the passengers can visit the town and do some shopping.
If you want to do a day trip to discover the countryside, city tour or to have local meal with local guides, you can book the trip on withlocals.com – a peer-to-peer marketplace where local people offer experiences and their skills to travelers.
Accommodation
Nha Trang has many types of accommodations for you to choose, from high-end to affordable, depending on your finances and needs
According to my classification, there are the following types: Resorts; 4 to 5 stars hotels; 1 to 3 stars hotels; Mini hotels & Guest Houses; Capsule hotels & Dorm; Homestay; Apartments; and Villas.
The cheapest is the dorm, from 70.000vnd / person (3$) and the highest is up to a thousand dollars. You can refer and book through online booking pages like Booking.com or Agoda.com. Room rates during weekends or on Vietnamese holidays will sometimes go up in price compared to weekdays.
You also can find some great deals on two Vietnamese booking sites: Ivivu.com and Vntrip.vn. Ivivu usually has great resort deals including return plane tickets but their site doesn’t offer an English version while Vntrip offer great hotel deals with some features like cheaper than cheapest price; free airport pick up (for the bookings from 1.500.000vnd ~ 70$) and free support available 24/7. The site has an English version.
For the type of accommodations such as apartments, villas or houses for long term renting… you can follow or post some Facebook Groups, which are very useful and a great source of information: Nha Trang Advertising, Nha Trang Expats & Locals; Nha Trang Expat’s jobs and accommodation; Nha Trang Home Realty
What & Where to Eat
Although Nha Trang is not a big city like Saigon or Hanoi, the richness of its cuisine is impressive. Come to Nha Trang, you can enjoy local cuisine (original dishes of Nha Trang), regional cuisine (dishes imported from other provinces), or international cuisine (restaurants specializing in Asian, American and European dishes)
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