By Vy Truong- Travel expert (16.06.20)

Dalat, regarded as "The city of eternal spring," has become a popular destination for tourists in recent years. Dalat makes an impression on tourists by the magnificent natural beauty of the mountains, hills, and by the friendly local people and its idyll.

No matter how much time you are in Dalat, you may find it is not enough to discover Dalat. However, if you only have one day in this charming city, you should consider which attractions to visit. You can refer to three options of the best itinerary for one day in Dalat below that cover both the city and its outskirts. They are more popular classic tours that can fit anyone: a couple, a family, or a group of friends. One can do these options as a private Dalat day tour or joining a small group tour. Of course, if you would like to mix and match these options, you can always have an ideal Dalat customised tour the way you want.

Option 1: Dalat one-day city tour

Dalat one-day city tour is the tour in which you can discover the famous attractions inside Dalat city. It is the most suitable routine for you as it does not take a lot of time to transfer from one place to another. With this itinerary, you will have the chance to visit six attractive and famous attractions, including:

• Robin Hill & Dalat Cable Car Station
• Tuyen Lam Lake
• Truc Lam Monastery
• Datanla Waterfall
• Bao Dai Palace
• The St Nicolas De Bari Cathedral

Our itinerary will start with Robin Hill & Dalat Cable Car Station. Robin Hill is located right next to Prenn Hill with airy space. Standing in the hill's peak, you will be able to admire a panoramic view of Dalat city. Then, from the mountain, you can take the Cable car to Truc Lam Zen Monastery. The cable car system has a total of 50 cabins in different colors. Staying in the cabin and sightseeing the city with thousands of flowers blooming, crossing the lush green pine forest will be exciting.

The cable car will take you to the next attraction, Truc Lam Monastery. Dalat's Truc Lam Monastery is one of the three largest monasteries in Vietnam. You can see the beautiful scenery and learn about the Buddhist system in Vietnamcoming to the monastery. The favorite highlight of this Truc Lam monastery is the flower garden in front of the main hall. In the beautiful flower garden, you can find many precious flowers such as purple Sims, Australian cotton, Phu Dung, etc. All types of flowers are collected and grown by monks and nuns inside the interior.

You can transfer to Tuyen Lam Lake, the most extensive freshwater lake in Dalat, after visiting Truc Lam Monastery. Tuyen Lam lake has a lot of small oases, surrounded by pine forests and winding roads. The lake is regarded as the most beautiful lake in the South due to its pristine, tranquil beauty and crystal jade water all year round. Coming to Tuyen Lam Lake, you can take a boat around and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere here.

Tuyen Lam lake

Leaving Truc Lam Monastery, let's move to Datanla Waterfall. It is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Dalat. Coming to the waterfall, you will be astonished by the poetic scenery of nature. To see the fall's full stunning view, you will have to climb the steep stairs with lots of sidesteps. Although it takes time, you will have a memorable experience. Besides sightseeing, you will have a chance to join the adventurous games only found in Datanla Waterfall. They include roller coaster ride, high rope course, and kayaking through the fall.

The next attraction in the one-day Dalat city tour is Bao Dai Palace. Bao Dai Palace is one of three villas of Bao Dai King in Dalat. This place is where Bao Dai King stayed and worked, located about 2 km from the Dalat center. The large building remains in the middle of the pine hill, surrounded by an elegant flower garden, with a serene, harmonious lake. Palace III is among favorite places to visit in Dalat. You will be amazed at the perfect combination of contemporary architecture and beautiful nature in coming to the Palace. You will see the space, decoration inside being kept untouched as the time when Bao Dai King stayed here.

St Nicolas De Bari Cathedral, also called Chicken Church, will be your last attraction in the day. The church is so-called as there is a chicken statue on the top of the bell tower roof. The work of architecture built from the ancient times is the biggest church in Dalat with a length of 65 meters and a height of 47 meters, facing Lang Biang mountain in the front.

Option 2: Dalat Lang Biang Mountain Tour

View from the hike on Lang Biang mountain.

Lang Biang Mountain tour is also worth recommending as an excellent family tour in Dalat. For active families who are seeking a soft adventure tour, this is an ideal option. During this tour, you can visit the famous Lang Biang Mountain, vegetable farm, Van Thanh Flower Garden, Strawberry, garden, and Linh Phuoc Pagoda.

Let's start your day with Lang Biang Mountain. This mountain is the highest in Dalat. It is 12 kilometers to the North from the Dalat city center. When coming to Lang Biang mountain, you can choose to climb about seven to eight kilometers, which will take you one to two hours, or you can travel by jeep cars. For more active travelers, climb up the hill is a good option as you can not only admire the glorious mountain views. For those who want a more relaxing adventure, the jeep ride is to save your energy to participate in other activities.

Lang Biang is at an altitude of 2167m above the sea. No matter what you are standing in Dalat, you can see the mountain with three prominent peaks, including Rada peak, Lang Peak, and Biang Peak.

Visiting Lang Biangg, you will feel like being lost in the paradise with rows of pine trees and wildflowers on both sides of the road. The higher you go, the wider the landscape becomes. The sky with clouds floating, the fog covering the hill, is the gorgeous scenery. Your experience will be more enjoyable if you reach a peak when the sun goes down behind the mountain.

Next, you will move to the Dalat vegetable farm. Dalat is known as the land of flowers and a destination of fresh and delicious vegetables. Thanks to fertile soil conditions, cool climate all year round, the plants in Dalat can grow well. Many tourists are delighted to visit Dalat's well-kept vegetable garden. Coming to the farm, you can pick vegetables on your own.

Flower gardens are one of the unique attractions in Dalat. You can find flowers in most of the corners of Dalat. Van Thanh Flower village is among the attractions you can find varieties types of flowers. Van Thanh Flower village is 3 kilometers from the city center. You will be overwhelmed in flower blooming all year round. Due to suitable climate and excellent care techniques, the artisans in the village have transplanted, crossbreed to create new varieties types of flowers with more beautiful and elegant colors. Van Thanh is encased in glass houses to avoid harsh sunlight, strong winds when it rains heavily. The glass cage will protect those blooming flowers. Let's visit and immerse yourself in the color of velvet roses, lilies, lotus petals, white daisies, carnations, gerberas, etc.

Together with vegetable and flower gardens, in this tour, you will also have a chance to visit strawberry gardens in Dalat with a large scale and modern technology to grow and care. The more you look and go around the garden, the more you are attracted by the ripen red strawberries. You can pick your fruits and enjoy them directly in the garden.

The last attraction in the itinerary is the Linh Phuoc pagoda. It is also one of the unique buildings in Dalat. While most of the other buildings are built from bricks, stone, cement, this temple was constructed from pieces of porcelain or cans and currently holding 11 records of Vietnam.

Linh Phuoc pagoda

Option 3: Dalat Waterfall Tour

Pongour Waterfall

Dalat impresses tourists by its magnificent and pristine natural beauty. Mentioning Dalat, tourists will think of the land of mist, mountains, hills, and waterfall. This Full day Dalat Waterfall tour will take you to visit three well-known waterfalls in Dalat: Pongour Waterfall, Prenn Waterfall, and Elephant Waterfall.

One of the most attractive destinations in Da Lat that visitors want to explore is the Ponguor waterfall. The waterfall is also known as a "seven-story waterfall" because this waterfall flows through a 7-story stone system with an altitude of nearly 40 meters. The ancient forest of 2.5 ha surrounds the Pongour Waterfall with rich and diverse flora and fauna ecosystem.

Going down to the foot of the fall, you will be overwhelmed by the magnificence and majestic sceneries of Pongour Waterfall at the height of 30 meters. No matter what season you come, you still have a chance to admire the water falling from above, touching in the stone. You will feel that you are immersing yourself in the magnificent picture of nature. When you wake up early and come to enjoy the waterfall in the dawn, you will catch up with the enchanting scenery of the sunlight shining on the water. You can also enjoy the sound of birds around, and the sound of water collided with rocks.

After visiting Pongour Waterfall, let's transfer to Prenn Waterfall. Prenn Waterfall impresses tourists by the mild and peaceful feeling it gives tourists. The waterfall is nearly 10 meters high and 20 meters wide; therefore, it is not as a rumble as other waterfalls in Dalat. Water slowly pouring, birds singing and wind blowing create a magnificent scene of nature. Prenn Waterfall is not only a sightseeing destination. You can take part in some activities such as sports boating on the stream, using a cable car across the waterfall, and sightseeing the view from above. Joining some folk games and activities of local people will also be an unforgettable experience on the trip. They include a crossbow, arrows shooting and drinking straw liquor with unique taste and way to enjoy.

Prenn Waterfall

The last waterfall we will visit is the Elephant Waterfall. Elephant Fall is one of the beautiful waterfalls of the majestic highland mountains with a height of over 30m, about 15m wide. You can see stones looking like the shape of the elephant in the foot of the waterfall and the forest. You will find a deep, mysterious cave full of mystery when you reach the foot of the falls behind the white waterfall. It is Bat cave with cliffs in strange shapes and colors. The deeper the cave is, the more interested and curious you are.

Elephant waterfall