Dalat was established as a hill resort at the beginning of the last century by Alexandre Yersin, who was attracted to its cool, spring-like weather, pine forests, waterfalls and lakes.  Dalat is an entire French town – railway station, cathedral, schools, shops, and villas – plunked down in the Vietnamese highlands. 

One beautiful architec is Bao Dai Summer Villa set in beautiful ground, with garderns and views. Another slightly more grand example of Dalat’s colonial architecture is the superbly restored Dalat Palace Hotel overlooking the central Xuan Huong Lake. On the opposite side of Xuan Huong Lake is Vietnam’s first golf course, Dalat Palace Gold Club, originally built for Emperor Bao Dai in the 1930s and recently restored; it is now one of the top courses in the region.

Dalat is a resort town, a favorite with honeymooners with attractions like the Valley of Love and droves of tourist tramping through the former French villas. The hills around Dalat are great for hiking, biking or breathing in that pine-scented air and a good spot to rest up for a few days and stretch those muscles attophied from minibus rides.

Dalat is known in Vietnam for its large vegetable farms as well as many varieties of famous flowers, you’ll find Dalat Flower Gardens with a modest showing of roses, camellias, lilies, and orchirds. A 10 kilometres from Dalat, at the base of Lang Bian Mountain is the original inhabitants of the Dalat area, The Lats. The rugged area offers some good opportunities for outdoor activities like hiking and rock climbing up Lang Bian Mountain. From Dalat the fertile plateau of the Central Highlands stretches northwards for hundreds of kilometres,  there are nine hamlets in the area, populated by Lat, Koho, and Ma tribes living in improved conditions in thatched-roof houses.

There are places of interest in the Central Highlands is the main towns of the Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and Kontum with huge of coffee plantations, traditional thatched, wooden stilt-houses of the Ede, Jarai, Bahnar, Rongao, Mnong and others are a feature of the region and an overnight stay in one of the villages is a memorable experience. One such village is Jun village on the shore of Lak Lake about 50km from Buon Ma Thuot. Here visitors can have a real Central Highlands experience with an elephant ride through the countryside, a cruise on the lake in a hollowed-out tree trunk known as a pirogue and spend the night in a village longhouse.

Dalat & The Central Highlands Highlights

Dalat for alpine chalets, pine forests, waterfalls and the best fresh vegetables in Vietnam

Mount Langbian for outdoor adventure

Jun Village and Lak Lake for elephant rides, pirogues and longhouses

Ethnic song and dance performances of the Montagnards at Pleiku

The farm and forest variety- the cultivation of coffee, tea, and cassava of Kontum

Buon Ma Thuot, the largest town and unofficial capital of the highlands.