Nha Trang Guide
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Nha Trang City

Rating: 4.4 / 5 — Our own score, not an average of guest reviews

Our own score, not an average of guest reviews

Six kilometres of beach in the middle of town. Read the city before you go anywhere

City centre

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Photo: Trần Đăng Khoa

Address
Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
Opening hours
No closing time
Price range
Free
Best time to go
February to August. Sunrise from the sand; for sunset you need height or an island
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Overview

Nha Trang is more compact than people expect. Almost everything a visitor needs sits along one road: Tran Phu runs beside the water for about six kilometres, sand on one side and hotels on the other. Walking the central stretch takes about an hour.

The layout to keep in your head. Mid Tran Phu is hotels and public beach. One or two blocks inland is the backpacker quarter around Hung Vuong and Nguyen Thien Thuat. Restaurants, tour desks, motorbike hire, and markedly cheaper than the front. The north end, over the Tran Phu bridge, holds Po Nagar and Hon Chong. The south end is Cau Da port, where the island boats leave.

The most useful geographic fact: the city faces east, so the sun does not set over its water. A real sunset needs height or an island. The flip side is that sunrise over the sea is visible straight from the sand, and that is when Tran Phu beach is emptiest.

The 2 Thang 4 square and Tram Huong Tower is the easiest landmark. Most directions here are given from it. Cam Ranh airport is thirty-five kilometres south, forty-five to sixty minutes by road. If you come by train, the station is inside the city, a kilometre and a half from the water.

Onwards from here: Trần Phú beach, the Trầm Hương tower, Đầm market. First visit: start with the first-time list.

Don't miss

  • Six kilometres of beach through the centre; an hour to walk the middle of it
  • The backpacker quarter a block or two inland, well below beachfront prices
  • The 2 Thang 4 square and Tram Huong Tower, the city's reference point
  • The city faces east: sunrise over the sea, no sunset over it

Practical tips

  • One street back from the front and the price of a meal drops sharply
  • Cam Ranh airport is 35 km away: allow 45–60 minutes each way
  • Island boats leave Cau Da at the southern end of Tran Phu, around eight
  • Tran Phu beach is emptiest at dawn and busiest on a weekend afternoon

Frequently asked

Which part should I stay in?

On Tran Phu if you want the beach outside the door and will pay for it. In the backpacker quarter around Hung Vuong if you are out all day: much cheaper, a few minutes from the sand, and noisy late.

Where do I watch the sunset?

Not from the beach. The city faces east, so the sun goes down behind the hills. You need a rooftop or an island. In exchange, sunrise over the sea is right there on the sand.

How long from the airport?

Cam Ranh airport is about thirty-five kilometres south, forty-five to sixty minutes. If you are staying on Bai Dai it is the reverse: close to the airport, far from town.

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