Vietnam · the door
Da Nang is a doorway with a beach attached.
Hanoi is broth. Hoi An still sews. Da Nang is the airport, so use it, but don’t collect it. A third city is how a manageable week falls apart.
Practical first, then perhaps the water
First-time visitors land and start pinning Marble Mountain, a bridge that changes color, a second beach. That is a week with too many names. Hoi An is the chapter; Da Nang is how you arrived.
If your bed is in Hoi An, your suitcase does not need a night at the airport.
Decide
Is Da Nang a city to collect?
Usually not. It is the practical airport for Hoi An. Sleep near the walking you came for, or spend one night at the beach if your calendar has room. A third overnight bus from Hanoi is how you remember a sore neck.
Hoi An or the beach?
The lanterns, at human speed, if you let the tour vans have their own day. The beach is a chance to breathe out, not a second itinerary. Try both on the same rushed day and the week loses its shape.
Open-jaw?
Fly into the north and out of the center, or the reverse, if it saves a lost day. For the official e-visa, see Vietnam entry. We will not invent an airfare.
Can I skip staying in Da Nang?
Yes, if your bed is already in Hoi An. The airport is a doorway, and doorways are allowed to be boring. First days still begin with one base.
How to take it
Land, then go to the lantern street
Finish the e-visa before you go
Use .gov.vn only. Middlemen are a tax with a logo.
Sleep where the walking is
Hoi An if the lanterns are the point. One night in Da Nang only if the beach is your breather, not a third pin on the map.
Pay for distance once
From north to center, take a flight or one long journey, not three buses. Distance is the hard part.