Is Golden Bridge Worth It? A Guide to Visiting Golden Hand Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam

Is Golden Bridge Worth It? A Guide to Visiting Golden Hand Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam

The Golden Bridge is one of the most popular attractions in Da Nang Vietnam. This guide will tell you all you need to know to visit it and help you decide if Golden Bridge and Ba Na Hills in Da Nang is worth visiting.

The Golden Bridge (Cầu Vàng) is something you probably see all over social media since it first opened in April 2018. It not only became a viral attraction in Vietnam but also put Ba Na Hills on visitors’ radar. It is a super popular day trip from Hoi An or Da Nang.

The Golden Hand Bridge is actually just one attraction at the popular theme park SunWorld Ba Na Hills. Because of its unique design, the Golden Bridge draws tens of thousands of visitors every month and is one of the most popular attractions in Danang, Vietnam.

If you are thinking about visiting the Golden Bridge in Vietnam, you will find all the useful information on how to maximize your visit and get the best photo at Golden Hand Bridge.

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Golden-Bridge-in-Vietnam-Visitor-Guide

Where is the Golden Hand Bridge in Vietnam?

The Golden Bridge is a 150 meter long pedestrian bridge inside a theme park called SunWorld Ba Na Hills located about 30 minutes (20 km) from Da Nang in central Vietnam.

Ba Na Hills is an amusement park as well as a resort perched on top of a mountain. The theme park has many different parts to it, and the Golden Bridge is only a small part of the theme park, albeit the most popular attraction there.

Besides the Golden Hand, there are actually a lot to Ba Na Hills, including the extensive cable car network, indoor amusement park and rides, spiritual attractions like teahouse, shrines, Linh Ung Pagoda, Bar Debay Wine Cellar, Le Jardin d’Amour Gardens, and the famous French Village.

French Village Ba Na hills Vietnam

How to get to the Golden Hand Bridge in Da Nang

It is very easy to get to Golden Hand Bridge either by yourself or with a tour. See below for all the options on how to get to Ba Na Hills to see Golden Bridge.

Visiting Golden Bridge (Ba Na Hills) without a tour

You can visit Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills without a tour.

From Da Nang (or from Hoi An), you can call a Grab (or taxi or private transfer) to take you to Ba Na Hills. The car will drop you off in the parking lot to the cable car.

Ba Na hills cable car

There are several cable cars that go up to Ba Na Hill, each will drop you off at a different spot. But if you are coming from the bottom of the hill, you will want to take the cable car to Marseille station, which is the closest station to Golden Bridge.

Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time or at the cable car station. But if you visit during the day there may be a long line to purchase tickets and ride the cable car, so purchasing online ahead of time is recommended.

The cable car takes about 20 minutes to go up and it is one of the longest cable car networks in the world. On a clear day you will have an amazing view of Da Nang from the cable car as well as an impressive waterfall on your way up.

Visiting Golden Bridge (Ba Na Hills) with a tour for a day trip

Most people who visit Golden Bridge actually visit with a tour as part of a day trip.

When I was at Ba Na Hills, I saw so many tour buses parked in the parking lot and there were a ton of Vietnamese and Korean tour groups.

There are various tours that you can take to visit Ba Na Hills like this tour from Hoi An (or this one from Da Nang).

With a tour you won’t have to worry about finding transportation and everything including cable car tickets will be taken care of.

Staying overnight at Ba Na Hill

There is currently one hotel at Ba Na Hills where visitors can stay overnight.

Ba Na Hills French Village

The hotel is located in the French Village in Ba Na Hills and you will still need to take a taxi or private transfer to Ba Na Hill cable car station and take the cable car to the hotel.

If you are staying overnight at Ba Na Hills, you get priority access to visit the Gold Bridge in the morning (and can probably stay slightly longer before park closing since all the tour people will have left by then).

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How much does it cost to visit the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills?

If you are visiting Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hill with a tour, your tour cost would include all transportation, hotel and some tours also include lunch in the price. Prices of tours are between $45 to $125 per person depending on the tour and where you are traveling from.

Ba Na hills cable car

If you are planning to visit Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills without a tour, you will need to pay for the cable car. If you are a visitor (and not a Danang local), the ticket costs are as follows and you can purchase tickets here.

  • VND 750,000 (USD 32) / adult
  • VND 600,000 (USD 26) / child (1m – 1.4m in height)
  • Free for children under 1m

If you are a DaNang resident you get a steep discount on the tickets.

Ba Na Hill Cable Car ticket

The ticket cost include entry to Ba Na Hills, 10% VAT, most games in Fantasy park (the indoor amusement park), funicular to Debay Wine Cellar and the gardens. If you want to visit the Wax museum it will cost an extra VND 100,000 (USD 4.5) per adult.

Even if you are staying at the Mercure French Village hotel at Ba Na Hills, you will still need to pay for the cable car but it is discounted. The hotel stay does not include cable car tickets or meals.

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Best time to visit the Golden Hand Bridge?

There are two things you need to take into consideration when deciding when is the best time to visit the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills, months and actual time of the day.

The best months to visit Golden Hand Bridge at Ba Na Hills

Since Golden Bridge is high in the hills at Ba Na Hills, it has a lower temperature than Da Nang which is at sea level. It also is more affected by cloud and rain than Da Nang or Hoi An.

The best season to visit Golden Bridge is when it is clear and not rainy or foggy. When it rains at Ba Na Hill, it gets extremely foggy (to the point where you can barely see the buildings).

In general, the best months to visit Golden Hand at Ba Na Hills is from spring to mid summer, from March to August.

You need to avoid visiting during rainy season which runs from September to December. During rainy season Central Vietnam gets heavy rain and it tends to get foggy when it rains up in the mountain so you won’t be able to see anything.

golden bridge ba na hills foggy
Foggy afternoon at Ba Na Hills

In addition, many blogs also recommend visiting Ba Na Hills between January and March because of the supposedly low rainfall, but that is not true! Perhaps every year is different but I was tracking the weather at Ba Na Hills from December to March, it was pretty much 90% rain during those months.

I visited Ba Na Hills at the end of February and it was so foggy I literally could not see anything. However starting March it seemed the weather became better with more sunny days, but there are still weeks of scattered thunder storm.

Now we know which months you should visit Golden Hand Bridge, let’s talk about the timing.

When is the best time to go to Golden Bridge?

The best time to visit Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills is early morning (first cable car up) and near closing time (right before last cable car down) if you don’t want people in your photos.

During the day starting around 9am all the tours start arriving and everyone goes to Golden Bridge since that is the most famous attraction at Ba Na Hills. You will be shocked at the crowd on that bridge if it’s a clear day mid day.

Hotel guests at Mercure French Village get priority early in the morning to visit Golden Bridge, it is actually the reason why we decided to stay overnight at Ba Na Hills.

Depending on the season, hotel guests will get 30 minute to an hour cable car access before the general public.

Golden Bridge Ba Na Hills
Golden Bridge at closing time

When we visited in February in the winter, the first cable car from the hotel to Golden Bridge was at 7:30am (the general public gets access at 8am). In the summer hotel guests can access 6am cable cars, way before the general public.

If you really cannot stay overnight at Ba Na Hills, your next best option is either try to get the first cable car up (go to the cable car station 30 minutes before to get tickets and be one of the first to line up) or try your luck around closing time hoping everyone has left.

Can you use a drone at Golden Hand Bridge?

You are not allowed to use a drone at Golden Bridge.

You may see photos of drone shots on social media of Golden Bridge but in reality you are not allowed to fly a drone and for good reason. You do not want to crash your drone into a cable car and cause any sorts of accident!

If you do fly a drone, security will try to chase you down, so don’t be that annoying Instagrammer please.

How to get the best photos at Golden Hand Bridge?

There really is no secret to getting good photos at Golden Bridge, but here are some tips:

Visit early or late to avoid crowds and visit super early or near closing time. The bridge is so crowded you literally won’t be able to get any decent shot during the day

Bring a wide angle lens (iPhone is ok). If you have a wide angle lens you can even take vertical shots. I have a 28mm-75mm lens, and I could not take a vertical shot, only horizontal

Ba Na hills golden hand bridge
Golden Bridge at 6:30am using wide angle lens

Wear something bright and flowy (if you are a girl). The Golden Bridge is pretty epic and if you want an epic photo you should try to dress the part. The floor of the bridge is dark so to look good you should wear something bright, like bright yellow, white, red or orange.

The dress I wore is here. You can buy different colors, the sunshine yellow is amazing for this shot actually.

Bring an extra long selfie stick. Maybe you have seen those 3 meter extra long invisible selfie stick for Insta360 that make it look like it’s a drone shot but it really isn’t (so you are not breaking any rules)? You can get those for iPhone/ Android as well (like this one). If it’s a relatively clear day, have your photographer use this and create a drone shot look.

Create some motion. The best photos I’ve seen at Golden Bridge are the ones where there is some sort of motion. It could be you are running, or your dress is flowing or you are dancing. The best photos are rarely those of someone just standing still. Be creative!

What other things to do at the Golden Hand Bridge?

Since Golden Bridge is part of Ba Na Hills amusement park, there is plenty to do there.

For attractions and photo opportunities, I would recommend the following:

Linh Ung Pagoda

Linh Ung Pagoda: At 1500m above sea level, Linh Ung Pagoda at Ba Na Hills is one of the 3 Linh Ung Pagodas that look after Da Nang City.

Le Jardin d’Amour Gardens: A series of 9 beautiful gardens with different themes brings the perfect photo opportunities on a beautiful day.

French Village Ba Na Hills
French Village

French Village: visitors can enjoy strolling through the replica of a small French village and get lost in its squares and alleyways (you will definitely get lost on a foggy day like we did!). However there is usually a wait at the various rides so you will need to have some patience.

Ba Na Hill Fantasy Park
Fantasy Park
Ba Na Hills Indoor amusement park

Fantasy Park: this indoor amusement park occupied multiple levels and is the perfect place to have fun for the entire family. There are rides that adults can enjoy and even a large indoor playground for kids.

Wax Museum: the first of its kind in Vietnam, this wax museum requires additional fee to enter but displays many wax figures of world renowned individuals.

Cable Car Network: the cable car network is the longest in the world, with over 5km in length. The ride up takes 20 minutes and you can enjoy the scenery of the Da Nang area. It is one of the most relaxing cable cards ride I’ve taken and we even saw waterfalls on the way up.

Ba Na Hills hot pot
Ba Na Hills hot pot

Try the various restaurants: Ba Na Hills has an amazing selection of restaurants and cuisines. You can choose from buffets, hot pot, fried chicken, sushi, noodle dishes, bakeries and even Starbucks coffee.

Is the Golden Bridge (and Ba Na Hills) in Vietnam Worth It?

Well, that is the ultimate question isn’t it?

And as most questions in this world, the answer is it depends.

It ultimately depends on what you want to get out of visiting the Golden Bridge and Ba Na Hills in Da Nang.

To someone who wants an epic photo at the Golden Bridge and will not settle for anything less, then it’s only worth visiting the Golden Bridge if you can stay overnight, go super super early or stay late and hope for the best. Otherwise the bridge is really crowded and you won’t be getting the epic shot that you want.

If you don’t mind the amusement park being “artificial” and just want to see the bridge (and the other attractions) or if you have a lot of time in Vietnam then I think the Golden Bridge and Ba Ha Hills in general are worth visiting.

You should not visit Ba Ha Hills if you are expecting Disneyland level amusement park. Ba Ha Hills is no where comparable to Disneyland so if you have a very high standard then you will be disappointed.

I liked Ba Na Hills and I am very glad I got to see it even though it was foggy and not what I had hoped for. It was our first day in Vietnam after a 24 hour journey from New York City so Ba Ha Hills was a good first stop where we could chill especially since it was such bad weather.

I do think I would’ve liked it a lot more if weather was good though.

I have read forums and reviews of Ba Ha Hill and the Golden Bridge and there are always mixed opinions. Some people think it’s underwhelming whereas others had a good time.

If you have small children I think Ba Ha Hills can be quite fun. But if you think you are stepping into some sort of Disneyland equivalent or if you are going to judge that everything is artificial and “fake”, then don’t bother with Ba Na Hills.

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