2.27/5
135 reviews
Photo by Polina Rytova via Unsplash

Da Lat

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work

food

great

stay

center

motorbike

coffee

air

late

beautiful

longterm

cafes

tourists

issue

decent

pass

night

limited

terms

Da Lat is known for its consistently mild and pleasant weather, making it a comfortable year-round destination. The cost of living is low, with good value available on food and coffee, even at Western-style spots. The city has a laid-back, peaceful atmosphere that's great for relaxing or taking a break from busier urban life. It's surrounded by natural beauty and has a unique yogurt cafe culture that's a local specialty.

However, Da Lat presents key challenges for long-term digital nomads or remote workers. Internet can be slow and unreliable, and there are no co-working spaces available. While there are many cafes, few are quiet or properly set up for productivity. Accommodation choices are mostly geared toward tourists, and the city center can be very noisy. Sidewalks are often difficult to use due to obstacles or poor condition, making the city not very walkable. Roads are uneven, and motorbike travel isn’t particularly safe. Humidity during the rainy season can also be uncomfortable.

Overall, Da Lat is best suited for short-term visits or downtime. It's ideal for unwinding, but less so for those needing a focused remote work environment or long-term livability.

AI-generated summary of reviews
3 months ago

Da Lat is a beautiful place to visit, but I wouldn’t recommend it for long-term stays as a digital nomad.

First, there are very few cafes that are truly suitable for work. Most are filled with local tourists, and it’s common to hear crying babies or encounter people smoking inside, since many cafes are semi-open. The internet is not fast and can be unstable, with occasional full disconnections. There are no co-working spaces available.

Housing is another issue. If you don’t have your own transportation, you’ll likely need to stay near the city center. Unfortunately, the center is almost always noisy. It’s difficult to find a place with decent soundproofing. You’ll have to put up with all kinds of noise, including cars and motorbike engines, motorbike horns (they really like to use them here), large trucks that shake the whole building as they pass, barking dogs at night, and the sounds of neighbors moving, opening and closing doors, or taking showers. Long-term rentals are limited; most housing is aimed at short-term tourists.

In terms of cleanliness, expectations here may be lower than what some are used to. It takes time and effort to find a clean and well-maintained place to stay. During the rainy season, humidity becomes a real issue, and dust mites can be a problem.

Riding a motorbike here doesn’t feel very safe. The roads are uneven, with lots of hills and potholes, and walking is barely an option. Sidewalks are either dirty, nonexistent, or blocked by parked motorbikes, and pedestrian safety doesn’t seem to be a priority.

There’s also not much to do in terms of activities, and the food choices are fairly limited. It’s not a place that offers much variety or stimulation.

That said, if none of these things bother you, Da Lat might still be a good option. The weather is genuinely excellent, mild and comfortable all year round. Even in the rainy season, the sun still shows up most days. You’ll see a lot of flowers and natural beauty everywhere. The cost of living is low. Brunch and coffee at a Western-style restaurant can cost under 10 USD, and you can get a well-made hand-drip coffee for about 2 USD.

It’s a peaceful place to unwind or take a break from faster cities, but not the most practical for focused or extended remote work.

4 months ago

Go here, why don't you? A cool place with year-round spring weather. It's Southeast Asia but without fans or air conditioners. The food is not strongly regionalized, just regular Vietnamese cuisine. Delicious and fresh yogurt is their specialty. It's funny that every cafe sells their own unique flavor of yogurt. There aren't many actively developed things to do, but that's part of the charm of the city. It's laid-back and quiet without the hustle and bustle. Food delivery apps work well. Great city to get work done, If you're crazy about partying and playing, Pass directly. Mornings are beautiful.

9 months ago

Da Lat is not a great place. I came here for fresh air (after 1 year in Chiang Mai) but unfortunately that is an illusion. They are burning in the mountains and you can see the smoke going up to the sky. And in the city it is not much better, the air is very much polluted there as well. I tried many restaurants but mostly the food is not very good and the service is depressingly bad. Combine that with the rubbish you see everywhere (especially around the center) and Da Lat makes not a happy place.

6 years ago

Perfect temperatures, fantastic coffee scene, rather relaxed mid-sized town atmosphere. As of late 2018 it's still not crowded with tourists or expats so it's retained authenticity. That said, the small expat community is very friendly and relatively close-knit. Moreover, great waterfalls and a few decent mountain hikes around the city.

On the downside: the night life is about non-existent and the town seems poor for dating if you're into it. However, overall it's great for winding down from big city life and getting some work done.

Best time to stay: from late November to late April, when it's dry.

7 years ago

✅ Warm all year

✅ Very affordable

✅ Peaceful

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Good hospitals

❌ Slow internet

❌ Noisy center

❌ Limited housing options

❌ Not walkable

❌ Limited work-friendly cafes

❌ Very few activities

❌ No freedom of speech

❌ No democracy

❌ Not much to do

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

21°C / 70°F mild

22°C / 72°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

24°C / 75°F warm

23°C / 73°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

22°C / 72°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

20°C / 68°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

Real (median)

20°C / 68°F
mild

22°C / 72°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

24°C / 75°F
warm

23°C / 73°F
mild

21°C / 69°F
mild

22°C / 72°F
mild

21°C / 69°F
mild

20°C / 67°F
mild

20°C / 68°F
mild

Humidity

nice
83%

nice
76%

nice
71%

nice
86%

nice
93%

nice
95%

nice
98%

nice
97%

nice
99%

nice
97%

nice
90%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
19mm

dry
17mm

dry
28mm

rainy
177mm

rainy
294mm

rainy
134mm

rainy
255mm

rainy
263mm

rainy
323mm

rainy
302mm

rainy
192mm

dry
38mm

Cloud

pockets
41%

pockets
31%

pockets
28%

pockets
46%

cloudy
50%

pockets
50%

cloudy
58%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
60%

cloudy
59%

cloudy
58%

pockets
49%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

380 people

400 people

540 people

360 people

500 people

367 people

400 people

267 people

286 people

280 people

400 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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103 Mbps

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👮 Safety good

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🌧 Feels 29° 84° 26° 79° 🥵 AQI 110 😷

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

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🌤 Feels 24° 75° 24° 75°

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🌇 Also went here69 people

No members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.27/5 (Rank #574) 135 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍2 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,085 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 10 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 21°C70°F (feels 21°C70°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 95%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😥 Medium: 41%
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Low
⚡️ Power grid	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $181 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Bad
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Vietnam
🗓️ Average trip length	5 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	10 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 21°C 70°F + 😊 Comfy (95%) = feels 21°C 70°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100,000 VND in USD	USD 3.80
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	VND 10,000,000 = USD 380
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	6% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	410,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$2,171 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 83% 👱‍♀️ 17%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Nguyen Kim
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	VietJet
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Vietnam Airlines

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,085 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$682 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,437 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$410 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$553 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,078 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$289 / month
🏠 Median home price	$216,543
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$26 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$35 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$170 / month
🍛 Dinner	$2
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$6 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip