GOLDEN BRIDGE – DA NANG

Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) is located at an altitude of about 1,400 m (above sea level) on Ba Na Hills, Da Nang, Vietnam. The bridge is the connection between Marseille cable car station and Thien Thai garden and Le Jardin d’Amour flower garden in Ba Na Resort. In the middle of the bridge are two large hands carved from stone.

The Golden Bridge was officially inaugurated in June 2018. The project was designed by the Landscape Architecture Research Center (TA Landscape Architecture), under the Ho Chi Minh City Architectural University.

Golden Bridge is about 148.6m long. The bridge has eight spans, the largest span is 21.2 meters long. The bridge has two stone hand carved next to it, shaped like it is supporting the bridge, the diameter of the fingers is about 2m.

The bridge is designed mainly from wood, 5cm thick, gold-plated stainless steel handrail. The bridge was built from July 2017 to April 2018, the head unit is Sun Group.

Golden Bridge was also voted by TIME magazine as one of the “Top 100 best destinations of the world 2018” and admired by The Guardian as “The world’s most impressive pedestrians’ bridge”.

How to get to the Golden Bridge?

Golden bridge belongs to Sun World Bana Hills, Da Nang City. So the first thing you need to be in Da Nang.

Step 1 – Get to the Ba Na Foothills

Once you’re ready to head out, there are a number of options for getting to the bottom of the Sun World Bana Hills from Da Nang. There are several cable car stations that service the enormous area of the Sun World Bana Hills; the one you need to aim for is the Hoi An Station, which takes you directly to the Golden Bridge. The following options all cover the 25km between Da Nang and the Sun World Bana Hills, and should get you there in under an hour.

Option 1 – Shuttle Bus

The shuttle bus from Da Nang to the Ba Na Hills runs in the morning and returns to Da Nang in the afternoon, giving you about six hours to explore the Golden Bridge and the other wonders of the Ba Na Hills between drop-off and pick-up at your hotel. These options are great for solo travellers or couples, as the price per person works out at less than a taxi.

 

Pick-up Drop-off Price per Person
Da Nang Green Travel 08:00 – 08:15 15:30 – 15:45 120,000 VND ($5.20 USD)
Da Thanh Travel 08:00 – 08:30 14:30 – 15:00 150,000 VND ($6.50 USD)

Option 2 – Taxi

All of the taxis in Da Nang are now legally set at the same price per kilometre (though actual application of this is not total). Taxis are the most convenient option as this is a personalised service and can go at any time, but the price increase reflects that. By comparison, motorbike taxis remain unregulated, meaning that some bargaining must happen and quite a bit of trust must be placed before jumping on the back.

Of the most reliable companies, Mai Linh, Dichungtaxi and Vinasun Taxi are among the best. You will see many of these on the streets of Da Nang, so either flag one down or request your hotel reception to arrange one on your behalf. Getting from Da Nang to the Golden Bridge is much more of a breeze this way, with a slightly quicker travel time but a heavily increased price. Expect to pay 300,000 – 350,000 VND ($13 – $15 USD) each way from the city centre in a normal 4-seater taxi, or around 400,000 – 450,000 VND ($17.25 – $19.50 USD) for a 6-seater SUV. Taxis will wait for you at the bottom of the hill and return you to your hotel afterwards if you can negotiate a higher price for them to do so. Minibuses can be booked for bigger groups, but bookings must be made prior to the date of travel and costs can vary more.

Option 3 – Private Car or Self-Drive

For the most freedom on your way from Da Nang to the Golden Bridge, you can contact one of Da Nang’s many car rental companies and arrive at the Ba Na foothills in style. Alternatively, if you feel like travelling the Vietnamese way, you can rent a motorbike within the city and take the scenic drive yourself. Motorbike rental companies like Da Nang Bikes and Hidden Land Travel abound in Da Nang because of the popularity of taking a hog along the Hai Van Pass, so options are plentiful and great deals can certainly be found.

Option 4 – Join a tour

The comfort and convenience of an organised daytrip to the Ba Na Hills from Da Nang makes this option a great one for families. These sorts of tours cover everything involved in the return trip to the Golden Bridge from Da Nang, including transport from your hotel to the Ba Na Hills, entrance fee, lunch and a guided tour of some of the Ba Na Hills’ most sought-after attractions, before the return to your hotel in the afternoon.  The tour will cost about ($60 to $75)with added extras around Da Nang varying between different tour options.

Step 2 – Board the Cable Car 

Once arrived at the bottom of the Ba Na Hills, proceed through the entrance to purchase a ticket for the park. Tickets are 750,000 VND ($33 USD) for an adult and 600,000 VND ($26.50 USD) for a child between 1m and 1.3m in height. Children taller than these specifications are charged the same as adults and children shorter cost nothing to enter. Walk through to the Hoi An Station, where the longest cable car in the world awaits.

Queue for the pod and step in when it arrives. The cable car ride from Da Nang to the Golden Bridge is about 17 minutes and arrives at the ‘Marseilles Station’. Along the way, its passes above gorgeous verdant scenery and provides excellent views down below to Da Nang’s My Khe Beach and the urban expanse of the city. Also along the way, it shatters many of the previously held Guinness World Records for cable cars, such as the greatest elevation change from floor to top and the greatest distance between two cable pylons.

Step 3 – Head out onto the Bridge

From the circlular arrival room of the Marseilles Station, you can exit directly onto the Golden Bridge and begin your walk along its 150 metres of wooden walkways, flanked by lavender and coated from the bottom and the handrails in a royal gold. After getting your pictures of the fabulous bridge, its magnificent hands and the uncompromised view of Da Nang with its beach and mountains from high above, you can take in the rest of the Ba Na Hills at your leisure. There are a multitude of activities for you to enjoy before you take a cable car back from any of the stations to the entrance of the park, and onwards to Da Nang via your return transport.

Please note about opening hours:

Monday to Sunday: 7am to 10pm (The cable car will close at 9pm).

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