Cho Da Lat sits at the physical and social center of Da Lat, a three-level concrete market building that has anchored daily life in this highland city since the 1950s. If you want to understand what people here actually eat, grow, and care about, spend a morning inside.
What it is and how it got here
The current market building dates to 1958, though trading on this site goes back further to the French colonial period when Da Lat (달랏 / 大叻 / ダラット) was being developed as a hill station. The structure was renovated in the early 1990s and again around 2010, but the layout remains essentially the same: a main hall with a basement level for dry goods and clothing, a ground floor dominated by fresh produce and flowers, and an upper level with more shops and tailoring. At night, the streets surrounding the building transform into a separate night market — stalls selling grilled food, knitted scarves, and strawberry everything.
The market's Vietnamese name is Cho Da Lat, sometimes called Cho Am Phu by locals for the basement level, which loosely translates to "underworld market" — a joke about the dim, maze-like corridors downstairs.
Why travelers go
Cho Da Lat isn't a tourist market dressed up for visitors. It's a working market where Da Lat residents buy their vegetables, flowers, and "banh trang nuong" (grilled rice paper, sometimes called Da Lat pizza). That's the draw. The highland produce here — artichokes, strawberries, avocados, persimmons, bell peppers — looks different from what you find in lowland Vietnamese markets. Da Lat supplies a huge share of the country's vegetables and flowers, and this is where growers offload their harvests.
For food-focused travelers, the market is one of the better places in Vietnam (베트남 / 越南 / ベトナム) to eat cheaply and diversely in a single location. You can work through six or seven different dishes in an hour without walking more than 200 meters.
Best time to visit
Da Lat's cool season runs from November through March, when daytime temperatures hover around 18-22°C — perfect for walking a crowded market without overheating. The dry months of December to February are ideal. April and May get warmer, and June through October brings afternoon rain, though mornings are usually clear.
For the market itself, arrive between 6:00 and 8:00 AM for the freshest produce and the least crowd pressure. The flower section is best early, when vendors restock from overnight deliveries. The night market kicks off around 6:00 PM and runs until 10:30 PM or so.
How to get there
From Saigon, the most common route is a bus from the Western Bus Station (Ben Xe Mien Tay) or from several operators along Pham Ngu Lao. The ride takes about 6-7 hours and costs 200,000-280,000 VND depending on the company. Phuong Trang (FUTA) and Thanh Buoi are the most reliable operators. Sleeper buses run overnight departures too.
Flying is faster — Lien Khuong Airport sits about 30 km south of Da Lat city center. Vietnam Airlines, VietJet, and Bamboo Airways run daily flights from Saigon (사이공 / 西贡 / サイゴン) (50 minutes) and Hanoi (about 2 hours). A taxi from the airport to Cho Da Lat costs around 250,000-300,000 VND, or you can take the airport shuttle for about 50,000 VND per person.
Once in Da Lat, the market is centrally located on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street, near Xuan Huong Lake. Most hotels are within walking distance or a short 15,000-20,000 VND xe om ride.
Photo by Tuan Vy on Pexels
What to do: 5 specifics
Eat your way through the wet market food stalls
The ground floor and surrounding lanes have food vendors selling "banh can" — small savory rice cakes cooked in clay molds, served with a fish dipping sauce. This is a Da Lat specialty you won't find easily outside the Central Highlands (중부 고원 / 中部高原 / 中部高原). A plate of 6-8 pieces runs about 25,000-35,000 VND. Pair it with warm soy milk from the same row of stalls.
Try banh trang nuong at the night market
Grilled rice paper topped with egg, dried shrimp, scallions, chili sauce, and sometimes pork floss. It costs 15,000-20,000 VND per piece. The stalls lining the steps below the main market building are the originals — this snack essentially started here before spreading to Saigon and the rest of the country.
Buy strawberries and avocados directly from growers
Da Lat strawberries are smaller and more tart than imported ones, and they're cheap here — about 40,000-60,000 VND per kilogram depending on the season. The avocados ("bo" in Vietnamese) are massive, creamy, and cost a fraction of what you'd pay in Hanoi (하노이 / 河内 / ハノイ) or Saigon. Vendors near the back entrance of the ground floor tend to have better prices than those facing the main road.
Walk the flower section
Da Lat grows an enormous portion of Vietnam's cut flowers. The flower wing of the market is a wall of color — roses, hydrangeas, sunflowers, orchids — sold in bulk at wholesale prices. Even if you're not buying, it's worth walking through. A bundle of 20 roses might cost 30,000-50,000 VND.
Browse the basement for local products
The basement level sells dried fruits, artichoke tea, "mut" (candied fruits — a Da Lat tradition, especially around Tet), coffee beans, and macadamia nuts. Artichoke tea bags make a practical, lightweight souvenir. Expect to pay 50,000-80,000 VND for a decent bag. The coffee beans sold here are mostly Robusta from the surrounding highlands — if you drink vietnamese coffee, this is a good place to stock up.
Where to eat nearby
Beyond the market stalls, Nha Hang Lien Hoa on 3 Thang 2 street (a 5-minute walk from the market) serves solid vegetarian "com tam" and noodle dishes at local prices. For something heartier, look for "bun bo hue" shops on Tang Bat Ho street — the highland chill makes a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup feel exactly right. A bowl costs 35,000-45,000 VND.
Da Lat's egg coffee (에그커피 / 蛋咖啡 / エッグコーヒー) scene has grown in the last few years. Several cafes near the market now serve their own versions, though the style here tends sweeter than what you'd find in Hanoi.
Where to stay
Budget guesthouses within walking distance of Cho Da Lat run 200,000-400,000 VND per night. Mid-range hotels with decent heating (important — Da Lat nights drop to 12-15°C in winter) cost 500,000-900,000 VND. Higher-end options like the Ana Mandara Villas or Terracotta Hotel sit further out but offer more space and quiet, starting around 1,500,000 VND.
Staying on or near Nguyen Chi Thanh or Bui Thi Xuan streets puts you closest to the market without being directly on top of the noise.
Photo by LUC PH@M on Pexels
Practical tips
- Bring a light jacket even in summer. Da Lat mornings are cool, and the market's basement level has almost no ventilation.
- Bargain gently at produce stalls — prices are already low, and aggressive haggling is considered rude here. A 10-15% discount is reasonable on bulk purchases.
- The night market gets extremely crowded on weekends and holidays. Friday and Saturday nights between 7:00-9:00 PM are peak congestion. Weeknights are far more pleasant.
- Keep your phone and wallet in a front pocket. Petty theft happens in any crowded Vietnamese market, and Cho Da Lat is no exception.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don't skip the basement level — most tourists stay on the ground floor and miss the dried goods, which are more practical as souvenirs than fresh fruit you can't carry. Don't buy pre-packaged "Da Lat wine" (strawberry or mulberry wine) without checking for a proper seal and production date; quality varies wildly. And don't assume the night market and the day market are the same experience — they serve different purposes and sell completely different things. Visit both.
Practical notes
Cho Da Lat is open daily from roughly 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM for the main building, with the night market running 6:00-10:30 PM. There's no entrance fee. The market sits within Da Lat, the capital of the Lam Dong province in Vietnam's Central Highlands — despite the cooler climate, it's grouped in the southern half of the country for travel planning purposes.
Last updated · May 22, 2026 · independently researched, never sponsored.
