The Hai Van Pass: Driving It, Riding It Pillion, the Bunkers on the Summit, and Whether to Go One Way to Hue

The Hai Van Pass is the spur of the Truong Son mountains that runs into the sea between Da Nang and Hue, the historic border between Champa and Dai Viet and the climate line between the tropical south and the cooler north. The old Highway 1 climbs it in 20 kilometres of hairpins to a 496-metre gate, with the bay of Da Nang on one side and the Lang Co lagoon on the other; since the 2005 tunnel took the trucks, the pass road is quiet, and a British motoring programme's visit in 2008 made it famous. It is the best drive in Vietnam by a distance.

At the top stand the Hai Van Quan gate, built in 1826 by Emperor Minh Mang and restored in 2024, and the concrete bunkers the French built and the Americans reused, pocked with bullet holes, which you can climb for the view both ways. On a clear day you see Da Nang's whole bay to the south and the lagoon and the railway threading the cliffs to the north. Vendors sell coffee and coconuts. Cloud can close in within minutes; the name is the warning.

The Easy Rider format, riding pillion behind a local driver on a motorbike, is the classic: the wind, the stops wherever you like, the Lang Co seafood lunch. A private car does the same road in comfort and is better in rain or for families. Self-drive rentals are everywhere in Hoi An and Da Nang, but a motorcycle licence and a 1968-convention international permit are legally required and travel insurance will not cover you without them; the police check at the pass. The pillion or car keeps it simple.

The pass is the road from Da Nang or Hoi An to Hue, and the best way to do it is one-way with luggage: your bags go ahead in a car (or on the support vehicle of an Easy Rider company), you ride the pass with stops at the summit, Lang Co beach and the Elephant Springs, and arrive in Hue by mid-afternoon. Round trips from Da Nang or Hoi An are fine but repeat the road. The Da Nang day trips alternative is the Marble Mountains half day if the weather is bad.

February to August gives the clearest days; October to January the pass is often in cloud and rain, which is atmospheric on a good day and pointless on a bad one. Bring a jacket, it is 5 degrees cooler on top. Helmets are provided and compulsory; closed shoes and long trousers for pillion. The best time to visit page has the months. The train from Da Nang to Hue runs the cliff line below the pass and is the alternative view for USD 5.