Đà Lạt, Mountain resort city in Central Highlands, Vietnam.
Đà Lạt is a city of around 400,000 people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, spreading across pine forests and hills at roughly 1,500 meters elevation. Colonial buildings with pointed roofs stand beside modern apartment blocks, while flowerbeds and small parks scatter between the streets.
French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin arrived in this area in 1893 and proposed building a summer residence for the colonial administration. Over the following decades, villas, sanatoriums, and schools in French style were constructed, some of which remain in use today.
Couples have been coming here for over a century to take wedding photos among blooming gardens and old colonial villas. The streets still carry French names today, and many residents run small greenhouses directly behind their homes.
The city sits about six hours by bus northeast of Ho Chi Minh City and can also be reached by plane from Hanoi or Danang. Because of the cool temperatures, visitors should bring a light jacket, especially for evenings and early mornings.
In the early morning hours, vendors sell freshly picked strawberries directly at the roadside, harvested from surrounding farms during the night. On the slopes around the city center, wild hydrangeas also grow, turning violet and pink in springtime.
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