Central Vietnam · Day tour
My Son Sanctuary
A morning at the Cham holy land: red-brick tower temples in a green valley, a dance performance, and the river back.
- Length
- Half day
- Approx. 7:30 AM – 1:30 PM
- Pick-up
- Hoi An or Da Nang
- From your hotel
- Guide
- English-speaking
- Group or private
What you see
The day in short
Everything below is covered by the programme. The order can move with the traffic and the weather; the list does not.
Highlights
- My Son Sanctuary, the religious centre of the Cham kingdom and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Tower temples built in red brick between the fourth and thirteenth centuries, in a bowl of jungle
- Champa civilisation, Hindu mythology, and the brickwork nobody has quite explained
- A live Cham dance and music performance at the site theatre
- A boat back along the Thu Bon river, on the version of the day that includes it
Hour by hour
The running order
Approx. 7:30 AM – 1:30 PM. These are the timings operations work to; your guide confirms the pick-up the evening before.
Want it privately?07:30 AM
Hotel pick-up in Da Nang or Hoi An and out to My Son.
09:00 AM
Arrive at My Son and take the electric shuttles in to the sanctuary.
09:30 AM
A guided walk through temple groups A, B, C and D, with the Cham history and architecture behind them.
11:00 AM
The Cham dance performance at the site theatre.
12:00 PM
Lunch at a local restaurant near My Son or aboard a Thu Bon river boat.
01:30 PM
Back to your hotel.
What's included
- Air-conditioned transfers
- English-speaking tour guide
- My Son entrance ticket and the electric shuttle
- Cham dance performance ticket
- Lunch as set out in the programme
- Mineral water
What's not
- Personal expenses
- VAT
- Tips for the guide and driver
Before you book
- Comfortable walking shoes, a hat and sunscreen. The site is open and gets hot by mid-morning.
- Children aged 10 and over pay the full rate, 4 to 9 pay 75 percent, and under 4 travel free.
The route
- 1Hoi An
- 2My Son Sanctuary
Map is schematic and not to scale for travel times.
Good to know
Questions
Why so early?
Heat and crowds. By ten the valley is full of coaches and the brick is radiating; at nine you have the temple groups more or less to yourself.
How much is left standing?
Enough. Of around seventy structures, roughly twenty survive in recognisable form after the bombing of 1969 — group B and C are the best preserved, and they are the heart of the walk.
Can this run as a private tour?
Yes. Every excursion here can run privately with your own guide and vehicle instead of joining a group. Tell us how many of you there are and we will quote it.
Can we combine this with other days?
Yes — most guests string two or three of these together, or add them either side of a multi-day journey. Send us your dates and we will lay them out in a sensible order.
Book the My Son Sanctuary
Give us your dates, your hotel and how many of you there are. We confirm availability the same day and pick you up from the door.