Da Nang

Guides that apply to the whole city rather than one of its seven areas: where people actually eat across both banks of the river, getting in from the airport, whether a scooter is worth it, what a day here really costs, when to come, and how Da Nang compares with Hoi An and Nha Trang as a base. These are the pages to read before you choose a neighbourhood, because they tell you what the city is like rather than what one street is like. Once you know whether you want the beach road, the cafe block or the river side, the area guides take over and get specific about rooms, prices and the catch on each. Everything here is checked the same way as the area guides. Restaurants have to still be reviewed by residents and not only by visitors, and where a famous place has turned into a tourist queue we keep it and tell you when to go instead of pretending it has not. Hotels clear a guest score of 8.5 from at least a hundred reviews and survive a read of their last twenty complaints. Every practical claim, anything about transport, money, health or paperwork, links to an official source with the date we checked it, because those are the claims that go stale quietly and cost you a morning when they do. Prices are samples taken on a stated date rather than promises. Anything that closes or slips below the bar comes off at the monthly refresh. If a recommendation rests on review data rather than a night in the room, the guide says so plainly.