City of Eternal Spring

Nestled amongst the green, rolling hills of central-southern Vietnam, Dalat was originally a summer retreat for the colonial French who came here to enjoy the town's charms and take the mountain air. The city's temperatures hover between 15ºC to 25ºC all year round making it an ideal travel destination at any time of year and earning Dalat the soubriquet "City if Eternal Spring".

The city and its surroundings have a distinctive romantic flavour, especially the graceful architecture of the older hotels in Dalat itself, the beautiful Sofitel Dalat Palace and the Novotel, both colonial classics exuding character and charm.

Dalat's other claim to fame is that the city was the site of Vietnam's first golf course, built by emperor Bao Dai in the 1930s. Dalat Palace Golf Club has since been redesigned and restored, and features Asia's only bent-grass tees and fairways. The course earns consistently high marks from golf magazines and expert reviewers, and is justifiably popular with business visitors, tourists and Vietnam's expatriate community.

MICE visitors to Dalat can take advantage of the facilities available at both of these hotels, although the main focus at the destination is surely to "get away from it all', the golf and the stunning scenery of the surrounding hills and valleys.

Other attractions in this delightful city include the central market - a colourful floral display - and walks along Dalat's many pathways through scenes of incredible natural beauty. Horseback riding is available along with boating on the lake, or perhaps just a peaceful cup of coffee in one of Dalat's many sidewalk cafes, the perfect position from which to watch the world go by.