The first stop after arriving — a museum holding the world's largest collection of Cham sandstone sculpture, artifacts from the Champa civilization that ruled central Vietnam for centuries before the Nguyen Dynasty. A useful piece of context for the Cham-era sites (like My Son, near Hoi An) that follow later on this route.
Five limestone-and-marble hills just south of the city, each named for one of the five elements, riddled with caves and Buddhist sanctuaries built into the rock. Thuy Son, the largest, has the most developed cave-temple network and the best viewpoint over the coastline.
The long stretch of sand that gave the city its wartime American nickname — now lined with resorts and considered one of the more swimmable urban beaches in the country.