Free entry to four Da Nang museums on National Day (2 September)

   There is a way to spend the holiday without standing in an outdoor crowd: on 2 September the four biggest museums in Da Nang open their doors and charge nobody who walks in.

   The offer runs for one day only, and unlike the equivalent scheme in Huế it comes with no nationality condition — foreign visitors walk in on the same terms as residents. The four addresses:

   Da Nang Museum — 42-44 Bạch Đằng
Da Nang Fine Arts Museum — 78 Lê Duẩn
Da Nang Museum, branch 2 — 281 Phan Bội Châu, Bàn Thạch ward
Museum of Cham Sculpture — 2 đường 2 tháng 9

   Of the four, the Museum of Cham Sculpture is the one with an international reputation. The French founded it in the early twentieth century to hold what was being carried down from the Cham towers of central Vietnam, and it still holds the largest collection of Cham sculpture anywhere — sandstone altars, deities, dancers, a number of them designated national treasures. Its address is a quiet joke in itself: the museum sits on the street named after the holiday.

   Da Nang Museum has recently moved into the former French colonial administration building on the Hàn riverfront, right on Bạch Đằng, so a museum visit folds neatly into a walk along the water. The Fine Arts Museum on Lê Duẩn is showing «Ký sự đô thị Đà Nẵng», an urban-chronicle exhibition running to mid-September.

   This is the option for families with young children, for anyone who would rather not stand in early-September central-coast heat, and for visitors with a few days here who want more of the city than beaches and bridges. All four sit within a short radius of the centre, and doing the lot in one session is entirely normal.

   One note: this is a holiday concession, not extended hours — the museums keep their usual opening times, so start in the morning rather than late afternoon.

   On the 2nd of September, the best-kept parts of Da Nang are simply open to you.