Skip to content What is the weather like in Da Lat?
Da Lat has a highland climate: cool all year, with a dry season from December to March and a wet season from May to October. At about 1,500 metres it’s 8–10°C cooler than Saigon. Average daytime highs range from about 21°C in December to 25°C in April, and night-time lows from about 12°C in January to 16°C in the wet months. It never gets hot, and evenings are cool in every month.
What changes through the year is the rain. January gets about 9 mm over two rainy days; September gets about 280 mm over 24.
Da Lat weather month by month
Long-term averages for Da Lat (Wikipedia’s climate table, from Vietnamese station data):
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rainfall | Rainy days | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°C | 12°C | 9 mm | 2 | 237 h |
| February | 24°C | 12°C | 21 mm | 3 | 231 h |
| March | 25°C | 13°C | 64 mm | 6 | 240 h |
| April | 25°C | 15°C | 170 mm | 13 | 199 h |
| May | 25°C | 16°C | 212 mm | 21 | 196 h |
| June | 24°C | 16°C | 204 mm | 21 | 150 h |
| July | 23°C | 16°C | 233 mm | 24 | 147 h |
| August | 23°C | 16°C | 238 mm | 23 | 134 h |
| September | 23°C | 16°C | 283 mm | 24 | 127 h |
| October | 23°C | 15°C | 245 mm | 20 | 140 h |
| November | 22°C | 15°C | 94 mm | 12 | 169 h |
| December | 21°C | 13°C | 36 mm | 6 | 199 h |
The record high is 31.5°C (August) and the record low −0.6°C (February).
December to February: dry and cold
The classic Da Lat season. Days are sunny and clear, nights are the coldest of the year, and mornings often start in mist. December brings the Da Lat Flower Festival: the 11th festival runs from 19 to 31 December 2026, opening on Lam Vien Square by Xuan Huong Lake. The pink mai anh đào (Da Lat’s cherry blossom) usually flowers from late December into February.
The catch is crowds. Christmas, New Year and especially Tet (the Lunar New Year, which falls on 6 February in 2027) fill the town, push up room rates and slow the road from Saigon.
March and April: warm and dry, then the first storms
March is still dry and is the warmest month for days out, with highs around 25°C. Purple jacaranda (phượng tím) lines streets such as Tran Phu in March and April, and yellow mimosa flowers on the hills. Afternoon storms arrive during April. The 30 April and 1 May holiday is one of the busiest weekends of the year.
May to October: the wet season
Rain falls on most days, usually from mid-afternoon, and July to October are the wettest months. Mornings are often clear and the hills are at their greenest, so the wet season works if you get up early and keep afternoons for cafés and food. Hotel rates are lower outside the summer school holidays and the 2 September national holiday.
November: the change
Rain eases through November, and the wild sunflowers (dã quỳ) turn the roadsides yellow from October into November. It’s a good month for fewer crowds and settling weather, though early November can still be wet.
The best time to visit Da Lat
For dry weather, go from December to March; January and February are the most reliable. For flowers, December (the festival and cherry blossom) and March (jacaranda) are best. For quiet and lower prices, go midweek in November or the wet season, avoiding Vietnamese holidays.
The crowds matter as much as the rain. Da Lat is Vietnam’s favourite weekend escape, and most visitors are Vietnamese. Friday and Saturday nights are busy all year. The holiday dates to know are Tet, 30 April–1 May, the summer school holidays (June to August) and the 2 September national holiday. On those dates rooms sell out, the night market is shoulder to shoulder and the road up from Saigon is slow.
Rain and the roads to Da Lat
Heavy rain is the main risk to a trip, because of the mountain passes. The historic floods of November 2025 caused landslides on the Prenn pass, the Mimosa pass and the Khanh Le pass to Nha Trang, and closed some of them for days or weeks. In late September 2026, heavy rain left the Bao Loc pass full of potholes that needed emergency patching.
In the wet season:
- allow an extra hour for the drive from Saigon or Nha Trang;
- cross the Khanh Le pass to Nha Trang in the morning: it’s open only from 5 am to 6 pm;
- check the forecast the day before, and be ready to move a departure by a few hours.
If a pass closes on your travel day, we’ll tell you and suggest another time or road. A private car can wait out a storm or take the long way round; a bus with a timetable can’t. Our Da Lat page has the drive from Saigon and the current state of the passes.
What to pack for Da Lat
Pack for a cool spring in Europe rather than tropical Vietnam: a fleece or jumper for evenings in any month, a warm jacket from December to February, and a light waterproof from April to November. Good shoes help on Langbiang and at the waterfalls, which are slippery after rain. The night market sells wool hats and gloves if you forget.