Pleiku to Da Nang: sleeper coach, flight, driving and the Lò Xo Pass

The simplest way between Pleiku and Da Nang is the overnight sleeper coach; a flight has to connect, and driving means passes that are prone to landslides. Here are the three side by side, with the bus stations at both ends and the things worth checking before you go.

Coach from Pleiku to Da Nang: fare and travel time

Đức Đạt posts the fare and travel time for this route on a page of its own: 300,000 VND for the Premium 34-berth cabin and 400,000 VND for the Limousine 24-berth cabin.

At 448 km the trip takes close to 8 hours, and the coach has a shuttle pick-up, cold towels and water. On the way it stops at Núi Thành and then Đức Phổ. Both are on the coastal axis, so the coach heads down to the coast and then up to Da Nang rather than north through Kon Tum and the Lò Xo Pass, which is also why 448 km is so much longer than the roughly 342 km you would drive via Kon Tum.

The coach leaves in the evening, so you reach Da Nang around dawn the next day; confirm the exact departure time when you book. Going the other way, from Da Nang back to Gia Lai, coaches leave at 19:00, 19:50, 20:20, 20:30, 20:50 and 21:00 (checked 2 November 2026), stopping at Đức Phổ and then Núi Thành. The operator asks you to be at the pick-up 30 minutes before departure. After you pay, the e-ticket arrives by email or SMS, and you keep the booking code to show at the starting point.

Plenty of other operators run this route, but each one’s fare and times change from day to day. We recommend phoning the operator or asking at the station before you choose, then comparing with the Đức Đạt fares above. Fares for the Quy Nhơn and Ho Chi Minh City routes are in the Pleiku coach guide.

Boarding in Pleiku: the Đức Đạt offices and Đức Long station

Đức Đạt has two offices in Pleiku, at 275 Lê Đại Hành and 26 Phan Đình Phùng. Ask the operator for the exact pick-up point of the trip you booked, especially for a night coach, so you do not walk to the wrong spot in the dark.

Đức Long Gia Lai Bus Station is at 43 Lý Nam Đế. Go there if you want to ask other operators about times and fares in person, but check with your own operator whether your coach picks up there, because each operator’s pick-up point is different.

Two timings are worth planning around. The Da Nang coach leaves in the evening, so you have a whole day left in Pleiku; if you need ideas to fill it, see the Pleiku itinerary. The coach coming back from Da Nang leaves between 19:00 and 21:00, so you step off in Pleiku around dawn, and the places to stay near Đức Long for people arriving in the middle of the night are in where to stay in Pleiku.

Getting off at Da Nang Central Bus Station

Da Nang Central Bus Station is at 148 Tôn Đức Thắng street (Hòa Minh ward, the former Liên Chiểu district), and the station’s switchboard is 0236.376.76.79. When you book a ride-hailing car, pick the name Da Nang Central Bus Station instead of typing a street number, because some sites online list the station’s number wrongly.

The Đức Đạt office in Da Nang is at lot 02 Nam Trân street, also in the former Hòa Minh area. The coach arrives around dawn, so line up someone to meet you or a place to rest instead of waiting outside the station.

Flights and trains from Pleiku to Da Nang

Flying with a connection in Ho Chi Minh City

No airline flies Pleiku to Da Nang direct at the moment; Vietnam Airlines runs this route with one connecting stop at Tân Sơn Nhất (SGN), with a flying time of about 2 hours 35 minutes, checked on 2 November 2026. One-way economy fares show from 1,995,181 VND for a flight on 18 November 2026 and from 2,023,181 VND for 12 November 2026, while business class shows from 6,146,181 VND for 14 November 2026. Those are fares collected within the last 48 hours, so they may no longer be valid when you book, and booking at least 7 days ahead can get up to 50% off under the early-bird programme.

Airlines can change routes, so open the booking pages of Vietjet, Bamboo Airways and Vietnam Airlines for your travel date to see whether a direct flight exists. From central Gia Lai to Pleiku airport is about 6 km, 15 to 20 minutes, and the bus costs about 8,000 VND per person; in Da Nang the airport is 3 km from the centre, 10 to 15 minutes. More on getting to Pleiku airport is in the Pleiku airport guide.

Train: Pleiku has no station

Pleiku has no railway station; the nearest one towards the coast is Diêu Trì in Tuy Phước, next to Highway 19, the shortest road linking Bình Định to the Central Highlands. Every train passing Diêu Trì stops there, and Quy Nhơn station is about 16 km away. So taking the train means first going down to the Quy Nhơn area by coach or car, which is covered in Pleiku to Quy Nhơn, and only then boarding for Da Nang. Check train times and fares on the Vietnam Railways site before you plan your schedule.

Driving from Pleiku to Da Nang: the Lò Xo Pass or Highway 24?

By car or motorbike via Kon Tum, you drive about 50 km from Pleiku to Kon Tum and then about 292 km from Kon Tum to Da Nang, about 342 km in all. The Pleiku to Kon Tum stretch is in Pleiku to Kon Tum. National Highway 14 is 980 km long and runs through Gia Lai, Quảng Ngãi and Da Nang, and on it sits the Lò Xo Pass, 37 km long, whose treacherous stretch often has landslides and accidents in the rainy season.

The latest news you should know about dates from late 2025. A landslide on the morning of 26 October 2025 on Highway 14 around Đăk Plô and Đăk Pek commune paralysed traffic; by 29 October 2025 the Lò Xo Pass had not reopened; and on 18 November 2025 Quảng Ngãi traffic police advised drivers not to use Highway 14 over the Lò Xo Pass for the time being because of serious landslides. That is how things stood then, not how they stand today, so check the road right before you set off.

The alternative when Lò Xo is blocked is Highway 24 over the Violak Pass. Highway 24 is 170 km long, starting at the Thạch Trụ crossroads where it meets Highway 1, and links up to Kon Tum. From Da Nang, Highway 24 up to the mountains of Quảng Ngãi (the former Kon Tum) is about 300 km and takes 6 to 7 hours; that only gets you to the mountain area, not to Pleiku, so add the stretch up to the highland town when you work out your timing. If Violak has a landslide, never try to push past the blocked spot, and follow traffic warnings from Da Nang, Quảng Ngãi and Gia Lai.

Which way to go: sleeper coach, flight or driving

If you want to travel cheaply and avoid the passes in daylight, the evening sleeper coach is the simplest: 300,000 to 400,000 VND, sleep on board and reach Da Nang around dawn. A flight only makes sense when you must arrive the same day, since the economy fare from 1,995,181 VND is already more than 6 times the 300,000 VND Premium ticket, and you still have to connect through SGN. Driving suits a group with its own vehicle that wants to stop along the way, as long as you drive in daylight and leave time for the pass.

Other routes from Pleiku are in the Getting around section.