European travelers planning a long stay in Da Nang usually assume one thing: that a Schengen passport means visa-free entry to Vietnam. It does not work that way. Vietnam exempts countries, not passport unions. A German passport gets 45 days with no visa and no fee. An Austrian passport, which clears the same queues at European airports, needs a 90-day e-visa arranged before boarding. Getting that wrong is how people end up overstaying by a day and paying fines at the border, or missing a flight.
This page is for citizens of the EU and Schengen area who want to stay in and around Da Nang beyond a short holiday, or who already live here and need to reset their stay. The natural border for this city is Lao Bao in Quang Tri, about 290 km away. You leave before dawn, cross into Laos at the Densavan checkpoint on the far side, turn around, and re-enter Vietnam the same afternoon with a fresh stamp. Door to door the day runs 10 to 12 hours.
Below: which European passports get 45 days visa-free, which need the paid e-visa, what Laos asks for on its side of the crossing, what the whole day costs in 2026, and the questions we hear most from German, French, Dutch, Nordic, Austrian and Swiss travelers.
Vietnam runs a unilateral visa exemption for a fixed list of countries. The stays were raised from 15 to 45 days in 2023, then the list was renewed and widened in 2025, so these are the rules in force through 2026 and well into 2028. The European passports on the 45-day list are: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Switzerland. Britain, Russia, Japan and South Korea sit on the same list, which helps when you compare notes with other travelers at the border.
Two expiry dates matter, and neither falls in 2026. The long-standing group, which includes Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Nordic countries, runs to 14 March 2028. The twelve countries added in August 2025, Belgium through Switzerland, run to 14 August 2028. If your passport is on either group, you enter with a plain stamp, no e-visa, no letter, no fee, at airports and at land borders alike, including Lao Bao.
The stamp gives you 45 days from the day of entry. The exemption cannot be extended inside Vietnam, and there is no office that will add days to it. A visa run is the standard reset: leave on or before day 45, come back over the border, and the officer stamps you in for another 45 days the same afternoon. Do not cut it to the last day. Border computers log your exit and entry, and arriving with two or three days of margin keeps the day calm if the road is slow.
Here is the part that surprises people. Not every EU country made the list. Austria, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are missing from it, and so are Iceland and Liechtenstein on the Schengen side. Those passports need the e-visa described next, no matter how European their holder feels.
If your country is not on the 45-day list, you apply for the Vietnam e-visa online at evisa.gov.vn. It costs 25 USD for a single entry or 50 USD for multiple entries, paid by card during the application, and it is valid for 90 days from the day you enter. Standard processing runs three to four working days, so apply at least a week before you travel. The approval letter arrives as a PDF. Print it and carry it; the officer at re-entry scans the barcode and expects to see the paper, not a phone screen.
Three mistakes sink e-visa applications, and all three show up in our inbox. The photo must be a recent shot on a white background with no glasses glare; the passport scan must be the full biodata page, sharp and uncropped; and the entry port on the form must match where you actually cross. For Da Nang travelers that port is Lao Bao. List it correctly the first time, because fixing a wrong port means a new application and the fee is not refunded.
Passport rules apply to everyone, exemption or not: at least six months of validity left and two blank pages. The border checks both at Lao Bao, and Laos checks them again on its side. If your passport expires inside the e-visa window, renew it before you apply, not after.
A 90-day e-visa changes the run arithmetic for long-stay Europeans. Instead of a border day every six weeks, you run about four times a year, and the multiple-entry version lets you fly out for weekends without losing the visa. Our 90-day e-visa guide covers the cycle in detail, and the Indian citizens page walks through the same e-visa border steps for a passport group that runs on the identical document.
A visa run touches two countries, and Laos has its own rules. On the far side of Lao Bao sits the Densavan checkpoint, and this crossing matters because it is the only Vietnam-Laos border that issues a Laos visa on arrival. No Laos e-visa is accepted there. You cross on foot, and if your passport needs a visa, you get it at the window.
Most EU citizens pay for that visa on arrival. The cost runs about 30 to 35 USD, cash, in decent-condition bills, plus a passport photo and a short form. A border fixer hands you the form, checks the photo is the right size, and keeps the group moving; without one, budget an extra few minutes at the counter. The Laos officer stamps you in, you walk a few steps, turn around, and exit again. For a same-day run you are in Laos for under an hour, which is all the visa needs to cover.
Two European passports skip the Laos visa entirely. Laos exempts Switzerland and Luxembourg for 15 days, and a same-day run fits inside that with room to spare. Swiss and Luxembourg citizens walk past the visa windows with their passport, no form, no photo, no dollars, the same way Filipino passport holders do under the ASEAN exemption on our Filipino citizens page. Add Vietnam's 45 days on their own side and they have the cheapest European run at Lao Bao: zero visa fees for the whole day.
Pickup runs between 04:00 and 06:00 from your hotel or apartment anywhere in Da Nang. The van heads north over the Hai Van Pass, drops down toward Hue, then turns west into Quang Tri, with comfort stops roughly every two hours. Most drivers aim to reach Lao Bao before the queues build, which is why the morning starts so early. Cities further north run to different borders entirely, Hanoi teams work the China-side crossings, but from Da Nang the Lao Bao road is the one that makes sense for a same-day loop.
At the border the sequence never changes. Vietnam exit stamp first, which closes your current 45 days or e-visa cleanly and proves you never overstayed. Then the walk across to Densavan. If your passport needs the Laos visa on arrival, this is the window stop; if you hold Swiss or Luxembourg nationality, you go straight to immigration. Either way the Laos side takes ten to twenty minutes, not hours.
Then you reverse the walk. Laos exit stamp, back over to the Vietnam side, and the fresh entry stamp, 45 days for exempt passports or the next e-visa entry for the rest. With a valid passport and no overstay on record the officer stamps you through without drama. The whole crossing, shepherded by the fixer, runs 45 to 60 minutes door to door on the Laos side and back.
The drive home is the same 4.5 to 5.5 hours, and you are back in Da Nang the same evening. Lunch at the border restaurants runs 50,000 to 100,000 VND, the coffee is strong, and there is usually a quiet hour to catch up on messages before the return leg. The full process, pickup to re-entry, is written out step by step on our how to do a visa run page if you want the detail.
Transport is the same for every nationality on the route. The shared van runs 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 VND per seat, about 40 to 48 USD at 2026 rates, and suits solo travelers. The private car runs 3,200,000 to 3,400,000 VND for the whole vehicle, roughly 128 to 136 USD, which suits couples, families and anyone who wants control over the stops. For two people the car already sits close to two van seats on price.
Then the visa line splits Europeans into three groups. An exempt passport holder from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Belgium or Poland pays nothing to Vietnam and about 30 to 35 USD to Laos. Their day lands around 1.8 to 2.2 million VND, roughly 72 to 88 USD, with lunch. A Swiss or Luxembourg passport holder pays no visa fee on either side, so the day drops to the same floor a Filipino pays: about 1.1 to 1.35 million VND, 45 to 54 USD, transport and lunch only. An Austrian, Portuguese, Irish or Greek passport holder carries the 25 or 50 USD e-visa already paid before the run, then pays the same 30 to 35 USD Laos visa on arrival as everyone else in their van.
Compare that with the south. Ho Chi Minh City expats run to Moc Bai on the Cambodia border, a shorter drive with its own pricing on hcmcvisarun.com, while Da Nang's route to Laos keeps its own rhythm. Either way, a land run stays far cheaper than flying to Bangkok or Singapore for a visa trip, which costs a flight, hotels and two lost days.
Book through WhatsApp at +84 33 410 3857 with your passport country, pickup area and date, and we confirm the vehicle, price and pickup window, usually within the hour.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Switzerland. The exemption is per country and valid through 2026 and into 2028.
No. Vietnam exempts specific countries, not the Schengen area. An Austrian or Portuguese passport needs a 90-day e-visa even though a German passport beside it does not.
Austria, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, plus Iceland and Liechtenstein. Apply at evisa.gov.vn, pay 25 USD single or 50 USD multiple entry, and list Lao Bao as the entry port.
Most do. Laos issues a visa on arrival at Densavan for about 30 to 35 USD in cash plus a passport photo. Swiss and Luxembourg passports are exempt on the Laos side for 15 days, which covers a same-day run easily.
45 days per entry. The exemption cannot be extended inside Vietnam. A same-day border run to Lao Bao closes the stay cleanly and stamps you in for another 45 days.
About six if you use every day, more like eight with travel margins. Switching to the 90-day e-visa cuts that to roughly four runs a year for anyone staying long term in Da Nang.
Ready to book: message WhatsApp at +84 33 410 3857 with your pickup area, date, and passport country. Pickup runs 04:00 to 06:00 across Da Nang.
