Hue Flights

Hue is very accesible from anywhere in Vietnam. You can get there by plane, train or bus. The Phu Bai Airport is only 10 miles south of Hue is , and has daily flights to and from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Several daily trains come to Hue from Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Bus service is also available from Hoi An, and Da Nang.

There are multiple daily flights to Hue, from both HCMC and Hanoi.
Flights into Hue's Phu Bai airport, 15km southeast of the city, are met by an airport bus ($1.70) which goes to central hotels, and by metered taxis ($7-8).
Heading back to the airport, the airport bus departs from the Vietnam Airlines branch office at 12 Ha Noi, or arrange a pick-up from your hotel reception. The main Vietnam Airlines office can be found in the Thuan Hoa Hotel at 7 Nguyen Tri Phuong (ph 054 824709).

Hue has a very small airport that has maybe one, at most 2 runways. It shouldn't be surprising considering the small size of the city. It was a long way from town, and we couldn't see it from the road at all.

It seems to be a converted military airport, or maybe one that's dual-use. These old Russian Mi-8 helos are sitting on the runway. For a split second I had a misgiving that this was to be our ride. But luckily it was only an Airbus. Phew.

Or more likely peasants in this case. This is one of the side gates to the Citadel. The King would've used the main entrance.

Bicycles are readily available and cheap in Hue. You can ride your bike nearly everywhere, but be smart and lock it properly if you leave it unattended.

You cannot bring a bike into the Forbidden City. But you can bring a bike inside the Citadel. The Citadel is an open network of streets, allowing free traffic, motorized and otherwise.

I heard that the boats will allow you to bring bikes along, but you may have to negotiate so that they do not try to charge you a bit extra. Bikes are not allowed inside the temple compounds.

Hue is a far bigger place than Hoi An but small enough to go around by bicycle instead of by taxi or xe om, if you'll limit yourself to the vicinity of the citadel and the banks of the Perfume River. However should you wish to rent a bike, rent directly from one of the shops along the street. Hotels normally charge double the cost and they get the bikes from one of these shops anyway.

So for US$ 2, you could rent a bike for an entire day from Nam Thanh. His shop is on 48 Le Loi St. right in front of the Century Hotel.

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Hue train station is at the south-western end of the town off Le Loi and was built by the French colonists during the French Indochina period. The station is influenced by French architecture and is today considered one of the most beautiful railway stations in Vietnam. Destinations include Ninh Binh (205,000d, 12.5 to 13.5 hours, three daily), Vinh (143,000d, up to 10 hours, seven daily), Dong Ha (25,000d, six daily) and Danang (40,000d, 2.5 to four hours, seven daily). A second-class sleeper ticket from Ho Chi Minh City on the much superior 'express' SE2-SE6 train to Hue costs between 588,000 & 740,000 dong depending on the level you're on (1,2 or 3).

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Highway 1 runs from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City directly through Hue. This, along with the neighboring narrow-gauge single track rail line, is the most important transportation link in the country. It is said that there is no discernible method to the traffic system in Vietnam, but compared to India or Nepal things seem downright disciplined. Like most of Asia, the horn is constantly used both in warning and sometimes just for the heck of it. There are 86 million people living in Vietnam and wisely the country makes it very difficult for families to own cars. If they used cars instead of motor scooter, chaos would sink the country in lieu of a infrastructure.

Driving on Highway 1 day after day, I found it amazing that the country could function on such a small road - this is after a lot of money has been sunk into improvements - where vehicles can rarely get out of third gear. I did see new freeway construction - actually probably toll ways - in Ho Chi Minh City but the eventual reconstruction of Highway 1 will be some time in the offing.

The neighboring narrow-gauge single track line which passes for Vietnam’s rail system was also linked to upgrade stories in papers I read. One project - which cost $54 billion and/or $28 billion in the same article - is supposed to re-engineer the rail system so a trip between Hanoi and Saigon would only take five to ten - again the same article! - hours instead of the present 30-40 hours.