Hue Things to Do

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Like many of Hue's historic sites, the Citadel is hardly ancient - construction first began in 1805, under the rule of Gia Long, the first of the Nguyen Dynasty rulers. Thereafter it functioned as the imperial seat of government. It is a square 2km (1.5 mile) wall, 7m (23 ft.) high and 20m (66 ft.) thick, with 10 gates and is located on the northern bank of the Perfume River. Over the years, new buildings were added, and the fortifications strengthened to fend off would-be attackers. At its height, it was comparable to the Forbidden City in Beijing but, although the complex was constructed by a French military architect, it was actually the French who destroyed it many years later. The coupe de gras came during the 1968 Tet Offensive, when it was mercilessly bombed first by the North Vietnamese before they took the city, then by the Americans before they took it back. Precious few of the interior structures were left standing and are slowly being reconstructed to how they once looked. Apart from a few interesting buildings, there's not a great deal to see or get over excited about here but it is one of the things to see in Hue.

Built in 1901 by the French, the 4-star Hotel Saigon Morin is the oldest hotel in Hue and a example of colonial architecture. It's survived through many wars and is more than a hotel, it's a part of the history of Hue over the past century. Now lovingly restored to its century-old glory, the hotel is one of the exclusive hotels in the city and has a reputation of choice for celebrities, intrepid adventures and businessmen.

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The area along the south bank of the river has been made into an attractive riverside park area with nice gardens, paths and sculptures. You'll find the dragon tour boats moored up here as well as a large number of cyclo drivers offering tours around the city.

Make sure to check out the Tombs and Temples in the area, but do so via car or motorbike, NOT by boat tour.

We took the boat tour were not real thrilled with the way it turned out, in fact this was my ONLY experience during my entire stay in Vietnam that left a bad taste in my mouth

On the other hand, the people we talked to who rented a car or motorbike (the tombs are too far away for cyclos) all ranted and raved over how wonderful their experience was. Some spending hours exploring one tomb.

I definitely do recommend a boat ride down the perfume river, just not in conjunction with stops at the Royal Tombs.

The reason I don't recommend doing the boat tour with the stops at the Royal Tombs are:

1) The boats tours stop at the tombs you need to pay to get in and bi-passes the free tombs (that would have been fun to see)...

2) The entrance fees for many of the tombs are $4 to $5 US EACH, which is VERY expensive in Vietnam (you could get a 5 course meal for TWO for that price)

3) and since the boat stops at the tombs for only 30 minutes which is not enough time to explore the tombs…so basically its a waste of money

4) To make things worse, many of the tombs are not that close to the water so you need to rent a motorbike and driver (another $1 - $2 which is a highly inflated price by Vietnam standards) to get to the tomb...and the ride time takes away from your measly 30 minutes in the tomb

5) The people on the boat never told us where we were stopping or what we were looking at and we couldn't always id them by reading our book and we didn't see signs telling us were we were...

The tombs and temples we stopped at were so lovely knowing more about them would have really highlighted the entire experience for me...although we had our guidebook with us we didn't have time to read about where we are due to the strict time limitations.

So basically you are running from tomb to tomb and paying way too much to get into tombs that you aren’t given any time to explore

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This is site that Thic Quang Duc, the first monk to set himself on fire to protest th South Vietnamese government's crackdown on religious expression. He drove a car, which is inside the pagoda, from here to Central Hue, stepped out, sat down, poured gasoline over himself, struck a match and burned himself alive. The pagoda is well kept and had manicured grounds and bonsai trees.

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No trip to Hue would be complete without a visit to The Citadel. During the American war, it was flattened by US ordinance. The place is getting rebuilt very slowly so most of what one sees is new construction following the style of this ancient place.

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My Sinh Cafe tour of Hue and surroundings took us to this craft village on the outskirts of town. The place is known for producing incense and conical hats. I enjoyed this place and I bought a few gifts while browsing. As you can see from the pictures the colors are quite bright and attractive

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When I first arrived in Hue, I took a Cyclo tour around the city to get my bearings.

He took me past the main sights, across the other side of the river, and around the whole of the Citadel and dropped me off at the markets at my request.

He was a pleasant man, who could speak good English. He didn't mind stopping for photo's, and took one of me as well!
Any questions I asked, he was able to answer, and tell me some history on and what the buildings were, as we passed many nice French colonial style buildings.

It cost me $2au (2008) for an hour, which I thought was good value.