"The Vietnamese Imperial City" Top 5 Page for this destination Hue by SirRichard

Hue Travel Guide: 615 reviews and 1,656 photos

Historic highlights

Hue is a medium size city located in the coast, at about the middle of Vietnam, near Danang.
Its main touristic interest comes from the Imperial Nguyen Tombs, the Citadel (former Imperial Palace) and the Perfume river.
It reminds somehow several landmarks of Beijing (Ming Tombs, Forbidden City...) so if you have been there before, you will have a sense of "deja vu", only in a smaller size and not so well preserved.
Apart from that, Hue has not much to offer to the visitor, but is a main transport hub, so you will pass by sooner or later.

An Imperial past

Model of the "Forbidden Purple City"

The Imperial past of the city has left some important landmarks.
Most of them were abandoned during the 1975-1990 period (after the Reunification) as signs of a "feudal dinastic power", which was not politically correct at that times.

After being declared "UNESCO World Heritage Site", Hue city has realized the economic importance of restoring sites (improving tourism and incomes at the same time) and a huge restoration labour is being held.

The Perfume river

Trang Tien Bridge

The Perfume River divides the city in 2:
- The North side is the old part, including mostly the Citadel, museums, palaces...
- The South side where the modern city is.

There are boat tours by the river stopping on the way to visit the many Nguyen Tombs along the river.

Last visit to Hue: Aug 2003
Intro Written Oct 17, 2003
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Reviews (17)

Camel Travels Transportation (3)

I arrived in Hue with the Camel Tours bus, a hop on. hop off bus. more travel advice

Tu Duc sepulchre Favorites (5)

Tu Duc's tomb is a simple bloc at the end of several patios and after many open door gates. Its son's tomb has the same... more travel advice

The Stele Pavilion Favorites (5)

This small pavillion houses a Stone Tablet (20 tonnes) in which Tu Duc engraved a brief autobiography, writing about... more travel advice

The stone mandarins Favorites (5)

On the way to the Tu Duc tomb, inside the complex, you will find these 2 rows of little stone mandarins. But wwhy so... more travel advice

Hotels (2)
See All Saigon Morin Hotel
Restaurants (1)
Lac Thien Restaurant

Things to Do (6)
See All The Fine Arts Museum
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Comments (5)

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el_ruso Dec 10, 2006 at 5:22 PM

Great info on this distant land. Hope to see it someday too :)
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roamer61 Aug 9, 2004 at 5:45 PM

Great pages on Hue Joaguin. Looks like a fascinatingplace to see.
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acemj Oct 27, 2003 at 6:32 AM

The Imperial Enclosure has some really interesting things to see. Well done.
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herzog63 Oct 18, 2003 at 1:09 AM

Wow!! Everytime I see another of your new pages my mind just races!! You are a Real traveler!!! Fantastic page again Joaquin!!
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jrs1234 Oct 17, 2003 at 5:22 AM

Looks like a great place to go - thanks for the excellent tips! Cheers.