"Once the Imperial Capital" Hue by bpwarne

We were only in Hue for a day and a night on our first visit in 2007 and wished we had stayed longer. We arrived by train from Hanoi in the early morning and left the next afternoon by Open-Tour bus for Danang and Hoi An
We had a great time, staying at a hotel within the Citadel and directly across the street form the Imperial Palace. We had a great breakfast at a tiny little local cafe just a couple blocks from the railway depot, toured the Imperial Palace that afternoon, then walked to the downtown area to explore and have a late lunch. Late that afternoon we both had a great massage at our hotel for $6/ea and then enjoyed the great pool on the large landscaped hotel grounds. Our hotel seemed much like a destination resort due to it's many ammenities, large well manicured grounds, and it's location within the Citadel with the Imperial Palace ruins pratically at our doorstep.
That evening we spent strolling around the neighborhood, having drinks at a small local cafe, soft serve ice cream at a small kiosk outside the neighborhood grocery store (12 cents/ea) and just wandering through the local shops. The next morning we had a great buffet breakfast at the hotel, followed by a leisurely neighborhood walk before departing for Danang and Hoi An.
For us, one of the most memorable aspects of our visit was the absence of other tourists in the neighborhood we stayed in. While there were a few other tourists at our hotel, it was in a residential area away from the main downtown hotel area. There were no other hotels in our neighborhood. That entire evening we did not come across any other tourists, just locals, mostly friendly.

• Pros:History you can almost feel, easy to get about, very safe
• Cons:Touristy downtown area (no need to go there though)
• In a nutshell:Delightful, more like a small town than a city