Things To Do In Hue – Budget Travel In Vietnam

The ancient city of Hue, once the capital of Vietnam, sits on the banks of the Perfume River. Visit Hue to explore the Imperial City and the many tombs that are dotted around the area.

Hue is a popular destination for travellers moving along the coast. It is a small, beautiful city located on the Perfume River. Its main tourist attractions are the homes and tombs of historic emperors from the country’s past. Some of the ruins are being restored after being destroyed during war time. Look close and you can still see the bullet holes in many of the citadel buildings.

If you like coffee (and what traveller doesn’t?), you’ve come to the right place. Hue is filled with coffee shops, serving both Vietnamese and Italian coffees. You could be forgiven for thinking you are in Europe, as some of the shops have that chilled vibe that you find in places like Krakow, Prague and Amsterdam.

Hue Touts

Of course, Hue has much more than coffee on offer. If you like marijuana, cocaine or ‘ladies’, you will more than likely be offered these by the countless ‘friendly’ bikers that scour the streets at night, looking for tourists that may be interested in a little extra before bedtime.

You Thought Hanoi Was Busy?

Hue is a very lively city. The bikers here make even Hanoi seem calm. If you’re a pedestrian, it means crossing the road can be a daunting task. The tip is to keep walking as the bikers will avoid you (hopefully). Stop and you only have yourself to blame.

How To Get To Hue By Sleeper Train

We were travelling from Ninh Binh so decided to use the sleeper train for the first time. We had heard many horror stories about the sleeper trains: vomit-filled bathrooms, drunken Vietnamese men shouting and singing all night long.

Frustratingly, we were not able to pay for tickets online but we could order them and they were held for 24 hours. This meant we had to pick them up at the train station beforehand.

We booked the lower bunks in a 6 berth. As it turned out, there was only another couple in our cabin and they were fellow travellers who went to sleep straight away, as did we.

We actually had a decent night sleep on the train. It was bouncy but nothing as bad as we were fearing. We woke up in Hue feeling pretty good!

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Things To Do In Hue

Whilst we spent five nights in Hue, at least two of those days had torrential rain. This meant we could spend some relaxing time in the hotel and catch up with some blogging and watching movies.

Once again, we knew next to nothing about our destination before we arrived. A little research showed that Hue is probably most famous for its 19th century citadel and the imperial city that is found within. We also discovered that Hue is known for the tombs that lay on the edges of the city.

Here are some recommendations for things to do in Hue:

Abandoned Tomb

This tomb is located not far from the ‘Tomb of Dong Khanh’. It is not included on any tour itinerary. Most locals don’t even know about it. It truly is an abandoned tomb. We had to cycle through woods and fields and through small communities to get there and, as it had been raining, got ourselves quite muddy in the process. However, it was worth it as we had the place to ourselves. Why this place is not known is a mystery to me. There is next to no information about it on the internet. It is not entirely forgotten though; flowers at one of the graves confirms this. The journey to get there and to then move on took us through some of the smallest communities in Hue. Definitely include this on your tombs trip! Map.

Cycling In Hue

We hired bicycles to take us to the three main tombs we had tickets for. We figured it would be approximately 20 km which we had done before so it was easily within our capabilities. Luckily, Hue is almost completely flat, meaning the cycling was very easy. This was a good thing as the bikes, particularly Joanna’s, were not of the best quality. They did only cost 20,000 Dong for the day!

The first part of the ride was to try and get out of the city. Hue’s roads are crazily busy. When you come to a crossroads, every vehicle just sort of meets in the middle and weaves around each other. It was a little bit unnerving but also great fun! However, it was a more relaxing ride once we got out of the main centre.

Getting out of the city made things more relaxed until disaster struck: Joanna suddenly got a flat tyre. We were out in the middle of nowhere and had no idea what to do. After looking online for help and not really finding any, we decided to cycle very slowly and hope we would come across someone, somewhere that could do something to help us. Luckily, it wasn’t long before we found a small community next to the Perfume River. After much pointing from many locals, we actually found someone who could help. He pumped up the bike and we were back on our way!

Cycling in Hue was a great experience. There were some scary moments, particularly in the centre of the city. Once we reached the outskirts, it was much calmer and making our way through small communities was such a memorable experience.

Embroidery Museum

Located on the banks of the Perfume River, we probably would not have visited this if it was paid entry. As it was free, we chose to have a look and we were glad we did. The embroidery produced here is stunning. There are many pieces to look at: art, clothes and sculptures. All are produced on site. You can watch the women at work too. It’s not something I’d have thought I’d be interested in visiting but I enjoyed looking at the incredible detail in the work. (Map).

Embroidery Museum Opening Times: 8 am – 9 pm, every day.
Embroidery Museum Entrance Fee: Free.

Hue Imperial City

The main attraction in Hue lies on the north side of the Perfume River. As mentioned above, we opted to buy a package ticket which also included admission to three main tombs the next day. The Imperial City is in the centre of the citadel. Lots of tourists had a guide with them but we opted to explore independently. Whilst this meant we might not have learned as much factual information, it did mean we were free to explore every nook and cranny of this huge site. The Imperial City isn’t the most impressive part of the citadel, in my opinion. We preferred the ‘Tay Loc’ area in the far left corner.

The whole site takes at least a couple of hours to explore; probably even longer if you’re not getting rained on. It was a nice, relaxed half-day and it wasn’t as overrun with tourists as we had expected (probably due to the rain). (Map).

Hue Imperial City Opening Times: 8 am – 5.30 pm, Fri – Wed. 8 am – 10 pm, Fri.
Hue Imperial City Entrance Fee: 200,000 Dong (package deals are available)

Hue Markets

Hue boasts at least three markets that I am aware of. The Ben Ngu Market (map) is a standard wet market that could do with a clean. The smell was pretty bad when we entered. We saw one or two rats too. Dong Ba Market (map) is on the north side of the Perfume River and is much more claustrophobic. It is very busy in here and you will find yourself struggling for air as you are herded around the narrow aisles. There is also a night market near the river (map) but we did not visit this one.

Minh Mang Tomb

Perhaps the most scenic of the three tombs we visited. This was the furthest away from the centre of the city and lies on the west side of the perfume river. If you cycle there, do not pay anyone for parking. You can park, for free, at the main entrance. The last part of the cycle route takes you through some woods and through a small community but stick with it as it does eventually lead you out to the entrance. The tomb itself is in an underground palace and is only accessible one day a year but the grounds are more than worth a visit. (Map).

Minh Mang Tomb Opening Times: 7.30 am – 5 pm, every day.
Minh Mang Tomb Entrance Fee: 100,000 Dong. It is cheaper to buy a package ticket.

Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh King

A much more gothic-looking tomb and you need to climb up many steps to reach the tomb at the top. Probably the most impressive architecture and also offers great views. Free parking outside, I think. Some woman did try to get us to pay when we were leaving but Joanna just told her ‘no’ 🙂 (Map).

Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh King Opening Times: 7.30 am – 5 pm, every day.
Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh King Entrance Fee: 100,000 Dong. It is cheaper to buy a package ticket.

Tu Doc Tomb

This was the third tomb of the day (fourth if you include the abandoned tomb) and we were pretty ‘tombed out’ by this point. It was also getting close to closing time so we paid a little less attention to this tomb. The tomb lies in a very picturesque area with a big lake in the middle. It is very pretty. Again, we ignored the local shops offering parking and simply locked our bikes up outside the main entrance with no problems. (Map).

Tu Doc Tomb Opening Times: 7.30 am – 5 pm, every day.
Tu Doc Tomb Entrance Fee: 100,000 Dong. It is cheaper to buy a package ticket.

Is Hue Worth Visiting?

I enjoyed my time in Hue. Five nights might be too long, especially if you are time-restricted. Having two days of rain meant we could spend some time chilling out and take a break from exploring. You need that every now and then! If I had my time in Vietnam again, I would have spent less time in Hue and slightly longer in Hoi An and Da Nang. No regrets, though. Hue had enough history and culture, and decent night life, to keep me satisfied.