In hindsight I think Huế should have been our favorite city in Vietnam. Not too big, not to small, some western amenities, but not too many. Unfortunately our hotel, Nhan Stay, was in the wrong area of town.
We stayed in the Kim Long District west of town, in a sea of houses, barking dogs, and cafés. Don’t get us wrong, Nhan Stay is a great hotel. Probably the best accommodations of the trip so far. It is only a 20 minute walk from the walled city. Unfortunately it is also a 30 minute walk, or more, to a decent convenience store and restaurant. Great coffee was never far away. Cold beer, chips, and apples? That’s another story.
We should have stayed across the Perfume River in the Phú Hội District. That would have been perfect. Good restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores are in abundance, and the walled city is just a short walk or ride over a bridge.
Live and learn. Anyway, the location of our hotel notwithstanding, Huế is definitely a great city.
The most striking feature of Huế is that moats and walls still surround the old town. Another inner set of moats and walls surround the Imperial City (Hoàng Thành Huế), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After the capital of Vietnam was moved from Thăng Long (Hanoi) to Huế, Emperor Gia Long commissioned the construction of the Imperial City in the early 1800s, apparently based on Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Tickets to the Imperial City are a fairly pricey 200,000 ₫ each (about $8), but are well worth it. We arrived at 8:00 AM on a weekday, about an hour after opening. In the plaza outside the entrance were hundreds of Asians in oriental dress taking selfies. I was a bit surprised and concerned. This is too early for most tour groups.
Nevertheless we headed inside. There, we only ran across one tour, a group of about 10 to 15 Russian women. Phew. The masses outside had not yet ventured inside the Imperial City.
In fact, I’m not even sure the selfie taking Asians bothered to enter the Imperial City. Maybe they had visited and were on their way out. Or perhaps they were just taking photographs in front of the Ngo Mon Gate before moving on. Regardless, we never saw them again. And we were in the Imperial City for a few hours.
A few days earlier I came across a website, Ostrich Tails, that recommends a walking route through the palace, residences, gardens, temples, cafés, and gift shops in the Imperial City. Too lazy to plan our own route, this is what we chose to do. And it worked! This is definitely a great route plan to follow.
By 9:30 AM we noticed that the crowds were starting to pick up. Thankfully the Imperial City is so large that crowds were not – yet – a problem. The main sites are straight down the middle from the entrance, between the Ngo Mon Gate and the Purple Forbidden City. Most of the tourists are found congregating along this stretch.
Outside the Imperial City, and the final recommended visit on this route, is the Museum of Royal Antiquities. Duly following the route we headed there next and paid 50,000 ₫ each (about $2) to enter. It is a small museum with some artifacts (plates, vases, chairs, clothing, and so on) that are semi-interesting at best. Go if you wish, but don’t think you’re missing anything if you skip this museum.
After several days in Huế we are moving on, a grand total of about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south to Da Nang. Rather than hopping on a train or riding a bus, we hired a private driver with Hue Private Cars. We thought this would give us the opportunity to see the scenery and make a few stops along the way at Lap An Lagoon and Hai Van Pass.
We should have thought about the weather. It was overcast and drizzling light rain. We still stopped at Lap An Lagoon and Hai Van Pass, though neither is particularly enjoyable or scenic in the rain. At least the cost of the car was not much more than taking the train.
Garrett and Stephanie
If you have not already done so, read our other post about Huế:
Huế, Vietnam (February, 2025, Part I). Huda beer and mausoleums.
For additional posts about Vietnam, or elsewhere in the world, check out our Travel Blog. It contains collected links to all of our travel posts.
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