One-Day Planner

The three most important things to see in Hue is a look at the Imperial City in the Citadel, the Tu Duc Tomb outside town, and eating Hue-style cuisine in various family-run hole-in-the-walls.

Rather than go on a group tour, I’d rent a motorbike or hire a taxi/motorbike driver for the day. Start at the Citadel’s IMPERIAL CITY — where there is less sun/rain cover — then eat nem lui at nearby Lac Thien (see HUE FOOD). Drive north, stopping at riverside THIEN MU PAGODA, then north to the Hwy 1 Bridge, and south on the other side of the Perfume River. With time, spend 20 minutes at the flashy, but compact KHAI DINH’S TOMB and an hour at TU DUC’S TOMB, before returning to Hue — perhaps to fly a kite at the flagtower. Dinner at Y Thao Garden or Cung An Dinh (see HUE FOOD).