Hue Activities

Top Sightseeing and things to see

Bach Ma Park

Bach Ma National Park is located approximately 50 km north of Hue. In the 1930s, a city was located in the mountains, but it was almost completely destroyed after the 1946 - 1954 revolution. Nowadays, all that is left are the remnants of a city built with roman architecture and buried under vegetation.
Bach Ma National Park is now considered as another Dalat, but in the centre of the country. The temperature never goes below 4°C in the winter and the hottest summer temperature does not exceed 26°C.

Bach Ma National Park has a lot to offer, as much in terms of sites to visit as landscapes to admire. From the top of Hai Vong Dai, the highest peak at 1,450 m, one can admire a fantastic view. The Grand Do Quyen Waterfall, over 300 m high and 25 m wide, is also impressive.
Rich vegetation and animal-life also attract many visitors. The park is home to 233 species of birds and 55 species of mammals, as well as extensive flora of more than 500 species. Extensive scientific research is also carried out here.


Thuan An Beach

Thuan An beach is situated near by Thuan An mouth, where Huong river runs to Tam Giang lagoon and then to the sea.... In the beginning of the 19th century, King Minh Mang named the place as Thuan An, assigned to build Tran Hai frontier post for defense of the Capital.

Far from Hue 15 km, only 15 minutes by car, tourists are able to reach the beach. Plenty small boats, junks drift up and down the river in the left of the route, and on the right there are houses, temples, pagodas, rice field and gardens successively spread out...

Thuan An is a very enjoyable place for all tourists after a full day to visit Citadel, mausoleums, pagodas and Hue scenery... Thuan An is also the place where Hue people gather to enjoy the fresh air and sea-bathing in summer time.

Intensive activities of the beach lasts from April to September, while Hue temperature being fairly hot. Besides sea bathing, tourists are able to visit Thai Duong temple where Thai Duong Goddess is very esteemed by villagers or visit the temple devoted to the whale, the sacred animal of the local people.


Lang Co Beach

Leaning against the Truong Son mountains, Chan May cape is in the shape of an enormous crescent. It is next to Lang Co Beach and north of Hai Van Pass. These beaches are considered the nicest in the central area.

Lang Co Beach is 10 km long with white sand and clean and shallow water. The in-season is from April to the end of July, with an average temperature of 25oC and 158 sunny hours per month.

According to research of the Institute of Physics and Hydrology, the water in the area is accessible to the vessels 10 tons, and the Vietnamese government plans to build a harbour in Chan May. The harbour will be a starting point for tourists. It is planned for Chan May harbour and the Dung Quat industrial zone to greatly contribute to the economic development of central Vietnam.


Ngo Mon Gate

This three-story structure is 58 m long, 27.5 m wide, 17 m high and serves as the main entrance to Imperial city. There are five gates to Ngo Mon, with the central gate being reserved for the kings only.
The two adjacent gates were exclusively for court officials, and the two other outer gates were used for servants and members of the royal entourage. On top of the arch in the Five Phoenix Tower where the king sat during festivities.

This was also where ceremonies were organized to announce the names of successful candidates of royal examinations. During the reign of the Nguyen Kings, Ngo Mon Gate was only opened when the kings were passing by or receiving foreign ambassadors.


Trang Tien Bridge

Spanning the Huong river there are more than ten bridges but only one becomes Hue symbol, that's Trang Tien bridge.
As written in Annual of Unified Great Nam by " The office of Vietnam History" of the Nguyen Dynasty, "the metal bridge Trang Tien in the south east of the Capital commenced to be built in the 9th year of King Thanh Thai (1897) and then finished in 1899. The bridge is about 400m long with 6 spans".

In August 1904, a terrible typhoon devastated the Center of Vietnam, and 6 spans of the bridge were broken down, only two spans remained. In 1906 the bridge was reconstructed. Trang Tien bridge has been repaired so many times again. Near the bridge right gate there was once a small market at the Trang Tien wharf, named Dong Ba. Nowadays Dong Ba is a trading center of Hue city.


Hue National School

Quoc Hoc high school was founded pursuant to the royal decree dated September 17th 1896 and the decree on November 18th 1896 of the French Resident-Superior in Indochina. The school was built on the site of a former squadron headquarter - a royal navy headquarters.

In 1915 when the decree annulling Emperor ancient exam in the province and the ancient exam of the capital in the North was issued, Quoc Hoc high school was rebuilt.
The rows of thatch roofed apartments were torn down and replaced by two rows of buildings, the wall made of brick, the roof covered with tiles. It was solid and comfortable according to the western European architecture. Most of the architectures are still extant


The Citadel

Often referred to as ‘ancient’, Hue’s Citadel is comparatively modern in European terms. Built over thirty years in the early part of the 19th century, the Citadel encompasses three ‘courts’ covering a total of 6 km.

The outer court within the massive brick walls, ten metres thick in places, is mainly open space and gardens.

The Imperial City, built along the same lines as the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, was the country's administrative centre. Senior mandarins, court officers and civil servants would have entered by the ‘Ngo Mon’ (noon gate). Directly behind were the Dai Trieu Nghi (great rites courtyard) and the Thai Hoa Palace (throne hall) where the Emperor would meet foreign rulers and emissaries, high-ranking ministers and other dignitaries.

At the heart of the Imperial City was the ‘Tu Cam Thanh’ (Forbidden Purple City). Only members of the royal family, the Emperor’s concubines, and trusted senior mandarins and officers such as the royal doctor were allowed through the sole entry gate. Inside were various palaces and the Emperor’s private apartments.

Less than a third of the structures inside the citadel remain. The French army shelled the building, and removed or destroyed nearly all the treasures it contained. Most of the buildings in the Forbidden City were destroyed by fire in 1947.

Further destruction occurred when Hue’s Citadel became the symbolic epicentre of the 1968 Tet Offensive. Major artillery battles were fought when the Viet Cong overran Hue and when the US forces finally recaptured the citadel 25 days later.

Despite more than fifty years of decay and attrition, the Citadel is still imposing, and recent renovation work has restored several of its buildings to their previous glory. In front of the Hien Cam Lac, an elegant three-storey pavilion, are nine large bronze urns, each dedicated to one of the Nguyen Emperors, the largest being that of Gia Long, builder of the citadel and founder of the empire.

Nearby is the Thé Temple. It contains altars commemorating ten of the Nguyen rulers. Of the remaining three, two reigned only briefly and were considered too friendly with the French, and the last Emperor, Bao Dai, was a puppet ruler under the French and died in exile in Paris.


The Museum of Antiquities

Frequently misnamed by guide books as the Fine Arts Museum, the Bao Tang Co Vat (Antiquities Museum) is housed in the ancient Long An temple, once used as a temporary resting place for the body of Emperor Thieu Tri until his tomb was completed.

It contains an interesting collection of assorted memorabilia from the days of Empire. The trivial function and poor quality of many of the exhibits reflects the extent of looting by the French – a few pieces hint to the former opulence of life in the Forbidden City.

Although the building is attractive and spacious, the Museum has a run-down feel. When we last inspected it, admittedly some months ago, the staff seemed bored and indifferent, the display cabinets were dirty, and the lighting was inadequate. There was hardly any attempt to describe the exhibits, let alone interpret their significance, and no-one appeared interested in enlightening us.

Things may have improved by now, so we would welcome feedback from anyone who has visited recently.