Hue Vietnam Holidays

Once home to Vietnam’s imperial government, the Imperial City’s moat and thick walls also once protected the Purple Forbidden City, where the Nguyen imperial family spent their days. Today, you can discover palaces, temples, pavilions and museums in the city's grounds as well as artefacts from various periods of Vietnamese history. The city has been declared a UNESCO site and many of the buildings have been painstakingly restored to their original beauty. Visit the Imperial City as part of our half day tour of Hue.

The Perfume River crosses the city of Hue in central Vietnam, during the autumn flowers from orchards upriver fall into the water and give off a perfume like scent giving the river it's name.

Spread along the Perfume River and dating back to the late 19th century, these elaborate monuments to the emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty each contain dedicated tombs, temples, courtyards and pavilions. The best way to see them is to join a dedicated boat cruise, stopping along the way to explore the tombs, courtyards, temples and pavilions dedicated to each emperor.

A stunning spectacle with ancient roots, Hon Chen Temple Festival takes place twice a year (in the third and seventh lunar months), at the colourful Hon Chen Temple just outside Hue. The festival starts with a procession known as the ‘God Welcoming Ceremony’, which ushers Gods from the village temples and shrines into the communal temple house, where a series of rituals are performed. At night, the Perfume River twinkles as boats, bound together to make rafts, float downstream lit by a myriad of lights.

Hue is home to more than 30 varieties of sweet soup, known as Ch. This is a rich and creamy combination of coconut milk, pomegranate, taro and sweetcorn. The most popular variety in Hue is lotus seed sweet soup, which is made using seeds from the pretty lotus flowers of Tinh Tam Lake.

Bun Bo Hue is a regional speciality in which thick vermicelli rice noodles are mixed with various toppings making a thick and tasty soup. This tasty broth is simultaneously sweet, sour and spicy, having been flavoured with boiled meat bones, annatto seeds, lemongrass, ginger, fermented shrimp paste, chilli and sugar. Venture to Dong Ba Market for a steaming bowl from one of the street vendors.