Thien Mu pagoda or Heavenly Lady pagoda was built in 1601, on a hill overlooking the Perfume river, 4km southwest of the Citadel, this pagoda is an unofficial icon of Vietnam as well as Hue citadel. It is considered as one of the oldest and prettiest religious buildings in the country.
Famously being one of Vietnam’s seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Imperial City of Hue has long been a must-see attraction for tourists visiting a hidden charm of Vietnam. The Imperial City of Hue was actually a walled fortress and palace belonged to the ancient city of Hue which was a capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty for 140 years date back from 1805 until 1945. The grandeur architecture was planned to be built in 1803 by Gia Long – an emperor who founded the Nguyen Dynasty. During 27 years from 1805 to 1832, the Imperial City of Hue was finally completed under the reign of Minh Mang, making it the most massive structure being built in the history of modern Vietnam involving thousands of workers, millions cubic meters of rock and huge volume of burden workload. It locates on the northern bank of Huong River, turning South with total land area of 520 ha. The place was made UNESCO Site in 1993 with the remained buildings being actively restored and preserved after the destruction from the Vietnam War.
Despite being the smallest, Khai Dinh Tomb is the most recent and costly amongst other Nguyen royal tombs. Khai Dinh chose to build his tomb by modern materials like concrete, slates and wrought iron, hence its appearance is quite gray and imposing. At first, the main building brings about a strong Western feel, however, the landscape was arranged to reflect traditional perceptions: a balanced combination between wood, land, water and plants. Overall, it’s an emerging rectangular structure with 127 steps, leaning against the mountain. The side walls are formed by the biggest sculptures of dragons in all over Vietnam. After climbing upstairs, tourists can first see the house of epitaph. The statues of madarines court (including madarines, horses, soldiers...) are placed at the courtyard. The most notable place in Khai Dinh Tomb is Thien Dinh Palace, which contains bronze statues and steles of the King. Walls are densely decorated and inlaid with elaborate glass and porcelain designs. The most highlighted feature of this room is the intricate painting on the ceiling, illustrating nine dragons amidst fleeting clouds. Inside the tomb, there are two statues modelled the King: the one on the throne was sculptured in Paris in 1920 by Ducuing and Barbedienne.
Minh Mang King’s Tomb – considered as the most majestic of all of the Royal Tombs. Renowned for its architecture, which harmoniously blends into its natural surroundings.
Our car will take you to Dong Ba Market, the busiest market in Hue with various kinds of foods and goods. Here you can see how the local people buy and sale things and this is also a chance for you to buy souvenirs for your friends and family.
Great experience with a variety of interesting places and very informative. Special shout it to huy our tour guide. The pick up and drop of was very efficient, I would highly recommend.
Huy was my tour guide He is very knowledgable and answered many questions about Vietnamese history. His english is amazing!!
One of the best tours we took. Our guide was Fi. Her English is excellent and her knowledge of Vietnamese history is impressive. She was also very personable and well spoken. Highly recommend Fi as your next guide.
Guide was hopeless. No commentary or introduction of the places we visited was given to us- a group of 5 . The morning started by pick up being late because they did not check that I had already booked and paid online via Tripadvisor and I had to call at 8.10am when I was told that pick up would be at 8 am. They then quickly arranged for pick up at 8.30 am making the excuse that pick up would be between 8- 8.30 am in any event but made a comment that they did not realise I had booked and paid. So I dread to think what would have happened if I did not follow up with a phone call when they were running late. During the phone call, I remembered asking the tour operator which guide I would be getting as I wanted one who could speak English and could explain and answer questions. He said he did not know as he had several tours running simultaneously. Despite that, we went along happily . The whole purpose of signing up for such a tour were the excellent reviews Tripadvisor had on them . We could have gone to the sites ourselves but we wanted to get some local knowledge and insights of the historical sights of Hue. Alas, this was not to be. The most that the guide did was to volunteer to take our pictures. We felt like fools walking around and trying to eavesdrop into other guide's commentaries to other groups which we felt were fascinating and entertaining and secretly wished that our guide could have been more actively involved. His English was very limited and he could hardly understand our queries . Even basic questions about the history of Hue dumbfounded him and he had to resort to asking another guide for answers . Clearly, he did not do any homework for this assignment and he showed no interest in the history of the sites we were visiting. To add the final insult to injury, they had initially picked us up to join the tour but for our journey back , the driver refused to turn into the road where my hotel was situated and dropped us off on the main road , instructing us to walk in to the hotel ourselves ; this was after an extremely hot and humid weary day of walking and climbing up and down the steep steps of the tomb visit sites and was definitely not appreciated. The other members of my group ( whom I had just met on the day itself in the tour ) also agreed that this was a very poorly run tour. It would do the guide a service if the tour operators actually made a point in educating their guides in the history of Hue and the sights which they are to be guiding. The monies we paid I felt was a total rip off for this tour . Also I have learnt the hard way to be wary of excellent reviews - it really depends on the guide assigned . For me this tour was a disaster.
Sue was a great tour Guide explaining us a lot of the imperiaal history of Hué. The lunch in Xuan Dai restaurant was absolutely a highlight. As a tourist you would never ever have found this. This tour is a must do in Hué when you are there!
Absolutely great tour. Managed to get so much covered in the day. I like the fact that the tour numbers are kept small. Our guide (Bé Chị apologies if I have her name wrong 27 Feb 2023) had an excellent knowledge of all of the places we visited and was helpful throughout the day. She was able to answer additional questions the group had and more general topics about vietnam (as freelance I can highly recommend her to other Vietnamese travel companies). Her English is absolutely perfect. Overall a wonderful day to see the major highlights in vietnam. Thank you
What an experience of this great Imperial city called Hue. Our tour guide, Bao was very informative and engaging and also a good photographer. Bao ensured we had a great understanding of Hue history. He took us to the citadel, the 2nd and 12th kings tomb and also to the place where incense are made. As usual, he answered our questions and he is very good with speaking English. I recommend Bao to anyone visiting Hue, you won't regret it.
We were very lucky to have Fi as our guide. She is incredibly knowledgeable and a lovely person! She really took her time to answer all our questions :)
Sue was a wonderful tour guide she was very interesting and great company for the day. Recommended. 😊
The city tour was one of the best tours I’ve been on anywhere. Sue (Thanh) our warm and friendly guide was informative, helpful and we enjoyed her explanations and patience in answering our questions. The tour included the Imperial City, Tuen Mu pagoda, Tombs of the 2nd and 4th Nguyen dynasty emperors, lunch in a private garden in a local village, traditional foot bath and a visit to a traditional conical hat and incense stick maker. We all had a go at rolling an incense stick too. We also visited the colourful local market in Hue. I think the tour was good value considering how much we packed in.
Out of all the tours I’ve been on this year , and I’ve been on quite a few , as I’ve been travelling since February , this is one of the most enjoyable. Sue our tour guide was so sweet , and made the tour so enjoyable. We started off at one of the Pagodas, followed by the Imperial Citadel/City . Then another Pagoda , a visit to the market , then we had lunch at a Garden House , which was well out of the way , at the edge of the city. We received a warm welcome from the hosts . The food they brought out , was delicious and plentiful. And after lunch we had a herbal foot soak . In the afternoon we visited a small shop , that still produce and make incense sticks by hand . And all the group had a go at making some sticks , mine was hilarious. Then we visited a further 2 Pagodas, what a contrast they were , from each other . Would highly recommend this tour , it was very enjoyable, one of the most interesting tours I’ve been on . The guide Sue , and the driver , were a credit to the tour company.
We loved our time with Sue! Her depth of knowledge of Vietnamese history is impressive and she was great company while trekking through the city. Gorgeous views! And our traditional lunch and foot soak were beyond amazing… Such a fabulous day!!
Boat trip along perfume river and lunch at village home and yes loved Vietnam as whole and looking forward
Awesome tour! We saw all the city highlights and had a great local lunch. The transport was very comfortable with great AC. Sue, the tour guide, was very good and had great knowledge and communication. See you next time!
Brilliant tour with a great guide. Would highly recommend - you get to see most of Hue on this tour and it doesn't feel rushed at all.
We were able to efficiently tour the tourist attractions in Hue. Initially, we had planned to tour on our own, but the temples on the outskirts of the city are in the mountains, so we were glad we joined the tour. They also held a cooking class for lunch, so we were able to tour while eating. The foot bath after the meal helped to relieve our fatigue. In addition to the guide's content, our guide Sue was always considerate of the participants who were not used to the heat, which was really wonderful. During our free time in the market, she was very helpful, telling us where we could eat recommended che and sending us a map on WhatsUp.
Sue was our guide and she was fantastically good at explaining and telling about Hue's history. Interesting and exciting trip!
Cực kì thú vị với những trải nghiệm các điểm tham quan lăng tẩm, tham gia làm nón, hương, ngâm chân thảo mộc,… trên cả tuyệt vời!
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