Hue Itinerary 2 days: What to Do & See?

Hue also known as the former capital of Vietnam, takes pride in its long history, atmospheric temples, sublime royal palaces, and unique cultural traits that you can hardly find anywhere else in Vietnam. This city is home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including The Forbidden City, many Royal Tombs, and pagodas. If you have a short time, follow our Hue 2 days itinerary with recommended places to visit and things to do to make sure you will not miss any interesting places in Hue.

The highlight of two days Hue city tour

This 2 days’ itinerary will allow you to take a full-day Hue sightseeing tour and a tour to the countryside. You will see both the traditional and the new, the city and the countryside. Please see the highlight of the tour below:

• Visit Hue famous landmarks such as Imperial Citadel, Forbidden Purple City, two famous tombs of Kings Minh Mang and Khai Dinh, Thien Mu Pagoda
• Take a boat trip on the Perfume River
• Cycle to the countryside to visit handicrafts villages
• Visit local market
• Take a leisurely cycle tour around some streets in the city to admire poetic Hue at night to taste many kinds of Hue street food and learn more about Hue culinary and culture

Two days in Hue itinerary

Day one: Hue city tour full day

Hue is famous for many historical and cultural sites such as the Thien Mu pagoda, Imperial Citadel, and many tombs…A trip to Hue is incomplete without a visit to these places. Today's tour will bring you to most of the must-see places in Hue.

Around 8.00, you will be picked up by the tour guide and driver to start a wonderful trip around Hue city. Firstly, you will be taking the dragon boat trip along the Perfume River to get to Thien Mu pagoda (Heaven Fairy Lady Pagoda). The boat trip is about 30 minutes and you can enjoy the fresh air from the Perfume River. Thien Mu pagoda is one of the most fascinating and ancient pagodas in Hue city. Getting into the pagoda, you will be impressed by Phuoc Duyen tower (7 stories with 21 meters’ height), and gallery displaying the relics of the Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc with a seemingly intact car and photographs of him.

Thien Mu Pagoda

After about 1 hour in Thien Mu pagoda, you the take a short drive to visit Minh Mang Tomb and Khai Dinh Tomb. Located 12 kilometers from the city center to the west, Minh Mang tomb was built in 3 years with the effort of ten thousand workers and artisans and is different from the rest of the imperial tombs in Hue. The tomb offers a balance of nature and structures, and the balance between landscape and buildings. Minh Mang's tomb is home to 40 beautiful constructions, including a temple, pavilion, palace, etc, and considered one of the most mystical tombs of the Nguyen Dynasty. Khai Dinh Tomb is the smallest, but costliest and recent one in comparison with other tombs of Nguyen royals. It was established by Emperor Khai Dinh, the 12th Emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty for 11 years. The tomb is located hillside and has a combination of Eastern and Western-style in terms of architecture.

Minh Mang Tomb

After few hours of visiting these 2 tombs, you then can relax at the local restaurant and enjoy the classic Hue cuisine.

After lunch, you will spend the whole afternoon visiting Imperial Citadel, and Forbidden Purple City. The Imperial City of Hue was actually a walled fortress and palace that belonged to the ancient city of Hue which was the capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty for 140 years’ date back from 1805 until 1945. Hue Citadel complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and consists of a massive complex featuring hundreds of monuments and ruins like royal tombs, flag tower, pagodas, temples, library, and museum.

The tour will end before night. If time allows, you could admire the glorious sunset on the Perfume River.

Day two: Explore Hue Countryside by Bicycle & Hue Night Culinary Tour Half day

Explore Hue Countryside by Bicycle

Besides the famous tourist attractions, Hue owns a peaceful beauty in the countryside with a lot of traditional handicrafts villages. Visiting Hue surrounding countryside, you will have a chance to learn more about local life in the countryside through our biking tour.

On the second day in Hue, you will be joining a cycling tour to explore the countryside in Hue. The tour starts at 8:30, and you start to cycle to the ancient Thanh Toan bridge, which is 7 kilometers to the East of Hue city center. Along with the Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoian, Thanh Toan tile-covered bridge is classified as rare and has high artistic value in types of ancient bridges in Vietnam. The Bridge is a historical, cultural relic built on the style of "a house above a bridge" that is still intact nowadays.

Thanh Toan Bridge

After the bridge, you will be cycling to Duong No Village to visit the tiny local market to see how the market in the countryside looks like, and buy some local food. After the market, you can visit the village temple and Ho Chi Minh Memorial House. Walk around the village and see the old artists make birdcages, then Phap Hoa Pagoda in Duong No Village and have lunch there.

After lunch, you will cycle to the East of Hue City to visit Thanh Tien Village and Sinh Village to visit the famous artist, Ky Huu Phuoc who paints rustic paper in Hue City. You then cycle to Hue center, arriving at the center around 16:00

You will need a reasonable level of fitness to cycle Hue countryside. The cycling distance is about 37 kilometers and you need to be active up to 7 hours a day, and the best time to join the tour is from March to the end of October.

Hue Night Culinary Tour Half day

After a few hours of relaxing at your hotel, you are recommended to join a Hue culinary tour at night. The tour guide will pick up you at the hotel by cyclo and the trip start with a visit to “Hang Me” restaurant on Vo Thi Sau street. There, you can taste the best cakes of Hue such as Banh beo, Banh Nam, Banh Bot Loc, Banh Ram It, Banh Uot...

After “Hang Me” restaurant, the cyclo will take you to “Hen island: to enjoy clam dishes such as clam rice, clam noodles... We then wander on Le Loi Street, stop at some shops for sweet soup. Walk around Tien Hoang Street to enjoy favorite cakes 'Banh Khoai', 'Nem Lui'.

When you are full, you can continue a sightseeing tour to see Hue city at night, pay a visit to Imperial Citadel, Truong Tien Bridge. Then the cycle will take you around the streets to admire the romantic atmosphere at night, buy some special souvenirs such as sesame candies, conical hats, sour shrimps, long dress (ao dai), Minh Mang wines.

The tour ends around 22:00 at your hotel.

When planning a trip to Hue, make sure that you do not skip these places. Following our 2 days’ itinerary, and you will be able to see the best of Hue. Contact us for any assistance or book a wonderful Hue tour.

If you want to longer itinerary let's read: 3 days discover Hue

Jenny Tran

Image source: Internet