*POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2026.
Hello, friends! Happy Sunday afternoon! I hope this post finds you reveling in the innate joy that is a cozy wintery Sunday. I’m dropping by these parts for the briefest of interruptions to share my latest travel guide with you: 5 Things to See in Huế, Vietnam! In case you missed it, Husband and I spent two weeks eating our way around northern/central Vietnam back in September, and it was great! Over the course of our trip, we hit Hanoi - tourist guide here, and foodie guide here -, Hội An, and Huế, spending four days in each. I have a complete guide to Hội An coming in the near future, but today’s post will deal exclusively with the historic imperial capital of Huế! Shall we dive in?
Huế was maybe the only stop on our trip that I literally had no idea what to expect from. Hanoi and Hội An are staples on the Vietnam first-time visitors route, but Huế kind of slips under most peoples’ radars — and that’s exactly the reason I was interested in visiting! Thankfully, this foray into the relative unknown paid off; Huế really surprised me! I loved the laid back vibe to the city, especially when compared with Hanoi, and was very pleased to discover many a wonderful meal here!
Everything I know and love about Huế is detailed below, divided into the following sections for ease: getting there / where we stayed / 5 things to see. It’s my short yet sweet, photo journal, ode to the city, and I really hope you like it.
Enjoy!
getting there
Huế was the third and final city of our Vietnamese explorations, and we made our way there from Hội An. At the end of our trip, we also made our way from Huế back to Hanoi for our flight back to Ireland. Here’s how we navigated everything:
from Hội An, we opted to take a private car transfer to Huế, which we organised through our hotel. The drive took 3-ish hours - vie the Hải Vân Pass, but more on that below! - and cost €50 in total for the two of us. A little pricey for travel within Vietnam, but for door-to-door service in a comfy air-conditioned car it was 100% well worth it. If you’re wondering about public transport, there’s a bus between the two cities that takes 3-4 hours and only costs €7 each; more info on that here.
four days later, on our return journey from Huế to Hanoi, we opted to fly. Again, we hired a private driver organized through our hotel to get to Phú Bài airport - but I’m not sure if there’s any public transport options? Regardless, our drive from the city centre took 30-minutes.
for the flight, we went with Vietnam Airlines, and our 1-hour 20-minute journey to Hanoi’s Nội Bài airport was very pleasant! If you’re looking to get public transport, there is a direct bus between the cities, but it takes 14-hours… more info on that here.
where we stayed
