Hue Half Day Tour With Optional Dragon Boat on Perfume River

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. OPTIONAL STOP: Built from 1804 by King Gia Long and finished in 1833 by King Minh Mang. This area was used as living and working quarter for Kings and Royal Family Members of the Nguyen Dynasty until 1945, and was recognized by UNESCO as WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE. This is a must see place, that not to be missed if you travel to Hue and love to learn about country history and Vietnamese royal culture.

   2 h

2. OPTIONAL STOP: Located on the north shore of the Perfume River about 3km from the Imperial Citadel. You can get there by dragon boat along the Perfume River, or for those feeling more energetic, a pleasant bicycle ride. The Thien Mu Pagoda is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital. Today it is the home of the Austin Motor Vehicle which drove Thich Quang Duc to his self-immolation in Saigon in 1963 in protest against the Diem regime. It is still home to many monks and a holy site visited by many everyday.

   30 min

3. OPTIONAL STOP: Tomb of Minh Mang (also known as Minh Menh) also called Hieu Lang, built by Emperor Thieu Tri of the Nguyen Dynasty, is located on Cam Ke mountain, An Bang hamlet, Huong Tho commune, Hue city, province. Thua Thien Hue, near Bang Lang junction, is the confluence of two streams, Huu Trach and Ta Trach, forming the Perfume River, 12 km from the center of Hue city. Minh Mang Mausoleum was built from 1840 to 1843, when it was completed, it mobilized up to ten thousand workers and soldiers.

   45 min

4. OPTIONAL STOP: Tombs built from 1920 to 1931. This is the only one tomb of the Nguyen Emperors built with blended architecture of Vietnamese Buddhism, Hinduism and Roman. Also this is the only one tomb, where body of the Emperor was placed under neath of his tomb.

   30 min

5. OPTIONAL STOP: Built by King Tu Duc (1847 - 1883) for himself from 1864 - 1867. This was also place where King Tu Duc sometimes lived and worked when he was still alive. Tomb's area is about 12 Hecta including 2 seperated areas: Temple area and Burial area.

   45 min

6. OPTIONAL STOP: This is one of the most interesting sights in Hue, just about 3km away from city center. This is probably the most interesting site in Hue, and it is all too often overlooked by visitors. It was built in 1830 during the reign of Emperor Minh Mang to stage yearly battle fights between an elephant and a tiger.

   15 min

7. OPTIONAL STOP: Vong Canh Hill used to be the place where the Nguyen kings chose to take a rest and sightseeing. Surrounding the hill is a system of tombs of Nguyen kings such as: Dong Khanh tomb, Tu Duc tomb, Thieu Tri tomb, Xuong Tho tomb, Ba Cung palace,... This was also an army base of US Army during Vietnam War, and there are still some army bunkers left here.

   30 min

8. IF OPTION CHOSEN: We take dragon boat cruise in Perfume River (Hương River), that originates from the Truong Son Dong mountain range. The main stream is Ta Trach with a length of 67km, originating from the Truong Son Dong range, along the Bach Ma area to the northwest, through Nam Dong town. Then it merges with Huu Trach stream with a length of 60km in the North through Bang Lang junction. At the place where these two streams meet to form the Perfume River.

   20 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 176 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Showing reviews written in English.

• 5Wow! Best day tour in Hue

  Wow, wow, wow. We had no idea this tour would be so informative. Teo made our day an amazing experience from the get go. His English was perfect and his knowledge of historical events was exceptional. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough. Thank you!!!

  odessadiamondAugust 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Best experience of ancient Hue

  From the moment Teo picked us up, he was so friendly, enthusiastic and shared such fascinating knowledge of historical events and local culture which was exactly what we were after on our day seeing the ancient sights of Hue. The experience exceeded all of our expectations. We could not recommend Teo enough and feel very lucky to have chosen this company for our day in Hue.

  stuartbT77IEAugust 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Superb

  The tour was amazing, and Tom is really one of the Best guides we ever had : very kind and respectful, knows all about history of Vietnam, even better than Chatgpt 😀 We had a wonderful expérience thanks to Tom

  mourade120August 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Beautiful historic Hue

  Today our fantastic guide Ngọc Phương took us on tour through the Citadel - Imperial city and the Forbidden city, then to Thien Mu Pagoda via dragon boat. Ngọc Phương is a fantastic guide and ran through local and Vietnamese history for our small group in both English and Vietnamese to accommodate both us and our travelling friends. We thoroughly recommend this tour and guide Ngọc Phương should you come to the beautiful Hue in your travels.

  shanem523August 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Great experience, Nhien was excellent guide

  We had an excellent time on our tour. Nhien was kind and knowledgeable, and I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Hue.

  davidgV3751WRAugust 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Awesome experience with Guide Linh.

  We had a wonderful day with our guide Linh . She presented the history in a very meaningful way. Linh was so helpful to our group and catered to our needs. A truly special day.

  heatherr799August 2026via Tripadvisor

Know before you go

How it compares in Hue

• Its from-price is 60% below the median of the 122 city tours we list in Hue.
• It is shorter than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 5 of 122.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Hue

Hue, the old imperial capital of Vietnam, lines the Perfume River with a walled citadel, royal tombs and pagodas set among gardens and hills.

The Imperial City, inside the vast moated Citadel, was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty, Vietnam's last emperors. Its gates, palaces and temples, including the Noon Gate and the Hall of Supreme Harmony, form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, partly restored after heavy damage during the war.

Top-ranked sights in Hue: Hue Citadel (Dai Noi), Thien Mu Pagoda, Khai Dinh Tomb.

See all 950 experiences in Hue