Getting from Hanoi to Hue (and return)
· Updated · BootsnAll
Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945, and the Citadel, the Forbidden Purple City and the emperors' tombs scattered along the Perfume River are what survive of that. It took heavy damage in 1968 during the Tet Offensive and has been under restoration ever since.
It sits roughly in the middle of the country, about 700 km south of Hanoi, and is the natural first stop on the way down.
Flying
About an hour and ten to Phu Bai airport, a few flights a day, and usually cheap. This is the sensible choice if your trip is short.
Fares on domestic Vietnamese routes are low enough that flying often costs little more than a soft sleeper, and it buys you an entire day.
The train
Twelve to fourteen hours on the Reunification Express, and the overnight services are the ones to take: leave Hanoi in the evening, sleep, arrive in Hue in the morning with the day intact.
Book a berth in a four-person soft sleeper. Hard sleeper is a six-berth compartment and the difference in comfort is worth the small difference in price. Hard seat, for twelve hours, is for people making a point.
Five trains run each way daily. Tickets are available at stations, through agents and online, and they sell out around Tet and Vietnamese public holidays.
Buses
Sleeper buses take twelve to fourteen hours and cost less than the train. The open tour tickets sold in the Old Quarter let you break the journey down the country, which is their real advantage.
The berths are narrow, the ride is not smooth and the air conditioning is set to arctic. Bring a layer.
What to do when you get there
Give Hue two days. The Citadel needs half of one, and the imperial tombs need the other: Minh Mang's is the most formal, Tu Duc's the most pleasant to walk around, and Khai Dinh's is the strangest, a concrete and mosaic hybrid of French and Vietnamese taste that has to be seen.
Hue also has the best food in Vietnam, and this is not a widely disputed claim within the country. Bun bo Hue, the beef noodle soup, is the famous one, and the royal cuisine tradition means a lot of small elaborate dishes. Eat at the market stalls rather than the hotels.
Carrying on south
Do not fly out of Hue to Da Nang. The train between them is three hours over the Hai Van Pass, along the coast with the sea below, and it is one of the best rail rides in Asia.
There is now a dedicated tourist service on that stretch, the Central Heritage train, with panoramic windows and a ten minute photo stop at Lang Co. Two departures a day in each direction.