Hue: The Imperial Capital That Was Bombed in 1968, Rebuilt by History Enthusiasts, and Is Still the Best Food City in Vietnam

The food argument is genuine and contested. Hanoi partisans will object. But Hue’s claim rests on history: as the Nguyen dynasty’s capital from 1802 to 1945, the imperial court required elaborate multi-dish spreads for every meal, including meals that required hundreds of dishes for the emperor alone. That culinary pressure created a local food culture so refined and diverse that what filtered down to the street stalls is still more interesting than what you find elsewhere.

The 1968 Tet Offensive left Hue as one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the American War. North Vietnamese forces occupied the city for 25 days; the retaking by US and South Vietnamese troops destroyed large sections of the Imperial Citadel. The ruins of that bombardment sit alongside the restored sections in an honesty that other Vietnamese heritage sites sometimes lack.

The Imperial Citadel

The Citadel is a walled enclosure within a walled enclosure: outer moat and rampart, the Imperial Enclosure within, and the innermost Forbidden Purple City where the emperor lived. Entry to the Imperial Enclosure is 200,000 VND (around $8). The Meridian Gate is the ceremonial entrance; walk through to the Thai Hoa Palace (Throne Hall), then east to the Mieu Temple and its spirit tablets of the Nguyen emperors.

Some pavilions have been carefully restored; others remain as ruins with trees growing through collapsed walls. Both versions are worth attention. The ruins are not failures of preservation – they are accurate records of what artillery did. Allow two to three hours.

The Royal Tombs

The Nguyen emperors built their tombs while still alive, treating them as retreats as much as death preparations. The results are some of the most architecturally interesting structures in Vietnam.

Minh Mang’s tomb, 12 kilometres south, has a formal sequence of courtyards, pavilions, and lakes in forested grounds that reflects Confucian spatial principles. Tu Duc’s tomb, closer to the city, is the largest; the emperor spent decades living here, writing poetry, and reportedly visiting his 104 concubines. Khai Dinh, the last Nguyen emperor before abdication in 1945, built an angular hilltop structure mixing Vietnamese and European styles; the interior is covered floor to ceiling in coloured mosaic inlaid work, obsessive in its density.

Each tomb charges 100,000 to 150,000 VND. Renting a motorbike (100,000 to 150,000 VND per day) and doing the circuit independently is the most flexible approach. A driver-for-hire through your guesthouse costs around 300,000 to 400,000 VND for the day.

The Food

Bun bo Hue is the flagship: a thick, spicy broth with lemongrass and shrimp paste, thick round rice noodles, pork, and beef. Significantly spicier than pho and considerably less internationally famous; find it at street stalls from 35,000 to 50,000 VND. The heat is direct and the broth has more complexity than pho.

Banh khoai is a crispy fried crepe with shrimp and pork, dipped in a peanut-sesame sauce. Banh beo are steamed rice cakes topped with dried shrimp – eaten by the tray, six or eight at a time at standing stalls. Com hen is a rice dish with tiny river mussels, herbs, peanuts, and chilli served cold, eaten for breakfast. The streets around Nguyen Binh Khiem in the old district concentrate most of these options within a short walk.

Getting There and When to Go

Hue has a domestic airport (Phu Bai) with flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Reunification Express from Da Nang is about 2.5 hours and the coastal stretch through the Hai Van Pass is one of the more scenic train journeys in Vietnam. From Hanoi the train takes 12 to 14 hours; sleeper trains are the standard and comfortable enough.

Hue’s climate is awkward. The city sits in a rainfall pocket that receives significant rain from October through January, when elsewhere in Vietnam is dry. The rest of Vietnam’s peak season (November to April) does not align with Hue’s best weather. Plan for the possibility of rain regardless of month and bring a lightweight waterproof.