Time of the visit:22nd -26th,april,2025.

On the 22nd I arrived in Hue around 15.00.I just took a long walk around a large part of the inner outer areas of the citadel without entering the citadel as it was quite late.The following day I entered the huge citadel around 11.00 am and stayed there till around 17.30.It was an extremely hot day so that I needed far more time to visit all sections within the big citadel. The heat made me take far more breaks than intended.On a cooler day 3 h would have been sufficient to visit the entire citadel.

On the 24th I rented a bicycle in order to visit some of the tombs outside Hue.That day it was even hotter than the day before.My first destination was the temple of letters where I stayed less than 10 min as there wasnt much to see.I then rode to the Thien-Mu-Pagoda which was quite disappointing and underwhelming but easy to reach by bike.I then crossed the river and visited the Royal Arena and the nearby  Voi Re lake.The arena was closed and not really worth a visit.I continued my trip to the tomb of the emperor Tu Duc.To my great dismay there are no combo tickets with several other tombs...only a citadel ticket with three tombs.I had to buy that ticket as a single ticket for every tomb costs 150.000 dongs.Quite pricey.The Tu Duc tomb turned out to be a very interesting one.It is also the most popular one of all Royal Tombs( lots of tour buses there). However,the extreme heat took its toll on me.I spent one hour in a nearby cafe.I then visited the Minh-Mang tomb which was my highlight that day.I had to cross a highway bridge to reach that tomb...with a bicycle..pure madness.On the way back I had to cross it again riding into the oncomming traffic..my shirt was wet with sweat and not only because of the heat.Last but not least I visited the tomb of Khai Dinh ( looks pretty european) which was full with visitors unlike the Minh-Mang tomb.I was totally exhausted when I reached my hotel in Hue.

On the 25th it was cloudy and the temperatures were more pleasant than the days before.I first visited the baroque-like An Dinh city palace in Hue. Mildly interesting.I then paid a visit to the tomb of DucDuc which is supposed to be the least beautiful tomb of all of them. My expectations were low,but that tomb surprised me in a very positive way. Although it is within the city boundaries nobody was there,no organized bus groups nor any individual visitor nor one of the young Vietnamese teenager groups who like to take pics dressed in historical costums.Sure, the DucDuc tomb is not the most impressive one out there,but I for one loved its wonderful double gate... incredibly beautiful.

My next destination was the Nam Giao Esplanade(the esplanade was once the most important religious site in Vietnam)...once again I was the only visitor.... the guard was sleeping so that I didnt need to pay the 50.000 dong entrance fee.Absolutely underwhelming visit.

My next stop was the abandoned water park near the mausoleum of emperor Thieu Tri.I was trapped inside the Ho Thuy Tien dragon for almost one hour due to a temporary rainfall.Very weird experience and certainly worth a visit.I then visited the aforementioned mausoleum.My last destination was the mausoleum of emperor Dong Khanh.I was the only visitor and enjoyed my stay there very much. Finally I revisited the citadel for around 1,5 h where I had another look at the Co Ha garden, my favourite place inside the huge citadel.

Hue is a great whs site.The citadel alone deserves only 3 stars but in combination with the tombs the Hue whs is quite a classy one.

Just some advice: buy a combo ticket with 3 tombs(MinhMangTuDuc+KhaiDinh) when you visit the citadel! Visit some other tombs as there are almost no visitors there and you have the entire place to yourself! Visit the abandoned Ho Thuy Tien water park with its iconic dragon! Be extremely careful when crossing the highway bridge (Hanoi-Saigon)  with a bicycle to visit the MinhMang tomb! 

It is quite safe and pleasant to ride a bicycle outside Hue but on an extremely hot day a scooter/vespa is certainly the better option.