Hué
Hué was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945, and the bones of that empire still sit along the Perfume River. The walled Citadel and the inner Forbidden Purple City take a half-day to wander, with the ornate Ngo Mon Gate as the postcard view. Upstream, the royal tombs of Tu Duc, Minh Mang, and the syncretic Khai Dinh sit among pine forest and lotus ponds, each one a separate boat or motorbike ride. The seven-tiered Thien Mu Pagoda — founded in 1601 — is the city’s emblem. Eat bun bo Hue, the spicy beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup that originated here, and pace yourself: central Vietnam’s summer humidity is real.
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