Hue Citadel and Purple Forbidden City
The Nguyen imperial capital, ten kilometres of ramparts and a city within the city.
Duration
2 hrs 30 min – 4 hrs
Best time
At opening
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
The citadel was begun in 1804 by Emperor Gia Long on the model of Beijing, adapted to Vauban's principles by French engineers: ten kilometres of ramparts, moats, and three nested enclosures. Hue was Vietnam's capital until 1945.
The innermost enclosure, the Purple Forbidden City, was reserved for the emperor and his household. Ninety per cent of it was destroyed during the Tet Offensive in 1968, and what remains alternates intact buildings, bare foundations and reconstruction sites — the Palace of Supreme Harmony, the royal library, the nine dynastic urns.
Getting there
North bank of the Perfume river, entry through the Meridian Gate. Twenty minutes on foot from the modern centre, over the Trang Tien bridge.
What the price covers
paid entry to the imperial site, rate to be checked on site
Rules on site
The site covers more than five hundred hectares and is walked entirely on foot, with no shade between the courtyards: three hours in the sun. Hat and water.
