- Your Hotel in Hue
- Hue Sightseeing Tour
- The DMZ
- Hue
- Tour type: Private guided tour
- Itinerary: Your hotel in Hue – Royal Tombs of Tu Duc and Khai Dinh – Thien Mu Pagoda (boat trip) – Hue Citadel – Dong Ba Market – DMZ Tours meeting point in Dong Ha – Khe Sanh – Full DMZ – Hien Luong Bridge – Ben Hai River – Vinh Moc Tunnels – Hue or Dong Ha
- Starts: Your hotel
- Ends: Hue (your hotel)
Day 1: Your hotel in Hue – Hue sightseeing tour – overnight in Hue
In the morning, we pick you up at your hotel in Hue and drive to Tu Duc's tomb, built between 1864 and 1867. Of all the Nguyen kings, Tu Duc reigned the longest (36 years). His tomb is the work of a poet: its graceful architecture is in harmony with nature, and nature itself plays a part in the architecture. Tu Duc's tomb is a fine expression of this Vietnamese architectural philosophy.
Drive to Khai Dinh's tomb, whose architecture is completely different from that of any other royal tomb of the Nguyen Dynasty. It unites Eastern and Western civilization and culture. The porcelain mosaic decoration of the tomb is a marvelous achievement – a happy meeting of East and West in the history of Vietnamese architecture. Lunch at a good restaurant in Hue.
Then take a boat trip on the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, founded in 1601 by Lord Nguyen Hoang, governor of Thuan Hoa Province. According to legend, a fairy woman appeared to Lord Nguyen Hoang and told him to build the pagoda. The seven-story tower, built by Emperor Thieu Tri, has become the unofficial symbol of Hue.
Drive to the Hue Citadel, whose construction began in 1804 under Emperor Gia Long. Continue to the Imperial Enclosure, where the emperor's official functions were carried out. Within the Imperial City is the Forbidden Purple City, reserved for the private life of the emperor and his large family.
Continue to Dong Ba Market for shopping, then drive back to your hotel. Overnight in Hue.
Day 2: Hue – Dong Ha – Khe Sanh Combat Base – DMZ – Vinh Moc Tunnels – Hue
7h00: Leave Hue for the DMZ Tours office in Dong Ha, 113 Le Loi Street. You will drive along the "Highway of Horror" of the Blazing Summer of 1972 to Dong Ha, former headquarters of the US 3rd Marine Division. Short stop at the skeleton of Long Hung Church in Quang Tri Town, badly damaged in 1972. Then on to the Rockpile, a US Marine lookout. From there you get a general view of the Razorback, Mutter's Ridge, LZ Russell, Camp Fuller and Camp Carroll, reminders of the first two operations in this tactical area: Prairie and Hastings. The next stop is Dakrong Bridge, one of the starting points of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which leads to Hamburger Hill and the A Shau Valley. Our main stop of the morning is Khe Sanh Combat Base, a large US Marine base attacked by NVA forces in early 1968, before the Tet Offensive. Drive back to Dong Ha for lunch.
In the afternoon, we visit Gio Linh Firebase (Alpha 2), part of the McNamara Line, and stop at Gio Linh Cemetery, with more than 2,000 NVA graves. Then you will walk across the Freedom Bridge over the Ben Hai River, the true demarcation line between the two Vietnams for 18 years (1954 to 1972). You will drive past Cua Tung Beach, which the French called "the Queen of Beaches". The last stop is the Vinh Moc Museum and the Vinh Moc Tunnels, the refuge of more than 300 North Vietnamese people during six years of bombing (1966 to 1972). Drop-off in Dong Ha, or drive back to your hotel in Hue.
End of services
Tour price (2 days)
- $218 for a group of 1 person
- $238 for a group of 2 people
- $288 for a group of 3 people
- $338 for a group of 4 people
- $388 for a group of 5 people
- $438 for a group of 6 people
- $50 more for each additional person
Included
- Air-conditioned car or van (2 days)
- English-speaking (or French-speaking) guide with good knowledge of the area (2 days)
- Entrance fees for all sites in the program
- Boat trip on the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda
- Road and bridge tolls – Parking fees
- Driver's fee – Tax
Not included
- Meals – Travel insurance – Hotel
I am sure you will enjoy your trip with DMZ Tours!
Note: If you would like to be picked up at Phu Bai Airport, there is an extra charge of $15 per group. Thank you!
