• Private Tour
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

You’ve probably heard that Hue is well-known for Imperial City, but do you know the stories and origin behind it? Or how much influence it has on the locals daily life? On this private city tour, you are in for a cultural treat!

Destination

Hue, Vietnam

Category

City Highlight Tours

Duration

3 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, Vietnamese

Included

• Private Guide
• Entrance tickets to the Imperial City
• All Withlocals Tours are Carbon Neutral

Excluded

• Entrance tickets other than mentioned

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 3 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at At the Kiosk in the Nguyen van Troi park - Hue to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. Culture of the City

   On this private tour, you’ll experience and discover Hue through its culture. Whether it’s focused on a tradition, a special part of town with a story to tell, cultural beliefs, or around a cultural activity that shaped the city into what it is - this tour will be a cultural awakening you can’t miss!

4. the Imperial City in Hue

   Your tour will focus on the Imperial City, a very important cultural subject in Hue. Thanks to your local host, you’ll learn and see how the Imperial City made an impact in Hue, making you experience the city from a different perspective.

5. Cultural Highlights

   As you deep dive into the subject of your tour, you’ll make stops to visit unique spots that will give you a full picture of the city. Visit Noon Gate, Nine Holy Cannons, Thai Hoa Palace, and more and see how these cultural highlights are part of the local life but have so much history behind them!

6. Storytelling Journey

   As you discover the cultural side of Hue, you’ll be able to embrace it thanks to the amazing stories and storytelling skills of your local host. Feel free to ask any questions and feel as if you are relieving history in the present time.

7. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Sarah🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

18 April 2025

Du was a wonderful guide and I would recommend her to any group visiting Hue. Her knowledge of the history of the Imperial City of Hue and its residents was deep and she communicated it in a warm and engaging manner. Our group ranged from two years old to 78 years old, which meant Du had to be adaptable to change during the tour, and she was! Nothing was too much trouble, and she also gave us dining recommendations for Hue and Hoi An in the days after the tour. If the opportunity arose, I would certainly look to do another tour with Du. Great way to see and learn about Hue

Christopher

(About local Bích Du)

14 April 2025

We had a great day in the Imperial City with Du booking a private tour for the two of us. She's super knowledgeable about the history of the site and the country and did a good job of getting on our level to explain things in detail. She speaks perfect English and is such a fun, warm person. We ended up texting throughout the rest of our trip and truly felt like we have a new friend in Vietnam now. She's the best!Wonderful time with our new friend Du

fr9478bqg2

(About local Bích Du)

14 April 2025

We met Du by the 3 cannons and began our tour. She was engaging and knowledgeable in her story telling which we throughly enjoyed. The tour didn’t feel rushed and she had time for all our questions. She was easy to understand and I would highly recommend this experience. On this occasion we chose to do this as a private tour so it was expensive by Vietnam standards but for us it worth it. Thank you so much Du Fantastic Experience

danieleriva1985🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Ngoc)

10 April 2025

We would like to sincerely thank our guide, Huong (Perfume), for her outstanding professionalism and deep knowledge during our visit to the Imperial City of Hue. Her passion for the history and culture of this incredible place made our experience truly unforgettable. Huong was not only incredibly well-prepared, but also warm, engaging, and attentive to every detail, making sure we understood and appreciated the rich heritage of Hue. We feel very lucky to have had her as our guide and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an exceptional tour experience. Thank you once again, Huong, for making our visit so special!Great

Raquel

(About local Ngoc)

1 April 2025

He was very patient and gave us a clear explanation about the history, while being impartial still! Very niceBest guide ever!

Helen🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

31 March 2025

Our guide Du was very knowledgeable and presented the information in an interesting and engaging way. Du’s English was very good and made it easy for us to understand all the information. We did the EV tuk tuk tour due to my husband being unable to walk far. For the parts that could only be done on foot, Du was very kind with looking for seats for my husband.Fantastic tour of the Citadel

Yasmin🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Bích Du)

14 February 2025

Had a lovely few hours touring the imperial city with Du. She is knowledgeable, friendly and made the tour feel relaxed yet informative. We learnt so many fun facts and got to know the history of Hue better. We were touring with our 11 month old and she even brought her a gift, and was super accommodating of all her needs. Highly recommend booking a tour with Du. You won't be disappointed!Wonderful tour with Du

Judith🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Bích Du)

10 February 2025

Wir machten mit Du die Food und die Imperial City Tour. Du ist eine sehr liebenswürdige Person, welche unsere ganze Familie begeistert hat! Sie hat ein sehr breites Wissen über die vietnamesische Kultur und konnte uns die Geschichte auf unterhaltsame Weise übermitteln. Auch die Food Tour ist sehr zu empfehlen, da uns Du in viele verschiedene einheimische Restaurants gebracht hat, in welche wir alleine wahrscheinlich nicht gegangen wären. Die Speisen waren alle sehr lecker und wir hatten viel Spass mit Du. Auch hat uns Du noch weitere Attraktionen gezeigt, welche eigentlich nicht geplant waren. Auch für unsere nächsten Ziele in Vietnam gab sie uns auch nach der Tour per WhatsApp och gute Tipps. Vielen Dank für Alles Du!!! Es war SUPER!!! Perfekte Touren

Mike🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Bích Du)

29 January 2025

Despite the the rainy weather we had a nice tour and much fun with Du. She speaks very well English, has a good sence of humor and is a nice person to have around. Highly recommended!Great person, great guide

Yvonne

(About local Bích Du)

28 December 2024

I found Bich Du as the number 1 guide on ChatGPT as the recommendation is completely correct. Bich Du's service is completely attentive. She WhatsApp me the day after my booking to inform me the itinerary and asked me I liked to do anything else in Hue. Her explanation of the Hue Imperial City was mesmerising to me. Although I am of Chinese heritage and have been to the Beijing Imperial City, Bich Du could tell me many stories and the differences in Vietnamese beliefs and cultures. I learnt so much in just three hours with her.Personalised guide with good English

Abbie🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Bích Du)

23 December 2024

We had a lovely afternoon walking around the Imperial Palace. Bích Du was friendly and informative as well as incredibly patient with our youngest child, fitting in a snack stop and even producing a gift. I’d highly recommend this tour as a great way to see the impressive palace and hear about its history and tradition. Friendly and informative

SOPHIA CATHARINA🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Bích Du)

15 December 2024

We had a wonderful time in Hue with Du, she is a lovely guide who told us a lot about Vietnams history, in particular about the Imperial City. We can only recommend this tour with Du!Imperial City Hue

Sarah🇳🇿 New Zealand

(About local Bích Du)

7 October 2024

We can’t thank Du enough for our wonderful day in Hue. She personalised the tour to suit us (enough history to be interesting without boring our kids) and split it over two days so we would be able to enjoy all the amazing food without being too stuffed to walk. Highly recommended!Amazing tour. Du is a star.

Jo🇳🇿 New Zealand

(About local Bích Du)

26 September 2024

We were six friends and family (from NZ) visiting Hue and wanted to see the Imperial Palace. Du was easy for me to contact and to organise our trip, but best of all, she was like meeting a new friend. We so enjoyed our time with her and her knowledge was extensive. I would definitely recommend her as a guide if you want to come away having learnt so much and having enjoyed her company.Great tour - a super guide!

Giorgia

(About local Bích Du)

26 August 2024

We visited the Imperial Citadel and Bích Du was our guide. It was a fantastic experience; we spent with her more than 3hours. She speaks excellent English. She is very warm, nice and very qualified. She showed us a lot of things and told us interesting anecdotes. She is very helpful giving us important suggestions. I would highly recommend, she does her job with passion and expertise.Great Experience

Rob

(About local Bích Du)

11 August 2024

Here's a concise and positive review you can use: "I had an excellent experience with our guide in Hue. She was incredibly friendly and made us feel welcome from the start. Her knowledge of the city's history and culture was impressive, and she shared it with great enthusiasm. She was on time, ensuring that our tour ran smoothly. Additionally, she provided some fantastic tips that enhanced our visit even further. Highly recommended!"Friendly & Knowledgeably

Vanessa🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Thanh)

29 July 2024

We are so pleased we discovered the 'Withlocals' app and that Thanh was free to offer us a guided tour of the Imperial Citadel. Thanh was so charming and friendly and her passion and knowledge of the citadel shone through. Her English is excellent and the pace of her tour was perfect. We never felt rushed but we saw all the key sights with time to stop for photos, rest break, wander a shop or two and ask Thanh lots of questions. It really didn't feel like we had only met that day - she was so lovely. Would highly recommend you book Thanh for a personal guided tour of such a wonderful place. Thank you Thanh!Articulate & friendly

Dennis🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Bích Du)

27 July 2024

Spent the half day in the imperial palace in Hue with our enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide Bich Du. Her English is excellent and her explanations are very good understandable. We had a great time and can only recommend her tour!!Great Tour with Bich Du

Duncan🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

21 July 2024

Du did a fantastic job in our 2.5 hour tour of the Imperial City. Particularly as there were 15 in our group of varying ages (15 to 58) she was able to be informative and engaging without overloading us with too much information. I would highly recommend Du.Tour of Hue Imperial City 15 July 2024

Matt🇺🇸 United States

(About local Bích Du)

21 March 2024

Du was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable about the Imperial City - we learned a lot we wouldn’t have known touring alone. Du is personable and easy to get along - we really enjoyed our time together touring the Imperial City and she also gave us a few good tips for Hue. I highly recommend Du for your Hue tour!Great tour with Du of the Imperial City

Linda

(About local Thanh)

18 March 2024

Thanh was very keen to impart her knowledge of the ancient city of Hue, she was an attentive and informative guide with a quiet manner and good sense of humour. We really enjoyed the tour ans would recommemd her as a guideInteresting tour of Imperial Citadel

Mark🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Bích Du)

15 February 2024

Guide was very enthousiast and we learned history of Vietnam. Finished with nice vegan meal.13 kings

Troy🇺🇸 United States

(About local Bích Du)

29 January 2024

We hired Bich to both guide is to the Imperial Palace as well as have a english speaking local to help us orient and get tips for Hue overall. As first time travelers from the US and our second use of withlocals my expectations are for a affordable mid-level guide; I appreciate the uber-like experience in booking and the fact there are independent reviews. My wife and daughter prefer guides who do not lecture and are more conversational and unstructured as the history and information while useful can become overwhelming and tedious on a 3-4 hour experience. Bich was great at communicating with us prior to and we found each other easily and on time. After taking the tour I would highly recommend hiring a local as the property is massive and even picking a walking route is a feat itself. Bich has good english and is able to describe and share her knowledge and answer questions. I saw another review that was critical yet it likely comes down to expectations. Her command of English is not perfect and her knowledge into some specifics has gaps yet we did not find this did not take away from the experience and have no trouble recommending her for the Imperial palace tour. Relaxed and enjoyable guide

Michael🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Bích Du)

25 January 2024

Bich Du arrived on time and showed us much of the grounds across the imperial citadel which was great. She wasn't very informative on different parts of the citadel and at one point, we asked what a certain building was (the treasury) and she didn't know what the building was until she read the sign in front. English was okay but not great. She took several phones calls while on our tour that were not related to the tour. She needs a bit more experience, should practice her English and read up more on the history of the citadel.Good but would have liked more engagement.

Katharina Hedwig🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Bích Du)

23 January 2024

Wir hatten eine sehr gute Führung durch den Kaiserpalast. Bich Du wusste viel und konnte alle unsere Fragen beantworten. Dann hatten wir leckeres local food und den besten salted Coffee der Stadt. Zum Schluss haben wir noch gelernt wie man Papierblumen und Kegelhüte macht. Das hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht. Also ein durchweg gelungener Tag Dank Bich Du.Ein toller Tag

Cynthia🇺🇸 United States

(About local Thanh)

27 November 2023

Thanh was the perfect guide for our day exploring the Citadel. She kindly arranged all aspects of our 3hour tour, and made sure that we saw everything despite the intermittent rain. Her knowledge of Hue generally, and the Citadel specifically, gave us a deeper appreciation for all we saw. She is an excellent communicator and a very nice and fun person! We three enjoyed our time together. I highly recommend Thanh for your time in Hue.Thoughtful, articulate and fun

Mark

(About local Bích Du)

26 May 2025

We had the absolute pleasure of taking a walking tour of Huế with Bích Dư, and we cannot recommend her highly enough. She was an outstanding guide—knowledgeable, engaging, and incredibly kind. Her English is excellent, which made the historical and cultural insights she shared easy to understand and deeply enriching. Bích Dư took wonderful care of us throughout the tour, ensuring we were comfortable and tailoring the experience to our interests. Her deep understanding of Huế’s history brought the ancient city to life, and her warm personality made our time together both informative and genuinely enjoyable. If you’re visiting Huế and want a guide who truly knows and loves this city, Bích Dư is the perfect choice.Birch Du is the perfect giude

Kirsty

(About local Bích Du)

6 May 2025

Having been to Vietnam numerous times and tried lots of different food we were keen to see if there were things that we may be missing out on. We were not disappointed with the food we tried, sine of which we likely would have missed and Bich Du was great at talking about the food, regional differences of the same dish eg Vietnamese pancakes which I love and had noted differences. Bích Du was a very engaging and authentic guide who was generous with her personal experiences growing up in Hue which I was particularly interested in. Her English is excellent and she presented as a very bright young woman. From our discussion her main tour is the Imperial Palace Hie and I imagine this would be a great tour however we had already done the palace the day prior, When booking the tour we did think the price was quite high compared to other tours we have done and positively did not regret our spend particularly as it was a private tour. Thank you once again Bích Due 😀Fantastic food tour with Bich Du!

Carrie🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Bích Du)

30 April 2025

Du is very knowledgeable, professional and offers a fun walking tour. She designs a walk that covers the history with a storytelling narrative! She definetely was the highlight of our tour. We were fortunate to enjoyed a lovely simple sample of local foods after the tour with Du. Du imperial city walking tour

Marco🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Bích Du)

19 April 2025

Awesome food tour of Hue with Bich Du! We loved all the spots she took us to and her knowledge of each dish and the city itself. You won’t be left hungry that’s for sure! She also shared some excellent recommendations for our next stop in Hoi A which we really appreciated. Highly recommend and good value for money. Fascinating Food Tour with Bich Du

Unknown

(About local Bích Du)

16 April 2025

We had a wonderful day with Du. She knows an incredible amount about the sights, the culture, and the country. She was able to answer all our questions and tell wonderful stories. For the next day, she organized a private driver for us to Phong Nha, with several stops along the way. It was a fantastic experience. 100% recommendationGreat experience, highly recommended

Christopher

(About local Bích Du)

14 April 2025

Great private food tour with our new friend Du. She made the process so easy by selecting spots, ordering and paying, and then introducing the dishes to us and showing us how to eat them. It was a perfect introduction into Vietnamese street food and doing in Hue was a great choice. Not only do they have some of the best food int he country, but it's a small enough city that the tour felt easy. So tasty and fun

dtp77cdys5🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

31 March 2025

Enjoyed a wonderful visit to Hue thanks to the expert knowledge of Du who made the tour of the imperial city so memorable. Brilliant guide in Hue

Billie🇮🇪 Ireland

(About local Bích Du)

16 March 2025

We really enjoyed the tour with Bich Du, she is so full of stories and history and has a great sense of humour which made our experience so fun! It was so interesting walking around the wonderful Imperial City then the food places she brought us to were such great examples of really authentic Vietnamese meals, delicious! Fantastic Tour!

Harold🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Bích Du)

5 March 2025

Du, was a fabulous guide. She was prompt and warmly greeted us. Du had great knowledge of the sites and kept us well informed at all times. Du even got us a small gift, following our recent wedding in Hoi An. We would highly recommend Du as a guide.Fantastic insight in to Hue

Diane🇺🇸 United States

(About local Bích Du)

25 February 2025

We had a great time trying different foods with Du for our 10 Tastings of Hue. She took us to a lot of local places we would never have thought to try. Her English was excellent and we felt comfortable with her right off the bat. The evening was well planned and we had a really good time eating and chatting with Du.Great experience with Du

Jill🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Bích Du)

15 February 2025

Du took us on a very interesting tour all over the centre of Hue that included all of the best local specialities! We went into local restaurants that we would never have found independently, and she explained the food culture of the city very well. Du was very easy to chat with and it was a pleasure to spend time with her. Do make sure that you are hungry when you start the tour as the portions are generous!Fantastic food tour of HUE!

Jordan

(About local Bích Du)

13 February 2025

Our first mission when arriving in Hue was to do the 10 tastings of Hue with Bich Du and the tour did not disappoint. Du took us to local vendors and introduced us to numerous dishes plus the original salt coffee - so good. She was an attentive host and easily accommodated some dietary requirements in the group. The next day we toured the Imperial City together where Du’s historical and cultural knowledge came to the fore. She allowed us to tour at our own pace and took time to ensure we got family photos along the way. Our final day we met at the Pagoda where again we received a personalised tour, discussing the history before we exchanged gifts and parted ways. We are not a family that would typically book a tour, but the personalised style and ability to book as private group was definitely worthwhile to get the most out of a short stay. Three days in Hue

Elena

(About local Bích Du)

13 February 2025

Recorrer Hue acompañados de Bich Du fue una gran experiencia. Su pasión y conocimientos sobre Vietnam son admirables.Muy recomendable

Debbie

(About local Bích Du)

31 January 2025

We were so pleased to have Du as our tour guide. She is easy going and friendly. In addition to knowing a great deal of Hue’s interesting history, Du spoke very good English. The tour went well over time and she was happy to keep going. She also helped us in getting a car and driver to drive us to Hoi An, which was quite a feat as it was during the New Year holidays. We highly recommend Du as a tour guide and we would definitely book her again. Above and beyond!

Astrid

(About local Bích Du)

30 January 2025

Wir hatten tolle Stunden Bich Du, einen ausführlichen Spaziergang durch die kaiserliche Stadt von Hue mit vielen interessanten Erklärungen, super Mischung von Top-Attraktionen und ruhigen Ecken. Danach sind wir nich zur Pagode gefahren und haben prima uns interessant gegessen! Insgesamt wurden unsere Erwartungen übertroffen - auch länger als erwartet! Und das trotz Tet wunderbare, informative, nette Führung

Jane🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

17 January 2025

Our Guide was very Knowledgeable and had very good English, we had a very pleasant morning touring the Forbidden City, and learned many interesting facts.

Linda🇺🇸 United States

(About local Bích Du)

16 January 2025

We booked a day tour with Du to visit Hue. We communicated beforehand to share some of the highlights we wanted to see. Du was very helpful in planning the tour, doing some advanced research for us, and making recommendations to ensure we saw a variety of sites. This was very helpful and much appreciated. Du grew up in Hue so she knows the entire area and all of the sites well. Even though we were staying in Da Nang, Du was able to arrange a car to pick us up and take us around to all the sites. Du was very communicative with us about our pick up and ensured we were in the car and on our way. The driver took us across the Hai Van pass which was beautiful and we stopped for a quick coffee and some photos at the top. Once we arrived in Hue, Du met us at our hotel to drop our bags. She even brought us pastries as she knew we didn't have time to eat before leaving Da Nang. We visited 2 tombs, both very different. Du was incredibly knowledgeable about the emperors of the Nguyen dynasty and shared some interesting details with us along the way. We also visited the Citadel, and again Du's knowledge of the history of the emperors their wives and their counsel was so helpful. We learned so much about Hue from her. Du is a wonderful guide who knows Hue and its history incredibly well. We fit a lot into this day and she did a remarkable job as our guide. I highly recommend booking with Du for your tour to Hue. A day in Hue we won't soon forget.

klaus.hau

(About local Bích Du)

9 January 2025

We very much enjoyed our tour with Du. She gave us lots of insights and some excellent recommendations for food and additional activities.Great experience

Ian

(About local Bích Du)

29 November 2024

akilahmarie

(About local Bích Du)

8 October 2024

We ended up booking just the day before and Du was very accommodating. She met us at the ticket office for Imperial City and the tour began. She was full of knowledge and answered our questions. We had lots of laughs throughout the tour and learned more than we could have anticipated. The Pagoda was also a nice visit and much different from a pagoda that we saw in Hanoi. Finally, we topped it off with some local food from a restaurant that was just delicious. Du was wonderful throughout the whole experience, thank you very much! History of Hue

Daniel

(About local Bích Du)

26 September 2024

Du was fantastic as a guide. We did an imperial city tour with her and then a food tour later in the day. The food tour was a standout and she really made the experience special.Exceptional guide

Simone🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

22 September 2024

Bich Du (Du)..her knowledge of history was exceptional!!…this was a last minute booking the night before and she accomodated our requests and made our visit to Hue all that we could have asked for. She is very proud of her country and culture which only enhanced our experience. She is a very engaging young woman. Thankyou Du. Hopefully we will be back and will get you to show us more!!..SimoneA must experience!!!

Heather🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Bích Du)

13 September 2024

Du was a fabulous guide she made the history of the Imperial Palace come alive. The time passed too quickly. Highly recommend Imperial Palace a must do tour

Patcharachai🇹🇭 Thailand

(About local Bích Du)

29 July 2024

Ms. Du was very attentive and took great care of us. She's friendly, caring and very knowledgable about the history of her hometown. Hue is rich in both cultural and culinary heritage. I had my best "Nem Lui" thanks to Ms. Du l's recommendation. She made our trip so much more enjoyable 👍🏻Amazing time in the great city of Hue