Want help booking?

The Central Tours in Vietnam - Vietnam Heritate Tours

Complex of Hue Monuments

The Hue complex is located approximately 100 km northwest of Danang, the largest commercial city in the middle region of Vietnam. The city is divided into old and new sections on either side of the Fon River, extending nearly 4 km in all directions. Although it has high temperatures and humidity (except during the dry season from November to April) with an average annual precipitation of 2,900 mm, the summer is not as oppressively humid as in Japan.

Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam, is a city with a long cultural heritage unparalleled anywhere else in the country.

The northern bank of the Perfume River contains the relics of palaces, constructed as an arc of defensive ramparts 11km in length. This valuable site comprises more than 100 architectural works from the Nguyen dynasty. Situated in the hills o¬n the southern bank of the Perfume River are the beautiful tombs of the Nguyen kings. Four of these tombs are particularly notable as their designs reflect the opinions, personalities and tastes of the emperors they incarcerate. They are the majestic Gia Long tomb, the imposing Minh Mang tomb, the poetic Tu Duc tomb and the magnificent Khai Dinh tomb.

Hue is also an important center of Buddhism. The city and its surrounding area still contain dozens of pagodas constructed more than 300 years ago.

The city is renowned for its traditional dishes and sophisticated handicrafts as well being the place where royal music is originated.

Hue still retains its original layout from the Middle Ages and therefore the whole city is in effect a vast and invaluable museum. The historical sites of Hue have been classified by the Vietnamese government as very precious property and in December 1993 Hue was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.

World Heritage Site : The archaeological sites of Hue are the remains of the capital of Nguyen, the last Vietnamese dynasty that was prosperous from the early 19th to the mid 20th century. Although based on an architectural style from China, these structures incorporate both Baroque and traditional Vietnamese architecture. Now recognized for their historical and artistic value, they were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1993.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Brief Description : Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. 

Location : Hoi An is located approximately 30 km south of Danang, the fourth largest city in Vietnam, where the estuary of the Thu Bon River (the largest in Khannam Danang Province) flows into the East China Sea. Today, Hoi An port has a simple quay and the water is shallow. However, between the 16th and 18th centuries, the city was a prosperous international trading port and its seashore had a protective formation of sandbanks surrounding a bay, which provided a safe anchorage for ships in those days.

The name "Hoi An" refers both to the town and the surrounding community which includes several villages (xa). Present-day Hoi An consists of 6 villages (Ming Phuong, Hoi An, Kochai, Dong An, Zie Hom, Ho Hua) and the town of Hoi An.

The town of Hoi An is composed of 3 districts (phuong). These are divided into smaller units called khu, vuc, xa. There are also neighborhoods (to) which are the smallest units.

Outline of the Heritage : Hoi An, formerly called Fai Fo, was a port town used as a relay trading base for Southeast Asia. Wooden tradesmen's houses, Chinese merchants' club-houses , Emperor Kwang's Shrine, etc., stand along Kyanhou, running parallel with the Thu Bon River, and facing two streets: Nguyenchiminhkai and Nguyentaihok. It is supposed there was a Japanese town, similar to the o-ne in Ayutthaya,Thailand, between the 15th and 16th centuries, and Imari ceramic ware was discovered as evidence of the trading. Although the town has come to assume its present appearance since the latter half of the 18th century, the mixture of various cultures it embraces has been attracting a great number of tourists.

My Son Sanctuary

Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower-temples located in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom.

A Masterpiece of Cham Architecture
A stark reminder of the destruction of the Vietnam war

My Son, located in Southern Vietnam, was a centre for spirituality and worship during the Champa Kingdom. The My Son Sanctuary, which exemplifies the height of Cham architectural achievement, is a large complex of religious monuments that comprised more than 70 structures; the vestiges of 25 of these structures remain today. The builders of My Son were the nobility of the Champa Kingdom who derived their cultural and spiritual influences almost exclusively from India. The Cham people worshiped the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, although Shiva was the central figure of worship for most people. Shiva was usually portrayed in one of two forms: as the figure of a man, and very often in his symbolic manifestation, the lingam, which was usually a stone embellished with incisions placed on a stone slab. The lingam represented both the cult of Shivaism and the divine authority Shiva bestowed upon the king. The Cham people erected monumental towers - the main component of Cham architectural design - to house the lingam. My Son was once a veritable forest of towers, many of which were destroyed by the ravages of time and war.

All of the Cham towers at My Son were built on square or rectangular foundations and comprised three parts: the tower base representing the world of humans, the tower body representing the world of spirits, and the tower head - usually built in the shape of a lotus - representing the realm between the two worlds. The structures were usually built of baked bricks and sandstone. 

Most experts consider the main tower at My Son, dubbed A1 by archaeologists and researchers, a masterpiece of Cham architecture. Originally it spanned three storeys and reached a height of 24 metres. Inside, the walls were covered with reliefs; across from the entrance were reliefs depicting a dancing Shiva, on the first storey images of dancing females, and on the upper storeys elephants and lions were depicted. The tower is surrounded by six smaller towers. Unfortunately, tower A1 was severely damaged by US bombs in 1969. Apart from the main tower devoted to Shiva, there are numerous smaller towers and temples dedicated to the worship of lesser gods.

The archeological site of My Son represents the longest continuous occupation for religious purposes, not only of the Champa Kingdom but also within Southeast Asia as a whole. The site was inhabited from the 4th until the 15th century AD, far longer than any other Indian-influenced site in the region including the more famous sites of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Borobudur in Indonesia, Pagan in Myanmar, and Ayutthaya in Thailand. However, this unique site is now in a state of significant disrepair and urgently requires conservation work.

Bach Ma National Park

Bach Ma National Park is located in central Vietnam in the province of Thua Thien Hue, around 700 km south of the country's capital Hanoi and 1,000 km north of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The national park covers an area of about 22,000 ha in the districts of Phu Loc and Nam Dong. It was created in 1991 to protect the centre of the last corridor of forest stretching from the South China Sea to the Annamite mountain range at the border with the Lao PDR. With steep mountains and dense forests, this area is home to a wide variety of animals and plants. At the base of the mountains there is tropical monsoon forest, with sub-tropical forest above 900m. There are species from both northern and southern Vietnam, and Bach Ma is recognized as one of the areas of Indochina with high biodiversity. Bach Ma mountain peak is the highest point in the park at 1,450 m above sea level and is only 18 km away from the coast.

Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park

Viet Nam's Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park has been recognised as a world natural heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The park is now the fifth UNESCO recognised site in Vietnam after Ha Long Bay, the imperial city of Hue, the ancient quarter of Hoi An and the My Son historical site.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park, located to the north of the majestic Truong Son range in central Quang Binh province, is one of the world's two largest limestone regions. The over 200,000 ha of parkland includes beautiful limestone formations, grottoes and caves, and boasts lush forestland covering 95 percent of the park area.

The area is considered a paradise for researchers and explorers of grottoes and caves, and Vietnamese and British scientists have so far surveyed 20 with a total length of 70km. Of them, 17 are in the Phong Nha area and three in the Ke Bang area.

The Phong Nha cave itself which lends its name to the whole system is probably the most beautiful of all, containing many fascinating rock formations, enchanting visitors with evocative names such as Lion, Fairy Caves, Royal Court and Buddha.

Besides the grotto and cave systems, Phong Nha has some of the longest underground rivers, the largest caverns and passageways, the widest and prettiest sand banks, and the most astonishing rock formations in the world.

According to initial statistics, the primitive tropical forest in Phong Nha-Ke Bang houses 140 families, 427 branches, and 751 species of high-rated plants, of which 36 species are endangered and listed in the Viet Nam Red Book. The forest is also home to 32 sets, 98 families, 256 races and 381 species of four land backboned animals. Sixty-six animal species are listed in the Viet Nam Red Book and 23 other species in the World Red Book. In general, Phong Nha-Ke Bang's animals are more diverse than in other natural reserves and national parks.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang also boasts dozens of mountain peaks of over 1,000 metres still unexplored by men and seen as ideal sites for activities like climbing and exploration. Worthy of note are Peak Co Rilata with a height of 1,128 m and Peak Co Preu, 1,213 m. Lying between these peaks are valleys which promise tourists exciting eco-tours.

In addition to the diversity in the ecosystem, Phong Nha-Ke Bang is home to archeological and historical relics, such as an ancient hieroglyphic script of the Cham ethnic minority, King Ham Nghi's base built for the resistance war against French colonialists in the late 19th century, and the Xuan Son ferry station, Ho Chi Minh Trail and Road 20 used during the US resistance war.

Central Quang Binh province has poured heavy investment into upgrading the Phong Nha-Ke Bang visitor site to turn it into a major tourist destination.