1. Where is Khai Dinh Tomb?
King Khai Dinh’s tomb is located in Thuy Bang commune, Huong Thuy district, Thua Thien Hue province. The mausoleum is located on Chau Chu mountain, about 10 km south of Hue city center. About 96 km from Da Nang city and about 130 km northwest of Hoi An city.
2. How is Khai Dinh tomb unique?
Khai Dinh Tomb has a harmonious architectural style between Asian and European styles, between classic and modern. In addition, this Nguyen Dynasty mausoleum is also located in a rich and diverse natural area. It is surrounded by mountains, hills, streams, creating majestic natural scenery,…These things help Khai Dinh mausoleum become The most unique mausoleum among mausoleums in our country.
3. Construction process and architecture of Khai Dinh tomb
3.1 The process of building Khai Dinh tomb in Hue
Khai Dinh Tomb in Hue started construction on September 4, 1920. The process of building this most beautiful mausoleum in Hue lasted for 11 years. Although the mausoleum of King Khai Dinh in Hue is a small mausoleum. It took a long time to complete, and cost the most effort and money. Khai Dinh Tomb is a delicate combination of Eastern and Western architecture and culture, elaborately, sophisticatedly and splendidly designed.
3.2 Architecture of Khai Dinh Tomb
Hue Khai Dinh Tomb preserves many historical, cultural, and artistic values. And it is a testament to the once prominent cultural interference between Vietnam and Western countries. The overall Hue Khai Dinh mausoleum is a rectangular floating block, including 127 steps, through the first 37 steps is the Tam Quan gate. Behind the Nghi Mon an Bai Dinh yard, above are two floors of the yard, each floor is separated from the others. 13 steps apart, Thien Dinh Palace is at the highest positionmby his successor – Emperor Bao Dai.
4. When is the best time to visit Khai Dinh tomb?
Khai Dinh Tomb and other Hue monuments near the mausoleum are open all year round. Therefore, visitors can visit this place at any time. However, the best time is January and February.
This is the end of the rainy season but the hot summer sun has not yet arrived, so the weather and climate are relatively pleasant, suitable for sightseeing, sightseeing and checking in. In particular, if you go during New Year, visitors will have the opportunity to visit Khai Dinh Tomb without having to spend money to buy entrance tickets.
5. Sightseeing ticket prices and opening hours of Khai Dinh tomb
5.1 Sightseeing ticket prices:
Below is the latest ticket price to visit Khai Dinh mausoleum:
- Adults: 150,000 VND/trip.
- Children (from 1 – 12 years old): 30,000 VND/trip.
5.2 Opening hours:
- The tomb is open for visitors from 7:00 to 17:30 on all days of the week.
6. How to get to Khai Dinh tomb?
6.1 Moving To Hue City
6.1.1. By plane
This is the most convenient and fastest means of transportation for tourists from other provinces and cities to reach the Hue tourist area. Most domestic airlines currently have direct flights to Phu Bai airport, Hue. Flight time from Hanoi to Hue takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue about 1 hour 30 minutes.
6.1.2 By passenger car
If you live in nearby localities, choosing a bus is quite suitable because the travel time is short and the cost is relatively low. If you are in remote provinces, you can choose a sleeper bus to travel. From Hanoi to Hue, please refer to buying bus tickets from popular bus companies running the Hanoi – Hue route such as Hung Thanh, Camel, Duc Thinh,… The Hanoi – Hue route has a travel time of about 12 – 14 hours.
From Ho Chi Minh City to Hue it takes about 20 hours. Some popular bus companies running the HCM – Hue route include Hoang Long, Huong Ty, Minh Phuong,…
6.1.3 By train
If you have a lot of time to travel to Hue and love sightseeing along the way, choose the train. Train tickets are not too expensive. Trains usually have hard seats, soft seats, beds and air-conditioned or non-air-conditioned compartments. If you go far in the hot season, you should choose trains SE3, SE1, buy air-conditioning sleeper tickets to be comfortable and shorten travel time.
6.2 Traveling to Khai Dinh tomb from Hue city
Khai Dinh Tomb is located quite close to the center of Hue city, only about 10 km, so traveling is quite convenient. From the center of Hue city, you move west onto Hanoi Street, then go to Ngo Quyen Street, continue in the direction of Dien Bien Phu and Minh Mang Street to reach Khai Dinh Hue Tomb.
To get here you can choose many means of transport such as bus, taxi, car or motorbike.
- Bus: You take the bus route in the South to go to Dong Ba market station – Tuan market. This bus route will have a stop at Khai Dinh mausoleum.
- Motorbike, taxi, car: From Hue city center, you move along Highway 49 and then follow the signs along both sides of the road.
7. Exploring the beauty of Khai Dinh tomb
7.1 Admiring Tam Quan gate
Tam Quan Gate stands out with its majestic and majestic architecture, and is the entrance to visit Khai Dinh Hue mausoleum. You will need to step over the first 37 steps to get there. The pillars at the Tam Quan gate area were built in the Hindu style, showing the unique interference of Vietnamese and Indian cultures and architecture.
7.2 Visiting Nghi Mon and Bai Dinh yard
From Tam Quan gate, you continue 29 steps to reach Nghi Mon area and Bai Dinh yard, there, you will be overwhelmed when admiring the statues of courtiers and soldiers arranged in four symmetrical rows, all statues are carved with extremely delicate motifs.
7.3 Exploring Thien Dinh Palace at Khai Dinh tomb
After passing through the transition floors (3rd and 4th floors) inside Khai Dinh Hue mausoleum, you will reach Thien Dinh Palace, located on the 5th highest floor, where the body of King Khai Dinh is buried, and is also the The most unique sightseeing area, showing the creativity, innovation and love of art of King Nguyen Khai Dinh.
7.4 Experiencing unique architecture at Khai Thanh Palace in Khai Dinh tomb
Khai Thanh Palace is a part of Thien Dinh Palace, where the altar and body of King Khai Dinh are located. Below the palace is the king’s body, and above is the bronze statue of King Khai Dinh. The architecture at Khai Thanh Palace shows sophistication and sophistication. In the middle of Khai Thanh Palace is the main palace, there is Buu Tan weighing 1 ton made from reinforced concrete, but looking extremely elegant and soft.
7.5 Admiring the bronze statue of King Khai Dinh in the tomb
Hue Khai Dinh Tomb is an unconventional mausoleum, following its own design style, inside there are two bronze statues of the king with a 1:1 ratio: (other mausoleums do not have king statues inside. mausoleum).
There are 2 statues inside Khai Dinh Hue mausoleum, including 1 statue sitting on the throne in Khai Thanh Palace, and 1 standing statue:
- The statue on the throne at Khai Thanh Palace was carved and cast by two French people in 1920, and a Hue artist did the gold plating.
- The standing statue was cast in Hue by a soldier from Quang Nam. It was initially placed in An Dinh Palace, and in 1975 it was moved to Thien Dinh Palace.
8. Enjoying Hue specialties when visiting Khai Dinh tomb
When traveling to Khai Dinh mausoleum, besides admiring a majestic mausoleum with unique architecture, you can immerse yourself in the poetic natural scenery. You also have the opportunity to enjoy the specialties of this beautiful land.
8.1 Mussel rice
Although mussel rice is not a very special dish and can be found in many places in Hue, this dish has become a specialty thanks to its unique flavor. Mussel rice is made from cooled cooked white rice, then added mussels, pork rinds, shrimp paste and some spices, served with raw vegetables, banana ears, bean sprouts and some chopped white taro stems.
Mussel rice is a specialty dish with a unique flavor of Hue. Only by enjoying it here will you clearly feel the special delicious flavor of the dish. If you have the opportunity to set foot in Hue, don’t forget to enjoy this delicious dish.
8.2 Hue beef noodle soup
When talking about Hue specialties, we certainly cannot ignore the famous Hue beef noodle soup with a rich, mildly spicy flavor typical of the Central region that cannot be found anywhere else. A full bowl of Hue beef noodle soup usually has beef, blood, pork sausage, beef patties and crab patties, especially the vermicelli noodles which must be big and thick, not small noodles like in the North or South.
Beef noodle soup is now sold in many places. But when coming to Hue and enjoying a rich, spicy bowl of vermicelli in the cold weather, visitors will fully feel the special deliciousness of this dish.
8.3 Nam cake
Hue banh nam can be both a snack and also the main dish. The cake must be wrapped in dong leaves, floating on the opaque white dough is a little minced shrimp and meat that have been prepared richly and deliciously. You can eat the cake with sweet and sour dipping sauce, adding a little green chili for the true Hue flavor.
This is a rustic dish familiar to Hue people with a rustic and simple flavor but enough to captivate anyone who tastes it for the first time. When traveling to Hue, you must definitely try delicious Nam cake.
8.4 Hue sweet soup
When mentioning Hue, it would be a mistake to ignore sweet soup because this is a specialty that makes up the quintessence of Hue cuisine. In Hue, there are hundreds of types of sweet soup, each with a different flavor and processed quite elaborately. Such as lotus seed sweet soup, longan sweet soup with lotus seeds, pomegranate seed sweet soup, roasted meat sweet soup, yellow mon wax sweet soup, areca flowers sweet soup.
Hue sweet soup is cooked under the skillful hands of Hue girls, becoming a dish that attracts tourists with its own sweet, rich flavor, that can not confuse with sweet soup in any other land.
8.5 Nem Lui Hue
Nem lui is not only found in Hue, but here, this dish has a very special flavor that makes it unforgettable for anyone who tastes it once. The main ingredients of Hue spring rolls include pureed pork, mixed with thinly sliced skin, then skewered onto bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal. This dish is served with rice paper, vermicelli, raw vegetables, green mango,… And especially the soul of the main dish is a special thick soup dipping sauce that is not available anywhere else.
9. Accommodation when traveling to Khai Dinh tomb
Because this destination is very close to Hue city center, you don’t have to worry about where to stay when traveling here. Below are some hotels that you can refer to.
- TTC Imperial Hotel. Address: 08 Hung Vuong, Phu Hoi, Hue City, Thua Thien Hue.
- Alba Spa Hotel. Address: 29 Tran Quang Khai, Phu Hoi, Hue City, Thua Thien Hue.
- Kawara My An Onsen Resort. Address: My An, Phu Vang District, Thua Thien Hue.
- Meliá Vinpearl Hue. Address: 50A Hung Vuong, Phu Nhuan, Hue City, Thua Thien Hue.
- Mondial Hotel Hue. Address: 17 Nguyen Hue, Vinh Ninh, Hue City, Thua Thien Hue.
10. Some important notes when traveling to Khai Dinh tomb
To make your trip to Khai Dinh mausoleum more meaningful, you should refer to some necessary notes below:
- When visiting Khai Dinh tomb, you need to pay attention to the slope of the steps. They are built quite steeply, so when moving, you will be tired and easily fall. You need to pay attention to ensure safety.
- Tomb of Khai Dinh is one of the beautiful virtual check-in spots in Hue. It has many beautiful photo angles, you should refer to the beautiful photo angles before going to the mausoleum to get the best frames
- Before visiting Khai Dinh Tomb in Hue, you should learn about the life of King Khai Dinh in advance. In order to better understand the life and architecture of the mausoleum.
- Be sure to adjust the camera’s brightness when taking photos inside Khai Thanh Palace because it is very dark there.
Khai Dinh Tomb is a prominent architectural work in the Hue Monuments complex. It is one of the most brilliant achievements of ancient Vietnamese architecture. It is also an attractive destination you cannot miss when traveling to Hue.
Please contact Origin Vietnam – a professional tour operator for more useful information about the destination. We also accompany you on your Hue tour to explore Khai Dinh tomb with attractive destinations and memorable experiences.
