Private & tailor-made · 1–4 guests
Hue Craft Villages Tour: Incense, Folk Paintings and the Perfume River
A full day on the crafts Hue makes for its altars: roll incense with a Thuy Xuan family, eat in a Kim Long garden house, drift down the Perfume River by dragon boat and print your own votive painting in Sinh village. Every entry and workshop fee is paid before you travel.
A sample day at a glance
What changes when the day is yours
A private car for your group alone
Private, 1-4 guests, and nobody outside your party is added to it
Your own licensed local guide
Fluent in English and explains each step of both crafts, and what they mean at the altar — to your group alone, not twenty strangers
Collected at your own hotel
Anywhere in central Hue. No meeting point to reach on your own
Every entry, workshop and boat fee prepaid
The tomb ticket, both workshops, lunch and the boat are paid for you. Nothing is collected from you at any gate
No shop stops, in writing
No detour to a souvenir showroom that pays to have you delivered
Two crafts that belong together
Incense and Sinh paintings are both made to be offered and burned. You make one of each
Duration
About 8.5 hours
Departure
08:00
Pickup
Any Hue hotel
from · $93 · / person · ›Check your price ›
Choose your group size · price is the total for the group
Solo traveller$235 BOOK →2 guests$280 BOOK →3 guests$325 BOOK →4 guests$370 BOOK →Free cancellation up to 3 days before · every tour tailored on request
The full day, stop by stop
This is a sample day: add, skip or linger over any stop and we will adjust it. Times are a guide; your guide adjusts the pace to the light and to your group.
Hotel pickup · 08:00 · anywhere in central Hue
Drive southwest · about 20 minutes · 7 km to Thuy Xuan
A Thuy Xuan incense family and a Bai Tho hat maker
08:20 · about 90 minutes · hands-on, seated
Workshop included — nothing to pay
1 photo · tap to enlarge
Behind the roadside fans of coloured sticks are the yards where the work is done. A family shows you how sawdust, the sticky bark powder that binds it and a scented blend are kneaded into paste, then rolled onto split bamboo with one flat palm. Then it is your turn, and your guide translates every question. You leave with a bundle you rolled and dyed yourself. Next door, a hat maker shows how a poem is hidden inside a Bai Tho conical hat.
Tu Hieu Pagoda
09:55 · about 35 minutes · on foot, quiet
No entry fee anywhere on this stop
1 photo · tap to enlarge
A monastery in a pine wood around a half-moon pond, and the root temple of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Your guide explains why three sticks, and which altar comes first.
Tu Duc Tomb
10:40 · about 60 minutes · on foot, mostly flat
Entry fee included
1 photo · tap to enlarge
The walled garden Tu Duc used as a retreat while he was still alive, with the wooden pavilion over Luu Khiem lake where he wrote poetry.
Drive to Kim Long · about 20 minutes · along the north bank
Lunch in a Kim Long garden house
12:00 · about 75 minutes · seated
Lunch and a drink included
1 photo · tap to enlarge
Kim Long is the old quarter of walled garden houses upstream of the citadel, with fruit trees behind a screen and an ancestral altar inside. Lunch is Hue home cooking; vegetarian on request.
Thien Mu Pagoda
13:25 · about 35 minutes · on foot
No entry fee anywhere on this stop
1 photo · tap to enlarge
The seven-storey tower above the river is the symbol of Hue. Inside the gardens is a working monastery, and the incense on its altars is the kind you rolled that morning.
A private dragon boat down the Perfume River
14:00 · about 45 minutes · seated
Private boat included
1 photo · tap to enlarge
The boat is for your group alone, from the pagoda steps down to the city with the citadel walls on your left. If the river is closed after heavy rain, the car takes you instead.
Drive east · about 20 minutes · to Sinh village on the lower river
Sinh village woodblock prints
15:10 · about 60 minutes · hands-on, seated
Workshop included — nothing to pay
4 photos · tap to enlarge
Sinh paintings are printed from carved blocks and coloured by hand, then burned at ceremonies as offerings, the same way incense is. An artisan family shows you the blocks and the colours, and you print and paint one to take home.
Back at your hotel · around 16:30
Two crafts, a river and a garden lunch, one group
No stops we did not tell you about, nothing to pay at any gate, and any part of it can be changed.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$235 BOOK →2 guests$280 BOOK →3 guests$325 BOOK →4 guests$370 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your day and send you an all-inclusive quote. ›What is in the price
Included
- Private car and driver, hotel pickup and drop-off in central Hue
- Your own licensed local guide who speaks fluent English
- Hands-on session with a Thuy Xuan incense family - your own bundle to take home
- Tu Duc Tomb entrance ticket
- Lunch in a Kim Long garden house, with a soft drink
- Private dragon boat from Thien Mu Pagoda to the city
- Woodblock-printing session in Sinh village - your painting to take home
- Bottled water
Not included
− Extra drinks beyond the one included with lunch
− Anything you choose to buy in the villages
− A tip for your guide and driver — never expected, always welcome
− Travel insurance, which we recommend you carry
Is this the right tour for you?
A good fit if
You want to make things with your hands, not only photograph them.
You like to understand why a craft exists, not just how it is done.
You are travelling as a couple, a family with children or a small group and want the day to bend around you.
You want one number that covers everything, with nothing to settle at any gate.
Look elsewhere if
You are one person on a tight budget.
Two hands-on sessions in one day sounds like too many.
You want the Imperial City or more royal tombs as well; a day cannot hold them properly.
You have a train or flight before 17:30.
If half a day is all you have, the morning tour keeps the incense family, Tu Hieu Pagoda and Tu Duc Tomb. See the half-day incense village tour. Or tell us what you want to see, and we will plan a day around it.
Questions before you book
About the day
How long is the tour and when does it start?
It runs About 8.5 hours door to door, departing at 08:00 from your hotel, and you are back in the late afternoon.
Where do you pick us up?
At your own hotel, anywhere in central Hue, with no meeting point to reach on your own. Your guide waits in the lobby for 20 minutes.
How much walking is there?
Little, and all of it easy: flat village yards, a gentle path at Tu Hieu Pagoda, a few low flights of steps at Tu Duc Tomb and some steps up from the river at Thien Mu. Both workshops are seated.
Can we change the route or the pace?
Yes. This is a sample day and every part of it can be adjusted: add a stop, skip one, or spend longer in Sinh village. Tell us before you book and we confirm the plan and an all-inclusive price in writing.
Does the guide speak good English?
Yes. Your guide is a licensed local who speaks fluent English and explains the customs and each step of both crafts as you go.
Booking and practicalities
How do I pay, and when?
Two ways: pay the full price online by card, or pay a 30% deposit online and the rest in cash on the day of the tour, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. We can also send a secure payment link on WhatsApp. The booking is confirmed once the online payment goes through, and your pickup time and guide’s name arrive in writing.
Is the price per person or for the whole group?
For the whole group of one to four guests — the booking panel shows the total for your group size, and nothing is added later. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest. For five or more, message us and we will quote a second car.
Can I cancel or reschedule?
Yes — free cancellation up to 3 days before departure for a full refund, and free rescheduling subject to availability. Within 3 days of departure, 30% of the tour price is charged because the car and guide are already committed. Date changes are arranged over WhatsApp.
What should I bring, and do I need cash?
Comfortable shoes, a hat, and something that covers shoulders and knees for the pagodas. You do not need cash at any gate, since tickets, workshops, lunch and the boat are paid for you; if you chose to pay the balance in cash, bring it for your guide.
What happens if it rains?
Hue is wettest from October to December. In rain the coloured incense fans are packed away and the families roll under their own roofs, so the hands-on session still happens, just indoors. If the Perfume River is closed to boats after heavy rain, the car takes you from Thien Mu instead.
Book your craft villages day
Private car and licensed local guide, hotel pickup, every fee already settled.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$235 BOOK →2 guests$280 BOOK →3 guests$325 BOOK →4 guests$370 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your day and send you an all-inclusive quote. ›