For the more adventuresome, you can go by xe ôm. Xe is part of the word for motorbike, and ôm
means hug. You guessed it – you rent a motorbike and a driver – and hold on for dear life! By the way – I strongly recommend against renting your own motorbike. Yeah yeah yeah – I know you can ride a motorcycle, but the traffic in Việt Nam is so different, you can easily become a statistic. Read the entire series I wrote on Two-Wheeling in Việt Nam.
For shorter trips, there is the uniquely Vietnamese cyclo. Trust me on this – you will not have trouble 
finding a cyclo in Huê. You will have far more difficulty shooing the drivers away. Somehow, I can’t quite shake the negative image of a poor Asian man pedaling a big western colonial official around, so I don’t use them. But – try it once. With both a xe ôm and a cyclo, be sure to negotiate the price before the ride – and beware of ruses such as “No no. 15,000 đông is for one person. There are two of you. You must pay 30,000 đông.”
On the north side of the river is The Citadel. Essentially, it is a walled city, built by the first Nguyên emperor, Gia Long. (Say yah loam). For you North Americans - think of it as a gated subdivision. The thick brick walls were built much as an old walled city in Europe would function – to protect the citizenry. There are homes and shops and businesses inside the Citadel just as there is anywhere else. Unless you are interested in seeing everyday life in Huê, there is not much for a tourist to see. But, within the Citadel is the Imperial City, and inside that, the Forbidden Purple City. This was where the emperors lived and ruled.
Only the Emperor was allowed to enter through the center door of the Ngọ Môn gate. Today, its
where the entrance fees are collected – and where our friend Julie had her picture taken. Inside the gate, many buildings and areas have been restored. A combination of difficulties has been hard on the Imperial City. The French were none too kind during the war of independence from 1946-1954. The battle for 
Huê in 1968 took another large toll, and in the first few years of reunification after 1975, the area was neglected because it represented the feudal past. This building was once the waiting area for those seeking an audience with the Queen Mother.
In 1993, UNESCO declared all the monuments in and around Huê a World Heritage site. Today,
tourist entrance fees of 50,000 VND (about $3.15 USD) are being used to reconstruct the entire Imperial City. If you are a history buff, and if you are willing to slow down from the usual tourist pace and read all the information, the Imperial City is a rewarding tour.
The Imperial City is a gateway into Việt Nam’s past.