Getting from Da Nang to Hue: A traveler review

It was time to embark on our penultimate journey in Vietnam: Da Nang to Hue. We were due to fly home in just a few days’ time and even though we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to Asia just yet, we had to leave due to the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.

However, we still had a few more hours of classic Southeast Asian bus journeys left and it was looking like the trip from Da Nang to Hue might just be our quietest excursion yet.

As soon as I received our booking confirmation via email, it told me to send a message on WhatsApp to the number provided to confirm our trip with Huong Giang Limousine. I did message them but I received no reply which did concern me somewhat, but we still headed to the pick-up point regardless.

The Big C supermarket (the designated pick-up point) was just a short Grab taxi ride away and as ever, we arrived remarkably early just to be on the safe side. 

Not long after we arrived at the supermarket, a smartly dressed Vietnamese man came over to us as we were sitting on the pavements with our backpacks surrounding us and started talking in Vietnamese to us.

I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, but thankfully he took out his phone and showed us a screenshot of our booking so we knew this must be our driver!

However, he motioned for us to sit down again and he disappeared for 15 minutes or so before returning and beckoning us to get in the minivan.

We were the only passengers inside the minivan for the majority of the journey so we had our choice of seat. The minivan was incredibly spacious (especially with no other people in it!) and it had large, comfy seats with built-in massage technology that reclined slightly.

There was also free Wi-Fi in the minivan which worked very well considering it was just a small minivan. However, the air conditioning wasn’t working which meant that it was pretty hot for the duration of the journey.

Out of all the places we traveled via bus and minivan in Asia, I think Vietnam wins the prize for having the comfiest and most luxurious modes of transport.

Heading out early to Hue from Da Nang

We set off at 11:50 am, 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time as there were no other passengers traveling with us and the driver was keen to get a move on.

The driver pulled over at a small stall at the side of the road one hour into our journey to purchase something to eat and drink but he didn’t say whether we could get off or not so we just didn’t bother. Luckily, we didn’t need the toilet or anything to eat so we just stayed in the minivan until the driver returned and we set off again.

Shortly after we’d set off again, the driver pulled off the main road and started driving around in circles looking for someone’s house. He finally pulled over and collected two more passengers who sat at the front of the minivan, so we still had ample room to relax.

Arriving in Hue after a quick ride

The journey took another hour before we arrived in Hue just after 2:00 pm. Even though the driver didn’t speak much English at all, he still managed to convey the question of “where would you like to be dropped off?”. 

As we didn’t really know where we wanted/needed to be, we just hopped off pretty much in the center of Hue and made our way to a nearby restaurant for a couple of hours before we had to catch an overnight bus to Hanoi.

Overall, the journey from Da Nang to Hue went pretty swimmingly and we didn’t experience many hiccups. It’s a pleasant two hour journey and it flashed by in no time at all.