Hue cyclos

Taking a cyclo ride around Hue is a pleasure any visitors to the former imperial city should try. A cyclo in Hue is neither too high to sit in nor too low to see the city’s views. It also offers a space just wide enough for a pair of lovers to feel a romantic closeness.

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Taking a cyclo ride around Hue’s calm, old streets gives one a wonderful feeling. Sitting in a cyclo riding smoothly along tamarind tree-lined roads, a person who has never been to Hue before will feel as if the city were familiar with its beautiful river, old citadel, streets, and quiet gardens.

Taking a cyclo during winter is also nice as visitors can enjoy a slight coldness caused by drizzles which create beautiful thin layers of fog. That’s why, many visitors prefer to sit bareheaded while taking a cyclo ride in the rain even though every cyclo in Hue has a retractable roof to prevent passengers from getting wet.


Visitors enjoy a cyclo ride.


Visitors take a cyclo ride around Hue’s citadel.


A French woman enjoys her cyclo tour around the city. Cyclos were invented by the French in Indochina in 1939.


Foreign visitors are interested in riding a cyclo.

A street carnival with cyclos in Hue.


A cyclo show at a street carnival in Hue.


A cyclo passing Dieu De pagoda is a familiar image in Hue.


Using a cyclo as a mean of goods transport.


A cyclo flower vendor on the street.


Cyclos are familiar with Hue people.

Cyclo drivers in Hue are not talkative but are knowledgeable. They can tell visitors about the history of Hue with secret stories of the former royal family to the present-day life of Hue people.

For Hue people, a cyclo is not only a way to make a living for poor people, but also a memory of old and present Hue, a cultural asset of the city through its historical developments. One cannot imagine a day when cyclos will no longer be seen on Hue streets.

Hue now has about a thousand cyclo drivers who have set up a tourist cyclo union to increase professionalism in service. According to Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of the Thua Thien Hue People’s Committee, the province is working out a plan on Hue cyclo culture. Under this plan, members of the tourist cyclo union will be trained in foreign languages and services to build a brand of Hue cyclos whose drivers are friendly, hospitable, professional and trustworthy.

By Thanh Hoa