The Perfume Pagoda (Chùa Hương)

Access

From :

 
Ha Noi : 40 km 1h 1h30 2h - - -
Ninh Binh : 60 km 1h30 2h30h 2h30 - - -


Geographic location

In a beautiful setting, the Perfume Pagoda is located on top of a big hill accessible through a small river in the middle of karst rocks. It is located 60km South from Ha Noi.


EN41301pagodeparfumMust-see and must-do activities

The tour is highly demarcated and leaves little freedom to surroundings walks. In this way, when you arrive you will board on a small boat to go along the Yen River. A first stop is organized at the Presentation Pagoda (Trinh).

After an hour, you will arrive to the perfumed mountain (Huong Tich). You will be given the choice to either take the cable car or to climb up the stairs by foot (you need to allow 2 hours of claiming up small stairs to get there). You will then visit the cave and the sanctuary.

Generally, lunch is taken in a local restaurant on the way down.

And finally, you can visit the Pagoda that leads to the Sky (Tien Chua) before leaving.

 

 

How long should I stay?

You will have to count the whole day (transportation included) in order to have a nice visit of the place.

 

Accommodations

No referenced accommodations as I would advise you to come back to Ha Noi !


Luân’s opinion

I think that you understood that this visit is not a priority in my opinion!

Admittedly the site is very nice, but regarding small rivers and karst rocks, I prefer by far the site of Tam Coc, also called the Terrestrial Ha Long Bay and there are also numerous beautiful pagodas around Ha Noi without having to spend the entire day!

I also notice that the numerous street vendors can be bothering for some people as they can sometimes insist heavily.

Finally, I will add a nuance, if you have the chance to be present during a period of festival or of pilgrimage (generally around Spring), the local excitement is worth the detour…