The area around Hue offers easy escapes from the city, most of them reachable in under an hour. To the east, the coast opens up along long stretches of sand where the Huong River meets the South China Sea. To the north, the road toward Da Nang climbs over the spectacular Hai Van Pass, with beaches tucked into the bays below.
Tam Giang Lagoon, one of the largest freshwater lagoons in Southeast Asia, stretches more than 70 kilometres along the coast and is a world away from the tourist circuit. Local fishermen work the shallow waters from basket boats, and the seafood is superb. Thuan An Beach, where the lagoon meets the sea, is the closest beach to Hue and a popular weekend spot for locals. Further north, Lang Co Beach sits in a sheltered bay below the Hai Van Pass, with calm turquoise water on one side and a lagoon on the other.
