Perfume Pagoda (Hương Pagoda)
Chùa Hương
A Buddhist pilgrimage site in the karst mountains southwest of Hanoi, reached by small boat along the Yến Stream, then by hiking or cable car to the Perfume Cave.
Perfume Pagoda is located at Hương Sơn in Mỹ Đức district, about 60 km southwest of Hanoi, and is the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in northern Vietnam. The trip begins at Yến Stream Pier, where a boatwoman rows you in a small wooden boat along the stream for about an hour, passing limestone peaks and rice fields. After landing, you visit Thiên Trù Pagoda, then walk about 4 km uphill or take a cable car to the Perfume Cave, known as the "First Cave under the Southern Sky", where the stalactites take many unusual shapes. From the sixth day of the first lunar month until the end of March, the festival draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, so it is crowded and you must queue. Visits on weekdays are much quieter. Entry tickets, boat tickets and cable car tickets are bought separately. Most people join a one-day tour, so set aside the whole day.
Opening hours
About 06:00–18:00
Nearby sights
- Vietnam Military History Museum
- Bát Tràng Ceramic Village
- Hanoi Train Street
- Vietnamese Women's Museum
- Hỏa Lò Prison
- Lotte Center Hanoi Observation Deck
- Temple of Literature
- Hanoi Opera House