How much does the Perfume Pagoda cost?

The entrance fee is around 80,000 to 90,000 dong per adult depending on the season, usually with the boat ride included at the stream, but tour prices vary: listings show a combined 230,000 dong ticket on some tours. A return cable car is roughly 180,000 to 260,000 dong, and an electric car about 40,000 dong. Ask your operator what is included.

How long does the trip from Hanoi take?

Allow a full day. The drive is about two hours each way, the sampan ride up the stream takes around an hour, and the climb to Huong Tich Cave takes about an hour on stone steps. Cable cars shorten the climb.

When is the Perfume Pagoda festival?

It runs through the spring, from the first lunar month into the third, which in 2026 meant roughly late February to May. Peak weekends are very crowded.

Can you go independently?

Yes, by bus or taxi to Ben Duc wharf, then the sampan. Most visitors take a day tour from Hanoi, which includes the transfer, tickets and often lunch.

Perfume Pagoda (Chua Huong) Day Trip from Hanoi: Boat & Tickets

Boats on the Tay river on the way to the Perfume Pagoda

What the Perfume Pagoda is

The Perfume Pagoda is not one building but a network of Buddhist temples, shrines and caves in the limestone Huong Son (Perfume Mountain) in My Duc district, south-west of Hanoi. The main shrine, Huong Tich, sits inside a cave and was built around 1700 by a monk who found it while looking for enlightenment. More shrines have been added since, and a devout pilgrim might spend as many as three days visiting them.

It is a real pilgrimage site. It was one of our first trips into the Vietnamese countryside, and the boat ride stays in the memory as much as the temples.

The boat, the climb and the cave

You board a small sampan at the wharf and are rowed up the Yen Stream for about 45 minutes to an hour each way. The river runs between green limestone hills, with villagers collecting water hyacinth, lotus and morning glory from the banks and rice fields on either side.

From the landing it is a steady climb of about an hour up stone steps through forest, with places to rest and buy refreshments. You can also take the cable car. Lower down there are a couple of stone pagodas. At the top, Huong Tich Cave opens inside the mountain, with prayer flags hung across the entrance and the air full of incense smoke.

2026 costs (reported)

Entrance: about 80,000 dong, or about 90,000 during festival season (travel-site listings, 2026).
Cable car: return roughly 180,000 to 260,000 dong; one way about 120,000 to 180,000.
Electric car between points: about 40,000 dong.
Full-day tours with hotel pick-up, lunch and tickets: from about $25 to $70 per person, depending on group size (2026 listings).

When to go

The festival season, from the first lunar month into the third (roughly February to April, and in 2026 the season ran into May), is the busiest time. On one occasion in 2002 so many boats filled the river that there was a nine-hour jam. If you must go in festival season, avoid weekends; some Vietnamese travellers pick odd-numbered lunar days for lighter crowds. We visited in September and had it almost to ourselves. October to January are cooler, but the hills can be misty.

Getting there

Starting early from Hanoi, a bus or car takes about two hours through countryside to a small town, where you board the sampan. A day tour is easiest. For the city side of your trip, see the Hanoi guide; Ninh Binh, in the other direction, makes a good separate day.