The Best Things to do in Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is only 3 hours from Hanoi but provides such a peaceful environment after the chaos of the city! A lot of people do a day trip to Ninh Binh from Hanoi, but I recommend staying there to get the full experience. I stayed 4 nights which was way too many, but meant I had time to take things at a slower pace. However, I recommend only 2 nights in Ninh Binh to see the highlights. Here are some of my favourite things that I did.

For a complete guide to Vietnam including the best things to do throughout the country, where to stay, and where to eat, check out my post here.

Mua Caves Viewpoint

Trang An Boat Trip

Trang An has a beautiful network of rivers and mountains, and has three boat routes through them. I recommend choosing route 3, which includes visiting 3 temples and going through 3 caves, one of which is 1km long. It is three hours long and was absolutely stunning, despite the rain that I had! It cost 270,000 VND (approx. £8.20). You need to get a taxi from Tam Coc to Trang An unless you want to cycle. The return taxi trip cost £10 for 2 of us, and the driver came back to pick us up.

Trang An boat trip

Mua Cave Viewpoint

Mua Cave Viewpoint is the iconic place you’ve seen in pictures of Ninh Binh. I cycled from Tam Coc and it only took 20 minutes on flat roads through the rice fields. It costs 100,000 VND (approx. £3) to enter the viewpoint, plus an additional 5000 VND (approx. 15p) to park a bicycle or 10,000 VND (approx. 30p)  to park a motorbike. You can walk up both sides of the viewpoints, but be careful because the path at the top is very sketchy and is slippery in the rain, especially around the dragon. It’s about 500 steps if you go up both sides.

Mua Caves

Tuyet Tinh Coc Lake

This is a small lake near Trang An nestled between mountains which you can walk around. I wouldn’t say it’s worth going out of your way for, but if you find yourself with extra time, add it to your itinerary. I cycled there from Tam Coc which took about an hour on a slow bike. It cost 50,000 VND (approx. £1.50) to enter, plus an extra 5000 VND (approx. 15p) to park the bike. If it’s nice weather, there are plenty of places to sit and relax. Otherwise, you can walk around the lake and explore the temples there. They offer bike rentals to cycle around the lake, but it’s not that big so it wouldn’t be worth it! There are places to buy food and drinks there too.

Trang An

Explore the rice fields in Tam Coc

There are plenty of little paths going through the rice fields in Tam Coc which are nice to walk around. You can also walk along the river in certain sections which is very pretty.

Tam Coc

I hope this gives you a good overview of the best things to do in Ninh Binh. I really enjoyed the area and it’s a perfect escape to nature. Please remember to look after the places you visit and only leave your footprints behind :)