3 Days in Ninh Binh

Trang An is the core of the UNESCO site, 6,226 hectares of limestone peaks, lagoons and water tunnels. Your boat holds about four passengers and one rower, who takes you through low caves, past shrines against the cliffs and out into lagoons ringed by green rock.

There are three routes at the same price. Route 1 passes the most caves, about nine, with a few temple stops where you can walk and use the toilets. Route 3 has the longest tunnel, the Dot cave, over a kilometer by most accounts. Route 2 is the shortest and least visited. Reports disagree on which quiet route passes the Kong: Skull Island film set, so ask at the counter. Go early: the wharf opens at 7:00, and the queue is longest around midday in high season.

Ninh Binh's local specialty is mountain goat, de nui, from animals that graze the limestone slopes. This restaurant, on the road between Trang An and Bai Dinh, is a large place with several dining halls for tour groups, so don't expect intimacy, but the kitchen does the local things: goat with lime, grilled or steamed with ginger, and com chay, crispy burnt rice, served with goat gravy.

Most goat dishes cost 180,000-300,000 VND (7-12 USD). Share one with a plate of crispy rice and greens. If goat isn't for you, try the hill chicken.

A short ride from the Trang An wharf, the road ends in a flat valley ringed by limestone walls, and you can see at once why a warlord would pick it. In 968 Dinh Bo Linh, who as a boy reportedly led local children in mock battles, beat the rival warlords, founded the state of Dai Co Viet and made Hoa Lu its capital. He was assassinated in 979, Le Hoan took over and ruled until 1005, and in 1010 Ly Cong Uan moved the capital north to Thang Long, today's Hanoi.

Little of the 10th-century city survives. The citadel's earth and brick walls, once 8-10 m high, are mostly gone, with a few sections excavated. What you walk through now are two temples, one to each king, rebuilt in later centuries, but the setting is the point. There's little signage, so consider a guide at the gate.

The first emperor's tomb stands on the summit of Ma Yen mountain, behind the temples, and by tradition he is buried here. Sources count the stone steps up at 150 to more than 200, so the climb is short but steep, and the view over the rock walls shows how a small kingdom could hold out here.

Tam Coc is the traveler hub, a strip of guesthouses, bike hire, cafes and bars around the boat wharf. It's easy and honestly a bit generic: nearly every restaurant serves the same pho, banh mi, fried rice and coffee on English menus, for around 100,000-200,000 VND (4-8 USD) a head. Fresh beer, bia hoi, is sold by the glass along the river in the evening.

Mua Cave, Hang Mua, is the most photographed spot in Ninh Binh, and the cave itself is an afterthought. The attraction is the climb: about 500 stone steps up a limestone ridge to a small temple on the first peak, with a view over Tam Coc's rice fields, the river bends and the karst fading into the haze. A second, higher peak has a long dragon statue you can climb around. Allow 20-40 minutes up.

The fee rose from 100,000 to 150,000 VND on 1 April 2026, so some blogs quote the old price. The site opens around 6:00, and going at 6:30 instead of 10:00 makes a big difference: early, you have the steps to yourself, and later, tour vans arrive and the narrow stairs jam. Bring water.

Three temples climb a limestone cliff two kilometers west of Tam Coc: the middle one opens into a dark cave with a bell cast in 1707 and two stones that ring like wooden drums when tapped, and the top shrine has the view. A small temple stood here from 1428, under Le Thai To; two monks rebuilt it as three from 1705. It's quieter than Mua Cave and takes far less effort.

Chookie's Beer Garden, on the road between Tam Coc and Bich Dong, is the easy choice after a morning of climbing: a shady garden, burgers, salads and plenty of vegan food. It isn't Vietnamese, though. To eat local, try banh da ca ro dong, rice noodles with small field perch, or mien luon, eel vermicelli, in a family shop.

The Tam Coc boat is the older, simpler cousin of Trang An: a rowboat down the Ngo Dong river between rice fields and karst walls, through three short, low caves. The biggest, Hang Ca, is about 125 m long, and Hang Ba has a roof so low you duck. The ride takes about 90 minutes on the water, and your rower, usually a woman, rows with both hands and feet. Each boat takes two foreign passengers at most, so a group of three or four needs two boats.

Be ready for the tipping game. Midway, boats loaded with drinks and embroidery may pull alongside, and your rower may suggest you buy her a drink at inflated prices. A common tip is 50,000-100,000 VND (2-4 USD) per boat, and some rowers push for more. Buy water before boarding, decline politely and firmly, and tip what feels fair. Timing depends on the rice: gold in late May to June (peak crowds) and again in late September to October, green in mid-April. In winter the fields are often brown, but the mist is moody and the river quiet.

The land around Tam Coc is flat, the lanes are quiet and the karst rises straight out of the paddies. Many guesthouses lend heavy single-speed bikes, which is all you need. Good routes are the country roads north and west of Tam Coc. After the boat this is a short loop: turn back by 5pm in winter, because sunset comes around 5:30 and the lanes have no lights.

Van Long is the largest wetland reserve in northern Vietnam, about 3,000 hectares of marsh with limestone pinnacles standing in shallow water, nicknamed the bay without waves. Local rowers take you out for about 90 minutes through the reeds and into the cave called Hang Ca, with few other boats around.

The reason to come is the Delacour's langur, a monkey found only in northern Vietnam and listed as Critically Endangered. Fewer than 250 were thought to survive in the wild in 2010, and Van Long probably holds the largest group, with guides citing about 100-160. Sightings aren't guaranteed, so treat one as luck and keep your voice down. September to April is the best period, and lotus bloom in May and June.

This is the countryside side of Ninh Binh's food. Look for a family restaurant on the road back from Van Long that serves river fish and field crab: braised fish with gao fruit, which has a faintly sour, bitter edge, or ricefield crabs roasted with wild betel leaves. Kim Son is known for goi ca nhech, a raw fish salad, for those comfortable with raw fish.

Bai Dinh is two temples in one. The old one clings to the mountain slope: a small pagoda, a cave about 25 m deep with a shrine at the back, and a long climb of steps. Take the e-train up and walk down to the new temple, which is much easier on the knees.

The big Bai Dinh is one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Vietnam, and it's new: construction began in 2003 and the main works finished around 2010. That shows. Everything is huge, symmetrical and in excellent shape: a 9.5 m bronze Buddha weighing 100 tonnes, three gilded Buddhas 7.2 m tall in the largest hall, a corridor of more than 500 stone arhat statues, a 36-tonne bell and a 13-story stupa 99 m tall, with a lift. Even the bell tower is concrete painted to look like wood.

So it's more spectacle than ancient shrine, but it's also a working pilgrimage site, so dress modestly. The temple is about 3.5 km from the gate, so almost everyone takes the e-train. The stupa ticket is 50,000 VND (2 USD), worth it for the view. Closing times vary by source, so don't count on evening hours.

Ninh Binh city has no sights, but near the station the streets around Hoang Hoa Tham are a small backpacker quarter with English menus, cafes and noodle shops. It's a fine place for a last bowl of pho or duck before the van or bus back to Hanoi.