Things to Do in Ninh Binh: 15 Best Experiences, Itinerary and Tips

If you do one thing in Ninh Binh, make it this. A rower takes four passengers in a flat steel sampan through a maze of river channels, under limestone cliffs and straight through caves so low you duck your head. The routes take 2.5 to 3 hours and stop at small island temples where you climb out, look around and climb back in. This is the heart of the UNESCO-listed Trang An Landscape Complex, and it feels far less commercial than Tam Coc. Rowers here do not sell embroidery from the boat.

Fans of film will recognise the scenery. Parts of Kong: Skull Island (2017) were filmed around Trang An. The tribal village set rebuilt for visitors was dismantled in 2019 on UNESCO’s advice, so do not pick a route expecting to see it. Arrive when the ticket office opens at about 7 am. By 9 am the tour buses from Hanoi have arrived and the queue for boats can run past 30 minutes. Bring a hat, as there is no shade on the water, and keep 50,000 to 100,000 VND aside as a tip for your rower. Our full Trang An boat ride guide compares the three routes cave by cave.

Tam Coc means “three caves”, and the boat ride passes through all three (Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba) on a round trip along the Ngo Dong River. The scenery is the most photographed in the province, mostly because the river runs between rice paddies. In late May and early June the fields turn gold and the boats glide between them. Many rowers steer with their feet, leaving their hands free for the camera you will inevitably be asked to hand them.

The ride is shorter than Trang An, about 1.5 to 2 hours, and busier. Vendor boats wait at the turnaround point after the third cave and press passengers to buy drinks or snacks “for the rower”. You can say no politely. Go early, before 8 am, and the river is calm and almost empty. Foreign visitors share a boat in twos. The Tam Coc guide covers the town, the caves and the side trips around it.

Mua Cave itself is a small, shallow cave. Nobody comes for it. They come for the staircase of about 500 stone steps that climbs the karst beside it to a viewpoint topped with a stone dragon, the “Lying Dragon”. From the top you look down on the bend of the Ngo Dong River and the Tam Coc boats on one side, and the rice fields on the other. It is the single best view in Ninh Binh and the shot on most postcards.

The climb takes 20 to 30 minutes at a steady pace. The steps are uneven and steep near the top, so wear shoes with grip, not flip-flops. Go at sunrise, when the mist sits in the valley, or after 4 pm for the sunset. Midday in summer is hot enough to be miserable. At the base, a lotus pond flowers from late May to July and is worth a slow walk.

Bai Dinh is one of the largest Buddhist pagoda complexes in Vietnam, and it is enormous. The new complex was built in the 2000s on the slope below a far older hillside pagoda. Corridors about a kilometre long are lined with 500 stone arhat statues, each with a different face. Above them sit halls holding giant bronze Buddhas and a 13-storey stupa. The complex claims several national records, though the newer Tam Chuc Pagoda, now in the same province after the 2025 merger, competes for the title of biggest.

Entry to the grounds is free, but the walkway from the car park has been closed since 2024, so you have to take the electric cart to the gate (100,000 VND return). Allow two to three hours. The ancient pagoda up the hill, reached by stone steps, is quieter and more atmospheric than the new halls. Cover your shoulders and knees. During the pagoda festival, which opens on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and runs into spring, crowds are huge. Read our Bai Dinh Pagoda guide for the layout of the halls.

Before Hanoi, there was Hoa Lu. It was Vietnam’s capital from 968 to 1010, under the Dinh and Early Le dynasties, until King Ly Thai To moved the court to Thang Long, today’s Hanoi. Little of the old citadel stands, but two temples remain. One honours King Dinh Tien Hoang, the other King Le Dai Hanh, and both are carved wood and stone set against a ring of karst walls that served as the city’s natural defences.

The site is small, cheap and close to Trang An, so most people fit it in for an hour on the way to or from the boats. Climb the steps of Ma Yen Mountain behind the temples for a view across the old capital. Our Hoa Lu Ancient Capital guide tells the dynasty stories behind each hall.

Ninh Binh city merged with Hoa Lu district to form Hoa Lu city in early 2025, and the July 2025 reforms then reorganised its old centre into new wards. Its newest draw is the riverside old town along the Van River. Rows of tiled-roof buildings are lit by lanterns after dark, and the streets fill with food stalls, music and families out walking. It is new rather than ancient, so treat it as an evening stroll, not a heritage site.

It is the best thing to do in Ninh Binh after dinner, because Tam Coc goes quiet by 10 pm. A Grab from Tam Coc takes about 15 minutes. Weekend evenings are the liveliest.

The flat lanes around Tam Coc are made for bicycles, and riding them is how most travellers end up remembering Ninh Binh. Hire a bike in Tam Coc town and follow the lanes west past buffalo in the paddies, duck farms and small shrines to Thai Vi Temple, a quiet stone temple built for the Tran kings in the 13th century. Thai Vi sits at the end of a closed karst valley, so backtrack along the access road towards Tam Coc, then ride north to Mua Cave and, if your legs allow, on to Trang An.

A loop of 15 to 20 km takes half a day with stops. The light is best after 3 pm. Homestays lend bikes free or rent them for about 50,000 VND a day, and a basic scooter costs around 120,000 to 150,000 VND. Ask for a bike with working brakes and check the tyres before you set off.

Bich Dong, the “Jade Grotto”, is three pagodas stacked up a cliff and partly built into its caves. The lower pagoda sits at the base by a lotus pond, the middle one is cut into a cave, and the upper one sits near the top with a view across the fields. It dates to the 15th century and is one of the most atmospheric sights in the province.

It is 2 km past the Tam Coc pier, an easy bike ride, and you can walk the whole site in under an hour. Entry to the pagoda is free and does not need a Tam Coc boat ticket. Few tour groups come here, which makes it a calm counterpoint to the busy boats.

Tuyet Tinh Coc is a hidden lake ringed by cliffs, with a cave temple, Am Tien, reached by a path along the water. Lotus and water lilies cover the lake in summer, and the karst walls make it feel sealed off from the world. Legend ties it to a princess who withdrew here to pray, and the story gives the place a hushed mood.

It sits close to Hoa Lu and Trang An, so it fits neatly into the same morning. Go before 10 am, as it has become a popular photo spot and the narrow path gets crowded by midday.

Van Long is one of the largest wetland reserves in northern Vietnam and the calmest boat ride in Ninh Binh. Women row bamboo boats across shallow, glassy water ringed by karst. There are no caves to queue for and no vendors, just herons, kingfishers and, if you are lucky, a glimpse of the Delacour’s langur. This black-and-white primate is critically endangered, and Van Long holds one of its last wild populations.

Go early in the morning. The water is stillest then, the reflections are perfect, and the langurs are most active. The ride lasts 1 to 1.5 hours, and a pair of binoculars makes a real difference.

Thung Nham is an eco-park of lakes, caves and orchards whose real show starts at dusk. Thousands of storks and herons fly in to roost on the trees of the lake island, so densely that the branches turn white. Arrive around 4 pm, take the boat and the cave paths, then be at the lakeside by 5 to 5.30 pm to watch the birds come home.

The ticket covers the boat ride and Bui Cave. Bring insect repellent for the evening, and a zoom lens if you have one.

Cuc Phuong became Vietnam’s first national park in 1962, and it protects old-growth forest on limestone hills about 45 km west of Tam Coc. It holds more than 2,000 plant species, a 1,000-year-old tree reached by a forest trail, and the Prehistoric Man Cave, where traces of early human settlement were found.

The highlight for most visitors is the Endangered Primate Rescue Center near the gate. It rescues and breeds langurs, gibbons and lorises seized from traders, and is one of the few places you will see Delacour’s langur up close. The park needs a full day. Hire a car or a scooter, as there is no useful public transport.

Ninh Binh has two dishes you will not escape. Mountain goat (de nui) is the local signature, served grilled, steamed with lemongrass, or as a goat hotpot. It is almost always eaten with com chay, a crisp sheet of fried rice crust, sometimes topped with a meat floss sauce. Tam Coc’s main street has a dozen goat restaurants, and a full meal runs from about 150,000 VND a person.

Vegetarians are not left out. “Com chay” also means vegetarian food in Vietnamese, and Buddhist vegetarian dishes are easy to find near the pagodas. Several Tam Coc homestays run small cooking classes that start with a walk to the market and end with spring rolls you rolled yourself, usually for US$25 to US$35. Book a day ahead. The Tam Coc night market along the main street sells snacks, embroidery and souvenirs most evenings.

Phat Diem is one of the most unusual churches in Asia. Built between 1875 and 1899 by Father Tran Luc, it is a Catholic cathedral that looks like a Vietnamese pagoda, with curved tiled roofs, a stone bell tower and a main hall held up by dozens of ironwood columns. The detail inside, carved in wood and stone, blends Christian and Vietnamese motifs.

It sits about 30 km south-east of the city and makes a quiet half-day trip by car or scooter, or a stop on the way to the coast. Entry is free. Visit outside Mass times and dress modestly.

Kenh Ga is a village where much of daily life happens on the river. Small boats carry children to school, farmers to the fields and fish to market, and visitors are rowed along the Hoang Long River past houses on the bank and up to the karst. The nearby hot spring gives the village its other draw.

It sees a fraction of Tam Coc’s visitors and feels like real village life, not a show. Allow half a day, combined with Van Long, which sits on the same side of the province.