What are the best things to see in Ninh Binh?
The first-timer's list is one river trip, one viewpoint and one piece of history, with Bai Dinh if you have time. Trang An and Tam Coc are separate trips with separate tickets, so choose one or plan for both. Here is the Top 5.
Trang An is the one to choose if you only have time for one boat. Rowed boats leave the main wharf on set routes, each mixing caves and waterside temples: Route 1 passes nine caves and Tran Temple, Route 2 four caves, and Route 3 takes in Dot Cave, over a kilometre long. Two of the routes pass a set built for the film Kong: Skull Island. Allow about three hours for each of the three main routes. Practical note: since 1 January 2026 the ticket is 300,000 VND for adults and 150,000 VND for children between 1 and 1.3 m tall, with the boat included.
Tam Coc is the shorter, gentler river, a round trip of about two hours up the Ngo Dong through the three caves that give it its name, Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. The banks are rice fields, and many rowers work the oars with their feet. It is also closer to the main village than Trang An. Practical note: the province's price list (updated March 2025) gives 250,000 VND for adults on the route that continues to Thai Vi Temple and Bich Dong Pagoda, but does not say whether the boat is included, so check when you book.
Hang Mua is the viewpoint: close to 500 stone steps up a karst ridge to a statue of Quan The Am, a stone dragon and a pagoda, with the Tam Coc river curling through the paddies below. The name means Dancing Cave, after the Tran kings who are said to have watched court dances here. Practical note: entry has been 150,000 VND per person since 1 April 2026. The climb is steep and has little shade, so go early or late and carry water.
Hoa Lu ancient capital was the capital of Dai Co Viet from 968, when Dinh Bo Linh unified the country, until the court moved to the site of Hanoi in 1010. The temples of Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh stand about 500 metres apart below the limestone, among more than 30 relics of the two dynasties. Practical note: the 2025 provincial list gives 20,000 VND for adults. Allow an hour.
Bai Dinh pagoda pairs an old pagoda with a vast modern complex built beside it from 2003. Its 36-tonne bronze bell was certified as Vietnam's largest in 2007, and the 13-storey Bao Thien stupa rises about 100 metres. Practical note: the grounds have no entrance fee; on the 2025 list the round-trip electric car is 100,000 VND, the stupa 60,000 VND, or 150,000 VND for both. The spring festival runs from the sixth day of the first lunar month to the end of the third, and the grounds are busy throughout.
Also worth your time:
- Bich Dong Pagoda, at the far end of the Tam Coc route, goes back to the 15th century and was rebuilt in 1705 on three levels up a limestone hill.
- Van Long Nature Reserve is a wetland of more than 3,500 hectares, formed after a dyke was built in 1960, that you explore by boat. It is home to Delacour's langur, a critically endangered primate; about 95% of the known population now lives within Ninh Binh province. Migrating birds gather from November to April. Entry was 100,000 VND on the 2025 list.
- Thung Nham bird park, about 12 km west of the city, is an ecotourism area of more than 300 hectares, with a wetland bird garden of herons, storks and egrets that you cross by boat. The adult ticket has been 250,000 VND since 1 April 2026.
- Cuc Phuong National Park, established in 1962, is Vietnam's first national park, about 120 km from Hanoi and best kept for a separate day.
- Phat Diem Cathedral, in Kim Son, was built of stone and ironwood from 1875 under Father Tran Luc, and mixes Vietnamese and European architecture. Entry is free, and it draws crowds at Christmas.
Where should you eat in Ninh Binh?
The dish to try is mountain goat, the province's famous specialty. Try it as de tai chanh: thin slices lightly cooked with lime juice, then mixed with lime leaves, chilli, garlic and sesame.
Order it with com chay, Ninh Binh's crispy rice. Sticky and ordinary rice are cooked in a heavy cast-iron pot until a golden crust forms; the crust is then dried, fried and eaten with pork floss or a goat-meat sauce. For a lighter meal, eel vermicelli (mien luon) is the local noodle bowl, its broth simmered from the eel bones and served with eel, banana flower and herbs.
What does a perfect 2-day Ninh Binh itinerary look like?
Two days with one night lets you do the river early, the climb late and the history in between, without rushing.
Day 1, Hoa Lu and Hang Mua. Leave Hanoi after breakfast and arrive in the late morning. Start at Hoa Lu with the temples of Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh, then have lunch near Tam Coc: goat and com chay. Rest through the hottest hours, then climb Hang Mua in the late afternoon for the view down the valley. Stay near Tam Coc.
Day 2, on the water. Be at the Trang An wharf early for Route 1 or Route 3, about three hours through the caves and temples; in the golden rice weeks, take the Tam Coc boat instead. Spend the afternoon at Bai Dinh, then continue to Ha Long Bay or return to Hanoi.
With a third day, add an afternoon at Van Long for the wetland and the chance of seeing langurs, or make the drive south to Phat Diem Cathedral, or spend a full day in Cuc Phuong's forest.
Ninh Binh is the karst stop between the mountains and the sea on our Northern Vietnam & the Sapa Highlands route, with a night here between Sapa and Ha Long Bay.
