Ninh Bihn is such a unique place; this shouldn’t be missed when you’re visiting north Vietnam. Book your trip on a weekday to avoid the weedend crowd
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- All entrance fees at the sites mentioned
- English speaking guide
- Bottled water in the vehicle
- Electric cars 2 ways (for Bai Dinh Pagoda option)
- Boat trip rowed by a local (for options of Tam Coc/Trang An)
- Sharing limousine bus whole trip
Excludes
- Drinks in the restaurant
- Tipping
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Traveler pick up offered
Itinerary
07:15 - 07:30 Our guide and tour bus will pick you up at the hotels in Hanoi Old Quarter. Then we start a 110km drive on a comfortable limousine vehicle through verdant landscape. Stop over for a rest on the way. If your hotels located outside of the Old Quarter, please go to the meeting point - Hanoi Opera House at 7:50am to join tour group (Hanoi Opera House is just a meeting point for pickup, not a site for a visit in the tour).
10:30 Visit Hoa Lu ancient Citadel with King Dinh Temple dating back to the 10th Century. The old capital has a variety of historical places for visitors to pay a trip. The attractions are temples, where people worship the Emperors and royal people that ruled here more than 1000 years ago. And nowadays Hoa Lu still keeps the remaining of ancients fortress built by Dinh dynasty more than 1000 years ago. The Imperial palce lays under the ground for 3m and now become a very interesting place to visit. Then continue the tour with 30-minute biking in a rural village to discover the life of local people. Please notes that this short biking trip is just an extra activity (free of charge) to help you experience the peaceful rural landscapes, not a professional biking trip. If you don't know how to bike or not interested in this activity then you can skip it (and instead you can walk around the area to take photos or just relax at the restaurant to wait for others while they are cycling).
One of the most popular activities for travelers visiting Trang An is taking a boat tour through its intricate network of waterways, surrounded by towering limestone karsts and lush greenery. These boat tours typically start from the Trang An Wharf, where visitors board small rowboats guided by local boatwomen or boatmen. As you glide along the emerald waters, you'll be mesmerized by the breathtaking scenery, including limestone cliffs rising dramatically from the water, tranquil caves adorned with stalactites and stalagmites, and vibrant foliage reflecting in the crystal-clear river. During the boat ride, travelers have the opportunity to explore several caves and grottoes, each with its own unique features and legends. Some of the notable caves include Hang Điệp Sơn, Hang Sửng Sốt, and Hang Tối (Dark Cave). The boatwomen or boatmen often share fascinating stories and folklore associated with these natural wonders, adding to the enchantment of the experience.
After lunch time, the group will continue the trip with a visit to Tam Coc. Take sampan boat trip rowed by the locals gently sail along Ngo Dong river, capturing the wonderful scenery of Karst hills, rice fields, and peaceful villages, and passing “Hang Ca” (First Grotto), “Hang Hai” (Second Grotto) and “Hang Ba” (Third Grotto). The boat trip is sure to leave you a wonderful memory.
Arrive at Mua Cave and start an amazing hiking up to the top of Ngoa Long mountain (lying dragon moutain) for watching the spectacular rice valley with precious view of the nature. Down a sleepy road between rice paddies, this cave (the name means 'Cave of Dance') is not terribly impressive, but there are panoramic views from the peak above. A stone staircase beside the cave entrance zigzags through the karst (beware the goat droppings) and it’s almost 500 steps to a simple altar to Quan Am (the Goddess of Mercy). Look west for the Ngo Dong River winding through Tam Coc. The climb is paved but steep in sections, so bring water and allow an hour return.
Then keep go to Bai Dinh pagoda complex, the largest pagoda, not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast of Asia. Scenically set on the foot hill of Dinh Mountain surrounded by amazing views of the exquisite river valley below and dotted and the limestone karsts dotted around which will take your breath away. After get off from electric car at the entrance gate, you will walk with our tour guide to visit this pagoda and learn more about buddism religion.
Have buffet lunch in a local restaurant with a lot of local foods goat meat, fried rice, rice crackers …. And also vegetarian foods are available in the buffet lunch.
After all activities, you go back to the tour bus to get back to Hanoi. Drop you off at your hotels in Hanoi or at the meeting point (Hanoi Opera House). End around 19:30 - 19:45. End of the service!
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Additional Info
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Reviews
It was a good experience there is very safe to travel wih them good atmosphere also van are neat n clear we will highly recommend
Outstanding service. Smooth ride, great conversation, and genuine hospitality. Outstanding service. Smooth ride, great conversation, and genuine hospitality. Made the whole trip memorable.
Good service, very co-operative and responsive, good driver, on time, friendly staff, good itinerary. Overall great experience! 😀 😀 🙏🙏
Good experience Good service very satisfied with the overall tour . Guide was very cooperative . Good itenary also Had lots of fun
It was a wonderful experience We have taken their rides for all our destination Driver were very helpful Car and van were neat
It was very nyc experience 12 days we booked the ride from him from Hanoi till hochimin phuquock dannag ww booked him because of service and the drivers were coporative
Amazing work, nice staff Always on time very corporative also they had a good van and cars when ever we booked also we went to many other places with the van it was nyc to have a safe and wonderful road trip with them
The driver was super kind and patient with us and he was very friendly and informed us about all the needed information for the ha long tour
The accompanying staff and driver were good to communicate with. We had good drive from Hanoi to halong bay. Break was taken for food.
Great experience—on-time, cooperative driver, responsive agents, and quite reasonable pricing. Smooth and convenient travel.
We chose the Tour Option Hoa Lu - Tam Coc - Mua Cave and really enjoyed the private tour. The guide was so nice and informative. Our driver was also great. The boat trip was amazing. We will come back one day!
Travelling with Back Street Tours, Q was a knowledgeable guide and humourous with it. He was caring. This is a great trip on the river, climbing to the temple, food at lunch and the scooter trip. Highly recommend this company and guide.
Ninh Binh was reallly beautiful- the day was very crowded because of Kings Day Festival and the start of tour was delayed by over an hour due to pickup miscommunications and lack of communication. It was really annoying because I was contacted the night before about meeting up at the van when the excursion I booked included pickup in Hanoi Old Quarter, and I had confirmed with the operator on WhatsApp that we would be picked up at our hotel. When we got to the van, we waited 1 hour 20 for others to get there (also due to the same pickup issues). My friend and I rushed/skipped breakfast to get to the van on time and had to wait on the poorly ventilated van for over an hour. Others expressed the same frustrations. The tour host said it was because vans cannot drive thru/pick up in Old Quarter and he didn’t have everyone’s contact information. Poor poor management and organization on the operator’s part Besides being delayed 1hour 20, the rest of the tour was beautiful. It was very crowded. We biked to the temple from our lunch restaurant, ate a buffet lunch with 50 other tourists, took a boat ride (with 200 other tourists), and then hiked the mountain (with 300 other tourists). We did not bike through the countryside-something I thought was a part of the excursion. It was challenging to understand the host as his English and pronunciation weren’t great. Overall I would recommend, but make sure you’re not going on a public holiday.
Good tour with a great group of people. Our tour guide Nam was very helpful and gave us good information about the history and the culture of Vietnam. Enjoyable tour overall
Our trip with Paradise Indochina Travel exceeded all expectations. The itinerary was well-planned, the accommodations were fantastic, and the guides were friendly and informative.
The guide Jenny was very good and informative, we had a very nice experience . The boat ride and the cycle ride were very good. The Mua caves and trek to the top of the mountain was worth it
The trip was amazing. Our tour guide was fun friendly and tooj care of us. The places were very nice. We reached the top of Mua cave and it was amazing view up there.
Kenny was truly great and funny guide. Bike tour could have been longer. It was a fun day!!!! Totally recommend to all.
Great time. Excellent guide, activities, and food. Don't miss out on this unique experience. Did I say it was great...yes, indeed, it is.
It was a wonderful trip I was impressed with the entire day We were very well taken care of our guy made sure we didn't miss a thing even though it was in a monsoon rain he provided us ponchos and kept everything on track a wonderful guide Not any one thing was my favorite it was all awesome
So nice trip, amazing guide and driver. Well tailored tour, good food, wifi on board and they even provide us with raincoats.
The tour was very well organized. They picked me at the hotel at the agreed time, we went by bus from Hanoi, very comfortable ride. We visited all the spots and had a great time walking and riding bikes. The 2h boat trip was so nice and interesting, I did not expect to stay so long on the boat, it was not boring, you feel So quite and relax. highly recommended.
My family had a wonderful day Trang An & Mua cave full day tour. The scenery was super, breathtaking. Transportation with a comfortable limousine van (not luxury but it was so very good to what we paid). The lunch was good with vegetarian options also, and everything was very well managed. The boat person would expect tips so you should prepare some cash. What we did not like was they asked us to buy their stuffs. The walk and climb to the top of the steps was heady and had wonderful views up there. I was so happy with service in general and recommended this trip from this company.
The tour with our guide Koala (Cuong or Crazy K) was a great emersion into Vietnamese culture and history. We (David and Mimi) were staying in Hanoi and were ready to get out of the city. We had done Haling Bay cruise, so this was our countryside tour. Cuong/Koala was a great guide, friendly and honest, and knows much English, including little puns and jokes. I enjoyed having Koala as our guide and talked to him several times, just asking him about himself. The tour gave a wide variety of temple/dynasty history, caves, biking local town, local lunch, river Boston tour and hiking to top of mountains fir good exercise and beautiful views. It was hot and humid outside, which, to be honest, was a little tough to handle at times, but I did choose to travel to Vietnam in the summer in Vietnam. LOL. Also, they had a very nice luxury Air Conditioned 15-20 person bus ( not sure of size). It was always refreshing to get into the AC after the heat outside. This tour was a needed addition to our trip from America (Texas, USA) to Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
I had a lovely day doing this trip with tour guide Na. She was knowledgeable, helpful and she is so responsible with her job. Our experience was seamless from the start to the end. Tour was well organized and everything was perfect. She had many interesting activities packed in one day. I really recommended this trip and this travel company.
From the pick up at my hotel and all throughout the entire journey with our guide "BAO", we could not fhave had a greater experience of more fun, humour, education, exercise, awe and wonder with this tour. It felt like I had experienced an entire week of travel that filled me life in a single day! This tour is amazing...yet challenging if you choose to walk the many steps to reach the top of the mountain. It is spectacular! AC bus/WiFi/ and safe!
Our tour guide Tommy was so knowledgeable and fun. It was our first time and would definitely go again with him. He made the trip so much fun and memorable. Thank you
The boat ride and the mountain were nice. The buffet was absolutely terrible and extremely crowded the food was not good at all and we did not eat and my husband comes from a generation where you eat what you have taken. The morning should be rated as a poor experience. The trip was like we were a heard of cattle everywhere we went. It is not an American limousine, it’s a small, hot bus.
Small group no larger than 12 turned out to be 20! Guide had a terrible cold so not on great form. The visit to the temple was really not worth it, despite the guide giving us the list of emperors since the 9th century. Too long, and boring and the group dispersed during his talk. Despite being warned, we were ripped off on the boat ride (still not sure about the money, so probably our fault) but it was beautiful. The bikes had seen better days and the track very very bumpy. But still good to get out of the city. The climb up 500 steps was worth it if you have the stamina as the view is lovely. Lunch at 11.45am was too early. So I guess we saw a good cross section of things out of the city, but in reality it was 2.5 hours away and 2.5 hours back in a coach that lacked suspension. so a lot of travel.
Impressive tour with very nice tour guide and driver.We enjoyed splendid scenery in Trang an.Contact with the manager was so smooth on WatsApp. 200% satisfied.
The cave was beautiful. I have seen many caves in my time, but this one was really something special. The tour guide was fabulous too.
The limo was a great addition to this efficient and informative cave tour. It was really impressive and the guide was helpful and lovely. Would 10/10 recommend to a friend, family, or work colleague.
Great guide who was very knowledgeable. The whole day was planned very smoothly and overall we had a great day.
We had a nice trip to Hoa Lu - Tam Coc - Mua cave. Our vehicle picked up on time and the seat was so comfortable. The tour guide was nice and helpful. Boating trip along the river and tunnel caves was impressive. Our lunch was also wonderful. Thank you
I had a wonderful tour with this travel company, highly recommend! I was politely greeted by our guide when I got picked up. He was smart, fun and made everyone laugh. This trip gave us many things such as history while visiting the ancient capital in Hoa Lu, wonderful biking, good local lunch buffe, nice hike up the Mua Cave with panoramic views, nice boat trip in Tam Coc. Really nice
I had a great trip to Hoa Lu – Tam Coc – Mua Cave. My tour guide was excellent. She was friendly and very knowledgeable. Boat, cave, lunch, vehicles were all excellent. Highly recommend.
We were a group of 4.We got an SUV which was amazingly clean.We had a great trip which was smooth and comfortable. We had good care from the agency.They response very fast to solve our small problem. Thank you so much
I did tour Hoa Lu-Tam Coc-Mua cave and I really enjoyed. Our vehicle was so good, lunch was nice and tour guide did a great job. Boat trip, cave, hiking....all were nice. Really recommned!
Used this service for a multitude of reasons: airport pick up and transfers, tours to see historical sites and other places. Easy communication. Well priced. Comfortable rides. Would recommend.
I booked the trip by recomnendations and I really enjoyed. It was a nice nice place, my trip went smooth. Loved it!
My friends and I did a day tour, everything was wonderful and verte comfortable. Really enjoyed and recommended.
We search the tour online and booked last minutes. Luckily we had a really nice trip. Thank you for this trip.
We really enjoyed the trip. This tour operator is reliable and responsible. The staffs always followed up our trip and very helpful. We really appreciated that. We recommend this tour operator.
Nice service! The driver arrived on time. He was polite, professional, and he had a very good driving manner. The car was very comfortable. The view from the mua cave mountain was gorgeous! I surely will book this company if I come to Vietnam next time.
Very xulo, amazing views!! Even though a single day I fell short it's okay to see a little ninh binh
Journée magnifique dans la baie d’Halong terrestre ! Je recommande vivement. De très belles rencontres avec les bababas (les femmes qui nous font faire un tour en barques sur une rivière. Plus plus plus!!
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