We nearly didn’t make it to Ninh Binh. This makes it hard to believe that Ninh Binh is now my favorite place in Vietnam. The thing is, I didn’t really know that much about the town, or what to expect there. When we visited, we learned a lot, and much of that is, basically, tips for visiting Ninh Binh that you don’t normally read on travel blogs or local websites.
So for that reason I decided to put together this article. Some of these travel tips for Ninh Binh may seem straight forward, but I honestly never knew them before I went there myself! They would have been very useful to me before my trip, so I KNOW they will help you too.
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Table of Contents
- Don’t stay in the actual town of Ninh Binh
- Most Ninh Binh accommodation is Homestays
- Don’t miss Minh Tiep Restaurant
- The best way to explore is on a pushbike
- Hiring a Scooter in Ninh Binh is easy
- There are 500 stairs at Mua Cave
- Hoa Lu Ancient Capital isn’t very big
- Try the Trang An Boats instead of Tam Coc
- You can take a day tour to Ninh Binh
- Catch the train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh
- Summary
Don’t stay in the actual town of Ninh Binh
So this is one thing that I sort of knew when I began to do my research. The thing is, it’s not thrown out there as vital information, and I only learned from some accommodation reviews. But, guess what? It IS vital information!
When you visit Ninh Binh, you won’t stay in the town itself. If you do, it’s pretty much a waste of time, as you’re only really there to see the sights, and 99 percent of them are NOT in the town.
So, when you visit Ninh Binh, make sure you find your accommodation in either Trang An or Tam Coc. These areas are slightly out of the main town, and you will find yourself surrounded by the gorgeous, amazing hewn rock formations that make the area famous. You’ll be within walking distance of some attractions, and a comfortable pushbike ride of others.
Most Ninh Binh accommodation is Homestays
When you come to Ninh Binh, don’t expect to be staying in 5 star hotels. While there are always going to be SOME bigger hotels around, do yourself a favor and really soak up the atmosphere and style that makes Ninh Binh really unique.
When we visited, we chose one of the top rated homestays. Now, it could be called a large hostel, or in some parts of the world even a hotel. But this place was a good size, had everything we really needed, and got its incredibly high rating from the beautiful family that ran it.
So, what was it called?
We stayed at Ninh Binh Mountainside Homestay and Café.
I found them on Air BNB, but you can also get really great prices from other sites that I’ll list below.
The reason I recommend staying there is simply due to the friendliness of the owners, and the fact that everything you need will be taken care of. The rooms are huge for the price we paid, the breakfasts are included and totally delicious, and the owners can take care of any transfers, tours or bike rentals you require. Simply put, I wouldn’t stay anywhere else, and we already plan to go back soon just because we loved it so much.
Don’t miss Minh Tiep Restaurant
All around the Trang An and Tam Coc areas you’ll find some wonderful restaurants. Tam Coc in particular has some very good ones.
We stayed in Trang An though, and could not fault some of the amazing Pho and Fried Rice that we ate around the local restaurants. Our favorite though, by far, was a really nice place called Minh Tiep Restaurant.
We found this place on our first day in Ninh Binh, and loved it so much that we returned on most days, either for lunch or dinner. Their pork fried rice in particular was incredible. My mouth is watering and stomach grumbling as I sit here writing this!
Another thing I really liked about Ninh Binh, especially as someone traveling on a strict budget, was the cheap price of beer. Drinking is a luxury I avoid when traveling, as I would rather spend that money on food or tours. In Ninh Binh though, cans of beer were as cheap as 20,000 VND, and even cheaper in the local general store. At Mien Tiep Restaurant, they went a step better, with a can of 450 ml beer (it was 450 or 420) priced at only 20,000 VND. How good is that value?!
Click HERE for a Google Maps location.
The best way to explore is on a pushbike
Staying around the Trang An area, or Tam Coc for that matter, is really easy when it comes to seeing the local attractions. One thing that surprised us when we arrived though, is that the area is so flat!
I guess this comes due to seeing, and expecting, so many of the incredible hills and rock formations around. This gave us the impression that it must be a very hilly area and would be difficult to get around. We soon found out that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Once we arrived, one of the first things we noticed was so many tourists getting around simply on pushbikes/bicycles. When we arrived at our homestay and checked in, we were immediately informed that they had a large selection of pushbikes that were free for our use. We found around 20 of them, all in good condition in a large shed out back.
Riding around the Trang An area was simply a joy. The riding is so easy, and with hardly any traffic to speak of, it’s safe and enjoyable. In a way, it reminded me a lot of exploring the island of Gili Trawangan, in Indonesia, where all motorized traffic is banned and you can only ride pushbikes.
From the homestay, we were able to ride to the restaurants nearby, around the local village itself, and even to places like Mua Cave and the Trang An boats. But the best thing to do on a pushbike is to just explore, and this is the main reason that this is one of my top tips for visiting Ninh Binh. Take a ride in a random direction and get lost. You’ll find your way back no worries, but the sights and geography are so incredible, you’re guaranteed to enjoy yourself.
Hiring a Scooter in Ninh Binh is easy
For those places that are a little further afield, hiring a scooter was the easiest option for us. Not that anything is really a long distance, but it does save riding the pushbike for an hour.
There are a few good places to get scooters from in Ninh Binh itself, which isn’t really that handy when you’re staying in Trang An. What IS easy though, is the fact that the homestay had several scooters to hire right on site.
To hire these is as simple as just asking if you can hire one! Because you’re staying there, there’s no deposit, they don’t need I.D. and no one even asks for a license. They just toss you the key and charge you for the rental when you check out.
Riding around Ninh Binh couldn’t be easier. In fact, I found of all the places that I have hired scooters in Vietnam, Ninh Binh is the easiest place to ride. By a long shot. The traffic is minimal. There isn’t much in the way of pedestrians, and police presence hardly exists, if at all.
Always keep in mind though that to ride a scooter in Vietnam, legally, you SHOULD have a local license. This law seems to be very grey at best, and I’ve never seen local authorities enforcing it. To be safe, I always make sure I have my home license with me, and an International Driver’s Permit, just in case I’m pulled over or caught up in a police traffic stop. In Sapa especially, traffic stops can be frequent as they enforce the rules on locals who are often caught driving unlicensed, or even drunk.
An easy way to get yourself an International Driver’s Permit is via the link below.
There are 500 stairs at Mua Cave
Mua Cave is one of the main attractions for visitors to Ninh Binh. It’s located only a short distance out of town, and easily reachable if you are staying at either Trang An or Tam Coc. In fact, if you stay at Ninh Binh Mountainside Homestay and Café, you can actually walk there!
If you do walk, keep in mind that there are 500 stairs to negotiate once you arrive! This might not be readily apparent to many first time visitors, and I’ve seen plenty who have struggled once they walked 5 kilometers just to get to Mua Cave itself.
Mua Cave is sort of a misnomer, in my opinion. While the cave is really nice, nearly everyone that comes here is really after the incredible panoramas that can be viewed from the top. This is what you will see in the advertising, and nearly every photo of “Mua Cave”.
So, my tip is to grab a pushbike from your homestay and do the nice, easy 10 minute ride to Mua Cave. There is easy parking at the entrance, and you’ll be nice and fresh for the climb.
Whilst in Vietnam, be aware of the parking scams that exist nearly everywhere. You’ll also find this at Mua Cave, and to a lesser degree at Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. As you approach the attraction, local shop owners will try to convince you to park at their premises for a “good price”. While it sounds like a great deal, they’ll then expect you to buy from them, or eat in their restaurant, when the entire time there was actually FREE parking at the ticket office.
Hoa Lu Ancient Capital isn’t very big
One of the things that we hired a scooter for was to visit Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. This little “city” was actually the very first capital of Vietnam, and came into power many centuries ago. As such, you might expect it to be quite the sight.
I’m here to tell you to keep expectations low. This isn’t going to be one of your top experiences in Vietnam, and though I know I should stay objective, I would go so far as to say it was rather disappointing. It’s very small, with only a couple of temple complexes to explore, both of which are identical. Search around and you will find a few things to look at, but otherwise, don’t expect to spend an entire day there.
On the upside, if you hired a scooter to get there, there’s a few other things out that way that you can do on the same day. Once again, park right near the ticket office, as there is plenty of room right there free of charge.
Try the Trang An Boats instead of Tam Coc
Now, as far as tips for visiting Ninh Binh go, this is probably one that you will read everywhere. Although, in a way it could come down to your own personal experiences.
One of the reasons that I decided to stay in Trang An and not Tam Coc, was because I had already decided to go to the Trang An boats, instead of the very similar experience available at Tam Coc. I’m glad I did, and I will tell you why.
Once we were in our homestay we began to hear some pretty wild stories about how rude and greedy the company at Tam Coc are. Now, I might be wrong, and you can make up your own mind, but we actually ran into one couple that experienced it themselves. Their story was that they were taken out in a boat, and mid trip the “driver” stopped in the middle of the river, threatening to tip them out if they didn’t pay him a huge tip on the spot. This rang true to us as there has been similar problems in Bali with Kintamani locals doing the same thing to tourists on Danau Batur (Lake Batur).
Now, I’ve heard similar stories from a few others, but what it boils down to for us was that we decided to go with the more established Trang An boats instead.
They offer a few different packages, and you can decide at the ticket office which one is better for you. Basically they all cost the same, but take you on different routes. They will try to talk you into route 1 or 2, but personally I prefer route 3, and have never found anyone that regretted doing that route, which involves a trip through the longest river cave in the area.
If you try the Tam Coc boats and find that they are good, let me know in the comments. I’ll be back in Ninh Binh again soon, and may even check them out if reports are good and they have their act together again.
One extra tip for the Trang An boats is to get there early. Buses arriving from Hanoi and even further afield will begin arriving fairly early, and line ups in peak periods can become massive. Fortunately there are a couple hundred boats, but beating the crowds is always the best idea!
You can take a day tour to Ninh Binh
Yes! You can take a day tour to Ninh Binh.
These are very popular from Hanoi, as it’s only a couple hours drive. In fact, it can be faster to get to Ninh Binh than to Halong Bay, and definitely Sapa. So it is fast becoming the day trip of choice for travelers short on time.
The day trips from Hanoi to Ninh Binh will generally take you to at least the Trang An boats, and to Mua Cave. These are two of the great sights in Ninh Binh, and I can say that if you ARE short on time, you should check out these tours.
There are only a couple of problems with doing a tour and not staying in Ninh Binh yourself. First, you are at the mercy of the tour, and their schedule. You’ll have to line up, and the experience will be a lot different. Similar to doing a Halong Bay tour as I described in THIS article.
The other thing is that you miss the incredible ambience and lifestyle that we loved so much about Ninh Binh. Sure, you will see the best attractions at Ninh Binh, but you’ll miss the unique things that make Ninh Binh so amazing.
For the best tours from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, check out the links below.
Catch the train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh
This is the final one of my tips for visiting Ninh Binh, but is by no means the least. Getting to Ninh Binh.
Many people will catch the bus or Limo bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, and while this is a really good option, there are a few things to be aware of with both.
First, the buses in Vietnam are some of the most dangerous in the world. Having said that, it’s only a couple of hours from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, so it should be ok. Especially an early bus. (NOT overnight)
With the Limo Bus, keep two things in mind. When we caught the Limo Bus from Ninh Binh to Hanoi, we realized there wasn’t much luggage storage. The driver had to JAM our backpacks into the rear compartment and close the door so they wouldn’t tumble back out. Of course, at the other end we had to remember to be ready to catch them when he opened the door in Hanoi, or else everything was going to end up in the middle of the road.
Also, if you are the last to get into the Limo Bus, you’ll be stuck with the front two seats, and there is NO legroom. I’m over 6 foot tall and have been more comfortable in a budget airline than in those seats. The other seats seemed ok, but this is what I was stuck with.
The other option is to catch the train. It’s easy and convenient, leaving from the main Hanoi station, and only takes a couple of hours. This is the same train that runs from Hanoi to Da Nang, and then onto Ho Chi Minh. There’s plenty of luggage storage and the seats are comfortable.
Also, the homestay will organize a pick up from the station for you. This may cost a little bit more, but you also saved money taking the train instead of the Limo Bus.
Summary
Well, that’s it for my tips for visiting Ninh Binh. I hope they help you out. Don’t forget to leave any feedback below, and I’ll update this article with more information on my next visit.
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