Backpacking Ninh Binh
Take Ha Long Bay, drain the sea out of it and plant rice between the towers. That is Ninh Binh, ninety-five kilometres south of Hanoi, and it is the stop people most often wish they had given an extra night.
You spend one day in a rowing boat, three hours through caves cut straight through the limestone, rowed by a woman doing it with her feet because that is easier over that distance. You spend the next on a bicycle on a dyke between flooded fields with buffalo in them. There is a temple complex that was the capital of Vietnam a thousand years ago, and a staircase of five hundred steps to a dragon on a ridge with the whole valley underneath it.
Most people come as a day trip from Hanoi. Those people see it at midday, in a queue, with two hundred others. Stay the night and you get the six in the morning version instead.
Why Ninh Binh is popular with backpackers
- Three hours through caves on a rowing boat for about €9
- The Mua Cave viewpoint, which is the photo of northern Vietnam
- Flat, empty cycling between rice fields and karst
- €17 a day, the cheapest good stop in the country
- A thousand-year-old capital nobody queues for
- Quiet: it empties out completely once the day trips drive home
Best time to visit Ninh Binh
Same limestone as Ha Long Bay, with rice between the peaks instead of water, so what changes through the year is mostly the colour of the fields.
The harvest around the end of May is the moment everyone is chasing: the Tam Coc boats going between gold fields. Be there on time, because it lasts about two weeks and then it is stubble.
Backpacker budget: around €17 a day
- €5hostel bed
- €2local meal
- €0.50beer
- €4scooter per day
Guide prices from our own days in Ninh Binh. Add a tour or a night out and it climbs fast.
Best hostels in Ninh Binh
Everything worth staying near is at Tam Coc, not in Ninh Binh city itself, which is a transport town six kilometres away. Book at Tam Coc.
Ninh Binh Buffalo Hostel
The social one: pool, bar, and a crowd that mostly arrived alone. Their own tours leave from the door, which on a two-day stop saves you a lot of arranging.
Tam Coc Mountain Bungalow
A 9.8 rating and it earns it. Bungalows among the karst just outside the village, quiet, with the mountains right there when you open the door. For a few euros more than a dorm.
Tam Coc Central Bungalow
Middle of the village, so you walk to dinner and to the bike hire. Comfortable, straightforward and cheap, and the easiest base if you only have two days.
Best things to do in Ninh Binh
The highlights in one day
If you are only here for a day, this strings the four big ones together with transport and lunch: the tenth-century capital at Hoa Lu, the enormous Bai Dinh pagoda complex, the three-hour boat through Trang An and the climb up Mua Cave at the end. A long day, and it removes all the logistics.
Cuc Phuong National Park
Vietnam’s oldest national park, an hour out, with thousand-year-old trees, a primate rescue centre and a turtle centre, and jungle walking that gets you well away from every boat queue in the region. The rescue centres are the reason to go: they take in animals seized from the wildlife trade.
The Trang An boat trip
The best three hours in northern Vietnam. A small rowing boat, nine caves so low you lie flat in places, temples on islands in between, and the whole thing on a UNESCO site. Three routes to choose between, and it is not a tourist boat with a motor, it is a woman with two oars and endless patience.
The Mua Cave viewpoint
Five hundred steps up the side of a limestone peak to a stone dragon on the ridge, with the Ngo Dong river winding through the fields far below. It is the picture of northern Vietnam, and it costs four euros and half an hour of your legs.
Cycling through Tam Coc
The whole valley is flat, and bicycles are two euros. Ride the dyke along the Ngo Dong, past Bich Dong, out to the Hang Mua valley and back through villages where nothing is aimed at you. Half a day, and the best value in Vietnam.
Bich Dong Pagoda
A three-level pagoda built into the rock face at the end of the valley, with the top level reached through a cave. Free, usually empty before nine, and one of the prettiest temples in the north.
Hang Mua at sunrise
Same five hundred steps, four hours earlier, and a completely different experience. The gate opens at six, the light comes up over the ridge behind you, and there are maybe six other people on the top instead of two hundred.
Thung Nham Bird Valley
Five kilometres out, and hardly anyone bothers. Go for the last hour of daylight, when several hundred birds come back to roost in the trees over the water all at once.
Best area for backpackers
Tam Coc
People say Ninh Binh and mean Tam Coc. Ninh Binh itself is a provincial city with a train station and not much else; Tam Coc is the village in the middle of the scenery, and it is where every hostel, cafe and bike hire is.
Everything on this page is within about six kilometres of it, most of it flat. That is the whole argument.
Good to know about this area
- Almost every hostel and bungalow in the region is here
- Trang An, Mua Cave and Bich Dong are all a short ride away
- Bicycles from €2, and often free where you are staying
- Restaurants and cafes along one main street
- It empties out in the evening when the day trips leave
- The train station is at Ninh Binh city, 6 km away
How to plan your days in Ninh Binh
Two days is right: one on the water, one on a bike. Plenty of people do it as a day trip from Hanoi and then say afterwards they wish they had stayed.
Trang An, then Mua Cave. Three hours in the morning through the caves at Trang An, rowed by someone using their feet. Climb the five hundred steps at Mua Cave late in the afternoon, when the light comes in sideways across the valley.
Tonight: goat, which is what this region is known for, with crispy rice.
Cycle the valley. A bike or a scooter out past Bich Dong Pagoda, through the Hang Mua valley and along the narrow tracks between the fields. Finish at Thung Nham Bird Valley for the birds coming back at dusk.
Tonight: train back to Hanoi, or the night bus on to Phong Nha.
Food and drink in Ninh Binh
Two things here that you will not get this good anywhere else in Vietnam: goat off the limestone hills, and crispy rice.
The goats climb around on the karst, which makes the meat leaner and firmer, and it comes grilled or with lemongrass alongside com chay, a slab of rice fried until it shatters. Order both, split them, and you have had the regional speciality for about four euros.
Getting there and onward
Ninh Binh sits on the main railway between Hanoi and the south, which makes it about the easiest stop in the country to slot in.
From Hanoi. The train takes two to two and a half hours and costs a few euros. The bus is slightly faster but drops you further from Tam Coc.
Around here. Everything is within cycling distance. A bicycle is about €2 a day, a scooter €4 to €6.
Onward. Night buses run from here to Phong Nha and Hue. To Phong Nha it is about eight hours, and you sleep most of it.
- TrainHanoi 2 to 2.5 hrs · Hue 11 hrs · Da Nang 14 hrs
- BusHanoi 2 hrs, hourly from Giap Bat
- BicycleFrom about €2 a day. Everything is flat
- ScooterFrom about €4 a day, for the wider valley
- Rowing boatTrang An 3 hrs · Tam Coc 2 hrs
Staying safe in Ninh Binh
There is very little crime here. The things that actually catch people out are the sun on the water, the staircase, and the narrow lanes between the fields.
- Take sun cream and a hat on the boat. Three hours rowing is three hours of full sun
- Do the five hundred steps early or late, not at two in the afternoon
- Agree the tip for your rower before you set off. A couple of euros per boat is normal
- Wear a helmet and take it slowly on the narrow dykes between the rice fields
- Swim in the river at Tam Coc. The current is stronger than it looks
- Get into a boat offered to you away from the official jetty
- Climb Mua Cave in flip-flops. The last steps are steep and polished smooth
- Hold your phone loose in the boat. It is a long way down and not far across
Rebels on the Road tip
Everyone does Trang An and Mua Cave and then gets back on a bus. Hire a bicycle and ride out towards Thung Nang instead, on the small tracks between the fields. Buffalo in the water, farmers who wave, the same limestone towers and none of the ticket booths. Do it in the last hour before sunset and you will spend most of it alone, which in this valley takes some doing.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Ninh Binh?
Two. One for the boat and the viewpoint, one for the bike. Three if you also want Cuc Phuong National Park, which is a full day on its own.
Ninh Binh or Tam Coc, which one do I book?
Tam Coc. It is the village inside the Ninh Binh region where all the scenery, the hostels and the bike hire are. Ninh Binh city is six kilometres away and is a train station with a town attached.
Trang An or Tam Coc for the boat trip?
Trang An, if you are only doing one: three hours, nine caves, temples on islands, and a proper journey rather than an out-and-back. Tam Coc is shorter and quieter and rows you through the rice fields themselves, which in harvest season is the better picture.
Is Ninh Binh expensive?
No, it is the cheapest good stop in Vietnam. €17 a day covers a bed, three meals, a bicycle and a beer, and the two big tickets together come to about €13.
Is Ninh Binh worth more than a day trip from Hanoi?
Yes, and this is the most common regret people have about their Vietnam route. A day trip gets you there at eleven and out by four, which is exactly the window when it is hottest and busiest. Staying the night gets you Mua Cave at sunrise and the valley to yourself.
Can you explore Ninh Binh without a scooter?
Easily. The valley is flat and small, and a bicycle costs €2 or comes free with your bed. A scooter is only worth it if you want Thung Nham or Cuc Phuong as well.
When are the rice fields at their best?
Late May and early June, when they turn gold just before the harvest, and September to October when everything is green. The harvest itself only lasts about two weeks, so it is worth checking before you fix dates around it.
Ninh Binh or Ha Long Bay?
Ninh Binh is cheaper, quieter, and you are inside the landscape rather than looking at it from a boat deck. Ha Long Bay is bigger and out at sea. If you want water, go to Cat Ba; if you want the karst, Ninh Binh does it better and for a third of the price.
