Ninh Binh is one of the more popular Hanoi day trips you can take if you want to explore outside of the city and enjoy a bit of Vietnam‘s scenic mountain views. While there are many group day tours that will take you to Ninh Binh, I experimented visiting on my own this trip and put together this guide to visiting Ninh Binh solo without a tour and what you can expect when planning your own trip.
Why visit Ninh Binh?
Ninh Binh is a town about 95km south of Hanoi city and most well known for its beautiful natural scenery. Often referred to as ‘Ha Long Bay on land’, it’s also home to UNESCO heritage sites and was Vietnam’s very first capital dating back to the 10th century, the perfect place for a little bit of history, culture and scenery all in one.
While you can take a day trip to Ninh Binh from Hanoi like I did, I think it would be nice to spend a night or two in this little town to really take things slow and enjoy the small town vibe fully. You’ll also be able to better enjoy the sights after the day trip tourists have gone for the day.
How to get to Ninh Binh from Hanoi
The major upside about taking an organised day trip from Hanoi to Ninh Binh is not having to worry about the public transport options. While Vietnam’s public transport isn’t too expensive, it’s also not the easiest to navigate if you don’t speak/read Vietnamese. I suggest enlisting the help of your hotel/concierge if you need to, or fork out a little more for English services.
My guesthouse was very helpful in organising all this for me – WeCozy Guesthouse [booking.com affiliate link] is located right next to the Hanoi Railway line near the Old Quarter. It’s like a service apartment and you get a great bird’s eye view of the railway cafe area as you live right above it, but it can be a bit noisy if you are sensitive to that.
Their counter staff were pretty young folk and spoke good English and were able to help me arrange the limousine service to Ninh Binh as well as the bike hire.
By private limousine
Ninh Binh is about 1.5 hours away from Hanoi by road, so driving from Hanoi to Ninh Binh is the fastest way to get there. The thing about the main bus/train stations in both Hanoi and Ninh Binh is that they are not located where the tourist attractions are, so you will still need to figure out how to get there even if you hop on a public bus or train.
What my hostel suggested is a private limousine service – a limousine in this case refers to the smaller vans with aircon and plush seats that seat about 10pax in total, instead of taking a typical tourist coach. These smaller vans are faster and more comfortable overall.
The limousine services even provide additional connection services, where they drop off all guests at the main company stop, and then split into separate limousine vans that drop you at a specific location. My guesthouse arranged for me to be dropped off and picked up at the scooter rental company.
The pickup point in Hanoi was located at Thong Nhat Park [Google maps]. Again I think it was a good thing to go through my guesthouse because they kept in touch with me via whatsapp and gave me English instructions on what to do. There was some issue with my GrabBike bringing me to the wrong park entrance, so the guesthouse arranged for another GrabBike to take me to an alternative pick up point instead. Pretty sure I would have been quite lost if I had to deal with this on my own.
My guesthouse booked Khánh An Limousine on my behalf and it cost me 530,000 VND which is about S$28 for a round trip from Hanoi Thong Nhat Park to Ninh Binh.
By private car transfer
Alternatively if you have a small group, you could book a private car transfer from Hanoi to Ninh Binh via Klook [affiliate link] that can take you to the various sights you want to see as well. Here’s another company that offers a similar car transfer from Hanoi to Ninh Binh on Klook [affiliate link] .
It might be a bit pricey if you are going solo as the cheapest rate was about $113 for a same day return trip by car. With the max small group of 3 pax, that works out to about $38 per pax – might be worth paying just a bit more for the personalised door-to-door service and getting around Ninh Binh if you don’t want to rent a bike!
By train
One other option I was exploring would be to take the train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh which would take about 2 hours. You will need to either rent a scooter from around Ninh Binh Train Station or find your way to the tourist areas from there.
You could pop down to Hanoi Ga train station to book a ticket though you might have to contend with language barriers, or use a 3rd party service like EasyBook to reserve a train ticket – I’ve used them for booking ferries/buses in Malaysia previously.
Riding a scooter in Ninh Binh
Getting around Ninh Binh as a solo traveller was a key thing I needed to sort out, and one thing I learned from the various Vietnamese tour guides I had in Hanoi was that it seemed pretty easy to rent and drive a scooter around Ninh Binh.
Now a caveat: I would NEVER try riding a scooter in Hanoi or a major city because it really is the epitome of chaos, but Ninh Binh’s traffic situation reminds me of Yilan (in Taiwan) which are generally much quieter overall. I only ventured into the city area to return my bike and even that wasn’t too busy.
I rented my scooter from a small shop that my guesthouse recommended for me, details below.
For those who don’t want to ride, cycling is another very popular way to get around Ninh Binh. Your best bet is to take a taxi to one of the major tourist areas and rent a bicycle from one of the shops/guesthouses around there.
Cho thuê xe máy Ninh Bình Hương Dương [Google maps]. It cost me 150,000 VND (S$8) for a day rental. I topped up a full tank of petrol just in case (55,000 VND or S$3) but I really didn’t use that much at all.
1-day itinerary in Ninh Binh
So here’s what I ended up doing: I took an early morning private bus to Ninh Binh and picked up my bike at about 8am. I needed to return to the bike shop by about 430pm for my pick up and return trip to Hanoi. Here’s what I did in that time.
Hang Múa / Mua Cave – climb up for spectacular views
I opted to head over to Mua Cave first to hopefully beat the tourist crowds at this scenic hotspot. Despite the name Mua Cave, the highlight here is actually the hillside climb up the mountain side to enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of Ninh Binh below rather than the actual cave which is pretty pedestrian.
You’ll walk pass a few restaurants and photo spots as you enter as well as the Hang Mua Ecolodge [booking.com affiliate links] is located at the entrance – there are actually a few accommodation options here if you want to enjoy the area after the crowds have left, like Scenic Mountain Ecolodge Ninh Binh.
You’ll want to walk towards the back of the park where the steep stone staircases lead up to 2 viewing points on the Núi Ngoạ Long or Lying Dragon Mountain that overlook the area. The steps are uneven and pretty steep at points, and there are no hand railings most of the way, so be careful when you climb.
I climbed up the stair leading to the big pagoda where there is a large stone dragon statue on top. You can climb up on top of the dragon, but there are no railings here either and the rocks there are pretty sharp so definitely be very careful not to hurt yourself or fall off.
I decided to skip the small pagoda area as it involved another stair climb (pretty pooped by that point) and it looked slightly lower, but I did pop by the actual Mua cave itself which is more of an overhang and not particularly interesting.
It might be worth coming back here in June during lotus blooming season as there is a lovely large lotus lake with a boardwalk here.
Mua Cave / Hang Múa [Google map]. Open 7am – 7pm. Entrance fee – 100,000 VND (S$5)
Tràng An – cruise through karst pillars
One of the must-dos in Ninh Binh is take a ride on a traditional boat through its waterways dotted with limestone karsts. There are two places you can typically do this in Ninh Binh: Tam Coc is one popular option where you will also be surrounded by paddy fields, but since I was there after the rice harvest season, I opted for the UNESCO world heritage site Tràng An instead, often described as Ha Long Bay on land.
Maybe because Trang An is very well visited and UNESCO rated, so its facilities were all top notch for tourists – even the more remote islands that we stopped over at had decent toilets. Some may argue this isn’t as ‘authentic’, but I was impressed that overall it was quite well taken care off and a smooth journey.
After buying my boat ticket at the entrance, I followed the pathway that went through a tunnel that led to the river side. The river was lined many little wooden boats manned by a local (I spotted more women than men) with wooden paddles and can usually take up to 4 adults, though I did see some boats with 5-6 pax as some are children. Because I was solo, I joined a boat with a group of 3 Germans.
You can choose from 3 routes that will take you to different spots along the way. I wasn’t too fussed about which one I did so I ended up doing Route 3 – while it looks like it has the least stops, it turned out to have the longest cave route. You choose the boat route at the beginning of the tour when you are queuing for the boats and you can’t change your mind halfway through.
Here’s what I saw on Trang An’s Route 3:
Đền Trình / Trinh Temple
This temple is apparently over a thousand years old and dedicated to four generals in the Dinh Dynasty. Love the giant carp sculptures in the front (there are a ton of fish in the water too) – it’s the first stop for both Route 1 and Route 3.
Hang Đột / Dot Cave
Hang Dot is a pretty long cave system that your boat master will expertly paddle you through. Keep your head down and you’ll need to duck down in places! The caves are lit so it won’t be pitch dark. After Hang Dot, you’ll transition to another cave which is a lot shorter called Hang Van (Cloud Cave) before the 2nd stop of the boat tour.
Đền Suối Tiên / Suoi Tien Temple
Our next stop was Suoi Tien Temple which is dedicated to a saint credited with protecting the ancient capital or what we know as Hoa Lu today. We alighted from the boat and walked a short distance to check out the temple which is surrounded by tree-covered mountains all around. There’s a cute little jetty that extends from the shore that’s a perfect photo spot.
Hành Cung Vũ Lâm / Vu Lam Palace
This beautiful palace deep within the Trang An area was established by the Tran Dynasty that was also a military base. We stopped over here and popped into the temple, but the popular thing to do here is to take a shot with the floating pavilion on the water.
Trang An boat tips
Take note of the number on your boat as well as your boat captain, or at least make sure your fellow boat mates know which is their boat so you don’t board the wrong one. I suggest wearing a hat because you’ll be pretty exposed on the boat, and thin long sleeves and long pants should stop you from getting any sunburns or weird tan lines, and will allow you to be properly dressed to enter the temples as well.
Tràng An [Google map]. Open 7am – 5pm. Boat fee – 250,000 VND (S$13)
Where to eat at Trang An: Nhà hàng Xuân Thắng
I popped by Nhà hàng Xuân Thắng for lunch right outside of the Trang An entrance. I was there around 2pm+ – weird timing for a meal so it was just me in this restaurant, and it’s a decent basic little eatery very conveniently located on the way in/out of Trang An.
Nhà hàng Xuân Thắng [Google map]. Open 6am – 10pm.
Hoa Lư – Vietnam’s ancient capital
My last stop on this trip to Ninh Binh was to Hoa Lu, Vietnam’s capital in the 10th and 11th centuries before it was shifted to Hanoi, so it has lots of historical buildings and sights to see. I was a little tired by this time so I definitely. got a bit lazy exploring this area compared to the other spots.
You can rent a bicycle to cycle in or around this area. It doesn’t look like you’re allowed to ride in on scooter though I saw some locals doing so, but it’s easy enough to just park your scooter outside and stroll in. Don’t really think there’s a need to cycle here unless you plan to explore further afield.
Hoa Lư [ Google map]. Open 7am – 5pm. Admission fee – 20,000 VND
Đền thờ Vua Đinh Tiên Hoàng / Temple of Dinh Tien Hoang
There are 2 temples within walking distance of the main entrance to Hoa Lu. The first is dedicated to Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, the first emperor of the Dinh dynasty and established Đại Cồ Việt, Vietnam’s first independent dynasty way back in the year 968. Apparently the interior is shaped like the Chinese word for King 王 with 3 ‘layers’ of courtyards to enter, with the temple right at the far end.
Next to Dinh Tien Hoang Temple is the Đền thờ Vua Lê Đại Hành or King Le Temple – King Le was Lê Hoàn, whose Le dynasty succeeded the Dinhs in 981. There was a museum of sorts located around the back of this temple which showed some archaeological digs of the site that I thought were a bit more interesting than the actual temple – everything was starting to look very similar at this point.
After Hoa Lu, I decided to call it a day and ride back to drop off my scooter and wait for my limousine pick up at about 430pm. The limo dropped me off back at the park at around 630pm and I called for a Grab Bike so I could get some Hanoi street food for dinner.
Book Ninh Binh day trip tours from Hanoi
If all this just convinces you that doing your own day trip is too much work (especially if you’re solo) or you want someone who can tell you more information about the places that you are seeing, consider booking one of Klook’s many Ninh Binh day trips and save yourself the hassle of figuring out your the logistics.
[Klook affiliate links below]
- This Ninh Binh day tour covers the three places that I went to but in reverse order: Hoa Lu, Trang An and Hang Mua
- This company’s tours have the same reverse order tour available as well as many options that replace Trang An with Tam Coc, and Hoa Lu with Bai Dinh.
Make sure to take a close look at the itinerary you book to ensure you get exactly what you want. There are many different tour stop options – usually you have to pick between Tam Coc and Trang An, and Hoa Lu and Bai Dinh. There are also different group sizes (some are large groups, some small groups, some private) as well as guides that speak different languages available.
Visiting Hanoi soon? Check out my various Hanoi posts for some inspiration:
