How to visit Tam Coc (Ninh Binh), Vietnam

For rice fields, pagodas and boat rides, look no further than Ninh Binh.

This area of North Vietnam is so stunning and tranquil; it’s perfect for relaxed exploring.

I visited Tam Coc, the main tourist town in Ninh Binh, in October 2023 as part of my trip across South-East Asia. I LOVED my time here. Ninh Binh feels like the kind of place you can ease into, with a slower pace of life and plenty of picturesque spots to take in.

After my visit, I’ve written this guide so that you can get a better feel of what the area is like, as well as what to do, and where to stay and eat. I hope it helps you with your planning or gives you some inspiration!

About Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is a province located in North Vietnam, around 2 hours’ drive south of Hanoi.

Ninh Binh contains a blend of history, culture and landscapes, so to me it’s no surprise a visit is so popular with tourists. It’s a generally flat area, where karst hills rise up unexpectedly out of the landscape. The hills are super characteristic of the area and were so exciting to see; they’re so unusual and atmospheric.

Those landscapes are what’s given it the nickname, ‘Ha Long Bay on land’, as it is so similar to the karst islets you’ll see in that area. If you visit both places, the resemblance will be obvious pretty quickly!

Tam Coc vs Ninh Binh

Confusingly, Ninh Binh isn’t just the name of the province. It’s also the name of the largest city in the area. Ninh Binh province and city are not one and the same.

Therefore, it’s important to note that when travellers talk about visiting Ninh Binh, they mean they’re heading to the province. A stay in Ninh Binh, the city, is not at all popular.

Instead, most tourists base themselves in Tam Coc, a town around 10 km south. This places you directly in an area filled with rice fields, flooded marshland and karst. It’s great for cycling and exploring off-the-beaten-track pagodas and temples.

What should you expect when visiting Tam Coc?

When visiting Ninh Binh, you’ll spend most of your time surrounded by gorgeous landscapes. Truly, the whole area is so pretty!

Most of the land is used for cultivating rice, and those paddies make a stunning backdrop for exploring the local area. I visited during harvest season and the locals lay out their rice grains on the road and pathways. There was some excitement in biking down the thin strip of pathway they left for pedestrians, trying to avoid hitting the bumpier areas!

The area of Ninh Binh used to contain the capital of Vietnam (Hoa Lu) and has been occupied and used for over 30,000 years. As such, you’ll find temples in almost every conceivable space: between rice fields; inside caves; on the side of hills; and on islands. There’s a lot to take in.

As tourist attractions are relatively close to one another, expect a slower pace compared to other destinations in South-East Asia. We biked everywhere and had a really nice time.

The only thing I should warn you about is that, of all the places we visited in Vietnam, this felt like the scammiest. From people standing in the road to get you to park in their land to being offered overpriced boat trips and being forced into tipping, Ninh Binh is home to all the tropes. It gets boring quickly and is the one thing I didn’t like about the area.

Ratings

As part of this blog, I give every place I visit a rating so that I can easily compare destinations and decide whether they’re worth a visit. Those are the scores you see at the top of the page!

This is how Tam Coc rated:

• Safety: 5/5 – I felt super safe in Tam Coc. Annoyingly, the roads do not have pedestrian pavements, so walking down the road sometimes felt risky. However, otherwise I felt comfortable.
• Accessibility: 4/5 – it’s easy to get to Ninh Binh with direct buses from all over North and Central Vietnam. Most attractions can also be accessed by car, although you’ll find steps are involved in many of them.
• Enjoyment: 5/5 – I really enjoyed my time in Tam Coc. There’s a lot to do close to the town and the activities are fun!
• Value: 4/5 – Tam Coc felt generally good value for money, with good quality but inexpensive restaurants and hotels. By comparison, the entrance fees to local attractions felt expensive. I also wasn’t keen on the abundance of scams.

If you’ve already visited, let me know if you agree with these ratings! Just to note, the ratings are my personal opinion based on my visit, so you might have a completely different experience.

More: how I rank destinations using the Everywhere Ratings system

How to get to Ninh Binh

It’s easy to get to Ninh Binh. At only 2 hours’ drive from Hanoi, there are plenty of transport options.

Arriving internationally

If you are travelling to Ninh Binh from abroad, it’s easiest to fly into Hanoi. Hanoi is the perfect starting point for a trip around North Vietnam anyway, and you can visit other attractions easily from it.

From Hanoi, you can take a bus or train onwards to Ninh Binh.

By bus

Tam Coc and Ninh Binh are well-connected by tourist bus to other destinations in North and Central Vietnam.

From the north, you can find buses travelling to the area directly from Cat Ba, Ha Long Bay (Hai Phong), Sapa and Ha Giang, all without having to change buses in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of overnight buses heading south towards Phong Nha, Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An.

The easiest way to book onto these is by asking your accommodation to help you. Most are offered at 12go.asia and can be booked online. There’s also several bus offices and travel agencies in Tam Coc that will book them on your behalf.

By train

There is a train station in Ninh Binh city, which is located along the main line running across the length of Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. This makes it a good option for travelling to other destinations also on the train line, which also includes Hue and Da Nang.

The train station is around 6 km from Tam Coc so you’ll need to get a taxi to reach your accommodation.

How to get around

Most of the major attractions in Ninh Binh, such as Hang Mua and Trang An, are within 5 to 10 km of Tam Coc. Therefore, you can get to most of them using a bicycle. This is what we did and it worked mostly well. However, we used our hotel’s free bikes, which were pretty poor quality… we ached at the end of the day!

I have to admit, the blogs I read before coming to Ninh Binh made it sound like bikes were the most popular form of transport here. In reality, we were far outnumbered by people who had rented motorbikes.

That being said, the roads and pathways around Ninh Binh are well suited to cyclists. They aren’t too busy and, as there’s a lot of cyclists about, I felt safer on the roads than I would’ve felt in other areas. Many of the pathways through the rice fields are only suitable for bikes and scooters, cutting out much of the traffic.

Many homestays and hotels offer free or cheap bicycle rental, so just hop on one and get exploring!

Options for far away activities

Whilst most of the main attractions in Ninh Binh can be cycled to, some are just too far away to be reached by this method.

This includes attractions like Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve or Bai Dinh Pagoda.

For these kinds of attractions, you could rent a scooter or find a tour heading to these places. Scooter rental and travel agencies are all over Tam Coc so you shouldn’t struggle to find one!

How long should you stay for?

In my opinion, two full days is the perfect amount of time to explore Ninh Binh. That way you will have plenty of time to explore Hang Mua, take a boat trip, and do a bit of exploring, whether it’s pagodas, ancient sites or cycle routes that take you fancy.

However, you can see a lot of the area in just one day, particularly if you have a scooter. You won’t be able to see everything but will get a flavour of the place.

You can also visit by day trip from Hanoi, which will ensure you get to multiple of the main attractions. It’s a great way of visiting if you’re short on time and don’t fancy staying over.

We liked the vibe so much we staged an extra couple of days, meaning we could do everything slowly and had extra time to explore. It’s a good plan if you think you’ll like it!

To summarise: two full days (three nights) is perfect, but add on a night or two if you want to take things slowly and explore everywhere in the area.

Where to stay

If you’re looking to visit the attractions around Ninh Binh, you have a wide area to pick from. Tam Coc, Ninh Binh City and the surrounding countryside are all possible options, and all these will come up when you search for this area.

As a rule, most people choose not to stay Ninh Binh City itself. I haven’t visited Ninh Binh City so I can’t say for sure that you should do this. However, I get the impression that the city isn’t touristy at all so the tourist amenities you might want, like tour agencies and English-menu restaurants, are absent. It’d be a different experience for sure!

Instead, look towards Tam Coc and the surrounding area. You’ll find plenty of hotels, hostels and homestays to pick from.

If you want the greatest choice of amenities, stay in or close to town. There are hotels and homestays on the lake or nearby waterways, or overlooking rice paddies, which are a good compromise between the town and countryside.

The most popular hostel in Tam Coc is Banana Tree, right by the central lake in Tam Coc.

We stayed at Dong Ne Resort & Hotel, which is around 10 min walk outside town, and for us it worked really well. It’s close enough to the town for us to eat at a range of restaurants, but at the same time our room has gorgeous rice field views: a good combination!

If I visited Tam Coc again, I’d look at the homestays along the river or towards Trang An. Particularly in the area around Hang Mua, there’s still a great range of places to eat, but you get a more peaceful environment and nicer views as well.

Where to eat

As accommodation in Tam Coc and the wider Ninh Binh area is so spread out, it’s hard to know where to start when suggesting food options!

When I travel to new places, I take a look at the food options on Google Maps. When you press on a restaurant it’ll automatically bring up its rating and reviews. It’s a good way of filtering out the bad places. In particular, I always check the lowest ratings for any mention of food poisoning, just in case.

In Tam Coc itself, we had a good meal at Ngon Vegan, which has a relaxed environment and friendly staff. The banh mi at Banh Mi Hanoi was also pretty good!

What to do

1. Climb Hang Mua

Possibly the most visited spot in Ninh Binh is Hang Mua (Mua Cave). This is a karst hill with two viewpoints that you can climb up to. Expect to go up a lot of steps – there’s over 500 in total!

The highest viewpoint has a stone dragon on it. When I visited, it was so busy and there were massive queues to get up for a photo with the dragon! We ended up going through a gap in the rocks midway along the dragon and climbing our way to the end… not necessarily what I thought we would be doing when we headed up there.

At Hang Mua you’ll also find a cave which gives the complex its name. It’s not that impressive; you’re there for the views, trust me! You can see over the classic section of Tam Coc river, with rice fields and karst hills, as well as across into Ninh Binh City.

When visiting, make sure to visit the lotus pond inside the Hang Mua Complex. There are walkways through the pond and stepping stones surrounded with flowers, which makes for a peaceful detour.

One ticket costs 100,000 dong ($4.10 / £3.20).

Tip 1: avoid heading up all those steps in the middle of the day. Early morning or late afternoon is best! Going at sunset is popular, but it gets super busy.

Tip 2: when heading down the road to Hang Mua, people will try to pull you in to park by their premises. They will literally stand in the middle of the road to point you inside. Just keep cycling / driving – you can park right by the main gates for 5000 dong ($0.20 / £0.15) per bike or 10,000 dong ($0.40 / £0.30) per scooter!

2. Take a boat ride through Trang An Landscape Complex

Ninh Binh is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Trang An Landscape Complex.

Trang An is a perfect example of the landscape Ninh Binh has come to be known for, with karst hills rising out from a swamped valley areas. Beneath the karst there are many small caves through which water flows, and around the hills you’ll find pagodas celebrating legendary figures and past rulers.

To see it for yourself, you can take a trip on a rowing boat. Tickets cost 250,000 dong ($10 / £8) per person, with boats fitting 4 people. The trips take one of three routes, all taking 3 hours.

Which route to take? That’s a question to think about beforehand! We chose Route 1 as it’s got the highest number of caves on it; however, Route 3 has the longest cave. You can’t really go wrong!

3. Try the Tam Coc boat ride

Another boat ride is the one around the rivers and flooded landscapes at Tam Coc. This boat ride is the most famous – and on it you’ll see those famous views of rice fields and karst hills!

Tam Coc’s rides are also famous because the towers move the pedals with their feet, not their hands. It’s super impressive to watch but they make it look as easy as using their hands.

The Tam Coc boat ride costs 150,000 dong ($6 / £5) per person plus 170,000 dong ($7 / £6) per boat. The boats will fit 2 foreigners or 4 Vietnamese people, which I found super weird as an extra charge. Ultimately, it costs around the same as and lasts as long as the Trang An boat ride.

We chose to visit Trang An over Tam Coc because you’ll find plenty of blogs and reviews mentioning the scammy nature of Tam Coc. Tam Coc’s ride, apparently, has a market halfway through where you’ll be asked to buy items, if not for yourself then for your tower. We’ve also heard of the rowers being quite aggressive for tips. These stories put us off.

We had a great experience by comparison at Trang An, where there are no sellers and we were never asked for tips.

As I haven’t done the boat ride at Tam Coc myself, I can’t say for sure. If you try it, I’d use your best judgement and stay strong if pressured into tipping!

4. Explore the Hoa Lu ancient capital

Ninh Binh is also notable for being the site of the capital of Vietnam for 40 years in the 10th and 11th centuries.

Nowadays you can visit Hoa Lu, the site of that ancient capital. At 20,000 dong ($0.80 / £0.60) per person, it’s pretty cheap. At 5 km north of Trang An, it’s also relatively easy to get to, although it’s a bit far to cycle.

However, be warned that there are no original buildings at Hoa Lu, so don’t expect any ancient buildings. Nowadays there are several temples present dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. I didn’t find them particularly exciting. There are nicer temples elsewhere in Ninh Binh!

Personally I found How Lu to be a little weird. There is a road bisecting it that’s used by locals, and the complex contains a football pitch as well, so I wasn’t sure about the vibe.

If you’re going to the citadel at Hue or even Thang Long in Hanoi, you’ll see much nicer capitals and historical buildings, so Hoa Lu is entirely skippable.

Tip: as with Hang Mua, when approaching Hoa Lu, people will try to pull you in to park at their restaurant. You can cycle and bike in through the main gates, so do not be fooled!

5. Visit Bich Dong Pagoda

The area around Ninh Binh is spiritual. You’ll find many temples and pagodas there.

My favourite of these temples is Bich Dong Pagoda, 2 km west of Tam Coc. It’s built in and around a karst mountain, so you’ll find a main temple complex at the base of the mountain, plus shrines on the mountainside and in the connecting cave above.

I loved how relaxed this pagoda was. It didn’t feel as touristy as the other sights in the area, with a lot of locals using it – and it’s all the better for it!

The pagoda is free to enter but you’ll need to pay for 5000 dong ($0.20 / £0.15) per bike or 10,000 dong ($0.40 / £0.30) per scooter to park.

6. Explore Bai Dinh Pagoda

Another popular pagoda to visit is Bai Dinh. It’s a relatively modern pagoda, with a mix of relatively young buildings and ancient shrines, and is one of the largest Buddhist complexes in South-East Asia.

At over 20 km from Tam Coc, we didn’t visit Bai Dinh Pagoda. It was just too far to cycle to. However, it sounds like a super awe-inspiring complex and, if you’re on a tour or renting a scooter, I’d check it out.

7. Cycle through the rice fields

Ninh Binh is a good place to practise your cycling skills. It’s a great way to explore the area. There are several roads and pathways where you can get food views without too many vehicles around. Many of these roads (but not all) can also be explored by scooter if you want to get around even faster.

For nice views, I recommend cycling (or scootering) along the road to the north-east of Tam Coc lake. (On Google maps, just search for “Thai Vi Temple” and follow the route to it from Tam Coc town.) You’ll go past several temples, such as Thai Vi Temple, and a temple in a cave, and will also pass a cemetery and viewpoint for the Tam Coc river boat ride.

Another option is to head down the road a bit further west, on the way to Bich Dong Pagoda. (Follow the road to “Buffalo Cave” or “Minh Quan Restaurant” on Google Maps.) You’ll get pretty views of rice fields and karst hills. We stopped at Buffalo Cave where we fed two day old ducklings. On the road you’ll find multiple places with cute views and a peaceful atmosphere, making for great pit stops!

8. Spot wildlife in Long Van Wetland Nature Reserve

If you have time to go further afield, check out Long Van Wetland Nature Reserve, around 25 km north of Tam Coc. Here you’ll find a pretty landscape reminiscent of Ninh Binh, but with more wildlife and less crowds.

This nature reserve was just slightly too far for us to visit without renting a scooter. However, it was high on my list of places to visit, and I don’t doubt it would have been a fun day away from the town.

9. Watch birds in Thung Nham Bird Park

To the west of Tam Coc you’ll find Thung Nham Bird Park. A less visited attraction in the area, here you’ll find a natural landscape conducive to birdspotting, with opportunities for boat rides like at Tam Coc or Trang An.

To be honest, when researching where to go in the area, I considered heading towards this bird park. However, the reviews aren’t exactly glowing. If you’re visiting in the day time it sounds like a ripoff, with few birds to actually spot!

10. Visit Cuc Phuong National Park

Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam’s oldest established national park, is located around 40 km west of Ninh Binh. It’s a bit far for an easy day out, but for those wanting to truly do everything in Ninh Binh, this is a destination worth considering.

Cuc Phuong National Park features similar karst landscapes to Ninh Binh, as well as pristine forest that would be exciting for hikers. The national park has high levels of biodiversity so is a great option if you want to spot rare plants and birds.

Tips for visiting Ninh Binh

1. Being small change. I found Ninh Binh to be a super scammy town. Small change will help you to be wise with your money.
2. Pick somewhere to stay with free bikes. It’ll make getting around much easier!
3. Don’t worry about staying in the centre. There are many other good options, still well connected, that would place you in a good position to explore the local area.

Conclusion

Tam Coc and the wider Ninh Binh area are well worth a visit, and I could’ve spent much longer exploring the paths, rivers and fields that make up this region.

I hope this guide to Ninh Binh is useful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message!

Planning a trip to Vietnam? Take a look at my guides to Hue, Da Nang & Phong Nha