Traveling in Ninh Binh in 2 days, what to do, where to eat

Accomodation, bike rental

Best time to visit Ninh Binh is May to July, be cautious that rainy days can disrupt your trip, but everything can look stunning in rain though.

The best stay in Ninh Binh can span around 2 to 3 days. There're about 3 areas for accomodation, the town center, in Trang An, and in Tam Coc. We stayed in a bungalow styled motels around 5 minutes away from the Trang An complex, it's quite remote from other night bars and restaurants which comes with both advantages and disadvantages. Family with kids can choose this area, couple or single traveler may find it better to stay in Tam Coc then visit Trang An by bikes.

Trang An is a scenic area known for its stunning karst landscapes, limestone caves, and serene waterways. It's a popular tourist destination where visitors can take boat rides through the interconnected waterways, passing through caves and admiring the natural beauty of the area.

The stay is around 500-600K vnd, bikes rental was 150K per day, plus gasoline 100K.

Tam Coc and Bich Dong pagoda

The first day we spent in Bich Dong pagoda. It rained quite heavily when we was staying under the roof but I really like the way rain blends beautifully with the architecture, almost like these classic buildings were built for rainy days. This pagoda has there separate levels, with the one middle level nestled in Ngu Nhac Mountain. You can get inside to the cave itself behind the pagoda to climb on the top level, it is a novel experience.

There's no entrance ticket but it's advisable to get a guide who can get you familiar with the history behind this architectural complex, as I was strolling around shooting video I overheard many of the guides could speak multiple languages.

There're other two attractions aside from the pagoda, a bird park just 5 minutes away and Tam Coc, a water body with three caves.

Trang An landscape and Hoa Lu historical site

Trang An Landscape is really worth it, the entrance ticket is just 250K for adults and 150K for children. Daily visitors are not that many but sometimes there's congestion during peak season. The sight seeing happen on a small boat, which takes about 2-3 hours a trip, taking place in one circle around the islets. There are 3 routes to pick, not that they're any different scenery-wise.

The next stop is How Lu historical site, the first capital and fortress was built there, now only temples and pagoda remains on top of the actual castle foundation, for military purpose of course, each dynasty destroyed older fortress in fear of warlordship.

Don't make our mistake parking the bikes outside the gate. You can ride it into the site, park it somewhere and after the visit in the temple, some staff may ask for a few thoundsand Dong as parking fee.

Mua cave and mountain top

We spent the last day of our trip climbing this moutain top. The plan in the begining was to take photos in the lotus pond, unfortunately the lotus blooming season was way past. The trekking pathway was not that actually difficult, however you do need proper shoes and some patience since the slope is quite steep, I have to take multiple break myself. The view was at least was not disappointing.

Transportation

We took flights from Saigon to Hanoi, then a van picked us up from Noi Bai airport to Ninh Binh. This van trip costed 330K dong each person. Another way is to take grab car to Hanoi city center, have a decent meal then ride a motorbike to Ninh Binh, the ride is pretty quick and straight on.

Eating

I was actually quite disapointed at how Ninh Binh does not have a rich culinary landscape as in Hanoi or Saigon. I blamed myself not doing my homework before coming with an empty stomach. Restaurants are not open throughout the day, only for a few hours during meal time. The trick is to look for restaurants catered for tourists (suprisingly not bad at all) in Tam Coc area, or look for hotels that serve meals .

Ninh Binh most popular for its cusine specialized with goat, and only goats. I really enjoy the crunchy rice cake dip in soup (in photo), and goat meat. Is it called chevon? I'm not sure about my English at this point. I found this restaurant serving amazing chevon, local's reccomendation. Tam Coc neighborhood also have really amazing banh mi and friendly beer tap room, and also around Mua cave has some nice bar serving beer and meal.