Ninh Binh tourist destinations are blessed by nature with beautiful, majestic and poetic natural landscapes, along with a long history and culture. Just about 100 km from Hanoi, this is a suitable choice for tourists who do not have much time but want to explore the beautiful nature in North Vietnam. Let’s take a look at the following content with Vietdreamtravel to discover more about some famous places when traveling to Ninh Binh!
What’s the best time to explore Ninh Binh?
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Ninh Binh is located in a humid subtropical region with a tropical monsoon climate, with an average temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius. There are four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter; characterized by cold, dry winters and hot, humid summers with lots of rain.
Spring time: From January to March, Ninh Binh attracts visitors with a cool climate, not too cold, little rain, convenient for sightseeing and activities. This time is also ideal for spring travel with spiritual tourism activities such as visiting Bai Dinh Pagoda, Trang An, and the Phat Diem Church.
Summer time: From April to June, Ninh Binh’s weather is usually quite cool and pleasant, not too cold but not too hot. Summer is the time for open scenery, plants grow well so you will have the opportunity to admire the beauty of golden rice fields in Tam Coc or the diverse ecosystem of Cuc Phuong forest. With the bright sunlight will be the opportunity for you to take beautiful and artistic photos.
How to get here?
Ninh Binh is about 100km from Hanoi, and is an important traffic junction, with 9 national highways with a convenient highway system. If you go from Hanoi, road vehicles such as motorbikes, cars or tourist cars are the best choice.
If traveling by personal vehicle, from Hanoi, visitors follow Giai Phong Street, pass Giap Bat bus station, turn onto Phap Van – Cau Gie highway, from there go towards Phu Ly to Ninh Binh in about 2 hours.
If you want to rest and sightsee, from Ninh Binh travel experience, you can choose tourist cars or passenger cars.
For passenger cars, you can buy tickets at Giap Bat and My Dinh bus stations, with many different departure times. Ticket prices range from 100,000 – 150,000 VND/person.
For limousines and tourist cars from 9 to 11 seats, you can proactively choose your pick-up and drop-off locations with many bus companies such as Duy Khang Limousine, Trang An Limousine with many attractive promotions.
If departing from Ho Chi Minh City, visitors fly to Hanoi and take a bus to Ninh Binh with the above options. Vietnamese airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar, all operate flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. Currently, ticket prices range from 900,000 – 1.3 million VND/way.
In addition, visitors from other provinces can go to Ninh Binh by train. The website of the Railway Corporation allows pre-booking tickets or visitors can buy them at the station. Ninh Binh train station is located right in the center.
Traveling within the city, visitors should rent a motorbike for 100,000 – 150,000 VND/day to be proactive because the tourist attractions in Ninh Binh are quite far apart. If traveling in a large group, visitors should call a taxi to save costs.
What to see in Ninh Binh!
Trang An
This place attracts tourists with its majestic mountain scenery, winding small rivers, and wild valleys… The entrance fee to Trang An is 250,000 VND for adults and 100,000 VND for children under 1.4 m.
Coming here, you can choose one of 3 boat tours to visit the caves, temples, palaces. Each tour lasts from 2 to 3 hours. Thanks to its pristine space, as beautiful as a watercolor painting, Trang An has been recognized by Unesco as a natural and cultural heritage of the world. Notably, this place was chosen by director Jordan Vogt Roberts as the setting for the blockbuster Kong – Skull Island.
Tam Coc – Bich Dong
Tam Coc – Bich Dong is a cave complex in Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district, known by famous names such as “inland Ha Long Bay” is a key national tourist area of Vietnam. The entire area includes a system of limestone caves and historical relics related to the Tran dynasty.
Tam Coc is a scenic complex with three natural caves. All three caves were formed by the Ngo Dong River and go straight through the mountain. If you visit Tam Coc, you will take a boat down the Ngo Dong River, winding through cliffs, water caves and golden rice fields before stopping at the entrance to the First cave.
Bich Dong is located 2 km from Tam Coc wharf, meaning “green pearl” cave, the name given by Mr. Nguyen Nghiem, father of the great Vietnamese writer Nguyen Du in 1773. This is one of the scenic spots in the group called “the second most beautiful cave in Vietnam”.
The special thing is that if you want to visit the system of three caves, you have to travel by boat and sometimes have to bow your head low if you don’t want to hit the rock ceiling above. The entrance fee is 120,000 VND/person, the boat fee on Tam Coc route is 150,000 VND/trip.
Mua cave
About a 15-minute drive from Trang An, Mua cave tourist area is located right at the foot of the mountain. The entrance fee is 100,000 VND/adult. This is a place that tourists often check-in when visiting Ninh Binh. To reach the top of Mua cave, visitors will have to climb about 500 stone steps, the weather is quite hot so remember to bring water.
From the top of Mua cave, you can see the beautiful panorama of Ninh Binh with winding rivers, rice fields and majestic mountains. Visitors can spend about 2 – 3 hours in the tourist area to visit and take pictures.
Hoa Lu Ancient Capital
Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam from 968 – 1010, through 3 dynasties Dinh – Early Le – Early Ly. This is one of the four core areas of the Trang An World Heritage Complex recognized by UNESCO. Here, visitors visit the temple of Dinh Tien Hoang King, Le Dai Hanh King and the museum preserving relics. These two temples were built around the 17th century, surrounded by many trees.
Visitors should register to listen to the commentary during the tour to better understand the historical value of this place. The entrance fee is 20,000 VND per person.
Bai Dinh Pagoda
The Bai Dinh Pagoda complex was built in 2003, covering an area of over 500 hectares, surrounded by majestic limestone mountain ranges. The pagoda is divided into 2 areas: Tan Tu and Co Tu. Here, visitors can walk around or travel by electric car (price 30,000 VND/person/trip). Some of the shrines that visitors often visit when coming here are Phap Chu (consisting of 5 rooms, the middle room has a 10m high, 100-ton Buddha statue), Tam The shrine… or you can go up the bell tower to admire the Great Bell weighing 36 tons.
Not only is it an impressive architectural work, Bai Dinh Pagoda is also a pilgrimage site to the land of Buddha and a sacred place where many people come to pray for peace and worship Buddha.
Am Tien Cave
A scenic spot belonging to the Hoa Lu ancient capital national relic complex, Am Tien Cave is located in Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu district, more than 10 km from the center of Ninh Binh city. The area is surrounded by towering limestone mountains like a citadel, in the middle is a cool blue lake. This place is often commented by tourists as having a poetic beauty but mixed with a bit of sadness and mystery. In the past, the only way to get here was to climb the mountain, so Am Tien was named Tuyet Tinh Coc (meaning “End of love” cave). Today, visitors can go through the mountain via a tunnel, then climb the mountain to visit the temple to burn incense, and admire the cave with magical stalactites. Entrance fee 20,000 VND/person.
Van Long Lagoon
Van Long Lagoon is an artificial lagoon and also the largest wetland nature reserve in the Northern region. Surrounding the lagoon are majestic limestone mountains and many unexplored caves. To visit the pristine natural scenery of Van Long Lagoon, you will sit on a boat, look at the clear water and admire the vast rice fields.
The water is not as blue as the sea, but clear, revealing layers of moss underneath. This is also the place that owns 2 records of the Vietnam Record Book Center in 2010: The living area with the largest number of white-cheeks langurs and the place with the largest natural picture. Entrance fee 20,000 VND/person and boat ticket 60,000/2 people.
Thung Nham Bird Garden
Thung Nham Bird Garden Ecological Area is about 12 km from Ninh Binh city, home to many species of birds, about 40 species and more than 50,000 birds. The best time to see flocks of birds returning from foraging is around 5 pm.
Coming to Thung Nham, you will admire flocks of birds flying, the wild and peaceful natural beauty. Besides, you can also admire the beautiful scenery of the moving banyan tree, the thousand-year-old Duoi tree, Vai Gioi cave, But cave, Tien Ca cave, Thuy Cung cave, Ba Co cave…
The entrance fee is 100,000 VND/person, the boat ticket to visit the Bird Garden is 20,000 VND/person.
Cuc Phuong National Park
Located in Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province, the park is the border between the three provinces of Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa. This is the first national forest in Vietnam, with an area of about 22,000 hectares, attracting a large number of tourists with diverse types of tourism, from eco-tourism, research, to adventure…
Visitors to Cuc Phuong can explore the primeval forest, caves with strange shapes, caves containing ancient cultural and historical relics such as Trang Khuyet cave, Chua cave, Thuy Tien cave, Nguoi Xua cave… Cuc Phuong National Park also has hot springs, rich flora and fauna, ancient trees thousands of years old…
Phat Diem Cathedral
Phat Diem Cathedral complex is located in Phat Diem Town, Kim Son District, 130 km from south of Hanoi or 30 km from Ninh Binh City. It was built between 1875 and 1899 by priest Father Tran Luc. It’s an ensemble of construction in Oriental architectural style. They are divided into 2 sections: the worshipping section and the section for residence and teaching of religious doctrines.
The complex area includes ponds, monuments, Phuong Dinh (bell tower), Square Hall, chapels, artificial caves, …. The highlight of the architecture of Phat Diem stone Cathedral is the harmonious combination of Eastern and Western architecture. Phat Diem cathedral complex includes a large church and 5 small churches. One of them is built entirely of natural stone, called the stone church, Phuong dinh (bell tower); pond and 3 artificial grottoes. In 1988, the architectural complex of Phat Diem Cathedral was ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Relic.
Dich Long Cave
Dich Long cave was found in 1739 in Gia Thanh Commune, Gia Vien District. There is a stone inside that looks like a Buddha statue, then a Buddhist altar was built and in 1740, the cave became a Buddhist pagoda. It shelters statues of Buddha, arhats and a guarding colossus standing on stone pedestals. In particular, there are two beautiful statues carved from one block of blue stone.
The grotto has three sub-caves that are linked together, namely, the caves of Buddha, Darkness and Brightness.
The cave gives visitors the feeling of being lost in ta stone world of stalactites which various shapes such as a drinking elephant, a kneeling elephant, a reclining tiger, a dancing phoenix, a drinking dragon and so on. The colours of the stalactites in the cave cahgne with the brightness of the sun. Early in the morning they have a pink colour which turn into twinkling crystal in the midday and then to the red in sunset. It is as if there were ways to heaven and to hell from the cave. Emperor Minh Mang called it “ The third most beautiful cave in Vietnam”
Van Trinh Grotto
Van Trinh is one of the dozen of grottoes in easily flooded area of Van Long, a beautiful natural site in Nho Quan District. The grotto is deep inside a 100 meter-high mountain. The entrance of the grotto is approximately 40m from foot. A narrow path leads to the main grotto that is as magnificent as a castle with numerous stone sculptures in different shapes and sizes. natural statues of monks, animals, flowers on the cliffs, ceiling and floor look so lively. They seemed to be petrified by magic. In addition, wells with clean and clod water in the grotto also brings visitors pleasant feelings.
Deep inside the grotto is a small hold with beautiful stalagmites that look like bald cypresses. Sunlight shines through an opening on the celling, creating fanciful scenery.
Kenh Ga Hot Water Stream
The Kenh Ga Hot Water Stream is in Kenh Ga Village, Gia Thinh Commune, Gia Vien District. A boat takes the visitors up to the stream among the mountains and the rice fields. Although the fragrant stream has existed for a long time, it was only first studied and exploited by the French in 1940. The mineral water here is extremely high quality and contains chloride-natrium, chloride-kalium, calcium, and magnesium chloride.
The water is clear and has a stable temperature of 53 degrees Celsius with a source capacity of 5,000 cubic meters per hour. Ninh Binh is lucky to have this natural hot water stream used for relaxation and self treatment.
Accommodation in Ninh Binh
Tourists coming to Ninh Binh as couples, in groups of friends or alone can choose to stay at homestays near tourist attractions with green, peaceful spaces and friendly services. Some popular and conveniently located addresses are: Ninh Binh Friendly Homestay, Hang Mua Ecolodge, Diep’s House, Ninh Binh Palm Homestay, ChezBeo Homestay… With a cost of about 200,000 VND/person/night.
To enjoy more luxurious services and amenities such as swimming pools, spas, gyms, bars… visitors can choose 4-5 star quality resorts such as Emeralda Resort Ninh Binh, Tam Coc Garden Resort, Ninh Binh Hidden Charm Hotel And Resort, An’s Eco Garden Resort, Aravinda Resort Ninh Binh… Room rates range from 1.7 – 6 million VND/night.
Ninh Binh specialties
Goat meat dishes
Dishes made from goat meat are quite famous and are dishes that you should not miss when traveling to Ninh Binh. Fresh and delicious Ninh Binh goat meat is processed according to many different recipes, making the dishes here quite special and tastier than in other places.
Fish salad
Fish salad is a special dish of Ninh Binh and is processed quite elaborately with the rich flavor of many spices. Although made from fish, the salad does not have a fishy smell, stimulates the taste buds and makes diners miss it.
Stir-fried field crab with betel leaves
This dish with a special name is one of the most popular dishes in Ninh Binh and is loved by many tourists. The crispy taste of field crab combined with the piper lolot leaves and eaten with hot rice will be very interesting. Stir-fried field crab with piper lolot leaves is a simple dish, rich in the flavor of the countryside, most loved in Ninh Binh.
Mountain snails
Ninh Binh mountain snails are often used to prepare dishes such as: grilled, stir-fried with tamarind, stir-fried with garlic, boiled with fish sauce… Each dish is prepared according to its own recipe and is very delicious thanks to the rich sweetness of the snails.
Hopefully the Vietdreamtravel guide has just provided above will be useful suggestions for your trip of explore Ninh Binh!
Source: collected by An
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