Why come here
Ninh Binh does in an afternoon what Ha Long needs two days for: you sit in a small rowboat, propelled by someone rowing with their feet, and drift through flooded caves under limestone peaks with rice growing on both banks.
There is more than the boat ride. Hoa Lu was Vietnam's capital before Hanoi, Hang Mua's staircase gives the view every photograph of the region uses, and Cuc Phuong — the country's first national park — is half an hour away with a primate rescue centre and a night safari.
What to do
- Rowboat through the caves and channels of Trang An, a UNESCO site
- Tam Coc, the older and shorter version, best at dawn or late afternoon
- Hang Mua's five hundred steps for the view over the whole valley
- Hoa Lu, the tenth-century capital, with its two surviving temples
- Cuc Phuong national park: ancient forest, primate rescue centre, night safari
- Bich Dong pagoda, built into a cliff in three tiers
- Flat cycling on lanes between the karsts
When to go
February to May is dry and green, with the rice at its best in late May. September to November is clear after the summer rain. Avoid weekends and Vietnamese public holidays if you can — Ninh Binh is close enough to Hanoi to fill up with domestic day trippers.
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