Ninh Binh is the limestone country two hours south of Hanoi: steep karst towers rising straight out of rice fields, rivers that run through caves, and temples tucked against the cliffs. Its heart, the Trang An Landscape Complex, was listed by UNESCO in 2014 for both its scenery and its archaeology \u2013 people have lived in these caves for tens of thousands of years. The comparison you will hear is \u201cHa Long Bay on land\u201d, and from the top of Hang Mua it is easy to see why.<\/p>\n
It is also where Vietnam began as an independent kingdom. From 968 to 1010 the Dinh and early Le kings ruled from Hoa Lu, a natural fortress ringed by mountains, before the capital moved north to Thang Long \u2013 today\u2019s Hanoi. Two royal temples still stand on the palace site, and the countryside around them is full of smaller shrines, pagodas in caves and villages that still farm the valley floors.<\/p>\n
Most of all, Ninh Binh is a place to slow down after Hanoi. The roads between the sights are narrow lanes on top of paddy dykes, the boats are rowed by hand, and most of the day is spent outdoors among water, rice and rock.<\/p>\n
The two signature experiences are the rowing-boat trips. Tam Coc<\/a> follows one river through three caves and the rice fields for about two hours; Trang An<\/a> is a longer loop of two and a half to three hours through more caves and temples on the water. Most visitors choose one, and add the climb at Hang Mua<\/a> for the view over the valley.<\/p>\n Between the boats, the sights are spread over roughly 30 km of countryside, and how you get around shapes the day. Bicycles are cheap to rent in Tam Coc village and the lanes are flat, but the midday sun is strong. Taxis are quick but skip the back roads. On our full-day Ninh Binh jeep tour<\/a> you spend about two hours in an open-air vintage army jeep on those back lanes \u2013 through villages, past Thai Vi Temple<\/a> and Bich Dong Pagoda<\/a> \u2013 before the Tam Coc boat and the Hang Mua climb, with the limousine transfer from Hanoi, lunch and tickets included.<\/p>\n One full day from Hanoi covers the highlights: the boat, the viewpoint and a temple or two. With a night in a Tam Coc homestay you can add Trang An, Hoa Lu and the quieter corners such as Van Long<\/a>, and see the valley in the early morning before the day trippers arrive. Three days leaves time for Cuc Phuong National Park<\/a> or the stone cathedral at Phat Diem<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ninh Binh sits on the main north\u2013south railway and expressway, so it also works as the first stop of a trip heading south, or as a break between Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa. Our itinerary, costs table, weather by month and travel tips are below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u77f3\u7070\u5ca9\u5c71\u5cf0\u3001\u6cb3\u6d41\u6eb6\u6d1e\u3001\u7a3b\u7530\u548c\u53e4\u8001\u5bfa\u5edf\uff0c\u4f4d\u65bc\u6cb3\u5167\u4ee5\u5357\u5169\u5c0f\u6642\u8eca\u7a0b\u3002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1069","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1124,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1069\/revisions\/1124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/zh-tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How long to stay, and how Ninh Binh fits a Vietnam trip<\/h2>\n