Excursão de um dia a Ninh Binh saindo de Hanói: Hoa Lu, Tam Coc, Caverna Mua

The trip was well worth it. A bit of advice: the road is quite bumpy, so do not sit at the back of the bus. The history lesson at the Hua Lu Temple was quite interesting. The food was a delicious buffet lunch with a wide variety and affordable prices. The bicycle ride is quite disappointing as you stick to the tar road. Rather skip that and sit in the air-conditioned room and enjoy a few more drinks. The Tam Coc boat ride was very interesting and enjoyable, with exquisite scenery and just long enough to save your backside. The scenery and all colors are extraordinary. It would have been worth it to spend more time here. Do not underestimate the climb to the lookout point, as this is very daunting, especially with the high humidity. Our guide, Phuong, was amazing throughout the whole day.

非常難忘的寧平之旅，特別推薦我們的導遊 Duy Anh（Arthur）！ 昨天的寧平一日遊讓我們留下非常美好的回憶。寧平的山水、歷史與文化本身就令人驚艷，而真正讓這趟旅程更加精彩的，是我們的導遊 Duy Anh（Arthur）。 Arthur 是一位非常專業、知識豐富、細心又有耐心的導遊。他一路上用生動而容易理解的方式，介紹越南的歷史、文化、建築、宗教與當地生活，讓我們不只是「看景點」，而是真正開始理解越南。 我特別欣賞他的責任感與細心。每一個活動之前，他都會清楚說明集合地點、時間、安全注意事項以及接下來的安排，也會留意團員是否跟得上。無論是參觀歷史景點、登山、騎自行車，還是長安（Trang An）的乘船行程，他都安排得井然有序，讓我們一路都很安心。 更難得的是，Arthur 待人非常真誠、親切而且尊重旅客。他不會給人強迫消費的感覺，而是真心希望大家能夠享受寧平、了解越南。這份自然與真誠，讓我們留下非常深刻的印象。 Arthur 還告訴我們，他的名字是 Duy Anh，不過叫他 Arthur 會比較容易記，就像《亞瑟王》裡傳說中的 Camelot 國王一樣。😊 這也成為我們這趟旅程中很可愛的一個小回憶。 非常感謝 Arthur 帶給我們充實、愉快又難忘的一天。能遇到這麼好的導遊，是旅行中很幸運的一件事。 非常推薦這趟寧平行程，也特別推薦導遊 Arthur！ 🇻🇳❤️

A day before or 2, your tour guide will message you the pickup details via whatsapp. On the actual day, the bus may arrive slightly earlier than scheduled and the guide may call you a few minutes in advance that they are reaching your hotel. For my limousine tour, my tour guide was Son, young guy 26 years old, able to speak English well. We first stop by a toilet rest stop where it is also a souvenir and quick snack bites shop. The souvenirs are quite common but do look out for those that are only sold here and nowhere else- like some mini owl statues and dried mango in white translucent packaging that i spotted isnt available in Hanoi and Sapa. The break was about 30-45 minutes. Afterwards we head straight to Hao Lu, followed by lunch at their Tour Agency’s buffet restaurant. It’s interesting that this tour agency, Go Asia, has their own restaurant to dine at for their tour groups. The guide will recommend you to try the goat meat, do try at least once in your life. Directly opposite was Tam Coc. so we just cross over after lunch. Apparently the regulations for Tam Coc is more relaxing than Trang An, hence many tourists take out their life jacket midway to take better photos. Unfortunately there was no cycling itinerary in this HaoLu-TamCoc-Hoang Mua. After TamCoc, we head straight to Hoang Mua. You have an hour to do everything here. At the base on the right is a paddy field w timber deckings, on the left deep inside is the Mua Cave, and centre is the stairs to go up the dragon/pagoda. If you’re fit (someone who exercises 3x a week), you can accomplish both left (dragon) and right (pagoda) under 50minutes, and remaining 10 minutes to explore the Mua cave. Avoid trying to climb the summit for the dragon as the rocks there are all disintegrated and loose, huge safety hazard. For me, i had a 2nd day trip to Ninh binh for BaiDihn Pagoda-TrangAn-HoangMua, hence i leave the paddy field exploring and some timelapse video taking for the next visit. Do recommend going twice to cover all areas in time. Also, the tour provides 2 bottles of water, 1 in the beginning and 1 after Tamcoc. Depending on your tour guide, you may either sit where you like on the bus or assigned to a specific seat.

We really enjoyed this trip. I am not a very active person but tjis is all worth it. Mr Ben is a great guide, English is very good and easy to understand l. The views are amazing and the buffet lunch is also great. It was scorching hot when we did the tour so if you are going around April and May make sure you wear comfortable clothes with enough coverage , sunblock, umbrella. The last attractions required getting up a 500 plight of stairs but is completely optional, just prepare for lots and lots of sunshine exposure 😄

We had a lovely tour, the tour guide Happy was amazing and really lovely to spend the day with. Time was managed well and were able to see everything we wanted to. The temple, boat ride, cycle and hike up mua cave were all amazing. Great value for money! would highly recommend this tour.

Excellent value for money 1-day tour. A few days before departure, the travel agency will confirm your meeting time and important notes via WhatsApp. Since I stayed in the Old Quarter, they picked me up at my hotel. The car was a bit old but comfortable, and the seats had convenient USB charging ports (though some group members mentioned not all charging ports worked). Our guide, Jenny, was a lively and enthusiastic young woman in her twenties. She worked hard to create a good atmosphere and told us many local stories. Although the travel agency warned us not to have high expectations for the meals, I found them quite tasty, just typical Vietnamese dishes. Don't have wrong expectations just because you see the word "Buffet." Drinks need to be paid for separately; they were slightly more expensive than outside but not by much, which was acceptable. The boat trip lasted nearly two hours ❤️, with pleasant scenery, allowing us to fully enjoy the mountains and waters. Cycling around the small town was also very relaxing, but it was a bit dangerous at the start due to heavy traffic nearby, so I wouldn't recommend it for those who aren't confident cyclists. The hiking part was a bit strenuous; 500 steps might not sound like much, but because they were ancient stone steps on the mountain, they weren't easy to navigate, and some sections required using both hands and feet. The dragon sculpture at the summit was extremely crowded, with a long queue. If you're on a tour, you probably won't have enough time to queue up for photos, so you can only check in at a nearby spot. On the return journey, the driver can drop you off at a designated and convenient location, which is handy for travelers with other arrangements or those changing hotels. Overall, I highly recommend this tour and also highly recommend Jenny as a guide 👍🏻👍🏻

I had the best time of my trip on this tour, Luca was an amazing guide so kind and friendly from the beginning to end (I couldn’t remember the drivers name but he was great too). I would highly recommend the tour, it was a really hot day but Ninh Binh was so beautiful I loved the cycling and long boat ride. 10/10!

Honestly, I am very happy and satisfied with the experience. Our tour guide, Day, was super friendly and very helpful. The driver was extremely professional; the drive felt like floating on a cloud. As for the actual location, the place is beautiful. We went cycling and boating through Tam Coc, and in July, it was beautiful and green. Although we couldn't go into all the caves because the water level was too high, that's okay. The climb to Mua Cave mountains was great, and the view was fantastic.

There are 3 major stops in this tour. The best one for me was the last stop/hike to a mountain overlooking Ninh Binh. I wish the boat trip (2nd stop) included at least 10-20 minutes of swimming where the water is clean before returning to the starting point. I got back pain sitting for more than an hour, but I totally enjoyed the view. The lunch buffet was exceptional.

One of the best tours I did. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a day trip from Hanoi. Make sure you're fit enough to do a quick hike to the top of Hang Mua as the view there is spectacular!