Ninh Binh: Trang An Boat, Mua Cave Hike & Hoa Lu Day Trip

4.82

(227 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to feel so small standing in Hoa Lu, but there’s something about those old stone walls and the way our guide (Minh—he grew up nearby) talked about emperors that made it hit different. He pointed out carvings I’d have missed, then grinned when I tried to pronounce “Dinh” like a local. The air was thick with incense and that earthy smell you get after rain—maybe because it actually rained a bit on the drive from Hanoi. No one seemed to mind.

The buffet lunch was louder than I thought it’d be—families chatting, a kid somewhere giggling. I tried goat meat for the first time (not sure I’d order it again, but hey). After that we all piled into these little bamboo boats at Trang An. Our rower, an older woman with sun-browned hands, barely said a word but steered us through the caves like she could do it blindfolded. The echo inside those limestone tunnels is weirdly calming; you just float and watch light flicker on the water. It’s easy to forget how close you are to the main road.

Cycling through Ninh Binh’s backroads after felt almost too peaceful—just rice paddies and kids waving from doorways. Minh slowed down so we could see someone weaving baskets outside their house. Then came Mua Cave: 500 steps up rough stone, legs burning, everyone out of breath at the top (except Minh). The view over Tam Coc is...well, it just makes you stop talking for a second. Vietnamese tea at the end tasted extra good after all that climbing—I still think about that view sometimes when my legs ache back home.