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Steal My 2 Day Itinerary to Ninh Binh, Vietnam
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items Ninh Binh is an underrated destination. Also known as “Ha Long Bay” on land, it has majestic limestone karst landscapes, winding rivers and is also where King Kong, Skull Island was filmed. We spent 2 days and 1 night there and it wasn't enough! I wo...
Sections
2
Day 1
Day 2
Day 1
We arrived around 10am - we dropped luggage off at our hotel (linked below, highly recommend!) before we went to our boat tour for the day. It's much better to arrive early and on a week day to avoid the local crowds. We were stuck in a long line on ...
Such a quaint hotel! Very clean, bathroom is gorgeous (I love a big tub) and it's right next to Mua Caves, which makes a sunrise hike that much eaiser to achieve.
The Greenary Garden, Ninh Binh - Booking.com
We decided to do a 2-3 hour boat tour around the Trang An Complex. There are different routes you can take and we decided to take the route with the most caves. It was such a surreal experience!
Trang An Landscape Complex (Trang An Grottoes) | Boat Tours
Finally, we ended the day at Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. We rented bikes and biked around to the different temples and through rice fields. It was very peaceful and a great way to end the day.
Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, Ninh Binh - The First Capital of Vietnam
If you want to watch sunset in the area, I highly recommend going to this spot. We took a GRAB taxi there and watched the sunset over the limestone cliffs. Very beautiful!
Google Maps | Scenic Sunset Spot
Day 2
We purposely rose early to catch the sunrise at Mua Caves! Unfortunately it was quite cloudy that day, but it was still very serene. Surprisingly, a lot of people wake up early for sunrise, so you won't be the only person there!
Hang Mua or Mua Caves open at 6am (it actually can open earlier, there was a guard there at 5:30am for when we wanted to go see sunrise) and it's a steep walk up to the top. There are a lot of stairs. At the top, there is a stone dragon wall, which i...
Hang Mua | Mua Cave
If you also want to avoid having to wait for the guard to arrive to hike Mua Caves in the morning, staying at Mua Cave Ecolodge gives guests 24/7 access to Mua Caves. Great alternative if you want to visit very early in the morning or very late at ni...
Hang Mua Ecolodge - Ninh Binh - Booking.com
After hiking Hang Mua in the morning, we head to Tam Coc. It's a nearby town with beautiful limestone cliffs. We enjoyed walking through town, grabbing a bit to eat and coffee. There are rice fields surrounding the limestone cliffs. I recommend eithe...
Tam Coc, Northern Vietnam
This is another fun boat ride you can take in a lake in Tam Coc. The boat rowers row with their feet! It's a sight to see!
Tam Coc Boat Ride