When visiting northern Vietnam we knew we wanted to spend time somewhere more naturally beautiful besides Hanoi. Most travelers seem to opt for Ha Long Bay, but the thought of spending the night solely on a boat with essentially no way off gives me pause. Often referred to "Ha Long Bay on Land", the Trang An/Tam Coc area is seemingly just as beautiful, with a lot more freedom and way, way less traveled.
We left Trang An feeling like it had been the best segment of our Asia trip to that point. There was lots to do and see, all while feeling truly like you're in a mostly remote part of Vietnam.
A boat tour on the Tam Coc River is a must – no reservations needed, show up, pick one of the 3 routes, and you'll be assigned to a boat ASAP. We chose the mid-length tour and felt we got a good balance of seeing caves and the general open landscape.
The scenery throughout the entire tour is just amazing. The Trang An area is beautiful when on land, but being able to see in between the mountains is special.
Your boat will make a few stops along the way to allow you to get out and explore some of the temples on foot, so you're not on the water for the entire 2-3 hours.
While the river tour is fantastic, the Ninh Binh area also has some good places a short bike or moped ride away, like Ngoa Long Mountain near the Mua Caves. A fairly brutal stair-climbing hike to the top leads to arguably the best view in Ninh Binh — another can't-miss.
There are 2 different peaks as the main path forks on the climb up and I recommend checking both out. Great views of Ninh Binh and the surrounding landscape from each of them.
The area at the bottom of Ngoa Long Mountain is beautiful as well – a landscape consisting of (mostly) rural living and marshes. We rode rented bikes from our accommodations to the base here. Unlike Vietnam's cities, the roads were much wider and less hectic. As long as you're smart you should feel totally safe riding a bicycle or moped on most roads here.
As I alluded to earlier, Trang An is very accessible by moped or bicycle. We rented both from our lodging and were able to see all the sights around Trang An and Tam Coc easily.
Where We Stayed (Trang An Ecolodge)
We opted for a lodge in the aforementioned Trang An area, instead of the more popular Tam Coc. Most accommodations in areas where people visit the Ninh Binh area are located within Tam Coc, but Trang An is more secluded and less busy. This means there aren't many options (or really, any) for food outside of your accommodation, but we were fine with that. Trang An Ecolodge is exactly what we were looking for when staying in Ninh Binh.
I won't go into a full review of the property, but I will say it was amazing and like most of Vietnam, extremely reasonably priced. The food on the premises was good, and plenty of cold drinks and alcohol were available too.
Our time in Trang An was one of the highlights of our Vietnam trip. I was a little hesitant about opting out of Ha Long Bay for Trang An, but I'm glad we did. It felt relaxing and removed from typical busyness, while still providing lots to do and explore.
