Things To Do Ninh Binh Summary

Updated: 22 Sep 2020

Where is Ninh Binh?

Ninh Binh is the ancient capital of Vietnam for more than 1000 years before. It is 100 km far, south of Hanoi. It is amazing with natural beauty, cultural sights and its history. There are so many famous tourist attractions such as Tam Coc- Bich Dong, Bai Dinh Pagoda-Trang An Ecosystem…

When to visit Ninh Binh? You should check Ninh Binh Weather before you go 1-2 days.

All the time, visitors can travel to Ninh Binh. But you should note the following tips for each season so you can plan.

- Spring from Jan to March: Best time to visit Ninh Binh, boat trip, sightseeing, especially Buddhist time with pagodas. Avoid the weekends of the first days in Lunar New Year, there are so many local Vietnamese, you must wait for the boat trips in Hoa Lu or Trang An. Very crowded, weekdays are totally ok. Good weather, not hot and not cold.

- Summer/Autumn from April until September: It is hot but if you can bring a hat and Vietnamese hat is a highlight if you choose our tours, but it is cheap, you can buy from any local there (20K). If you take the boat trips, you should bring a thin coat which will also protect again sunlight. However, you can choose August or May, things to do in Ninh Binh: the rice field; it is very beautiful on your boat ride.

- Winter from October to December: It is be cold for Asian but as my experience, it is no problem with western guests. Even it is very good for them to climb up Mua Cave or comfortable to walk around or lazy on boat trips.

How to visit Ninh Binh?

Ninh Binh is around 100 kilometers to the South from Hanoi city, visitors can go there by different means like: by train, buses, private cars or even motorbikes.

By Bus

There are two kinds of local buses:

- Local Bus: You must go to Giap Bat Bus Station, buy your own ticket ( 80K) and then find the correct bus name and they will send you to Ninh Binh city, not nearby the tourist attractions. Moreover, you must take taxi/ grab to the bus station. It is extra cost. Especially you must try to learn some Vietnamese, there is no English speaking guide at bus station. Sometimes you are cheated so I don’t recommend even it is cheap. You should use our tourist bus.

- Tourist bus: Normal bus or limousine, it is only 2,5 hours, pick up at your hotel ( In Old Quarter) and drop off at Tam Coc Area ( Main tourist area). Cost is from 6-12 USD/ ticket/ one way. So it is very fast and saving time. If you want a safe and on time, you should book with your hotel/ travel agency, because they will be responsible to connect the best bus/limousine drivers. Of course, small extra fee is acceptable.

By train

Same as local bus, it is taking time, even it is cheap and same as local bus price. You need to go to train station ( 2 km far from Old Quarter). They now have only one train at 09.00AM to Ninh Binh ( City not tourist attractions) So you can save money but not save time,

By Private Car or Motorbike

Private motorbikes are good and cheap for good skilled drivers, young adventure guides. You can drive from the south/ central to Ninh Binh or drive from Hanoi (110 km far). Renting automobile motorbikes is from 10-15 USD/ day. But prepare some deposit, passport. It is the cheapest way but not for any people.

If you want a stress less way, take a private car, it is more expensive but you can go anytime you want and go to any place you like, the price is around 70-80 USD/ one way.

If you come from the south/ central, you should use the train. If you want to go directly from Halong Bay, you can ask the boat manager or your travel agency, they can arrange the bus/ limousine with good price. So you can save one way back to Halong Bay. It is very good to save time and money.

What To See Ninh Binh?

In fact, there are many things to do in Ninh Binh. You are planning a trip to Ninh Binh and don’t know what to see and what should to visit in Ninh Binh? You can follow my advice as below.

Ninh Binh Top Attractions- Things To Do Ninh Ninh.

Trang An Area: Trang An Grottoes ( 2-3 hour boat trip) , Hoa Lu Temples (Ancient capital with one hour), Bai Dinh Pagoda ( 1.5 hours) and Thung Nham Bird Garden(2 hours).

Tam Coc Area: Tam Coc Boat Ride ( 2 hours to visit Tam Coc Rice Fields), Bich Dong Pagoda (1 hour), Mua Cave (1.5 hours).

Van Long Area: Van Long Nature Reserve (2 hours), Dich Long Cave and Pagoda (2 hours).

Cuc Phuong Area: Cuc Phuong National Park( 3 hours) and Phat Diem Cathedral(1 hour).

I will go through all of these in detail with name: All Things To See in Ninh Binh.

So you can try plan your trip for one day, 2 or 3 days. You can choose what to see in Ninh Binh.

Each place is 5-15 km far, so you should use the map to check the roads. If you want a day trip or overnight trip, you can follow our Ninh Binh Tours as below.

We highly recommend: Luxury Trang An Boat Tour-Bai Dinh Pagoda- Mua Cave Tour For One Day.

What to eat in Ninh Binh?

Ninh Binh is not only famous for its beautiful with many tourist attractions. If you have chances to visit Ninh Binh, And don’t know What to eat in Ninh Binh? Here is our list for you.

Let’s note down those below dishes special and delicious food. The famous food here smells and taste with the flavor of Limestone Mountains where locals feed animals.

Don’t miss to try special foods which are cooked by locals with well cooking skills. We would like to introduce for you 6 best traditional dishes in Ninh Binh.

Rice crust (Com chay) – Burned rice

It is one of the most well-known specialties of Ninh Binh , which is significantly different from the one from other regions, particularly in the sauce. The scorched rice has light yellow, even rice seed, crispy, greasy, but tastes very yummy.

Hoa Lu’s rare goat meat.

In Ninh Binh, goats are raised on rocky mountains instead of hills as in other provinces, therefore, the goat meat here is much more firm, fresh and delicious.

Goat meat is a good food for our health because it is a kind of red meat but leaner and contains less cholesterol and fat than both lamb and beef.

There are various dishes made with goat meat such as stir-fried goat meat, steamed goat meat, grilled goat brisket, goat hotpot, and rare goat meat mixed with lemon. Each of them has its own unforgettable taste but among those dishes rare-goat meat in Hoa Lu is considered the most delicious one.

Others, you can try some other foods below, but it is ok, not the best.

- Pisodonophis Boro Spring Roll

- Field Crabs Roasted with Wild Betal Leaves

- Kim Son raw Nhech fish salad

- Mountain Snails

- Xoi trung kien (sticky rice with ants eggs)

- Nem chua Yen Mac ( Yen Mac Fermented Pork Roll)

- Bun moc (Rice noodle with “moc” soup)

- Top Restaurants in Ninh Binh:

- Where to eat in Ninh Binh

- Drinking – What to Drink in Ninh Binh

- Bia Hoi Ninh Binh

Bia hoi or ‘fresh beer’ is so popular in Ninh Binh Vietnam — for locals and visitors alike.

There’s some bia hoi stands along the river, where you can sample local, homemade beer which is well worth tasting.

The most famous place in Ninh Binh City Center offering bia hoi is Ho May Xay, here you can join the locals enjoying meals of fried goat, Nem Yen Mac…

Another option for a cold beer after a day’s adventuring include Chookies Beer Garden in Tam Coc, and the rustic bia hoi places near the riverside in Ninh Binh.

Drinking bia hoi is a great way to start the evening!

Ruou Can Nho Quan (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes)

Ruou Can is inside a jar, the size of the jar will depend on your hobby. To get a good bottle of wine, it must undergo several stages: from selecting ingredient to the processing and especially to calculate the appropriate time so that just in time.

The main ingredient depends on the region, it may be corn, rice or cassava, but the best is sticky rice. To make Ruou Can Nho Quan is made from sticky rice.

The Sticky rice must be chosen new rice, the alcohol will be delicious. Alcohol yeast are made from the peel of trees mixed with chili powder, ginger powder, rice powder and water, this combination is cut into smaller pieces and dried in 10-15 days, then crushed and mixed with the dried mixture of cooked rice and rice hulls, which is kept in the vase in 1-2 days, then dried banana tree’s leaves are covered on the surface of the mixture in 1 month before the wine is ready to drink.

The longer the wine is kept, the better taste it has; each material has its own taste. Drinking Ruou Can with Com Chay Ninh Binh (Ninh Binh Rice Crust), it will be the best combination.

Where to eat in Ninh Binh

Restaurants in Ninh Binh City Center

Duc De Ninh Binh

§ Address: 446 Nguyen Hue Str, Ninh Binh City

§ Opening Time: 08.00am – 22.30pm

§ Tel : + 84 303 874 858

Trung Tuyet Restaurant

§ Address: 14 Hoang Hoa Tham Str, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

§ Opening Time: 08.00am – 22.30pm

§ Tel: +84 94 935 88 85

Chookie’s Restaurant

§ Address: 17 Luong Van Tuy, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

§ Opening Time: 09.00am 0 23.00pm

§ Tel: +84 94 834 60 26

Restaurants at Trang An Landscape Complex

Thăng Long Restaurant

§ Address: Thôn Chi Phong, Xã Trường Yên, Hoa Lư

§ Opening Time: 09.00am 0 23.00pm

§ Tel : 01238 880 606 – 0974 155 458

Trang An Pier Restaurant

§ Address: xã Ninh Xuân (commune), Hoa Lư (district)

§ Tel: 02293.543.686

§ Website: nhahangbenthuyentrangan.vn

Ba Cua Restaurant

§ Address: thôn Tràng An (hamlet), xã Trường Yên (commune), huyện Hoa Lư (district)

§ Tel: 02293.620.658