Ninh Binh: a destination for tourists

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Brief introduction of Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is one of the most popular province of Vietnam. The province is famous for its history and beautiful nature. It was the capital of the first feudal State of Vietnam during the 10th century. The province has a rich cultural background and a lot of cultural relics

Best places to visit in Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is not only a tourist destination for domestic tourists, Ninh Binh also attracts foreign visitors due to its spectacular scenery and unique history. There are many breathtaking places in Ninh Binh that you must see if you travel to this province:

Trang An Grottoes

Trang An grottoes is a beautiful destination that worth visit when you are in Vietnam. It is located in Ninh Binh province, about 90 km from Ha Noi. The area has been inhabited since ancient times, and there are many caves and grottoes in this area.

Trang An is a prominent place in Southeast Asia and the world, demonstrating how humans interact with the natural landscape and adapt to large environmental changes over a period of time of more than 30,000 years. At Trong cave, Boi cave, Moi cave (belonging to Trang An eco-tourism area), archaeologists from Cambridge University (United Kingdom) together with Vietnamese archeology experts discovered and excavated evidence which proved that there was the appearance of ancient people about 30,000 years ago

The grottoes were once used as hiding places during wars and battles. They are also famous for beautiful scenes from nature and history. With its unique charm, Trang An has been chosen by the famous American Hollywood movie producer Warner Bros to be the filming location for many scenes in the movie “Kong: Skull Islands”. This film has up to 80% of scenes shot in Trang An.

Bai Dinh pagoda

Bai Dinh pagoda has the total area of 1,700 hectares. It is one of the four pillars of the ancient capital Hoa Lu of the Dinh Dynasty. Bai Dinh pagoda is the place where Dinh Tien Hoang established the temple of Saint Cao Son to guard the South for Hoa Lu Ancient Capital.

Currently, Bai Dinh pagoda has been renovated with the idea of monk Nguyen Minh Khong, the 100 meters high Bao Thien tower is the tallest Buddha tower in Asia up to the present time; Maitreya Buddha statue weighing 90 tons is located on Ba Rau hill; bell tower with a bell weighing 36 tons is the largest bell in Vietnam at present; The statue of Shakyamuni weighing 100 tons, inlaid with gold, was recorded by the Asian Record Book as “the largest bronze and gold-plated statue in Asia”.

Hang Mua (Cave Mua)

Photo copyright: disantrangan.vn

Mua Cave is a cave in limestone mountains in the land of Khe Dau Ha village, Ninh Xuan commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province, Vietnam. On the top of Mua mountain, there is a stretching dragon statue, so it is also known as Ngoa Long mountain. Besides, there are a few other icons that young people especially like to check-in.

Mua Cave is considered a virtual living “paradise” of young people. This place is strongly impressed by the mystery emanating from the beautiful natural scenery. The feeling of conquering nearly 500 steps, standing on top of Mua mountain, viewing a large area of Ninh Binh makes many tourists excited, especially foreign tourists.

Tam Coc – Bich Dong

Tam Coc Bich Dong tourist area currently has a natural area of 350.3 hectares, located 2 km from National Highway 1A, 7 km from Ninh Binh city, 9 km from Tam Diep city. Mainly the area is located on Ninh Hai commune (Hoa Lu). Tam Coc Bich Dong tourist area includes many cruise, cycling and walking routes connecting nearly 20 tourist attractions.

Tam Coc means Three caves, also known as Xuyen Thuy cave, located in Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu. In the past, this area was a part of the sea. Over the centuries the sea waves eroded the cliffs to create strange and beautiful shapes.

In 1773, Nguyen Nghiem (the father of the legend poet Nguyen Du) visited the cave. Looking at the panorama of mountains, caves, rivers, fields, and the sky here are all covered with an overwhelming blue, so he gave the cave a very beautiful and dreamy name “Bich Dong” (meaning Green Cave). Coming here, after visiting the pagoda, a small boat will take you around in a fanciful mountain cave. Bich Dong has been dubbed “Nam Thien De Nhi Dong” (the second most beautiful cave in the South).

Thung Nham bird park

Thung Nam bird park is also a beautiful attraction of Ninh Binh. The place belong to Ninh Hai Commune Hoa Lu district. Thung Nham is surrounded by tropical forest over limestone mountain chains with a lot of valley and caves. There are two ways to travel to Thung Nham bird park: by boat or by road. If you take a boat trip the rower will take you to through mountains, cliffs and caves before you get to the Bird Park. If you do not prefer the boat trip you can always go by road.

Thung Nham is attractive because of its beautiful caves. There are 4 caves that attracted a lot of visitors in Thung Nham are: But Cave, Tien Ca Cave, Vai Gioi Cave and Ba Co Cave.

Watching birds is something you need to do when you come to Thung Nham bird park. Birds in Thung Nham valley often get back to their nests from searching for food at around 5:30 pm, so this will be the most suitable time for you to visit this place. In the cold season, bird has tendency to look for food in the surrounding area and go back to their nest earlier. In the summer, when the place is covered with sun shine instead of fog, you can clearly see the beauty of seemingly endless rivers and the birds flying in group in the deep blue sky

What to eat in Ninh Binh

Rice crust in Ninh Binh (com chay Ninh Binh)
Goat meat
Sticky rice with ant eggs (xoi trung kien)
Fermented Pork Rolls (Nem chua Yen Mac)
Ninh Binh mountain Snails
Kim Son Nhech Raw Fish
Can alcohol of Nho Quan (white rice wine drunk out of big jars through pipes)
Rice-fields crabs roasted with wild metal leaves
Ninh Binh floating cake (Banh troi nuoc Ninh Binh)
Braised fish with Gao fruit

Accommodations options in Ninh Binh

Homestays:

Home stays is the popular choice of international tourists to Ninh Binh. There are many choices of Homestays in this area and they are very good at services, very friendly and there are many of them located near the famous attractions such as Trang An, Tam Coc, Bich Dong and Bai Dinh. Prices are various depends on your demand but most of them are very reasonable from $15 – $50/night

There are some good, cozy, well-located home-stays with reasonable price that are recommended by many people such as:

Muong Village
Tam Coc Banana Bungalow
Trang An Hamlet Bungalow
Tam Coc Wonderland Bungalow
Trang An Retreat
Tam Coc friendly Homestays
Tam Coc tropical Homestays
Trang An River view Homestays
Asahi Villa Tam Coc

In my own experience, Homestays is a good choice that you can both have local experiences and get very good services with good price.

Hotels:

As Ninh Binh is a tourist place so there are also a lot of hotels that are very convenient for tourist. Price of 3 – 4 stars hotels in Ninh Binh are also reasonable from $15 – $55/night, mostly breakfast included. These are some hotels that are recommended by many locals and tourists:

Cozynibi Hotel
Trang An – Ninh Binh Premier Hotel
The Reed Hotel
Thuy Anh Hotel
Tam Coc Vu Thanh Friendly Family Hotel
Della Luna Hotel Tam Coc
Chez Loan Hotel

Resorts:

If you want to have luxury experiences in Ninh Binh, there are also plenty of choices for you. There are 5 stars resorts very well designed, well – equipped and full of luxury services for you to try. Price is around $100 – $250/night

Emeralda Resort Ninh Binh
Aravinda Resort Ninh Binh
Ninh Binh hidden charm Hotel & Resort
Bai Dinh Riverside Resort & Spa

This is all about Ninh Binh that I know and experienced by myself during my family trip. Hope that help for you on your own trip and wish you have good time in this beautiful destination.