Things to Do in Tam Coc, Ninh Binh

Tam Coc is a small rural town in Ninh Binh Province, 100 km from Hanoi. Buses leave from Hanoi, Cat Ba and various places in the south such as Phong Nha and Hue.

You can buy tickets at a travel agency or online here.

You can visit Tam Coc on a tour from Hanoi, but our recommendation is to go on your own and give it at least two days. It's a truly beautiful place with mind-blowing landscapes.

Since it's a small place, the best ways to get around are by bicycle and motorbike. The roads are quite flat and in good condition.

Renting a bicycle costs 40,000 VND a day, and a motorbike 100,000 VND.

1. Boat ride on the Ngo Dong River

The boat ride on the Ngo Dong River is one of the things we recommend most in Tam Coc. It's a 2.5-hour ride in a small rowboat steered by a local. They have a peculiar way of rowing: they do it with their feet!

The scenery along the way is truly beautiful! The river is surrounded by huge rock formations and rice paddies, and you pass through three caves: Hang Ca, Hang Giua and Hang Cuoi.

This ride was one of our favorites in Vietnam, and the scenery was some of the most beautiful we saw. You definitely shouldn't miss it when you visit Tam Coc.

The entrance fee is 120,000 VND per person. The boat costs 150,000 VND and fits up to two people.

Tip: It's best to go early, before the tourists on tours from Hanoi arrive.

2. Mua Cave

Another place you shouldn't miss is Mua Cave, where you climb its 500 steps up to the Hang Mua viewpoint for one of the prettiest views in Tam Coc. From the top there's a panoramic view of karst formations, the Ngo Dong River and rice paddies. A magical view.

Halfway up, the path splits in two, and the views from both summits are truly incredible. The left one goes to the dragon and the right one to a pagoda.

The entrance fee is 100,000 VND (US$4.30)

• Open 7am to 5pm
• Tip: You can park your motorbike at the entrance to Mua Cave for less than 50,000 VND. As you get close, lots of locals will probably stop you and tell you to park with them because there's nowhere to park nearby. Don't believe them. They almost got us to park 1 km from the entrance. Luckily, we decided to keep going!

3. Bich Dong Pagoda

Another of our favorite visits in Tam Coc was Bich Dong Pagoda. Built in 1428, it has 3 different temples, each inside a cave at a different level of the mountain: Ha Pagoda (lower level), Trung Pagoda (middle level) and Thuong Pagoda (upper level).

The temple's entrance is one of the most photogenic spots in Tam Coc, at the end of a stone bridge over the Truong River, surrounded by water lilies. Once you go through the gate, a short path takes you to the lower-level temple. Reaching the upper-level temple takes a short climb, and we 100% recommend it. The view from the top is truly beautiful.

The pagoda is 3 km from the Tam Coc boat pier.

• No entrance fee
• Open 24 hours

4. Get lost and explore Tam Coc with no plan

Another thing to do in Tam Coc is get lost in its spectacular landscapes! Ride around on a motorbike or bicycle with no destination, and let the peace of the place and the nature carry you along.

5. Bai Dinh Pagoda

This is a vast complex on Bai Dinh Mountain with several Buddhist temples. It's the most important Buddhist complex in Vietnam and one of the country's main pilgrimage sites, especially during the Lunar New Year.

“Bai” means the practice of worship and “Dinh” means the summit. “Bai Dinh” means the worship of Heaven and Earth. It expresses the belief in Buddha and the celestial angels of Buddhists.

Bai Dinh also stands out for being made up of an ancient pagoda built into two caves and a new pagoda. The new one is 800 meters from the ancient pagoda, with many exceptional Buddhist temples and monuments spread around it, connected by two long corridors. The new pagoda is 100 meters tall, which makes it the tallest in Vietnam.

• No entrance fee
• Open 6am to 10pm

6. Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam

If you love history, don't miss Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam under the Dinh and Le dynasties in the 10th century. There you'll find several interesting temples, such as Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh, dedicated to some of the emperors of the time.

• No entrance fee
• Open 7am to 4pm

Most of the tourist attractions are around Tam Coc, a small town that grows by the day. We loved it. We found it really picturesque and local.

Just outside Tam Coc is Ninh Binh, a much bigger city with more places to stay, where many travelers base themselves. We went with Tam Coc because we prefer being somewhere quiet, surrounded by nature.