Trang An Grottoes is the dream-like destination for any visitors as it’s well mixed of value ecotourism, history, culture and spirituality
Its nickname “Halong Bay on land” raises many questions for tourists. Why “Halong Bay on land”? As soon as you contemplate the panoramic view of the forests and valleys, winding and intertwined rivers, you can truly feel the comparison.
>>> More BEST Things To Do in Ninh Binh to explore <<<
Visit Trang An to immerse yourself in the beautiful nature
And if you are searching for a detailed guide to plan a trip to Trang An, you are in the right place. Together with Original Ninh Binh Tours, let’s find out how to make a perfect trip to this fairyland!
- 1. Trang An weather & best time to visit – First thing to notice!
- Important note!!!
- 2. Choose the best way to get to Trang An Grottoes Ninh Binh
- Another important thing to notice!!!
- 3. Spot out some highlights of your trip to Trang An Landscape Complex
- Admire the breathtaking scenery
- Trang An boat ride
- Trang An Kong Skull Island
- Trang An caves
- Famous historical relics
- Explore Ninh Binh cuisine
- 4. Note down local tips for the best trip to Ninh Binh Trang An
1. Trang An weather & best time to visit – First thing to notice!
Weather is absolutely the first thing to notice since it can make or break your trip.
Regularly, the period from January to March is the best time to visit Trang An Ninh Binh Vietnam. During this time, it’s cool and has a bit of sunshine. Although there are drizzles and fog sometimes, visitors still pour into Trang An as it’s the festival season.
Not only sightseeing the spectacular landscapes, but you can also have a chance to join festivals or go to pagodas for praying. A way to truly experience Vietnamese culture and locals’ life! If you want to visit Trang An this season, consider Trang An Bai Dinh trip as you can also spend time praying for luck in Bai Dinh Pagoda – the biggest pagoda in South East Asia.
However, this is the peak season so Trang An may be crowded and you will have to wait a bit to get on the boat.
The colorful Trang An in festival season
Another recommended time is from June to early July, it’s hot and has a lot of rainfall there but the sky is blue and the rain is quick so it won’t affect your trip much. Just bring all the necessary things like sunglass, sunblock, umbrella or thin raincoat. And more tips will be added on at the bottom of this article so do not miss it!
Oh, I almost forgot to notice you, it’s lotus season! You can witness the beautiful landscape of fabulous lotus forest around and the perfume of lotus flowers pervades the surrounding air.
Not only sightseeing, you can smell the perfume of lotus flowers all the surrounding air.
For other times, just check the weather before you go. Usually, people spend time to visit Trang An in the dry season but don’t let the drawback of a trip under rainy weather get into you as the Trang An Ninh Binh has its most lively and vivid beauty in this season. The rains wash away all the dust, color the forest with vibrant hue along with the so-clear water. All create a wonderful picturesque!
Important note!!!
You may read at somewhere that “You should visit Trang An around May and June to enjoy the charm of the ripe rice paddy fields”.
Actually, Trang An Landscape Complex includes Trang An grottoes, Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, Tam Coc – Bich Dong… And the rice paddy fields are located in Tam Coc. So if you take a tour in Trang An grottoes, you won’t see any paddy field!
2. Choose the best way to get to Trang An Grottoes Ninh Binh
Located around 100 kilometers from Hanoi center, you can reach Trang An Ninh Binh in many ways including train, buses, private car or even motorbike.
The easiest, quickest and most enjoyable way is traveling by train. During traveling, you can witness the peaceful Vietnam countryside landscapes through the glass windows along the road. Even before reaching Trang An grottoes Vietnam, you can contemplate the beautiful scenery of Ninh Binh. Also, Vietnamese trains have snack and food served on board and it’s really comfortable.
You should take the earliest train SE7 from 6:00 am then arrive Ninh Binh at 8:20 am to make use of all your time there. The train ticket can be bought at Hanoi Railway Station (120 Le Duan Street) or bought online and it cost around under 100.000 VND to 200.000 VND depending on the type of seat
Traveling by train is quick, safe and cheap but there is one thing you have to notice …
Another important thing to notice!!!
The train will just take you to Ninh Binh center (Ninh Binh Railway Station at 1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street) and you will have to travel more 10 kilometers to Trang An by taxi or motorbike. Motorbike is not well recommended unless you have been familiar with the route. and for the taxi, you should choose a metered one to avoid overcharge.
Or you can get a tour package that covers the private car to Trang An wharf and many other services The tour operators are more professional and have the better understanding of destinations, so your trip will be more effective and safer. Consider some best Ninh Binh Tours!
Also, you can have a D-I-Y trip that is more to your liking and flexible with Original Ninh Binh Tours local experts. Just contact us for a customized trip!
3. Spot out some highlights of your trip to Trang An Landscape Complex
Admire the breathtaking scenery
As said above, Trang An Landscape Complex consists of four main attractions: the historical cultural Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, the scenic Tam Coc – Bich Dong, the ecological Trang An and the specially-used primary forest Hoa Lu. All total over 60 square kilometers.
Here, I will write about ecological Trang An, also known as Trang An grottoes. For detailed information of other places, please check individual articles!
Trang An has 3 exciting routes for you to choose. You can have some local experts to help you choose the best one that meet your travel style!
Trang An is famous for natural karst tower emerging from the tranquil water. Those towering karst mountains are similar to the grandiose ones in Halong Bay. That’s the reason why Trang An’s called “Halong Bay on land”. The karst towers collapse and form mysterious caves that can be accessed by small boat.
As Trang An Ninh Binh is well mixed of ecotourism, history, culture and spirituality, you can seek for the chance to visit several temples and historical relics along the trip. Ancient temples and pagodas hide among the green forest or rest upon and inside the top of karst tower
Trang An boat ride
To explore the awe-inspiring sight, the only way is taking a boat ride. Actually, this boat trip is the highlight of the journey as nothing’s more fascinated than sitting on a boat that takes you through mysterious caves. You can experience the feeling of thrill, admire the stalactite inside the caves then dazed by the whole new picture appears at the exit
Boat trip is properly the highlights of your trip to Trang An
You can enjoy this boat trip for around 3 hours floating along the Sao Khe river and passing through caves and spiritual places.
Note:
The specific places must depend on which route you choose out of the 3 routes. So before buying a ticket, consider which route to take. For more information, you can check Trang An boat tour out!
The entrance fee of Trang An is 200.000 VND/adult and 100.000 VND/children (below 1.4 meters). The ticket includes a boat trip through 1 out 3 route across Sao Khe river.
Trang An Kong Skull Island
Trang An’s reputation is more blew up after being the film set of famous “King Kong 2”. The tribal village in Kong: Skull Island Movie is opened for everyone to visit through the route 2. This village includes 40 bamboo huts built alternately on both sides with the stone road in the middle. You will more surprise seeing many locals dress up as the aborigines in the movie. Same from dresses and faces to the act sitting inside the huts. Just like you’re in the real Skull Island
The famous Kong Sull Island film set is opened for Trang An visitors
Trang An caves
Trang An boat ride will lead you to several caves. Below are some significant ones:
- Dia Linh Cave (holy land)
Also named as “a grotto of treasure”, tourists coming here will likely to get lost in the treasure of mysterious and unique stalactites. The length of this cave is around 260 meters.
- Toi Cave (dark grotto)
With the length of 320 meters, Toi Cave has the tortuous shape that allows no light to go inside. Go through to this grotto, you can see the mysterious scene and hear the sound of dripping water or beating waves.
- Sang Cave (light grotto)
In contrast, Save Cave gives you the look of a giant nature frame. You would love to take photos here!
- Nau Ruou Cave
In Vietnamese, “Ruou” means wine. Nau Ruou Cave is 250 meters in length and 10 meters in depth. In the past, ancient ancestors enter this cave to collect the very pure water for making wine for the King. The wine made from here has a distinct flavor and the cave is considered as one of the most beautiful caves in Trang An.
And many more caves: Sinh Cave, Si Cave, Ba Giot Cave…
>>> See Hoa Lu – Trang An – Mua Cave itinerary to know what you trip can look like
Which caves to visit? It depends on the Trang An route you choose
Famous historical relics
- Trinh Temple
Trinh Temple is the one-thousand-year scared temple that honors the two meritorious officials in Dinh dynasty: Ta Thanh Tru and Huu Thanh Tru. The temple was built to express respects for two generals. You can see the Trinh temple resting in the peaceful mountainsides.
- Tran Temple
Tran Temple dedicated to Quy Minh God who protects the frontier passage in the southern Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. If you have the chance to visit Trang An around March 18th, you can join in Tran Temple festival and immerse yourself in the festive atmosphere of the sacred temple.
The art of sculpture at Tran Temple
Explore Ninh Binh cuisine
Traveling to any part of Ninh Binh, you can’t miss delicious dishes. Some must-try specialties the moment setting your foot on Trang An are scorched rice, mountain goat meat, fermented pork roll, boiled mountain snails, shrimps dried with lolot leaves and so on.
And for gifts, you can buy scorched rice and fermented pork roll (“nem chua” in Vietnamese). No one can resist the crispy flavor of fat and yellow scorched rice or the unique taste of Ninh Binh fermented pork roll.
You can’t leave Ninh Binh without trying this dish
4. Note down local tips for the best trip to Ninh Binh Trang An
How to get the best out of your trip to Ninh Binh Trang An? Pay attention to these tips!
- Visit Trang An in summer, prepare a hat, sunglass and sunblock to protect yourself. Or if you travel in the rain season, a thin raincoat or umbrella will be your best friends to avoid the weather’s effects. And wear layer clothes in winter as the temperature can drop drastically in the evening.
- Wear comfortable clothes and sneakers because you will be moving around a lot.
- Bring water, light snack since you will have to spend a lot of time under the sun. So it’s better not to get dehydrated. But don’t throw the garbage!
- Wear life jackets (provided by the operator) as the water in Trang An is deep and you will travel by boat! And yes, you can take it off awhile for pictures.
- Keep your camera or phone out of the water by hand strap or something else. Because there’s no way to take it back if it’s dropped into the water!
- While on the boat, you can ask the boatman if you want to stop somewhere to take photos.
- Ask carefully about the price before buying anything to avoid scams.
These are all the things you have to know before planning a trip to Trang An Ninh Binh. If you are still unsure how to plan a perfect trip here, please contact Original Ninh Binh Tours’ local experts. We’d love to help you out!
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