Bai Dinh Pagoda, Trang An and Mua Cave Day Trip from Hanoi

Bai Dinh Pagoda, Vietnam's great spiritual complex

Bai Dinh Pagoda stands on a hillside about 15 km from Ninh Binh city and is the first stop of the day. Beside a small ancient pagoda in a cave, a vast new complex was built from 2003 on a monumental scale. Long covered corridors are lined with hundreds of hand-carved stone arhat statues, each with a different face, and stairways climb to halls holding giant gilded bronze Buddha statues and a bell tower with one of the largest bronze bells in Vietnam.

Your guide leads you from the electric car stop through the main gate, the corridors and the great halls, with about two hours on site. From the upper terraces you look across forested hills and lakes, and the tall stupa tower rises behind. Is Bai Dinh Pagoda worth visiting? For its size and atmosphere, absolutely. Remember it is an active place of worship: dress modestly, with covered shoulders and knees.

Mua Cave and the Lying Dragon mountain

Next you continue to Mua Cave, at the foot of Ngoa Long mountain near Tam Coc. The cave itself is small, but a stairway of about 500 stone steps climbs the ridge to a stone dragon, whose body seems to curl along the rocks, and a small shrine on the highest point. From the top you see the Ngo Dong River curving through rice fields, villages and lines of limestone peaks, the most famous panorama in Ninh Binh.

Most visitors reach the top in 20 to 30 minutes, with resting spots along the way; the steps are steep, so go at your own pace. The best time to visit Mua Cave for colour is from late May to early June, when the rice turns golden, and from May to July the lotus pond at the base is in bloom. After the climb you head to a nearby restaurant in Tam Coc for a buffet lunch.

Trang An boat ride through caves and temples

In the afternoon you board a sampan rowed by a local villager in the Trang An Landscape Complex, listed by UNESCO in 2014 as Vietnam's first mixed natural and cultural World Heritage Site. The boat follows the Sao Khe River and its channels into a network of water caves, including Sang Cave and Toi Cave, the bright and dark caves, where the roof comes so low you lean back in your seat.

Along the way you stop at temples on small islands that can only be reached by boat, and glide past cliffs draped in jungle. This is a long and quiet ride of about two and a half hours, the perfect way to unwind after the morning's climbing. If you are wondering how to get to Trang An from Hanoi without driving yourself, this tour includes the boat ticket and the transport there and back.

From Hanoi to Ninh Binh: the journey and the region

Ninh Binh province lies about 90 to 100 km south of Hanoi, around two hours by expressway. Leaving at 7:00, the limousine minibus heads through the Red River Delta with a 20-minute break on the way, and our guide uses the drive to introduce the region, often called the inland Ha Long Bay for its limestone towers rising from rice paddies. The return leaves Ninh Binh in the late afternoon and reaches Hanoi around 19:30.

The best time for a Ninh Binh day trip from Hanoi is from September to November and from March to early June, when the weather is pleasant and the fields are green or golden. Summer is hot with short heavy rains, and winter can be cool and grey. On some Lunar New Year days Trang An closes and the boat ride moves to Tam Coc. Halal food is limited in Ninh Binh; the buffet has vegetarian and fish dishes, and Hanoi has halal restaurants for your evening.