Itinerary for Hoa Lu - Tam Coc tour - 1 Day

In the morning :

8h00 AM: Pick up from your hotel  and arrive in Ninh Binh province in about 2 hours. Our first stop is Hoa Lu, the ancient citadel of Vietnam in 10th century, to visit temples of two Kings: Dinh and Le and enjoy the wonderful sceneries walking up and down in the beautiful Truong Yen Valley. Continue the tour by cycling from Hoa Lu to Tam Coc, approx. 12 km (1hour) along country roads with green field landscapes and stop in a restaurant for lunch

In the afternoon :

14h00 PM: Get on the sampan boat in Tam Coc pier and enjoy your ride and the wonderful limestone mountains and rice fields passing by on your way to the 3 caves (Hang Ca, Hang Hai, Hang Ba). Take the boat back to the same pier at 15:00 and return by bus to Hanoi. Arrive in Hanoi at around 6:00pm. Drop you off at your hotel, end of tour

Package price : 28 usd / 01 pax for group tour 

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Trip Includes:

- Vehicle (A/C): 16 seats - Ford Transit (model 2004).

- Driver: proficient, enthusiastic, experienced.

- Tour guide: English speaking tour guide (enthusiastic, experienced).

- Entrance fees

Hoa Lu - the old capital of Vietnam

The mountains and sea combined to make Hoa Lu’s picturesque landscape. Hoa Lu lays in a flat valley surrounded by the Trang An lime stone mountains, which form a natural wall protecting the old citadel. The city’s northwest is bordered by the Hoang Long River, the tributaries of which run through the capital, cooling the weather within the city and serving as convenient waterways.

Not much of this ancient kingdom is left standing. Whatever that remains of the palaces and shrines would only be of interest to archaeologists. The Royal Court was built in an area of 150 hectares in the eastern part of the capital while the western part served as a site to educate and protect children. The surrounding to be quite picturesque, with its ponds and limestone range forming a jagged horizon. There are two 17th century temples, modelled after their 11th-century originals that are on most itineraries to Hoa Lu. They are the Dinh Tien Hoang Temple and Le Hoan Temple, dedicated to the founder of the Dinh Dynasty and to its successor, reachable after a climb of more then 200 steps. I shall describe these two temples separately on their respective pages.

As the capital of the country for 41 years, Hoa Lu has many palaces, pagodas, tombs and pavilions that were built by different dynasties. One of the most popular pieces of architecture is the Bao Thien Tue Palace, which was plated with gold and silver. However many vestiges have been destroyed due to time and weather.

Tam Coc - Ninh Binh - Vietnam

Visiting Tam Coc Grotto, tourists may feel like they had just disappeared from the real world to get lost in such a hidden fairy site, which is located approximately 2km from the pagoda. Tam Coc is 3 kilometers from Van Lam Wharf. Now just take a boat from Van Lam Wharf to reach the Tam Coc Grotto, which consists of the Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba caves. This might take you three hours on your small boat along the Ngo Dong river, beginning at the village of Van Lam and proceeding through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers. The largest of the grotto is 125m long with its ceiling about 2m high above the water. This grotto is adorned with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of different shapes and colours that sparkle like gemstones. Now when drifting along the gentle Ngo Dong River under the Grotto, you can feel the deeply pure atmosphere with special smell of fresh rivers water and cool air from karst mountains when reaching each of the 3 caves in turns.
Among the three caves, Hang Ca is considered the most picturesque one since it is the longest and contains most fascinating natural arts deep inside. It is around 127m long, with a cave mouth of 20m wide. When leaving Hang Ca, just turn back to see it once again, you will feel that it were like a very old white-haired man sitting down for fishing. A Vietnamese legendary tells that this was a Heaven Land where that fishing man – a considered fairy one – lived, and flying above within the Heaven was a flock of fairies in graceful white dresses! You may be so much seduced by the beautiful fairy landscape that you do not even think of coming back at that time!