Trang An Boat Tour: Best Routes, Costs & Our Experience
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If you are visiting Ninh Binh, chances are that you are considering taking the Trang An Boat Tour.
The first time I heard of Ninh Binh was while watching a YouTube video of a couple rowing through some of the most amazing scenery I had ever seen. As soon as I saw it, I decided we had to do this boat trip.
After visiting, I can confirm that the scenery is incredible. But I have to warn you, it is far from the perfect nature experience.
Ninh Binh for sure suffers from overtourism, so the Trang An Boat Tour can feel like an overcrowded amusement park ride if you take it at the wrong time of day.
When you arrive, you will also have to choose a route to take, and this choice can really affect your experience as well.
But since we have already visited we know all the tips to make sure you have a great experience on your boat tour. So keep reading to find out everything you need to know.
How To Get To The Trang An Boat Tour
First, you will need to reach the Ninh Binh region.If you are wondering how to get there my Ninh Binh travel guide has everything you need to know.
Once you are in Ninh Binh, most people will stay in Tam Coc. From Tam Coc, it is about a 20-minute drive to the boat departure point.
- Easiest Option: Grab (ride-hailing app)
- Independent Option: Scooter
- Active Option: Ride a bike
The best way to get there is to either take a Grab or hire a scooter. You could also ride a bike, but it is 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, which is quite a long way if it is hot.
If you are short on time, you can also take a tour from Hanoi for 22 USD. This tour will pick you up from the Hanoi Old Quarter and will combine the Trang An Boat Tour with a trip to the Mui Cave viewpoint (Hang Mua).
Trang An vs Tam Coc: Which Ninh Binh Boat Tour is Better?
A decision that most travellers to Ninh Binh have to make is whether to take the Trang An or Tam Coc boat ride.
At first, they both seem quite similar. On both, you jump in a boat and paddle through spectacular scenery with a local guide.
But if you look at the reviews for Tam Coc, many people are unhappy with their experience.
- Trang An: 3 hours, better organised, more spectacular scenery, good if you want to avoid vendors trying to sell to you.
- Tam Coc: 1.5 hours, less organised, guides paddle with feet, easier to access from Tam Coc, more likely to have guides pushing for tips.
Unfortunately, many of the guides on the Tam Coc tour demand tips and become quite aggressive if you do not want to pay. Some even threaten to stop paddling the boats!
Then, when you pay your tip, many complain that you haven’t tipped enough. Boats will also paddle up alongside your boat and try to get you to buy drinks and food.
So overall, it seems like there are many more hassles on the Tam Coc boat ride than on the Trang An, so I recommend going there.
One cool thing about the Tam Coc boat ride is that the guides paddle with their feet! But you can just ride your bike to this point here on google maps and watch the boats paddle by, which we enjoyed.
Another advantage of the Tam Coc boat tour is that there will only be two of you on the boat.
So if you don’t mind putting up with pushy guides and salespeople, the Tam Coc boat could be a good option for you.
Why Is the Vibe So Different Between Tam Coc and Trang An?
When writing this article, I was wondering why the rowers at Tam Coc are so aggressive when asking for tips. But at Trang An, this was nowhere as much of a problem.
It basically comes down to the fact that at Trang An, there are fewer rowers and they receive more money per trip.
- Tam Coc: The boat dock is run by an old-school local government authority. Over 1,000 local boats have the right to operate here. The rowers only receive about 60,000 VND or 2.40 USD per boat ride. Because there are so many boats they may only get one boat ride every week or two. So this encourages them to hassle you for tips because they need money to survive.
- Trang An: is run by a private company. They have a strict list of boats they employ, and they make sure that they get a certain amount of rides per month. Because they earn more per trip they do not need tips to survive.
On this UN Tourism site, it states that one rower used to make 300,000 VND per month as a farmer. But after working at Trang An, they now make 2.5 million to 3 million VND or 95 USD to 110 USD per month.
So, although the company running the boat trips still takes too much of a cut, in my opinion. At least the locals earn much more at Trang An than they did before tourism took off.
It is unfortunate that at Tam Coc, the local government exploits its people and takes most of their money. So if you choose to go to Tam Coc, just remember they are just trying to get money to survive and are not being greedy.
The Best Time to Visit Trang An to Avoid the Crowds
The Trang An boat ride can get incredibly crowded. So it is important to time your visit so that you are not stuck in big crowds
Trang An Opening Hours: The Trang An ticket office is open from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. I recommend arriving early between 7 am to 8:30 am or later after 2:00 pm to beat the crowds.
Huge numbers of people arrive on tour buses between 10 am and 1:30 pm. So if you avoid this time period, there should be way less people.
Also, on weekends and major public holidays, many people from Hanoi and other areas will come to Ninh Binh. So you should avoid these times if you want the most peaceful boat trip possible.
We ended up going during the middle of the day because we were waiting for sunny weather, and it was very busy at some parts of the tour.
TIP 🔥 If you do not like the heat, then avoid the middle of the day. The tour is 3 hours long, and you will be in the sun for long periods. We didn’t mind it, but if you are sensitive to heat, you will be cooking.
Where To Buy Trang An Boat Tickets And Prices
Once you arrive at the Trang An boat complex, you will see a large car park on the right-hand side of the road. Next to the car park are all the ticket booths to buy your ticket. .
Trang An Ticket Prices
Adults: 250,000 VND or 10 USD
Children: 120,000 VND or 5 USD
Cash! Remember to bring enough cash with you to pay for your tickets. You can only pay with cash, and nearby ATMs often run out of money during busy periods.
After paying for your ticket, you will have to go through a tunnel that takes you underneath the road to the boat departure point. If it is busy, there will be a bit of a line while you wait for a boat. This is where you will have to make the big decision of which route to take.
Trang An Boat Tour Best Route
Before getting on the boat, you will have three routes to choose from. Each route offers slightly different scenery and attractions, which are summarised in the table below.
| Route | Highlights | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Route 1 | 9 caves, 3 temples; historic & cultural focus | Cave lovers, adventure seekers, history enthusiasts |
| Route 2 | 4 caves, 3 temples, including Skull Island movie location, scenic balance | Most popular overall—first-time visitors, families |
| Route 3 | 3 caves, including the longest cave (Dot Cave ~1 km), 3 temples, Skull Island movie location | If you want the least crowds. |
TIP: On Route 2 and 3 it says you will visit the Skull Island movie location. But you will just row past a location where the movie was filmed. The movie company was actually forced to remove all the remains of the set. So there is nothing left.
When we arrived, it was close to midday and was very busy. So we decided to do Route 3 because I had heard that it was the least popular.
Some people choose Route 1 because it has the most caves. But we had more than enough caves on our route. Route 3 also contains the Dot Cave, which goes for more than a kilometre underground!
I think that all of the routes will be great. But if it is very busy, go for Route 3 as it has the fewest people.
Our Experience: Rowing Through Route 3
The boats at Trang An fit four people. So if you are a couple, you will randomly be put in a boat with another couple like we were.
If it is not very busy, you could get lucky and have a private boat. This is another advantage in going early or later in the day.
Pro Tip: My advice is to try to get in the front of the boat! We ended up in the back, and you are looking at the backs of the heads of the people in front, so the view is not quite as good.
After starting the tour, we were very happy that we chose Route 3. We saw tonnes of other boats heading off in the other direction, whereas no one was heading our way!
Temples, Fish, and Low Caves
The scenery is stunning right from the start, and it is super peaceful paddling down the river.
We arrived at the first small temple, where we got out and had a look around.
While the architecture of the temple was nice, the highlight was all the fish next to the temple with their mouths open, begging for food. It was impressive how wide their mouths were open!
I knew that we would see stunning limestone cliffs on the boat trip. But what I was not prepared for was how awesome the caves were.
After the first temple, we went straight into a cave, and the roof soon became incredibly low!
We had to almost lie down in the boat to avoid being hit in the head by stalactites! It was good fun, and we were cracking up laughing the whole time.
I loved the contrast between paddling in a dark cave and then emerging in a bright green valley full of stunning limestone cliffs. It was something I had never experienced anywhere in the world.
On Route 3, there is another temple to explore. I personally thought the temples were nothing special. But it is nice to be able to get off the boat and stretch your legs because you are on it for a long time.
Cruising Through Vietnam’s Longest River Cave
One of the highlights of choosing Route 3 for me was the Dot Cave (Hang Đột), which is over 1 kilometer long. It was surreal being under the mountains for so long, and one of my highlights of the whole trip.
Because Route 3 is less travelled, we were also the only people in the cave. Later on we went through a cave that was also part of Route 2, and it was packed!
When the cave is packed, it is much louder and really makes the experience less enjoyable. It starts to feel more like a theme park ride than a nature experience.
The Vu Lam Palace Instagram vs Reality
One of the last stops of interest is the famous Vu Lam Palace (Hành Cung Vũ Lâm). It is a temple that is built over the water and surrounded by huge limestone cliffs.
It is one of those places that looks like it is from a fairy tale on Instagram. But in reality, it will look more like something from Disneyland.
When we arrived, there were hundreds of boats surrounding the temple. It was loud, and the scenery was really ruined by the hundreds of bright orange life jackets in the foreground.
I can see why it is a spot that people look forward to. The temple is in an amazing natural setting. But it is yet again another spot that you need to arrive at before the crowds to truly enjoy.
Final Verdict: Overall, I enjoyed our boat trip. The scenery is incredible, but as I have mentioned multiple times in the article. The biggest issue is crowds, and it’s starting to feel like a theme park. This is, of course, the problem with mass tourism all over the world, and I am part of the problem because I visited too! But as long as you go in with the expectation that it is not some undiscovered natural paradise, I am sure you will enjoy your time.
What To Do After The Trang An Boat Ride?
I hope that you have a great time on your boat ride. It is an amazingly beautiful place
The Trang An boat ride is the premier attraction in Ninh Binh. You should definitely stay for longer than a day to experience all the natural beauty in the area.
We spent four days exploring and wrote a complete Ninh Binh guide with all our tips to have the best time there.
If you are heading south from Ninh Binh, I recommend stopping in at Phong Nha. It was another place I had never heard of before arriving in Vietnam, but it quickly became one of my favourite places. If you are looking for things to do in Phong Nha, we have an article that you should check out.
