1. Introduction to Trang An eco-tourism area

Trang An is an eco-tourism area located in the Trang An World Heritage Complex in Ninh Binh province. Trang An has an area of ​​over 6000 hectares, located in many communes and wards of Hoa Lu district, Gia Vien district and Ninh Binh city. This place has been ranked as a particularly important national monument by the Vietnamese Government and recognized by UNESCO as a dual world heritage since 2014. 

Considered a terrestrial Ha Long Bay, Trang An attracts tourists by its diverse system of limestone mountains and natural caves. Here, you will be surprised by the system of nearly 50 trans-water caves connecting 31 flooded valleys like a Bagua map that is both magical and unpredictable. What makes the caves attractive is the system of natural stalactites and cool water, following the deep paths on the cave walls, forming winding flows. This scenic spot is a place to preserve and contains many wetland ecosystems, forests on limestone mountains, archaeological sites, historical and cultural relics.

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2. The best time to visit Trang An

The best time to visit Trang An is from January to March of the lunar calendar. In spring, the weather is warm and pleasant, and it is also the time when people come here to pray for good luck. If you want to participate in the traditional festival of Hoa Lu ancient capital, such as the Co Lau festival, you should come here on March 8 -10 of the lunar calendar.

If you want to experience the feeling of sitting on a boat floating on the river to see the beautiful ripe golden rice fields or the lotus ponds, you should come to Trang An from June to August.

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3. How to go to Trang An

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From Hanoi to Ninh Binh

By Road

Bus routes from Hanoi to Ninh Binh start at Giap Bat bus station and end at Ninh Binh central bus station. You can use any bus route from Hanoi to the central or southern provinces (choose the bus routes to Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Ha Tinh... because these routes are numerous and run frequently)

If using a car, from Hanoi you can follow the Phap Van - Cau Gie - Ninh Binh highway, with a distance of about 90km, it only takes about 1 hour to reach the center of Ninh Binh city. The distance from here to the tourist attractions is almost no more than 30km.

If using motorbikes, from Hanoi you follow the old National Highway 1A through Ha Nam and then go in the direction of Ninh Binh - Thanh Hoa.

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By Rail

Ninh Binh has Tam Diep - Ninh Binh urban axis located on the North-South railway line. In the province, there are Ninh Binh stations, Cau Yen stations, Ghenh stations and Dong Giao stations.

From Hanoi, there are SE1 trains (19:30) to Ninh Binh at 21:46, SE3 train (22:00) to Ninh Binh at 0:10, SE5 train (9:00) to Ninh Binh at 11:21, SE7 train (6:00) to Ninh Binh at 8:22.

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From Ninh Binh to Trang An

Trang An is only about 7km away from the center of Ninh Binh City (about 7km from Ninh Binh bus station, about 8km from Ninh Binh station), so you can rent a motorbike in Ninh Binh if you want to go by yourself, otherwise, you can take motorbike taxi or taxi.

You can rent motorbikes at motels and hotels in Ninh Binh or you can refer to the Motogo motorbike rental system based in Ninh Binh, the location is quite convenient near the train station and bus station.

Address: 42 Street 27/7, Nam Binh, Ninh Binh City

Call center 24/24h: 0338 023344

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For those who travel by private vehicle from Hanoi, when starting to enter the center of Ninh Binh city, you should notice to turn in Trang An street which is on the right-hand side, go straight for a few kilometers to arrive.

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4. Travel routes in Trang An

The main typology in Trang An is rivers, therefore, in the process of traveling to Trang An, your main means of transportation is a boat. One boat can carry about 4 adults and the ferryman can act as a temporary guide for you as they know the locations very well. If you want to learn more, don't hesitate to talk to them.

Traveling by boat in Trang An has 3 routes for you to choose:

Route 1: Boat wharf – Trinh Temple – Dark Cave – Morning Cave – Ruou Cave – Tran Temple – Ba Giot Cave – Seo Cave – Son Duong Cave – Phu Khong – Bao Hieu Pagoda – Khong Cave – Tran Cave – Quy Hau Cave – Return to the boat wharf (time: 3.5 hours)

Route 2: Boat wharf – Lam Cave – Vang Cave – Thanh Slide Cave – Suoi Tien Temple – Dai Cave – Vu Lam Hanh Cung – return to the boat wharf (time: 2.5 hours)

Route 3: Boat wharf – Trinh Temple – Cloud Cave – Suoi Tien – Dia Linh Cave – Dai Cave – Vu Lam Hanh Cung – return to the boat wharf (time: 3 hours)

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Ticket price to visit Trang An eco-tourism area

Prices include boat tickets as follows:

5. Some attractive places in Trang An

Coming Trang An, visitors will be sitting on a boat floating in the middle of thousands of rivers. There is nothing more wonderful than sitting on a boat and going through 12 mysterious caves and watching the spectacular and beautiful Ninh Binh mountains.

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Cultural sites

Coming to Trang An, visitors must definitely visit spiritual sites containing great cultural values. Those are the temples located right in the eco-tourism area such as Trinh temple, Tran Ninh Binh temple, Tu Tru temple, Cao Son temple, Suoi Tien temple, Vu Lam palace, Phu Khong...

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Trinh Temple

The temple is the place to worship 4 gods of the Dinh dynasty. These are the generals who govern the king's gold and silver vaults. It is said that, after King Dinh Tien died, 4 generals brought Dinh Toan to hide in this place to avoid the pursuit of Le Hoan. And when King Le Hoan ascended the throne, because of disobedience, they killed themselves here. Therefore, the temple of 4 generals was established.

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Tran Temple

Tran Temple is the place to worship the god Quy Minh, who is the god of the Hoa Lu town southern. This is the temple established by King Dinh Tien Hoang. However, when King Tran Thai Tong acceded, he renovated the temple and renamed it Tran Temple.

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Khong temple

Khong temple is located in a very favorable position with its back leaning against the cave, in front of it is a valley of clear blue water in the silhouette of mountains and clouds. This is the place to worship 7 loyal officials of the Dinh dynasty. Right at the temple, there is a thousand-year-old Thi tree with 2 types of fruit: round type and flat type.

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Cao Son Temple

Cao Son Temple worships Cao Son God who takes care of the West of Hoa Lu town. According to the genealogy of Cao Son temples in Ninh Binh, Cao Son King was Lac Tuong Vu Lam (that is the mountains in the west of Ninh Binh today, so it is also known as the western god of Hoa Lu town), the 17th son of King Lac Long Quan, when obeying his king's orders (the first Hung Vuong) to patrol from Nam Linh area to Thien Duong area, found a species of tree with powdery roots used to make cakes instead of rice flour, then using his name to name the tree, it's Quang Lang (local people still call it Quang Lang or Bung Bang tree). He has taught and helped people make a living and protect them from destructive forces, so people have built many temples.

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Suoi Tien Temple

Suoi Tien Temple is located upstream of the Ngo Dong River, which is actually an extension of the Tam Coc tourist route but is connected to the second tourist route in Trang An eco-tourism area. Temple worship Quy Minh God, the Southern God of Hoa Lu town.

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Vu Lam Palace

Vu Lam Palace is a place located deep in the core area of ​​Trang An scenic area. Vu Lam Palace includes the mountains and caves of Trang An, which are embellished with historical relics. Spread over a fairly large area, the Vu Lam Palace relic site includes many historical sites such as Cua Quan, Hanh Cung, Cong Rong, Tuan Cao, Vuon Kho...

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Mysterious caves

Dia Linh Cave

With a length of about 1500m, Dia Linh cave offers visitors mysterious and interesting things. When the boat goes deep into the cave, visitors will admire the fossilized stalactites like a sparkling treasure cave.

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Wine Cooking Cave

In the cave, there is underground water more than 10m deep. There are also many jars of wine which is distilled from clear underground water, they almost covered the cave.

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Bright Cave – Dark Cave

Bright cave and Dark cave are ot only in Ha Long but also in Trang An. Bright Cave with strange iridescent stalactites glitters when the light shines on, extremely fancy. Dark Cave has an extremely wide cave, but when sailing into the cave, people only see a dark color. Until you reach the cave entrance, the light and charming landscape of Trang An brings to you an unforgettable overwhelming feeling.

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The flim studio of 'Kong: Skull Island'

Kong: Skull Island is an American blockbuster filmed in 2016 with many scenes shot at famous landmarks of Vietnam such as Trang An World Heritage Complex, Van Long Nature Reserve, Tam Coc - Bich Dong (Ninh Bình); Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh) and Phong Nha (Quang Binh).

The aboriginal village studio is restored with an area of ​​​​about 10 hectares, including 36 pointed huts with the participation of more than 50 people playing Aboriginal roles. This is a model implemented by Trang An Ecological Management Board and Xuan Truong Enterprise. The scene of the aboriginal village film studio in the movie Kong: Skull Island located in Trang An tourist area has been open to visitors since April 15, 2017.

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6. What to eat in Trang An eco-tourism area?

To talk about specialties in Ninh Binh in general and Trang An in particular, there are many delicious specialties that visitors coming to Trang An definitely cannot ignore.

Ninh Binh burnt rice

Because it is a famous specialty, you can buy burnt rice anywhere when coming to Trang An. Don't forget to buy some burnt rice to take home as a gift

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Mountain goat meat

Mountain goat meat is one of the specialties that tourists cannot ignore when coming to Ninh Binh. Goats are raised freely and run around on the rocky mountains in Ninh Binh, so the meat is firm and fresh. Mountain goat meat can be processed into many different dishes such as goat spring rolls, grilled goat, steamed goat, goat with sesame sauce, goat hot pot, or rare goat with lemon...

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Sticky rice with ant eggs

Sticky rice with ant eggs is also considered as one of the specialties that visitors must definitely enjoy when traveling to Trang An. Ant eggs here are brown ant eggs. After being cleaned, fry fragrant with dried onion and chicken fat, ant eggs will be mixed well into hot sticky rice. The greasy ant eggs combined with the sticky rice and the sweet aroma of fried onions create a unique dish.

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Ninh Binh mountain snail

Mountain snails are not like ordinary snails, because they live in the mountains and eat wild grasses, including precious medicinal plants. Mountain snails have high nutritional value and can be used as medicine to treat joint pain, rheumatism or stomach. Mountain snails are also processed into many special dishes such as boiled snails, grilled snails, fried snails with tamarind, steamed snails with ginger...

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Source: Collected