If you’re looking for an affordable, memorable, stunning trip as a family, look no further than Ninh Binh, Vietnam. With its majestic meandering rivers cascaded by stunning limestone mountainsides, vibrant Buddhist temples, and a quiet country village atmosphere nestled among rice paddies, Ninh Binh is the perfect location for the adventure-loving family’s next holiday.
About 1 hour by car from Hanoi airport, Ninh Binh National Park is often referred to “Ha Long Bay on Land”. From the second we reached the area, we were awed by the plush jungles lining the dramatic mountain landscape. Home to some of Vietnam’s most endangered monkeys (the Dalacour Langurs), our kids were immediately transfixed to the roadside foliage hoping to spot a furry friend as we navigated to our homestay. Our family flew in to Hanoi airport and were greeted by a van I arranged ahead of time through our Ninh Binh Family Homestay (which I booked through Air BnB). There were lots of transportation options at the airport, but it was very nice to have this aspect pre-arranged, as it would have been overwhelming to try to select a driver from the many waiting, especially after a long flight. It cost about $70 USD to have the 12-passenger van ready to transport us to the magical land of Ninh Binh through the bustling streets of Hanoi, where we got a glimpse of day-to day city life in Vietnam. Entire families rode motorcycles, often barefoot, to and from school and work, while farmers sold their produce alongside the roads. The busyness of the city quickly gave way to a much more rural landscape, though, as we made our way towards the looming silhouettes of the limestone mountains that make up the Tam Diep Mountain range, geographically separating Northern and central Vietnam. Contrasting the concrete of Hanoi were the elevated roads through the rice paddies this area of Vietnam is so widely recognized for.
Once in Ninh Binh, the real fun began! As a family with kids ranging from ages 5 to 13, our itinerary had to reflect what was practical for us. We tried to balance one outing each morning with afternoon rest and pool time, and usually a family bike ride around sunset. Some of the activities were bigger hits with the kids than the adults, but here are the activities our entire family of 7 agrees we enjoyed the most over our 5 days in Ninh Binh:
Trang An Boat Tour: A meandering hand-rowed boat ride through a system of limestone caves cutting between jungle-strewn mountainsides. Prepare to spot birds, fish, and pagodas! The tour is 2-3 hours long with a good balance of natural beauty and cultural stops at temples and palaces built in to the stunning backdrop.
This was our first activity and is definitely a “must-do”. I highly recommend going first thing in the morning, as the entire area gets very busy, and you’ll have a long wait for a ride later in the day.
The tour is long and everyone has to wear a life jacket. With kids, I’d recommend bringing along sunscreen and a bottle of water and encouraging your kids to take up a paddle to help row for a while. At one point, my 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter got into a boat race with another group, and they both said that was the highlight of the tour.
The boats cost us about $10USD per adult and $5 per child under 8. While tipping is not a common practice in Vietnam, these boat drivers work hard to row for 2-3 hours straight, so in this instance, a tip is recommended. We were divided between two boats and tipped each of our rowers $20USD. That was higher than most would tip, but we felt like they earned it!
Bai Dinh Pagoda Tour at Night: An incredibly peaceful and majestic tour of one of Vietnam’s largest Buddhist temples. Set along the backdrop of Bai Dinh mountain, the 700 hectare complex features the original temple as well as a new pagoda stretching 59 meters high.
Our family was picked up from our homestay in a golf cart around 7pm and began our tour at the old Bai Dinh temple. The inside was absolutely stunning with three massive gold buddhas and thousands of intricate gold details throughout.
Our second stop on the tour was to go up to the top of the 59m Pagoda tower on the premises. The tower was beautifully carved out of marble and on the top floor we participated in a Buddhist tradition of walking around the buddha statue clockwise three times before walking out to look at the view.
Our last stop on the tour was at a lakeside pagoda. Each person in our family lit a paper lantern and said a prayer before setting them afloat in the lake. This was everyone’s favorite stop, as it was very serene on the lake, and all of us felt like we were transported into the lantern scene in Rapunzel. It’s a moment in time we will never forget! The tour cost about $12USD per person and was 1.5 hours long.
Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary: While many Asian countries are known for their hands-on animal encounters, our family wanted to do something to not only learn about native animals, but also support their humane treatment and rehabilitation. Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary was an amazing experience for all of us to learn about the beautiful Sun Bears native to the area. This gorgeous Four Paws sanctuary provides a new home to bears rescued from bile farming and the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.
Our family had the honor of touring the facility, hospital, and grounds with a guide and then enjoyed a vegan lunch at the restaurant. As a fair warning, they begin the tour with a graphic video of what bile farming entails that may be too much for some children. We have a few empaths in the family that had a hard time watching, but ultimately said they really appreciated knowing about it and then seeing all that this organization does to love on and rescue these precious animals from the atrocities of bile farming.
Our family opted for the Immersive Sanctuary Tour ($10 usd per person) and then also enjoyed lunch at the restaurant afterwards (around $30 usd for our family of 7). Our kids also each picked out a Sun Bear stuffed animal to “adopt” from the gift shop.
Ninh Binh Countryside Bike Tour: Each afternoon, our host at Ninh Binh Family Homestay prepped bikes for our family to ride and took us out into the “real” Vietnam. As Tram lead us through rice patties and remote villages, we saw everything from floating pagodas to children riding scooters coming home from school, and even a section of Ninh Binh called the “floating village”, where families lived on large barges in the water.
While these bike rides were the perfect afternoon activity after a busy morning out and some pool time, they also led to one of our entire family’s favorite experiences. Tram took us through the Kenh Ga Village, where we saw local families living on the river. This felt very much like the real Vietnam, and as we stopped for a quick ice cream at a local corner store, a beautiful elderly Vietnamese woman struck up a conversation. We chatted about why we were there and she told us they don’t see many foreigners in that area, so she had a lot of questions for the kids. It was beautiful to see her enthusiasm to meet new people, and in turn sparked the same excitement in the children. Our paths will never cross again, but it was one of those moment of connection with someone so different from yourself that are the epitome of why we travel. Our family did three bike rides with Tram and loved every one! We rented the bikes directly from him, and paid about $60 per afternoon of guided touring for our family of 7, with the bikes included.
Van Long Wetlands Nature Reserve Sunset Boat Tour: On our last evening in Ninh Binh, our family took a sunset boat tour of the Van Long Wetlands. Similar to the Trang An tour, the boats are shallow and hand-rowed, with a tour that winds through a system of peaceful streams and plush jungle mountainsides. The difference here is that the nature reserve is also home to the endangered Delacour Langur monkeys, so our family had fun keeping our eyes peeled to the river’s edge for a monkey sighting. Van Long was MUCH less commercialized and busy than Trang An, and for us, it was preferred! We were the last boats out for the evening and enjoyed the beautiful sunset silhouetted on the water and cascaded by the dramatic limestone mountains. Despite not getting luck enough to see a monkey in its natural habitat, everyone in the family agreed that it was the perfect way to end our five days in Ninh Binh! The cost of this activity was about $4 USD per person and then we did tip, as well, as the rowers worked really hard and were very engaging and patient with our kids (who like to “help” row).
I hope I’ve convinced you to consider adding Ninh Binh to your Vietnam itinerary! We adored this gorgeous area, its lovely people, and modest culture and honestly could have sent much longer there. Initially, I was really disappointed when our Ha Long Bay tour had to be cancelled due to an incoming typhoon, but in retrospect, I think having those extra days to relax and explore Ninh Binh was a blessing in disguise! We fell in love with the area and especially our homestay, and got to really immerse ourselves in the culture… what more could we ask for?!
