Things to Know Before Going to Ninh Binh

Climate

Ninh Binh has a humid subtropical climate. You can expect hot and humid summers and mild winters. Here you have a table with the max and min average temperature per month:

Because of the monsoon, there are two different seasons in Ninh Binh, the dry and the rainy one. The dry season spans from November to April while the rainy one goes from May to October. Here you have another table with the average precipitation days and amount of rain per month.

If you want to see the colorful rice fields, you will have to visit this area at the beginning of May.

Stay & Accommodation

Although the area of interest is not very big, you can’t visit the essentials on a day trip. Already Bai Dinh Pagoda or the boat ride in Trang An river will take you a half-day each. We recommend you to spend at least 2-3 days in the area.

The main city is Ninh Binh, but if you want to be closer to nature you can find an accommodation out of this city. For instance, if you stay around Tam Coc you will have many of the most interesting activities of the area next to you, in a quieter environment.

Prices

In general, Vietnam is not an expensive destination and Ninh Binh is not an exception.

• Accommodation: You can easily find a private double room in a homestay (kind of rural hotel, held by a local) for less than 250.000 VND (10€) / night. Breakfast is usually included, and they often have some facilities such as swimming pool and offer scooter/bike rental. The offer is quite bigger than the demand, so if you don’t have a very meticulous itinerary and you like improvising, you can also try to book on the same day (getting an important last-minute discount as well). You can find many opportunities on booking.
• Comida: You have a wide range of prices for food, like for accommodations. You can find a pho (noodle soup) for 30.000 VND in a local place, but you also have fancier restaurants. We strongly recommend you to try this one. It’s a small family house, located on the road to Bai Dinh Pagoda. They don’t speak English, but they are very nice, charming and authentic. And the food is delicious!
• Activities: The price for activities are not as expensive as they are in Phong Nha. For example, the boat ride in Trang An costs 250.000 VND, Bai Dinh tickets 200.000 VND or Mua Cave 100.000 VND (all of them per person).
  
  Keep in mind that if you pay with a card, you might be charged a 3% commission. This is quite common throughout Vietnam.

Transport

Transport in Vietnam is quite well organized, even better than in many European cities. There are many private companies that make several routes from and to Ninh Binh.

• Hanoi - Ninh Binh: 1h 30’. Almost every hour. 275.000 VND
• Halong - Ninh Binh: 3h 15’. 300.000 VND

In addition to this, you can also find sleeper buses to SaPa, Ha Giang, Hue or Phong Nha.

• Ninh Binh - SaPa: 8h. 530.000 VND. Sleeper bus.
• Ninh Binh - Ha Giang: 7h 30’. 530.000 VND. Sleeper bus.
• Ninh Binh - Hue: 10h. 680.000 VND. Sleeper bus.
• Ninh Binh - Phong Nha: 4h. 410.000 VND. Sleeper bus.

Note: A sleeper bus does not necessarily have to travel by night, it only means that the bus will be equipped with bed-like seats, some of them, in a capsule compartment.

Some of these buses might include a door to door service. A van/taxi would take you from your hotel to the bus station and at the destination, drop you off wherever you stay.

You can have a look on these websites. You should book at least one day in advance, otherwise the website won't let you book! 12go asia and Baolau.
You can also find a large offer of good deals with the app "VeXeRe".

Regarding local services, you can easily grab a taxi with the app "Grab". It’s better to book it through the app as you will have a fixed price, so they will not be able to scam you.
There are also private vans that pick you up from your accommodation and take you to a typical destination such as Bai Dinh (ask directly at your hotel).

Another option to move around is renting a scooter/bike. Your host can probably provide you with one.

Renting a scooter / bike

Riding around Ninh Binh is much safer than in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh as there is not so much traffic and the roads are in general wide and in a good state. Biking in particular is very suitable as the region is completely flat, but you will not be able to reach all the spots by bike (unless you do around 50 km per day).

The normal rental price for a scooter is around 100.000 VND per day. You will not struggle finding one, just ask wherever you are staying and they will offer you one.

Although you are supposed to have an international driving license, no one will ask for it. In fact, they will not even check if you have a driving license. No one cares.

Renting a car is more difficult because they are scarce, and the bureaucracy is heavy. In addition to this, the big number of scooters would make the driving more difficult and risky, so it’s not recommended at all. An option would be renting a car with its driver for a day.

When you visit any tourist place, many locals will offer their surveillance service so you can leave the scooter/bike on their land in exchange for 10.000 VND. Otherwise you can argue with them and leave the vehicle in the middle of nowhere for free, at your own risk.

Interesting Apps

Before going to Vietnam, you should download and install the next three apps in your smartphone as they will help you a lot during your trip.

• Grab: This is the main and the cheapest way to grab a taxi in Vietnam. In addition to this, you can find some other offers such as a day trip to Halong bay.
• VeXeRe: It’s used to buy bus tickets for long distances, for example, Ha Noi - SaPa or Ha Noi - Cat Ba. You might find more interesting deals than on the websites that we mentioned at the transport section.
• Klook: This is the main asian app for booking experiences. Everywhere you go in Asia you can use this app to find excursions or tickets to events. You will discover things that weren't on your to-do list along with lower prices than what you would get contacting directly with the companies.