One of the many temples in Bai Dinh
Highlights
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Time of Visit: December 2024
Duration of Visit: Three Nights
Description
Tam Coc is often referred to as Ha Long Bay on land. Towering limestone mountains rise up from the ground surrounded by verdant landscape. Besides its natural beauty, the place is dotted with temples and pagodas. With such combination, it is a very popular destination especially among young backpackers.
This blog provides information on activities to do in and around Tam Coc plus transportation, lodging and expected expenses. Selecting a place to stay is probably the most time consuming part of planning your trip to this destination. The options are endless. Here, we share our experience with a homestay to save you research time. This way, you can enjoy your precious holiday instead of being bogged down with time consuming web surfing to look for a place to stay.
Activities
Hang Mua
Hang Mua Is a very popular destination for tourists especially for sunset. One of its peaks has the laying dragon which visitors seek to take photographs. This peak was very crowded when we went in the afternoon. We actually gave up on seeing the dragon because the wait time was just too long.
Hang Mua is about an hour walk from Tam Coc. Better to rent a scooter especially if you are there for the sunset. There is no bus service back to Tam Coc. The Grab app did not find any rides. Lucky for us, there was a taxi.
Hang Mua also has acres of pink water lily ponds. The unfortunate thing is that the lilies only open in the morning up to 10AM or so. So they were all closed during our visit.
Perhaps it is better to see Hang Mua in the early morning. You may have the triple benefit of less crowds, sunrise and the open water lily flowers.
Trang An
Trang An is a park that has traditional sampan boat rides paddled by locals. The boats take visitors through caves, pagodas and alongside towering limestone mountains. It is a peaceful way to observe the area’s beauty.
There are three routes. A purchased ticket allows visitors only one boat ride so you have to pick a route before boarding. Four guests are normally loaded in a boat plus the paddler. You may have to wait for another party to join you if your party is less than four people.
Route 1 is mostly through caves while Routes 2 and 3 have a good balance of caves and pagodas. All three tours last about three hours. We took Route 2 and was happy with the experience.
Bai Dinh
Bai Dinh should not be missed. The entry ticket here can be combined with Trang Anh for a discounted price. The combo ticket can be purchased with a credit card with no additional fee. We bought our combo ticket at the Trang An ticket office and went to Bai Dinh the following day.
There are basically two ticket options to see Bai Dinh – one with an electric vehicle shuttle and one without. We highly recommend the electric vehicle shuttle. Bai Dinh is a large complex of pagodas and temples. The shuttle allows visitors to hop on and hop off around the complex saving tremendous time and energy. The edge of the complex alone is about two kilometers from the entrance. The added price of the electric shuttle is well worth it.
You should set aside a full day to see the complex so that you are not in a hurry. A full day allows you to see all the attractions and have enough daylight to make the one hour scooter ride back to Tam Coc.
Tam Coc Discovery Tour
The discovery tour allows visitors to experience the immediate attractions in Tam Coc. This tour combines boat rides, caves, temples and pagodas.
The tour starts with an out and back paddle boat from the Tam Coc Wharf to the temple of St. Quy Minh Dai Vuong. Along the way, it passes through a couple of caves and a water lily farm.
The second half of the tour is via hop on, hop off electric shuttle. The shuttle takes visitors to Thai Vi Temple, Fairy Cave and Bich Dong Pagoda.
Overall, the paddle boat ride is not as nice as Trang An and the temples and pagoda are not as impressive as what you would see at Bai Dinh. The only thing unique is the waterlily farm and the blooming pink flowers in the morning. Do the tour if you have time and money, otherwise, it can be skipped.
Hoa Lu Ancient Capital
Hoa Lu is a huge complex with temples separated by long walks. Some of the temples are tucked in the neighborhood and can be hard to find. The temples are small compared to Bai Dinh. We wondered if they were worth the walk.
This place is about a 20 minute scooter ride from Trang Anh. We visited the ancient capital in the afternoon after doing the Trang Anh tour.
Motorized vehicles, except those that belong to the people that work there, are not allowed inside the ancient capital. Bicycles can be rented or you can walk around.
The place is worth the visit if you have the time. Otherwise, we suggest you see the first three places mentioned above.
Where To Stay
There are literally hundreds of lodging options in Tam Coc. You will be alright if you stay within walking distance from the plaza. This where the transport services normally drops off passengers.
We stayed about 10 minutes walk from the plaza in a place called An Nam Oi House and Homestay. It is away from the main road and was quiet. The place is three stories with no elevator and is family run. Pinky, the family’s daughter speaks English while her parents do not. Very nice people and accommodating to our requests. The place seems to have recently been opened. The only negative was the low shower flow.
How To Get There
The quickest way to reach Tam Coc is to book a van or bus ride from Hanoi. The journey takes 1.5 to two hours.
Just go to a travel agency and book your transportation. They should pick you up from your accommodation but verify to be sure. You will be picked up by a small vehicle (car or SUV) because of the narrow streets. Then you will be taken to the bus or minivan that will take you to Tam Coc.
We came from Cat Ba to Tam Coc. It took about four hours by bus and ferry ride. Fortunately, the bus goes straight to Tam Coc, meaning we did not have to do any transfers. We booked our travel through our Cat Ba host and were picked up from the hotel.
Expected Expenses
Vietnam is very inexpensive but transactions are in cash. Very seldom you will run into a place that takes credit cards. The ones that do will sometimes have an additional fee to cover the credit card fee. Only Trang An/Bai Dinh accepted credit cards.
Here are the major expenses when visiting Tam Coc. Admission fees are per person and in Vietnamese Dong (VND)..
Scooters: 120K per day
Hang Mua: 50K admission fee
Trang An/Bai Dinh Combo Ticket with Electric Vehicle Shuttle: 475K
Tam Coc Discovery Tour: 350K
Hoa Lu: 20K
About Scooters
Headlights
You never know if you will lose track of time and all of a sudden you are faced with a long dark ride back to Tam Coc as we did. So before you scoot away, please make sure the headlight is functioning and not aimed high. We found out the hard way. Ours was totally useless as it was aimed high and did not shine on the pavement.
We left Bai Dinh after sunset and it was a long dark road back to Tam Coc. We had to go slow and use our cell phone’s little light to see the road. It would have been helpful if we had a headlamp.
Safety Glasses
We all want to wear our sunglasses while driving a scooter during the day. But if you lost tract of time and have to drive at night, those sunglasses make it difficult to see the road clearly. Removing them would leave your eyes unprotected. Therefore we always carry with us clear safety glasses in case we get caught having to ride in the dark.
What Was The Weather Like
The rainy season was over and it was mostly partly cloudy and hazy during our visit. Temperature was mild and comfortable.
Summary
Tam Coc is a popular destination, especially for young backpackers. This Ha Long Bay on land can be experienced by taking a traditional sampan boat ride at Trang An or the Tam Coc Discovery Tour. The boat ride provides a quiet way to soak in its beauty while passing through caves and visiting some temples.
Bai Dinh, Bich Dong and Hang Mua proudly showcase Vietnam’s cultural past. The temples and pagodas in Bai Dinh are especially impressive even if you are not a history buff.
Tam Coc’s natural beauty, peaceful charm and cultural displays makes it a must visit for anyone seeking both adventure and a wider understanding of Vietnam’s culture.