By Gam Nguyen, Sep 13, 2024
You are planning a trip to Ninh Binh and you want to take a boat trip on a river in Ninh Binh. However, you have limited time in just one day so you may consider choosing Tam Coc or Trang An because they both seem very interesting boat trips with stunning scenery around with mountains and clear water. You may see there are many tour companies advertising for both of those tours to Tam Coc and Trang An and they both have good reviews. I am a tour guide and I sometimes get this question from clients “ Tam Coc and Trang An, which one is better?”.
Get lost in the poetic beauty of Tam Coc Bich Dong, Ninh Binh
In fact, that is not easy to give advice for choosing Tam Coc or Trang An in general. However, in a special case, it is fine to choose Tam Coc or Trang An depending on some conditions like the number of travelers, religions, seasons interests,...
Stay tuned! Below I will give some advantages/disadvantages in different aspects so that it can help you to choose Tam Coc or Trang An boat ride for your holiday in Ninh Binh.
Many people say Tam Coc and Trang An are similar but different. Yes, they are right! You can see the similarities and differences below.
When you visit Ninh Binh, if you take a boat trip in Tam Coc or Trang An, you can experience an interesting boat trip with stunning caves while admiring thousands of karst mountains popping up above from clear water.
Ninh Binh boat trip along the river
You will do a boat trip along rivers with hundreds of limestone mountains along the rivers in both of the tours to Tam Coc or Trang An. And both of Trang An or Tam Coc tours you will take a sampan boat rowed by a local in this area.
Tam Coc or Trang An is not so far from each other – Just some km so they share the same climate geography, and local culture.
Ninh Binh makes tourists feel interested and say wow not only by no-word description of natural beauty but also by skillful boat rowers using their feet to row the boats. When you search images for Tam Coc or Trang An you may see many photos of boat rowers in Ninh Binh taking their hands over their heads and rowing the boats by their feet easily. That is amazing!
Tourists take a boat ride on Trang An River in Ninh Binh
However, you may not see those boat rowers using their feet on your trip because the local authority does not wish them to do that. The reason is "Respecting tourists". Anyway, you may ask them to do it if you wish and they may use the feet on the way where they do not see the security guards. That is also a way to rest their arms after a long trip.
Ms. Thanh – A boat rower said that when you can use boat arms and feet then using feet is a better way as feet are stronger than arms but of course, that is only when you are skillful and you can use both arms and feet well.
Both Trang An and Tam Coc, you will take a sampan boat without shelter so please bring a hat with you in case it is rainy or sunny.
Traditional Trang An Festival in Ninh Binh
Tam Coc has been known as Dry Halong Bay for a long time while Trang An is a new route, especially for international tourists.
The length of a boat trip in Trang An and Tam Coc is different. The boat trip in Tam Coc is about 2 hours while the boat trip in Trang An can be from 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on the route.
Many people say Tam Coc is more natural while Trang An is artificial. That is because in Trang An people widen some small caves to make sure that the boat can go through while Tam Coc is natural.
Trang An sightseeing
In the rice season from May to early June there is a rice field in Tam Coc and the scenery is really beautiful while there is no rice field in Trang An. So in Tam Coc, local people still work along the river while no local people are working along the river because all this land is for tourism.
There are some temples and pagodas along the trip in Trang An while the boat trip in Tam Coc will not stop for any temples. There is Thai Vy Temple which is not so far from the river where you take the boat trip but if you wish to visit it you should ask the boat rower. Your boat rower will stop for you to walk there and set up the meeting point. In this case, tips for your boat rower are advised.
There is only one route for Tam Coc, so when you buy the tickets you do not need to choose any, but there are some routes for the Trang An Boat trip so when you buy tickets you can choose a route with more or fewer caves and temples, shore trip or long trips.
Golden rice field in Tam Coc
The Tam Coc route starts at Boat Wharf – Ngo Dong River – Tam Coc (Three Caves) – Thai Vi Temple – Thien Huong Grotto.
Coming to Trang An, there are 3 boat tour routes tourists can choose one route to visit the caves. Route one will take visitors through 9 caves, Trinh Temple - Tran Temple - Khong palace. Route 2 passes through 4 caves and Cao Son holy temple - Vu Lam Palace - Tran Suoi Tien temple. Route 3 includes 3 caves, Trinh Temple - Tran Suoi Tien Temple - Vu Lam Palace. Each tour lasts 2 - 3 hours.
There are 3 caves in Tam Coc while there are 9 caves in Trang An and there are some routes which you can choose with more or fewer caves as said above.
Hop on a boat ride to spend a relaxing time in Trang An Complex
In Tam Coc, in the previous, you will pay for 2 kinds of tickets, one is sightseeing tickets, the other is a boat tour. However, at present, 2 kinds of tickets have been combined into one. Now, let's update the latest Tam Coc boat price in 2024!
With a boat in Tam Coc, the maximum is 2 persons/boat. For adults above 1.3m, one person will pay 250,000 VND for a seat. Children from 1 - 1.3m will pay 120,000 VND per person, and those under 1m, will get free of charge. If you are a solo traveler and you want one boat for a private trip then you will need to pay 500,000 VND per person for a private boat.
Best boat tour in Ninh Binh
Meanwhile, Trang An boat tour price in 2024 for adults is 250,000 VND/person and for children under 1.4 m is 100,000 VND/person. The capacity of one boat in Trang An is for 4 persons.
So if your group is 4 persons then each person will pay 250,000 VND for tickets.
If you are less than 4 persons you can wait for full of seats with other travelers from other groups to save the cost.
If you do not want to wait for other people for full seats, you can pay for full seats which cost 1,000,000 VND to save time or you want to have a private boat to travel to requested destinations, not following the usual route. However, waiting for others is not a problem there are quite a lot of travelers every day.
Tam Coc is a small area and considered a small Halong Bay while Trang An is a larger area. While you are on the boat trip in Tam Coc, you will pass local houses and see local people working while the boat trip in Trang An will go through natural areas where you only see tourists.
Tourist on Trang An boat tour
Tam Coc is really beautiful in the rice field but Trang An is still very beautiful and many say Trang An is more beautiful than Tam Coc.
The best time to visit Tam Coc is from May to early June for the rice season. From March to April is good also when the rice field is green. However, if you visit Ninh Binh from March to April please do not visit Trang An as that is the domestic tourist season. It is very crowded because many local tourists are going to Trang An on a pilgrimage trip. So this time if you wish to visit Ninh Binh then Tam Coc is the best time to avoid crowds.
If you follow Buddhism or you are Vietnam then you may like to visit Trang An from March to April. There is no matter for Vietnamese with crowds as they seem to like going to crowded areas and they feel that is interesting.
Cao Son Temple
Tam Coc is more famous for foreigners while Trang An is really famous for domestic tourists as there are temples and pagodas along the boat trip so there are a lot of pilgrimage tourists visiting Trang An. So if you visit Trang An, you will see there are more local people in Tam Coc.
Either Tam Coc or Trang An boat ride is on your Ninh Binh tour planning, keep in mind these useful tips to have the best boat tour in Ninh Binh:
- Be sure to wear sunscreen and a hat. Umbrellas are available on each boat for guests to use.
- Avoid peak times such as Tet and the Lunar New Year, if you prefer a quieter experience.
- Stay hydrated throughout the tour.
- Always prioritize safety by following the rules and wearing your life jacket.
Until here, if you are still wondering about selecting Tam Coc or Trang An boat tour, don't hesitate to contact Incredible Asia Journeys to get the answer from our travel consultants!
See more: How many days to spend in Ninh Binh?
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