We went there as part of a day tour to Ninh Binh. In my tour, 3 places were visited, Hoa Lu, Trang An and Hang Mua. Trang An is must go because of the beautiful sites. The Trang An is a boat ride along a river. The boat ride is about 2 hours and rowed by a boat operator. The boat ride goes through a number caves accessible only by the boats. Some of these caves have very low ceiling and it is best to watch out for your heads! When the boat emerges out from the caves, the scenery changes from a dark cave to a bright open sight of surrounding hills. Very magnificent sight. Trang An is an UNESCO World Heritage site. Do consider tipping the boat rower. It is a 2hr boat ride means this guy or woman will be rowing for a good 2 hours to carry a small boat with 5 pax (4 tourist + 1 rower).

Highly recommend this over the Tam Coc boat tour. The driver is pleasant but speaks little English. Went on route 3. The scenery is stunning regardless of weather. Our tour was during highly overcast skies. Extremely clean toilets. The stops and infrastructure felt a bit “Disney land” like and fake, but not to the extent that is common with most of Vietnam’s touristy areas. Lacking a decent gift shop. One exists but it contains the generic things you see everywhere.

We took tour from Hanoi - if you can it is best to stay in Ninh Binh and explore the area in more than just 1 quick travel. It is crowded so get early possible to buy ticket - OR if you staying in the area than come after 1PM when the crowed are off to their lunch. The boat trip is very nice. We been 4 people on 1 boat. No English and no data but the view does not need talk. Take you time at each stop for pictures. All in all a nice relaxing 2~3 hours.

My wife and I took the Trang An boat tour after reading reviews comparing it favorably vs. Tam Coc, We rode our rental bikes from our Tam Coc stay and parked them for 10k VND each at the big parking lot. It is correct that the people selling tickets to the boat ride will attempt to make you pay for a full 4-person boat if you only have two people in your party. I overheard two Swiss women in an adjacent line being told that and quickly tapped one on the shoulder and offered to join parties with them to fill the boat. The tour is, simply put, an assembly line. Boats are quickly filled and you're on your way down river along with dozens of others, singing, yelling to each other, etc. It's not a quiet ride to contemplate the scenery. We took route 3 with only three caves as one of the Swiss women requested we do more open air. That turned out to be a good idea as, after going through the first 1000 meter cave, the other two offered nothing of additional interest. Overall, the tour was a worthwhile expense and I recommend it. I suggest you follow the advice of others to go very early or very late to minimize the crowds you'll experience. Our guide did not ask for a tip but we gave him one anyway. It's tough work for them and I don't believe they're paid very well. The scenery was beautiful and worth the trip.

We rode the river boat to go through the Trang An landscape. The boat ride was approximately 1.5 hours. The scenery included limestone mountains and caves and rice fields. Everything was very surreal and peaceful. Some parts of the landscape was breathtaking. Overall, I enjoyed the scenery and the boat ride was very memorable.

Lovely place but crowded with tourists! I was on my own so it was pot luck who I would end in a boat with. They only take groups of three or four people. I had planned to go very early to avoid crowds but as it was raining, I went later. Still rather grey but lovely place. What I loved most were the caves. Glad I chose route 3 with the longest cave.

My family really enjoyed our visit here. 3 hours is a long time sitting in a hard boat, ours was closer to 2 and half hours. We chose the route 3 to see the longest cave, see three caves and 3 pagodas. The stops were nice to give you a break from the boat. The 1000m cave is really worth seeing, you do have to duck quite a few times, but it was really scenic. We didn't see a lot of other boats which was nice and helped the rower as she had 4 of us in the boat. Noticed as we caught up and passed several boats because 2 guys helped rowing, other boats started to race - it was a bit of fun. The rower was lovely and didn't ask for tips. We had already decided to give her one as she didn't harass us. A great trip, we all enjoyed the scenery.

Trang An boat ride was the highlight of our Ninh Binh Trip. To pass through water amidst those huge structures and the variety of flora and fauna was an amazing experience. The low caves & specially the longest one (900 m) was a leap of faith for me , as someone who has fear of closed spaces.We had to duck into the floor of the boat and even then crouch real low at some of the places. But I am glad that we could have the exotic experience. The tickets are 300K VND per person . We were a family of 4 in one boat. The boats seemed primarily driven by women rowers. They take you through caves & to pagodas which are on picturesque islands We chose route 3 with 3 caves & 3 pagodas. It was sunny & hot.. Its better to have your own umbrellas in case you are more than 2. The boat woman provided us with 1 umbrella. We had ours too and kept ourselves stocked with water and cool drinks. The 3 hr ride is a bit physically taxing as you can’t move much in the small boat. Getting off and on the boat is a tad tricky. So we got off only on 2 islands and skipped 1. The islands and Pagodas were very beautiful. I could see toilet facilities on one of the islands. The boat woman didn’t understand or speak english. So they can’t guide much. It’s quite some hard work. In the last 1 hr, we helped her in rowing as they provide 2 extra oars in the boat. Some other guests were seen doing that too. But that’s totally voluntary obviously. I don’t know if tipping is the norm. But I thought they might be expecting it . We tipped her 100K VND & she seemed happy with it.

Stunning! Avoid the weekends and go very early in the morning to avoid the masses. we went around 7am paid a little extra for a boat of our own and enjoyed the whole experience for two hours as the only boat on the water which was amazing! Go to Trang rather than Tam Coc, its much nicer. Tam coc will not let you off the boat where as from Trang you can get off the boat to walk around the temples which are stunning. Take route 2 You don't need to book this trip with and agent. Just get a grab or go as we did by scooter as the drive there is stunning, theres a big car park and you can buy your tickets from the ticket office. Be very discreet but tip you rower please, they work a very long day!

One of the major tourist attractions in the region, the Trang An boat tour. We went quite early in the morning to attempt to beat the heat, it's quite a professional set-up in terms of ticketing, on site shopping and getting to the boats. We opted for a boat to ourselves so we're required to pay double the price per person, all good, it was our choice. Ushered to the docks, were greeted by our boat rower/operator and away we went. We felt a little guilty given it was a hot day and we had about 90 mins of rowing ahead, so we chose to pick up a paddle and help our guide. It's quite a spectacular setting, the rivers meandering through the karsts. We went through a few caves on our journey so sometimes you need to be prepared to get down quite low. In saying that, the boat lady was very skilful in navigating the highest point in the cave. We also stopped at a couple of pagodas along the way, a chance to stretch the legs, grab a drink or ice-cream and also gives your boat lady a well earned break. All in all it was a very nice experience.