Tam Coc, Trang An, Bich Dong and Hoa Lu from Mua Cave

From the top of Ngoa Long you see much of what there is to do around Hang Mua: the boat river of Tam Coc below, and the karst of Trang An to the north-west. All four of the area’s best-known sights lie within 13 km of the Mua Cave gate by road, inside or beside the Trang An Landscape Complex, which UNESCO inscribed in 2014 as a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage property.

Road and foot distances are routed along the mapped road and path network from the Mua Cave ticket gate to the point named; straight-line figures are measured between the same points. Tickets from Ninh Binh’s 2026 ticket list (tourism promotion centre) and the Trang An management board, checked November 2026.

Tam Coc

Tam Coc, “three caves”, is the river you look down on from the summit. Rowing boats leave the wharf in the village and follow the river through the fields and under the rock in three caves: Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba, the first, second and third. The province’s 2026 ticket covers the route Tam Coc - Thai Vi temple - Tien cave - Bich Dong pagoda: 250,000 dong for adults and 120,000 for children 1 to 1.3 m tall without the electric car between the sights, or 350,000 and 190,000 with it.

In the 2026 floods: from 24 August 2026 visits to Hang Ba were paused, and from 17 September the boats ran from the wharf through Hang Ca to the mouth of Hang Hai and back, without Hang Ba, while the electric car to Bich Dong stopped. Over Tet 2026 Tam Coc closed from 7:00 to 11:00 on 16 February and from 13:00 to 17:00 on 17 February.

The Thai Vi temple on the Tam Coc route belongs to the same story as Hang Mua’s name: the legend has a Tran king founding the Thai Vi hermitage and coming to the cave to watch the court dances.

Trang An

Trang An is the larger boat area to the north-west, inside the World Heritage property: boats wind between the karst through flooded caves and past temples. The ticket is 300,000 dong for visitors over 1.3 m tall, 150,000 for children 1 to 1.3 m and for visitors over 60, and free under 1 m.

Closed after the floods: in 2026 boat route 3 closed on 31 July for high water in the caves and reopened on 2 August; from 21 August the three routes were replaced by one alternative route, and from 23 August, with storm no. 4, all visits stopped until further notice. The area reopened on 25 August; on 15 and 16 September it ran adjusted routes, then stopped its boats on 17 September 2026. Reports dated 20 September have them reopened from 13:00 on one temporary route, until further notice. We found no notice restoring its three usual routes up to 1 November 2026. Over Tet 2026 Trang An closed on 16 and 17 February.

If the Trang An boat is part of your day, trang-an-boat-tour.com covers the routes, the 300,000 dong ticket and the 2026 flood closures.

Bich Dong

Bich Dong, the “jade grotto”, is a pagoda built into the rock on the far side of the Tam Coc fields, 7.2 km by road from the Mua Cave gate (2.8 km in a straight line). It is on the Tam Coc - Bich Dong ticket, at the end of the route that runs from the wharf by Thai Vi temple and Tien cave. The electric car to Bich Dong stopped from 17 September 2026 in the floods.

Hoa Lu

Hoa Lu was the old capital, the land Quan The Am’s statue on the Mua Cave summit gazes over. The relic site of the Hoa Lu ancient capital, with the temple of King Dinh, is 12.9 km by road from the Mua Cave gate. The ticket is 20,000 dong for adults and 10,000 for children aged 6 to 15, for visitors over 60 and for people with disabilities. Hoa Lu stayed open over Tet 2026.

Putting a day together

• On foot or by bike from Tam Coc: the boat in the morning, 3.5 km to Hang Mua, the climb, and back. Bich Dong is on the same ticket as the Tam Coc boat.
• By car from Ninh Binh: Hang Mua and Tam Coc together, or Hang Mua with Trang An and Hoa Lu; ask which Trang An route runs on your date.
• From Hanoi: see getting there; a day from Hanoi usually pairs the climb with one boat and one temple.