Ninh Binh – Beauty of amazing

Coming to Ninh Binh, you will be surprised by the beauty of the ancient capital  -  Hoa Lu , the sanctuary of  Phat Diem stone church , surprised  by the " squeeze " ingenious of the creation in the cave eo-tourism Trang An ,  Tam Coc - Bich Dong Cave ... or the unique of the flora and fauna diverse of the Van Long’s wetland nature reserve …

Trang An Zone eco-tourism

Visiting Trang An eco-tourism , you can admire the unique beauty of the cave with the total length of over 12.226m . It is regarded as a complex of caves , mountains , valleys , lakes , streams , ... all are created as a Trang An landscape in the North Delta as well as all regions of the country .

Trang An caves zone is belong to Thanh Tri Tien Tao mountains of the ancient Hoa Lu capital . Around here , four sides covered by mountains , hidden under a mountain is the cave , the magic here is that the cave is through together by very rugged water valley which was created on a solid defense Hoa Lu capital.

The high mountains are mainly the walls to protect of the imperial city . Many archeologists said that it look like as a " outdoor geological museum " by Trang An entire area is limestone mountains wrapped between the wetlands delta .The rift of the limestone mountains was representing geological movement which created streams in cave ..it’s more attractive 

destination for all of tourists.

Trang an - hoa lu tam coc

Phat Diem Stone Cathedral

Complex of Phat Diem Stone Cathedral was built with many different categories : lakes , monuments , The Family , Cathedral , the chapel , artificial caves ... All is arranged on a equal  surface like a letter " VUONG " open space style oriental landscape , front lake, mountain behind , not only makes more charming scenery but also the thinking , the conception of east Asia " Money hydro , rear painted ," everything is going well , peace for their lives now and in the future .

It lies 28 km East of Ninh Binh, Phat Diem Stone Cathedral was designed and contructed from 1875 to 1899 by father Pedro Tran Luc (Patriarch of Phat Diem Diocese)

Phat Diem stone cathedral is not only a harmonious combination between the architecture of Asian pagodas and European church but also shows skillful techniques of Vietnamese artisans since the XIX century 

Phuong Dinh church has grand stone architecture with stone carvings on both sides of the cliffs. In the middle and upper floors there is a large drum and a big bell.

Next to Phuong Dinh is the grand cathedral. The grand cathedral is 74 meters long, 21 meters wide and 15 meters high, with 4 roofs. It was built of 6 rows of monolithic ironwood.

 he inside of cathedral is sophisticatedly decorated and carved. Parallel with the 2 grand cathedrals, there are 4 chapels of different styles.

Next to the grand cathedral is a church of “Respectfully Present to Mother Mary’s heart”. This is truly a church because its ground, walls, bars, pillars and tie beams all were made of living stone.

In the grounds of Phat Diem cathedral, there are stone caves, artificial mountains, an island with statue of Jesus Christ and more.

Phat Diem cathedral is not only the pride of Vietnamese Catholics, but also of its unique architectural style found in Ninh Binh only.

Phat Diem Cathedral is also a point of visiting attractions of tourists both domestic and international , is the highlight of the historical panorama, hometown scenic of Ninh Binh .

Phat Diem citadel

Van Long Nature Reserve

Van Long is a legendary land , a beautiful tourist area , and the largest wetland nature reserve 's Delta . In the Van Long forest has 457 species of vascular plants . There are many kinds of rare plants and animals listed in Vietnam's Red Book .

.Not only belong to wetlands  natural presever, Van Long is also a place with many beautyful  scenic and cultural relics .

Visitors take a boat to visit Van Long . it’s offering to visit “ NGIEN”mountain , Ark of Books moutain, Table Rock Mountain , Cat Scratch moutain. …

Van long natural resever

Tam Coc Grotto: For detail you can visit here

in the quiet space , visitors can make the feeling of the clarity space here , no sirens , the sound of the engine , there is no sound of music or even noisy at bar in the city, only paddle gently solid, 

Visiting Tam Coc Grotto, tourists may feel like they had just disappeared from the real world to get lost in such a hidden fairy site, which is located approximately 2km from the pagoda. Tam Coc is 3 kilometers from Van Lam Wharf. Now just take a boat from Van Lam Wharf to reach the Tam Coc Grotto, which consists of the Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba caves. This might take you three hours sitting on your small boat along the Ngo Dong river in the quiet space , visitors can make the feeling of the clarity space here , no sirens , the sound of the engine , there is no sound of music or even noisy at bar in the city, only paddle gently solid, beginning at the village of Van Lam and proceeding through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers. The largest of the grotto is 125m long with its ceiling about 2m high above the water. This grotto is adorned with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of different shapes and colours that sparkle like gemstones. Now when drifting along the gentle Ngo Dong River under the Grotto, you can feel the deeply pure atmosphere with special smell of fresh rivers water and cool air from karst mountains when reaching each of the 3 caves in turns.

Among the three caves, Hang Ca is considered the most picturesque one since it is the longest and contains most fascinating natural arts deep inside. It is around 127m long, with a cave mouth of 20m wide. When leaving Hang Ca, just turn back to see it once again, you will feel that it were like a very old white-haired man sitting down for fishing. A Vietnamese legendary tells that this was a Heaven Land where that fishing man – a considered fairy one – lived, and flying above within the Heaven was a flock of fairies in graceful white dresses! You may be so much seduced by the beautiful fairy landscape that you do not even think of coming back at that time!

Hang Hai is nearly 1 kilometers far from Hang Ca. This is the second stop-over on your waterway journey, where can be found a series of colorful sparkling stalactites falling from the cave ceiling. This cave is about 60m long. The last but not least cave is Hang Ba, just nearby, is about 50m long, with lower ceiling than the above two, looking like a plutonic cupola.

Now getting out the whole grotto, looking out the vast landscape, you can see that a mighty mountainous and waterways are covering the limitless land. If moving further 4 kilometers, there comes “Fairy Stream”, a pure mirror-like stream where you can even see through to the stream-bed to contemplate flocks of fish swimming and looming in the moss layers. It is said in a fairy tale that fairies used to land on here to swim, thus it was named “Fairy Stream”.

Tam Coc

Bich Dong Grott: a destination should not to be miss

Now turning in the opposite position, you will soon reach Bich Dong pagoda, which is situated at the grandiose Ngu Nhac Mountain. The Pagoda is divided into three levels: Ha Pagoda (lower pagoda), Trung Pagoda (middle pagoda), and Thuong Pagoda (upper pagoda). On the mountain peak stands the statue of a scholar Mandarin looking at the horizon with the hope of viewing the spectacular landscapes of Hoa Lu. Visiting Bich Dong grotto, tourists have a great chance to turn back to the Post Le Dynasty’s legends.

From the upper pagoda, one has the most magnificent view of Bich Dong, which is romantically charming in terms of architecture and history. The location for this pagoda was chosen in 1428 after two monks were charmed by the view of the river and the mountains. Later, King Le Canh Hung wrote a poem in honour of the beautiful pagoda and landscape.

Bich Dong means “Green Grotto” or “Pearl Grotto”, which reveals its magnificient natural beauties. Colors, shapes, and sounds of the shining stalactites converges in such a captivating miracle that no one could refuse to touch, knock and contemplate them in deed. Honorably, amongst the most fascinating caves in

Here comes the final destination in your meaningful waterway journey – “Sun Valley” (Thung Nắng), an ideal ecological tourism spot for lovers of nature. Inside the valley, there is an ancient limestone temple with rock-style architecture shown in delicate carvings. Visiting this valley, you can relax in your small boat, with sun-bathing and sun playing in a quiet and pure atmosphere.

Bich Dong grott

Bai Dinh Pagoda is the biggest pagoda in Vietnam built in Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh province with an area of 700 hectares. It possesses 12 national records written in Vietnam Record Books such as 36 tons bronze bell, 100 tons bronze statue of Buddha Sakyamuni, 500 stone statues of Arhat…

In addition, there are many other works which are also very mighty, meticulous and impressive such as Tam Quan (the Entrance), Temple of Goddess of Mercy Bodhisattva, Buddha temple (Shangharaja temple), Three Period temple (Buddhas of the Past-Kayapa, present – Sakyamuni and future – Maitreya), the bronze statue of Maitreya or the Buddhist Messian (80 tons), 13 storeys – Bodhi Tower…

Therefore, Bai Dinh Pagoda is known as one of the biggest spiritual tourism centre of Vietnam in general and Ninh Binh in particular.

Bai Dinh pagoda

Cuc Phuong National Park:

Cuc Phuong National Park is located 120 km South-West of Hanoi, 45 km north west of Ninh Binh city on the Tam Diep mountain range bordering three provinces (Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa).

The National Park comprises an area of 22,200 ha and was established on the 7th July 1962. It was the first national park of the country and became the flagship of Vietnam’s national park and protected area system.

Located on spectacular limestone mountains Cuc Phuong still has some good rainforest and a fairly intact ecosystem. Fauna and flora are equally rich.

According to the updated list, there are 89 species of mammals, 307 species of birds, 110 species of reptiles and amphibians, 65 species of fish and nearly 2,000 species of insects in Cuc Phuong.

Many of them are classified as rare species for example the clouded leopard, the Asian golden cat, the Asiatic black bear and an endemic species of red-bellied squirrel.

A small group of the Delacour’s linger also still occur in the park. However observing mammals in Cuc Phuong is very difficult since the animals are very shy and the forest is very dense.

More information about Cuc Phuong National Park