Mua Caves In Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Mua Caves (also known as the Vietnamese “Great Wall of China”) is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ninh Binh. It’s easy to get to and has some of the best views in all of Vietnam. Here’s everything you need to know for your trip!

Getting to Mua Caves

By Train

If you’re coming from Hanoi, a train to Ninh Binh Rail Station will be your best option. Train tickets are fairly cheap and you can easily book your ticket through Baolau (we used this site to book all of our long-haul transportation in Vietnam). From Hanoi, it’s only about a 2.5 hour train ride and there are multiple trains that leave per day.

Private Transfer

Booking a private transfer online or through your accommodations is always an option, but typically not the cheapest. Our hotel in Ninh Binh offered to pick us up at the airport in Hanoi but we opted to take a train instead. A train ticket from Hanoi to Ninh Binh Rail Station and a taxi from there to our hotel cost us less than 20 USD total.

By Motorbike

The best way to get around Ninh Binh is by renting a motorbike. Most hotels have motorbikes available for you to rent at the property. And, there are also many companies that will meet you at the train station with your rental.

The drive to Mua Caves from Ninh Binh town is fairly short and simple. I’d suggest getting a SIM card for your phone while you’re in Vietnam so you can have GPS available, though.

The Drive to Mua Caves

This one is important especially if you are driving a motorbike! Soon after you turn onto the road leading up to Mua Caves you will start seeing signs for parking. Stay alert when driving down this road. There is one woman in particular (on the left side of the road) that will jump out in front of you while you’re driving, demand money, telling you that you have to park there and you can’t drive any further. She will stand in front of you on the road blocking your way until you pay her.

Luckily, someone had told me about this so I knew it was a scam as soon as it happened. You absolutely do not have to park here unless you want to and you do not have to pay her. If you do, it will still be about a half mile that you’ll have to walk. There are plenty of other places that offer parking farther up the road or you can park for free at the entrance! When we pulled up to the entrance, the man at the ticket booth came out and waved us inside so we wouldn’t be charged to park.

I want everyone to be aware of this because this woman is very dangerous! She almost caused us to wreck when she jumped out in front of us (she even grabbed the handlebars on our motorbike!) and every time we tried to go around her she would just move back in front of us. After telling her “no” countless times and taking out my phone, threatening to call the police, she finally let us pass. If I hadn’t already known about this I probably would have believed that we had to park there and I would have been very annoyed when I saw all of the other parking spots beyond that point.

Hiking Mua Caves

It’s not so much a “hike” as it is a long walk up a bunch of stairs (496 stairs, to be exact). About half-way up, the stairs will split into two directions. To the left is where you’ll find the dragon, the stone statue of Quan Am, and the iconic viewpoint. To the right is where you’ll find the tall stone pagoda.

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Views from the Top

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Mua Caves had some of my favorite views in all of Vietnam. The whole place was just so beautiful. I wish we could have been here before they harvested the rice so we could have had views of the full rice fields. But, I think the views from here are spectacular no matter what. Even when we first arrived and it was still fairly foggy down below, the views were incredible.

Don’t forget to check out my other post: The Ultimate Guide to Solo Hiking.

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You can climb up onto the rocks where the stone dragon is but the rocks on the way up are very slippery so be careful if you do! We were only up there for about 20 minutes and saw multiple people slip on their way down.

I would suggest coming right around sunrise before the sunlight is too harsh. We came around 6:30 in the morning (a little later than we wanted to) but watching the sunrise on the drive there was amazing and the skies looked so pretty when we made it to the top. Many places (including our hotel) said that they don’t start selling tickets until after 7 AM but that’s not true. When we got there around 6:30, the ticket booth was already open and quite a few people were already at the top.

Where to Stay

The best place to stay near Mua Caves would obviously be Mua Caves Ecolodge. It’s the closest you’ll get as the caves will quite literally be right in your backyard. The property is absolutely gorgeous at the Ecolodge with photo ops everywhere you turn. They even have a beautiful heart-shaped bamboo walkway in the middle of a lotus garden! It’s worth taking some time to explore after your hike whether you stay there or not.

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However, we stayed at Trang An Valley Bungalow. We had our own private hut, a pool, beautiful mountain and lake views, and everything was made super convenient for us by the staff. They offer transportation from the airport (or wherever else you might need), motorbike rentals for less than 10 USD a day, and there is even a bar/dining area where you can have all of your meals.

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Trang An Valley Bungalow was only a short drive (less than 15 minutes) from Mua Caves (as well as many other attractions in the area) and was well worth the stay in our opinion. We were here on our anniversary and the room was even decorated for us when we arrived – such a nice touch! We definitely wish we could have stayed much longer than we did!

Other Great Hotels in the Area:

• Tam Coc Bungalow
• Emeralda Resort
• The Mandala Villa
• Tam Coc River View Homestay
• Viet Anh

Tips for Visiting Mua Caves

1. Bring cash for the tickets, snacks, and souvenirs. There are shops down below that open up sometime in the morning (we were there before sunrise and they were open when we came back down so I’m not entirely sure what time they opened). Tickets cost 100,000 VND per person (less than 5 USD).
2. Bring a bottle of water (or two). It’s not a long hike, but trust me when I say the sun will have you wanting water when it comes out! There is a tiny shop about half-way up that does sell drinks, but we didn’t stop so I couldn’t tell you what the prices are like.
3. Don’t fall for the parking scams! The lady I mentioned above is not the only one, she was just the most extreme. There are many people along the road to Mua Caves that will try to get you to park with them and likely will curse you out, flip you off, etc. if you don’t. Just ignore them and keep going (unless you want to park there). You can park for free inside the entrance where you buy tickets.

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Best Time to Visit

Ninh Binh really has two main seasons throughout the year: wet season and dry season. Wet season typically lasts from May to October and dry season is typically from November to April. Another thing to keep in mind is that typhoons are common in the month of September.

If you’re looking for the green, ripened rice fields, come in April or May as this is the early harvest time. June is a great month to visit if you want to see all of the blooming flowers such as the beautiful lotus flower (the national flower of Vietnam). September and October is another great time to see the rice fields as they will all be yellow and ready for harvest at this time which makes for some gorgeous scenery.

We visited Ninh Binh in November and the weather was perfect. It was warm, sunny, and not a bit of rain during our trip. The rice fields had already been harvested so we didn’t get to enjoy any beautiful rice field views but there seemed to be few other tourists around so we’ll take that as a win.

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Don’t forget to check out these other posts:

• The Best Places to Visit in Hanoi
• Ninh Binh, Vietnam Travel Guide
• Trang An Boat Tour in Ninh Binh, Vietnam
• Photos That Will Inspire You to Visit Northern Vietnam
• The Best Airbnb’s
• Navigating Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi
• The Ultimate Guide to Solo Hiking