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Tam Coc is one of the top day trips from Hanoi, and can be easily reached by public transport as well as private tours.
And, once you have visited Tam Coc and taken the famous boat ride (though it’s expensive), you can further go from Tam Coc to Trang An.
Step: Getting from Hanoi to Tam Coc by public transport
- Take a bus or train to Ninh Binh: Both bus and train are efficient way to reach Ninh Binh from Hanoi. You can take a coffee break at Ninh Binh before carrying on. Tam Coc is only a 20-30 minutes ride away from Ninh Binh.
- Go from Ninh Binh to Tam Coc: Once you reach Ninh Binh, you can easily rent a motorbike to Tam Coc. Alternatively, you can rent a bicycle or even go on a moto-taxi to Tam Coc.
Hanoi to Tam Coc Distance
The distance between Hanoi and Tam Coc is only 90-95 km and can be easily covered by bus or train in 3 hours.
There are several options to get to Tam Coc from Hanoi – Bus, Train and Taxi. Navigation map is also available if you want to take a rental car.
All in all, getting from Hanoi to Tam Coc is easy and quick, and these are few of the ways you can do it:
1. Hanoi to Tam Coc by Public Bus
How to get to Ninh Binh from Hanoi by public bus? The bus from Ninh binh will drop you to Tam Coc bus station. While coming back follow the same route to get from Tam Coc to Hanoi.
Get to the Giao Bat bus station in Hanoi and take a local bus to Ninh Binh. The buses run on a schedule and are very frequent, saving you from booking ticket in advance. Taking a bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh is the cheapest way to get to Tam Coc. Though be prepared through a rickety ride!
2. Hanoi to Tam Coc by Private Bus
How to get from Hanoi to Ninh Binh by private bus?
If you are looking for some comfort and don’t mind spending a little extra, take one of the private bus operators.
Catba express is quite popular and can be easily booked through a travel agent or online. The Catba express bus fare is $10. The bus departs at around 08:15 from Hanoi and reaches Ninh Binh by 10:30.
3. Hanoi to Tam Coc by Train
To get to Tam Coc by train, you first need to get to Ninh Binh at it is the nearest railway station to Tam Coc.
The train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh takes about 2.5 hours. The ticket costs about 150,000 VND for 2nd class AC seater. Train starting time from Hanoi to Ninh Binh are 06:00, 09:00, 14:30, 19:30 and 20:10.
However, I will recommend you to buy an unreserved seat from station. Though the seats are hard wooden ones, but they are good for the short travel time plus you will get to meet interesting locals! Not to mention, it’s the cheapest way to get to Ninh Binh from Hanoi.
4. Hanoi to Ninh Binh by Taxi
Taking a taxi from Hanoi to Ninh Binh is the fastest way to travel. Hanoi to Ninh Binh taxi fare is about $70, the journey takes about 2 hours.
Getting back: Ninh Binh to Tam Coc
The evening train from Ninh Binh leaves at 17:27 and arrives 8 PM in Hanoi. I took the earlier one which leaves at 13:14 arriving at 15:33 in Hanoi. I took the afternoon one as I wanted to reach early to find a hostel and book a trip next day to Ha Long Bay.
But as it turned out, there are plenty and I mean really, really plenty of tour operators and finding a ticket to Halong Bay for the next day is absolutely no problem no matter when you arrive.
Also, in the worse case it is also possible to take the local bus to Ha Long City and then take one of those junk cruises directly from the port.
Getting to Tam Coc from Ninh Binh
The distance between Ninh binh and Tam Coc is about 6 km and can be easily done on a bike. Alternatively, you can hire a motorbike for the day to Tam Coc.
The benefit of taking a motorbike is that you will be able to cover all the nearby Tam Coc attractions in a day. You can get a motorbike from the vendors right at the Ninh Binh railway station itself. No need to find them really. They’ll come running to you as soon as you come out of the railway station building.
Bonus: Getting to Ninh Binh from Dong Hoi
Take the evening train (good old reunification express which travels along the coast) 19:52 (it’s the one I took) which will drop you in Ninh Binh at 03:20. It’s bit too early but you can spend some time at the railway station which is what I did.
There is a cafe inside the railway station which opens early, though the trademark Vietnamese cold coffee is bit expensive here but it certainly is a lifesaver considering the sleep has eluded you.
Conclusion
The stunning beauty of the Krast mountains makes Tam Coc a day trip worth taking from Hanoi.
Learned a lot about traveling.