Closest airport to Ninh Binh: Tho Xuan, but fly into Hanoi
The nearest runway is in the wrong province for most trips. The one in Hanoi is the one to book.
VerdictFly into Noi Bai (HAN), about 1 h 45 min by car to Tam Coc; Tho Xuan only wins if you are flying in from Ho Chi Minh City.
The closest airport to Ninh Binh is Tho Xuan (THD), in neighbouring Thanh Hoa province, and for most trips it is the wrong one to book. Ninh Binh (Ninh Bình) has no airport of its own yet. Tho Xuan's flights go almost only to and from Ho Chi Minh City, so if you are flying in from abroad, land at Hanoi's Noi Bai (Nội Bài, HAN) and finish by road or rail. Noi Bai is farther on the map, but by road the difference is less than half an hour.
You come out of arrivals at Noi Bai with a transfer booked, and the rest of the day depends on which kind you booked. A private car is the easy version. Elena I. wrote in May 2026 that her driver "was waiting us outside when we went out of the airport", and in October Maduwantha S. was picked up quickly and helped with the bags, though the driver was on his phone for most of the drive. Fenna D.'s car that month was hot, and the trip took four hours. The shared "limousine" and "VIP" seats on the same booking page are a different ride. Mindaugas P. was driven into central Hanoi in May and waited about half an hour for the connection. L B. changed cars twice in June and found the car overcrowded. Toni M. paid for a luxury seat and was squeezed into the front. Vanessa B. went through three cars and vans in March, and the last one dropped her at her homestay ahead of schedule. This scene is pieced together from those reviews on 12Go's Noi Bai to Ninh Binh page; we did not take the ride.
Ninh Binh's three nearest airports
These are the three airports with scheduled flights closest to our Ninh Binh map pin, with the road distance to Tam Coc, the village by the boat landing that travellers on r/VietNam suggest as a base. The flights column is what ACV, the state airports operator, listed on its flight board for 21 October 2026.
| Airport | Straight line from Ninh Binh | By road to Tam Coc | Flights on 21 October 2026 | On to Ninh Binh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tho Xuan (THD), Thanh Hoa | 65 km | 88 km, about 1 h 20 min | All but one to or from Ho Chi Minh City | Car or taxi |
| Cat Bi (HPH), Hai Phong | 101 km | 145 km, about 1 h 55 min | Domestic, plus Seoul, Macau and Nanning | Car or taxi |
| Noi Bai (HAN), Hanoi | 109 km | 127 km, about 1 h 45 min | Domestic and long-haul, London, Paris and Frankfurt among them | Car, limousine, or bus and train |
The straight line flatters Tho Xuan, and it only helps if your flight goes there. ACV's own list of its airports labels Noi Bai and Cat Bi as international and Tho Xuan without that label. For the same comparison across Vietnam, see our airports by destination guide.
When Tho Xuan or Cat Bi is the better pick
Tho Xuan makes sense if you are already in the south and want Ninh Binh next. On the board we read, every flight but one on Tho Xuan's departures list went to Ho Chi Minh City. From the terminal it is a car ride north to Tam Coc, so arrange the car before you land.
Cat Bi is the airport for Hai Phong, and it only pays off if Ninh Binh is one stop on a loop that includes Cat Ba or Ha Long Bay. It is the longest drive of the three to Tam Coc.
For everyone else, especially travellers flying in from the US or Europe, Noi Bai is the answer. It is the one of the three with long-haul flights, so you may not need a domestic connection at all.
Noi Bai to Ninh Binh: car, limousine, or bus and train
By car or Grab
A car is the simplest way and the only one that goes door to door whenever your flight lands. Noi Bai's own page says its taxis run from the first flight of the day to the last. Most of the drive is on expressways, and with no traffic the router puts it a little under two hours. If the driver has earned a tip, here's how Grab's tip button works.
There is no official fare for this trip. In a May 2026 r/VietNam thread, one traveller saw VND 930,000 quoted on Grab and VND 1.3 million on Xanh SM for the trip back to the airport, and another reply warned that app drivers may not accept a long trip at that fare because they drive back empty. Another reply noted that both apps let you prebook. Private drivers quoted more:
"When I was down in Tam Coc, private transfer to Noi Bai was 1.5-1.7million"
u/xTroiOix on r/VietNam
If you book through a transfer site, check whether you're buying a private car or a seat in a shared van; the reviews above show how different those two rides are.
By King Express limousine
King Express, a Hanoi limousine operator, picks up at Noi Bai: at pillar 19 of the international terminal and at arrivals gate E2 of the domestic terminal. Its van runs hourly from 06:10 to 19:10, for VND 300,000, and drops at the Trang An and Tam Coc boat landings. The listed two-hour running time is for the trip from its Old Quarter office at 19 Hang Thiec; the booking form does not say what time the van reaches the airport, so ask when you book. The form's only payment option is at the operator's office.
By bus 86 and the train
This is the slowest way and the one with the fixed timetable. Noi Bai's public transport page lists bus 86 from the airport to Hanoi station every 25 to 30 minutes, from 07:00 to 22:05, for VND 50,000. With no traffic the drive is about half an hour. From Hanoi station, six trains a day stop at Ninh Binh on these dates:
| Train | Leaves Hanoi | Arrives Ninh Binh |
|---|---|---|
| SE7 | 06:00 | 08:13 |
| SE5 | 08:00 | 10:13 |
| SE9 | 13:00 | 15:14 |
| SE3 | 19:20 | 21:33 |
| SE19 | 19:45 | 21:54 |
| SE1 | 21:45 | 00:00 |
Bus 86 starts at 07:00, too late for the 06:00 train and with little slack for the 08:00, so plan a morning landing around the 13:00. Miss that one and nothing leaves until the 19:20, more than six hours later. On 5 November 2026 a soft seat to Ninh Binh cost VND 122,000 to 193,000, depending on the train and the carriage; buy it on the railway's ticket site. Our Hanoi to Ninh Binh train guide has the full timetable both ways and how to buy the ticket.
Arriving in Ninh Binh
A private car drops you where you are staying, and King Express stops at the boat landings. The train stops in Ninh Binh city, 6 km from Tam Coc, and we found no public bus for the last stretch, so take a taxi or a Grab car from the station. The Ninh Binh page has the buses from Hanoi's Giap Bat station and what to see once you are there; before you go out on the water, compare the Trang An boat tour price with Tam Coc's, and check Ninh Binh weather by month for the months to pick.
Ninh Binh's own airport is still a plan
Ninh Binh is getting an airport, though not in time for this trip. Decision 1140/QĐ-BXD of 1 July 2026, the Ministry of Construction's revised national airport plan, lists Ninh Binh among the international airports planned for 2021 to 2030. Dân trí reported on 15 October 2026 that the detailed plan is now being drawn up, for a site in Binh Luc and Binh My communes and Liem Tuyen ward, with a target of opening in 2029.
Our take
Book your flight into Noi Bai and decide the ground leg by your landing time. Land in the morning and you have every option, including the train. Land in the evening and book a private car before you fly, so you are not haggling at the curb after a long-haul flight. Fly into Tho Xuan only if you are coming from Ho Chi Minh City and the times suit you. For a group of four, the app fares travellers reported split to roughly the limousine ticket each, and the car goes to your door.
What we could not confirm
- We found no fixed, published fare for a car from Noi Bai to Ninh Binh. The car fares above are 2026 reports from travellers, not prices we could check.
- King Express lists its pickup points at Noi Bai but times its trips from the Old Quarter office, so we can't say when the van reaches the airport.
- We read ACV's board for a single day, 21 October 2026. Airlines change routes by season, so check the flights for your own dates.
- Noi Bai's page gives bus 86's frequency and hours, not how long the ride takes in traffic.
How we checked this
On 20 October 2026 we recomputed the straight-line distances from OurAirports coordinates, routed each airport to Tam Coc on the public OSRM router, and read every flight on ACV's board for 21 October 2026. We read bus 86's fare and hours on Noi Bai's own page, the Hanoi to Ninh Binh trains and fares on the railway's ticket site for four dates from 31 October to 5 December 2026, and the King Express timetable and booking form. The airport plan is from the Ministry of Construction's own news page and Dân trí's report. The arrival story is pieced together from the 12Go reviews linked in it, and the fare reports from the r/VietNam thread linked above. The photographs are credited under each image.
References
- OurAirports data, public domain with no guarantee of accuracy: https://ourairports.com/data/. Checked 2026-10-20.
- ACV, list of the airports it operates: https://vietnamairport.vn/tin-tuc/tong-quan-hang-khong/cac-cang-hang-khong. Checked 2026-10-20.
- ACV flight board, 21 October 2026: https://acv.vn/vi/chuyen-bay. Checked 2026-10-20.
- Noi Bai International Airport, public transport: https://noibaiairport.vn/vi/phuong-tien-van-chuyen-cong-cong-nid1.html. Checked 2026-10-20.
- Vietnam Railways ticket site, Hanoi to Ninh Binh trains and fares by date: https://k.vnticketonline.vn/#/thongtinhanhtrinh/gadi. Checked 2026-10-20.
- King Express Bus, Hanoi to Ninh Binh: https://kingexpressbus.com/en/tuyen-duong/ha-noi-ninh-binh. Checked 2026-10-20.
- Ministry of Construction, revised national airport plan (Decision 1140/QĐ-BXD, 1 July 2026): https://moc.gov.vn/vn/tin-tuc/1303/95584/phe-duyet-dieu-chinh-quy-hoach-he-thong-cang-hang-khong-toan-quoc-thoi-ky-2021-2030-tam-nhin-den-nam-2050.aspx. Checked 2026-10-20.
- Dân trí, detailed plan for Ninh Binh International Airport (15 October 2026): https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/lap-quy-hoach-chi-tiet-cang-hang-khong-quoc-te-ninh-binh-20261015073336725.htm. Checked 2026-10-20.
- OSRM public router, road distances and times: https://router.project-osrm.org/. Checked 2026-10-20.
Photo (cover): Manster323 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Data checked: October 2026.
About the author
Pen name for the getting-around beat: trains, flights, airports, visas and entry rules, health and safety. Journeys are computed from the operator's own timetable.
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