Trang An boat tour price, plus Tam Coc and Ninh Binh tickets
Trang An or Tam Coc? On price alone, VND 50,000 separates them.
VerdictTrang An at VND 300,000 or Tam Coc at VND 250,000, then add Hoa Lu for VND 20,000. Measure the kids first.
The Trang An boat tour price is VND 300,000 for an adult taller than 1.3 m and VND 150,000 for a child between 1 m and 1.3 m. Children under 1 m go free. These are the rates for the Trang An eco-tourism area on the price list of the Trang An Landscape Complex management board, checked in October 2026, and the same list covers the other ticketed sights around Ninh Binh.
Trang An boat tour price (quick answer)
| Ticket | Adult | Child | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trang An eco-tourism area | VND 300,000 (over 1.3 m) | VND 150,000 (1 m to 1.3 m) | Under 1 m |
| Khe Coc island | VND 100,000 | VND 50,000 (1 m to 1.3 m) | Under 1 m |
The board's list gives one price for the Trang An eco-tourism area and does not split out the boat, a guide or a route. It gives no route lengths or trip times either, so we do not quote any. Children are measured by height, which matters if your child is tall for their age.
What Trang An is
Trang An is a mixed natural and cultural World Heritage Site. The management board says UNESCO listed it in 2014 as Vietnam's first mixed site, and describes limestone mountains about 250 million years old. UNESCO's own page puts the property at 6,226 hectares inside the Trang An limestone massif, with a buffer zone of 6,026 hectares and about 14,000 residents. It also cites evidence of human occupation over more than 30,000 years.
The listed area takes in three protected areas: the Hoa Lu ancient capital, the Trang An-Tam Coc-Bich Dong scenic landscape and the Hoa Lu special-use forest. That is why one price list covers sights that look like separate trips.
Trang An boat tour price compared with Tam Coc
Tam Coc-Bich Dong is the other big boat area, and it is priced in two ways:
| Tam Coc-Bich Dong ticket | Adult (over 1.3 m) | Child (1 m to 1.3 m) |
|---|---|---|
| Without the electric shuttle | VND 250,000 | VND 120,000 |
| With the electric shuttle (Tam Coc, Thai Vi Temple, Tien Cave, Bich Dong Pagoda) | VND 350,000 | VND 190,000 |
Tam Coc without the shuttle is VND 50,000 cheaper for an adult than Trang An. With the shuttle it is VND 50,000 dearer. Under-1 m children are free at both. At both docks, Vietnam Tourism notes, each sampan is guided by a boat person who rows with their feet, not their hands. Whether to tip your rower is up to you; our tipping in Vietnam guide has what guides suggest and travellers have given.
Bai Dinh Pagoda, Hang Mua and Hoa Lu
The list has no entry ticket for Bai Dinh Pagoda. What you pay for there is transport inside the complex:
- Return electric car: VND 150,000 adult, VND 100,000 child 1 m to 1.3 m.
- Shuttle with all stops, the Bao Thap tower ticket and a foot soak: VND 300,000 adult, VND 210,000 child.
- VIP electric car with a guide riding along: VND 4,000,000.
- Guide: VND 500,000 per tour.
Hang Mua is VND 150,000 a person. The Hoa Lu ancient capital is VND 20,000 for an adult and VND 10,000 for children aged 6 to 15. People aged 60 and over and people with disabilities also pay VND 10,000 there.
Note: Hoa Lu measures children by age (6 to 15). Most other sites on the list measure them by height.
Vietnam Tourism describes Hoa Lu as Vietnam's capital in the 10th and 11th centuries, and says the climb at Hang Mua has 500 steps carved into the face of the mountain.
Smaller boat trips and caves
| Site | Price on the list |
|---|---|
| Thach Bich-Thung Nang, entry | VND 20,000 adult, VND 10,000 child 6 to 15, VND 10,000 age 60 and over |
| Thach Bich-Thung Nang, boat | VND 160,000 a trip |
| Thien Ha Cave, route 1 | VND 200,000 by boat, VND 150,000 on foot |
| Thien Ha Cave, route 2 | VND 250,000 by boat |
| Am Tien Cave | VND 100,000 adult, VND 30,000 under 1.3 m |
| Thung Nham bird park | VND 150,000 adult, VND 100,000 child 1 m to 1.3 m |
| Thung Nham electric car, six stops | VND 40,000 |
| Van Long | VND 100,000 adult, VND 50,000 child |
| Cuc Phuong National Park | VND 60,000 adult, VND 20,000 student, VND 10,000 pupils and children |
The Thach Bich-Thung Nang boat is priced per trip, and the list sets how many people one boat carries. It is four people for domestic visitors but two for international visitors. Two foreign travelers sharing it would pay VND 80,000 each for the boat, plus VND 20,000 each for entry. That split is our own arithmetic.
The Hoa Lu old quarter is free to walk. A boat on Ky Lan lake with a floating lantern is VND 100,000 for an adult, and a VIP boat is VND 150,000.
This Vietnam Today report shows Ninh Binh's riverscapes drawing summer visitors.
Getting to Ninh Binh and when to go
Six SE trains a day leave Hanoi for Ninh Binh and five run back, and the Hanoi to Ninh Binh train article shows that a day trip by train leaves up to 8 h 42 min between trains. The station times do not include the ride from the station to Trang An. Ninh Binh has no airport of its own; the closest airport to Ninh Binh guide compares Tho Xuan with Hanoi's Noi Bai.
On the weather side, Ninh Binh is one of the drier places in late autumn. Its November rain is 67.3 mm, as listed in Vietnam weather in November. See Vietnam's rainy season for the wetter summer months, and the driest month in Vietnam for each place's low point. Our Ninh Binh page has the full monthly table, and Ninh Binh weather by month reads it month by month. Vietnam Tourism gives April to June as the best time, when the rice fields around Tam Coc turn golden in late May, and adds that autumn is also cool and clear.
Asked how to get around Ninh Binh without a tour, one r/VietNam user replied:
"Yeah it’s worth spending a few days. Literally just rent a bicycle and motor bike and explore. Don’t do a tour"
u/GarbageEntire1269 on r/VietNam
What we could not confirm
- The price list has no date on it. We read it on 8 October 2026 and again on 22 October, and every price we quote was the same.
- It does not say what the Trang An eco-tourism ticket includes, how long the boat trip lasts or which routes run.
- It gives no opening hours for any site.
- The Van Long entry does not say how tall or how old a child must be.
The board publishes the list as a summary from its cooperation and external relations office.
Our take on the Trang An boat tour price
The board's list above leaves two boat trips to choose between. Trang An at VND 300,000 and Tam Coc at VND 250,000 without the shuttle are the options, and the VND 50,000 gap is the main price difference. Families should measure their children before they go, since most tickets here go by height, and an under-1 m child rides free at both. Hoa Lu, at VND 20,000, costs little and is easy to add to either boat trip.
How we checked this
We read 4 sources on 2026-10-08: the Trang An Landscape Complex management board's price list and overview, UNESCO's World Heritage page for the site, and Vietnam Tourism's Ninh Binh page, plus the Vietnam Railways timetable and the QCVN climate regulation for the getting-there figures. Vietnam Tourism later moved and rewrote its Ninh Binh page, so we re-read it at the new address on 2026-10-12 and updated the season note. On 2026-10-19 we recounted the trains through Ninh Binh on the railway's ticket site for travel dates from 22 October to 20 December 2026. On 2026-10-22 we re-read the prices we quote, the board's overview and Vietnam Tourism's page, and none had changed. Every price, area and date in this article matches a line in our source log. Last reviewed 2026-10-22.
References
- Trang An Landscape Complex management board, ticket prices for sites and tourist areas: every price in this article. Checked October 2026.
- Trang An Landscape Complex management board, Trang An tourist area: the 2014 listing and the age of the limestone. Checked October 2026.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Trang An Landscape Complex: area, buffer zone, residents and the 30,000-year record. Checked October 2026.
- Vietnam Tourism, Ninh Binh: national tourism site, sampans, Hoa Lu, Hang Mua and the best time to visit. Checked 2026-10-12.
- Vietnam Railways ticket site: the trains between Hanoi and Ninh Binh and their times, travel dates 22 October to 20 December 2026. Checked 2026-10-19.
Photo (cover): Duc Van / Unsplash
Data checked: October 2026.
About the author
Pen name for the sights beat: what to see, what it costs and when it is open. Prices and hours come from the managing authority, dated.
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Disclaimer
This article is general information, not legal, immigration, medical or financial advice. Prices, visa rules and transport schedules change, and each figure shows the month we last verified it. Confirm anything that affects your trip (entry requirements, fees, health rules) with the official government or provider source before you book or travel. The site has no affiliate links today; our affiliate disclosure explains what we will do if that changes.