How to Get From Ninh Binh to Phong Nha

Hi Abbey! From Thao Nguyen Homestay, it takes about 30min by motorbike. If your rent a bike, I recommend you to make a full loop and visit Paradise cave on the same day. From Phong Nha Rustic Home, it is about the same distance. Thanks their free bicycle rental, you can also decide to cycle to this cave, which should take a bit less than 1,5 hour.

Before you go: Keep in mind that you cannot go into this cave on your own. You need to be with a large group or wait till another group arrives who you can join. When we got there early morning with 3 people, we needed to wait for a tour bus so we could join another group.

Hi Lisa, there are no night buses on this route. If you want to travel during the day, you can take train SE7 or SE5 to Dong Hoi and from there a bus or taxi to Phong Nha. However I would recommend to travel by night and enjoy an extra day in tam coc/ninh binh instead. Have a safe trip!

Hi Chiara,

Thanks for sharing this link! BookAway has a great user interface and is a trustworthy website. The only problem is that their tickets are sometimes a few dollar higher than Balao or when you buy them at location.

When I traveled this route from Ninh Binh to Phong Nha last year, I bought a ticket in Tam Coc with Queen VIP Bus. The bus drive was alright for us, but there were also people who needed to sleep on the floor because there were not enough available seats for all passengers. So always good to be there early!

Let me know your experiences and if I can find some more trustworthy confirmations, I will add this option to this page as well!

Hi Roxanne! Good question!

It would be very convenient if a company would offer this, but unfortunately it is not possible.

For buses there is no way this will fit. They already struggle to get all backpacks on board.

With the train, you could send your bike with a freight train, but this will take several days and you cannot travel with the same train. I heard some stories that travellers who managed to get their bike on a train on some routes by paying some extra dongs to the staff. Obviously, this is not an official way and you need some strong negotiating skills. I wouldn’t recommend to place your bet on this very rare possibility.

Summing up, I think there is only one thing I can tell you: Enjoy the 8 hour motorbike ride!

First of all, when travelling by bus in Vietnam take in mind that bus drivers don't always drive safe. Also staff can be rude, busses get overbooked, they tell you there is a toilet while there is none etc. However, for this route it saves you 3 hours and you don't have the hassle with changing to bus/train. You can read more about the differences between busses or train on this page: geckoroutes.com

For Hung Thanh bus in specific, there are indeed several bad reviews, but this is not much different than other bus companies. I travelled myself with Queen Cafe VIP Bus, which I booked at our guesthouse in Tam Coc. We luckily got our seats, but some people had to sleep on the floor/walkway of the bus because the bus was overbooked. I think it helped that we booked via our guesthouse which doesn't want to get a bad reputation and makes sure you get the seat you paid for.

For me, the bus drive went very smoothly. Comfortable seats and I slept almost all the ride. About 10min before you arrive in Phong Nha they will wake you up so you can get ready to put your stuff together. When we arrived, the hotel manager was even waiting on us at the bus stop when we arrived! She know we would come by bus because we let her know on booking.com (booking.com) that we would arrive in the night between 4:00-5:00.

So its really up to you what you choose. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the bad reviews. Most of the times everything is allright and it will be very convenient, but remember that you take an extra risk by travelling by bus and taking the train will be safer!

Hi Lindsay, I advise you to book an accommodation in advance and contact them. With a bit of luck you can already check-in and otherwise wait in the Lobby. We booked with booking.com and we set the arrival time at 4:00. When we got out of the bus, the lady from our hotel was already waiting and let us already into our rooms. However, better contact them advance to make sure the hotel will be open when you arrive.

If you want to tavel by plane from Ninh Binh to Phong Nha, you will first have to go back to Hanoi (2-3hrs), go to Hanoi airport (1 hr). To travel from Hanoi to Phong Nha (geckoroutes.com), you will have to fly from Hanoi to Dong Hoi (1hr) and then take a bus or taxi to Phong Nha (6 hr).

If you don't like to travel by bus because, we would advise taking the train instead of flying. From Ninh Binh, you can travel directly to Dong Hoi and take a bus/taxi from Dong Hoi to Phong Nha. This will save you the trip to Hanoi and will therefore be be much easier.