Van Long Nature Reserve - one of the highlight destinations in Ninh Binh, which attracts more and more tourists to discover the natural beauty and rustic local life.
More and more tourists are interested in pristine destinations, immersed in nature, and staying away from the city's noise. Located in the famous tourist land of Ninh Binh, Van Long is like "a sleeping beauty in the forest" with a pure, enchanting beauty.
Van Long Nature Reserve is a place that owns 2 records from the Vietnam Record Book Center in 2010. It is the place with the biggest community of Delacour's langur and the place with the largest natural painting. Van Long was also recognized as Vietnam's 9th Ramsar site in 2019.
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5 Reasons to Visit Van Long Nature Reserve
1. Beautiful natural landscape
With an area of up to 3500ha, Van Long brings the features of a vast, peaceful rural area dotted with karst mountains, which makes you fall in love. Floating on the water's surface are limestone massifs named following their shapes such as Meo Cao Mountain, Sticky Rice Mountain, Hom Sach Mountain, Da Ban Mountain, Nghien Mountain, Mo Coi Mountain, Fairy Mountain, etc.
Van Long Nature Reserve
Van Long Nature Reserve also boasts thousands of nature caves, of which many large caves are valuable for tourism such as Hang Ca (Fish Cave), Bong Cave, Turtle Cave, and Chanh Cave. Hang Bong is a beautiful cave with more than 100m long. Particularly, Hang Ca (Fish Cave) is 250 m long, 8 m high, and 10 m wide, which is the most beautiful cave in this area. As the name suggests, Hang Ca is home to many species of fish.
Take a wooden boat cruise on Van Long Lagoon with IZITOUR
Van Long Lagoon is known as "no wave bay". The water's surface is flat like a giant mirror, clearly reflecting the image of blue sky, white clouds, and majestic mountains. The water here is so clear that you can see the layers of green moss at the bottom and the school of fish running around. In the summer, if you want, you can soak up in the cool water, it will truly be an unforgettable experience!
Van Long's beautiful landscape
2. Extremely diverse ecosystem
Van Long is the largest wetland nature reserve in the Red River Delta region. Nature lovers will not be disappointed when coming to this place. It is home to 39 animal species and 722 plant species, many of which are listed in the Red Book. Hundreds of bird species also reside here. At sunset, flocks of birds fly towards the lagoon and the rice fields foraging, making for a beautiful view!
In particular, you will have a chance to see the white rump langur in Van Long - a monkey listed on the list of the 25 most endangered primate species in the world. This species is only in the North of Vietnam and about 40 individuals of Delacour's langur are living in the Van Long reserve.
Delacour's langur in Van Long
3. Wild place, few tourists
Tourism has been operated in Van Long since 1998, but the destination still retains its pristine beauty and has not been much affected by mass tourism.
Unlike Tam Coc or Trang An, which is so famous with tourists, where the boat pier is always full of tourists. In Van Long, you will find a different peaceful scene. A simple dock with rustic boats, beautiful natural scenery like a watercolor painting, without any human arrangement.
The boat rowers are very friendly. You will not encounter people who try to convince tourists to buy things or take photos like in Tam Coc. The trip is therefore much more pleasant.
Immense scenery in Van Long
4. Many activities related to the authentic life of local people
In Van Long, besides the nature reserve, you can also explore the daily life of very gentle and simple local people.
Renting a bicycle, you can leisurely ride on the dike or the village roads, admiring the vast rice fields, and gently meandering rivers, etc. You can stop and have a nice conversation with friendly locals, enjoying a peaceful rustic life.
Biking in Van Long
Not far from Van Long Wharf is Thung La Temple, an ancient temple dating back to the reign of King Dinh Tien Hoang, which contains many interesting historical stories.
Van Long is also famous for its traditional hand embroidery. And you will have the opportunity to experience an embroidery lesson with a village artisan.
If you cannot cycle, you can ride buffalo and ox cart - an activity that is also very popular in Van Long.
5. The cheapest boat trip in Ninh Binh
Compared to Tam Coc or Trang An, the ticket prices to visit and take a boat trip in Van Long are much cheaper. Only around 100,000 VND/person (boat of 2) for a boat trip of about 1 hour – to 1.5 hours.
How to organize a day tour in Van Long?
Located 80km from Hanoi city, it takes 2 hours by car to go to Van Long Nature Reserve.
8:00 AM: Transfer from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, driving through the picturesque countryside of the Red River Delta, painted by rice and vegetable fields. After a 1.5 hour drive, you will arrive in Van Long where you will meet a typical 3-generation rural family. Be welcomed to their home with a cup of tea and learn about their idyllic local lifestyles through intimate conversation.
Take a 15km bike ride (optional) or walk through the villages. A journey along the dyke will offer you gorgeous landscapes of rice fields, a river, and limestone mountains. There are several stops where you can take beautiful photos or encounter the locals, and then you can walk to discover Thung La temple, dating back to the 11th century. Meet Mr Tuong, the temple guardian, and enjoy an authentic conversation as well as a 20-minute drum show.
Lunch in a local restaurant with regional specialties such as goat meat, burned rice, and mountain snails.
Later, take a sampan boat trip along the stream and among the limestone mountains to discover the beauty of the Van Long nature reserve. If lucky, you might get to see white monkeys and egrets on the cliffs. After the boat trip, visit an embroidery village and take part in an embroidery course under the instruction of a local craftswoman, Mrs Lam. She will proudly explain the techniques of her traditional craft. This will be a good opportunity for you to practice on fabric like a real craftsman.
Return to Hanoi and arrive around 6:00 p.m.
End of the tour.
Note: Wearing shoes is recommended. The biking distance is flexible.
Check real-time price for Van Long tour
We hope this blog can answer some of your wonders and help you make your final decision about visiting Van Long, Ninh Binh. Should you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below or directly contact us via email: sm@izitour.com or Whatsapp: +84 382 536 266.
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