Sorry we are in our 60s and my wife walks with a stick... so it’s definitely somewhere for her to sit and watch the world while I wander for a bit. Should have said this clearly in my question

Hi You can take a bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh Takes 2 hours and when there we just hired a driver and car THEhotel can organise one for you It’s pretty cheap

They closes at 05:00pm every day! The boat tour takes about 30 minutes! There is one entrance fee to pay 40 000 VD per person and a fee for the boat 60 000 VD. The Delacour langur can bee seen in the mountains to the right just before entering the cave! Coming out of the cave again the mountains are on the left hand side. Look carefully up in the mountains about 100 meters away for the Delacour langur. Thereare also some birds in Van Long Nature reserve! I did visit in the middle of the day birding is probaly better in the late afternoon.

Plenty of food and drink available at stands in Van Long. Restaurants close by too.

I don’t know if my answer will be very helpful, because our experience was part of a package tour provided by our homestay host that included bicycling, boating, cave tours, and the Van Long boat tour of the Nature Reserve. All of this over the span of one day cost the two of us $58. We weren’t in Tam Coc but a village I think was called Gia Sinh (near the Bai Dinh Pagoda). Our host (Scott at Ninh Binh Family Homestay) arranged all our transportation while we were there so I can’t really break it down into any specific cost. It seemed to me that transportation among the villages might be difficult to arrange without the help of someone local. Good luck and best wishes for happy travels!

We saw one or two, but it was in a flash and very fast. You shouldn't be too worried about them being close to you however.

Hi there. Trang An is definitely more beautiful than Vanlong. The Trang An boat trip is 200.000VND/person (approx 9USD), one boat is for 3-4 persons, boat ride takes 3 hours. Vanlong boat ride is only 1.5 hours. Trang An is more crowded during the weekends. However, there are hundreds of boat so you don't have to wait. If you have any other questions, contact Tommy Pham (Tommy's Service in Ninh Binh). He is a reliable tour advisor in Ninh Binh. Cheers! :)

Good morning Michel, I think that Vietnam is awesome. It´s a perfect place to spend an beautiful holidays. When i was there, to go from Hanoi to Ninh Binh i take a shuttle bus. But i should prefer a train, because the bus was around Hanoi one hour taking new travelers. From Ninh Binh to Hue or Da Nang i went again in sleeping-bus because the train was full two days before. So if you can, buy the train tickets 5 days before your trip to Hue. We slept in Tam Coc in an beatifful, family and comfortable hotel: Anna Tham Hotel. Amazing people. I´m so sorry for my bad English. Kind regards, Alejandra.

I think 2 days is sufficient (two attractions per day). About the place, the city of Ninh Binh is the best choice. There is a good amount of hotel and cateing options there. The city is located between all attractions: Van Long (north - 15 km away), Binh Dong Pagoda (southwest - 8 km away) Trang An (west - 7 km away) and Mua Caves (southwest - 5 km away)