Tam Coc – Bich Dong area is located in Hoa Lu limestone mountain complex. In this area, natural landscapes such as Ngo Dong river, Ca cave, Hai cave, Ba cave… are harmoniously combined with architectural works such as Thai Vi temple (worshiping Tran kings) and pagodas. Bich Dong…, creating a beautiful landscape, dubbed “Nam Thien De Nhi Dong”.

Ca cave , also known as Outside or Lon cave, has a length of about 180m, a width of about 30m, the ceiling of the cave is more than 5m high. This is a cave with many beautiful stalactites hanging down. Due to the high arch of the cave, in the flood season, the water hardly reaches the ceiling of the cave, there is little erosion of the stalactites, so there are more stalactites in the cave than the other two caves.

Hang Hai , also known as Hang Trung, Hang Trung, is about 90m long. The outside mouth of the cave is about 30m wide, the inside is more than 30m, the middle part of the cave is slightly constricted. The ceiling of the cave is about 3.5m high, with many beautiful stalactites.

Hang Ba , also known as Be Cave, has a length of more than 80m. The outside mouth of the cave is about 20m wide, the inside is slightly flared, about 30m wide. The ceiling height of the cave is less than 3m. The cave is often flooded when it rains a lot, leading to the stalactites being eroded, in many places into smooth streaks.

From the cave Ba back is the scenery of rivers, streams, forests, mountains… At the end of this route is Noi Lam temple, worshiping Cao Son Dai Vuong.

Historical relics and scenic spots Bich Dong pagoda and cave is a harmonious combination between the amazing beauty of caves and mountains with the talent and ingenuity of people… The architecture here mainly weakly leaning on cliffs and caves, forming a solid, unified block. The whole pagoda is arranged in the style of “three courts”: the lower is the Lower Pagoda, the next is the Trung Pagoda, the top is the Upper Pagoda. Besides, the ancients took advantage of the dark cave to place Buddha statues and the cliffs to build towers, making the sacred and ancient look of the temple increased many parts.

According to the epitaph in the temple, history books and folk legends, formerly the pagoda and cave were called Bich Son. The pagoda was built during the Le Trung Hung period, associated with the names of the abbots, Tri Kien and Tri The. In the year of Giap Ngo (1774), when marching here, Lord Trinh Sam assigned Nguyen Nghiem to supervise the workers’ wards for 8 months to engrave on the cliff the two words “Bich Dong” – written in alphabetical style. square, the font is 1.5m long, very sharp. Since then, the pagoda’s name is also called Bich Dong.

During the years of resistance against the French, Bich Dong used to be an important base area. Here, Phan Dinh Phung Engineering Workshop was established, to produce weapons. The pagoda and cave are also a place to store food, print propaganda materials, and also a place for combat training of local soldiers and guerrillas.

Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourist area currently has a natural area of ​​350.3 hectares, located 2 km from National Highway 1A, 7 km from Ninh Binh city, mainly located on Ninh Hai commune (Hoa Lu). Just like Trang An, to visit Tam Coc, visitors have to go by boat, down the poetic Ngo Dong River, with clear water there to admire 3 caves in turn. The scenery of Tam Coc is distinguished by the harmonious combination of rock and water. The mountains here take on diverse shapes, one after another, one after another.

Bich Dong Ninh Binh Located 2 km from Tam Coc Ninh Binh. Bich Dong includes a dry cave located halfway up the mountain, and a water cave through the mountain called Xuyen Thuy Dong. In front of the cave is a branch of the Ngo Dong river winding on the side of the mountain and the other side is a rice field.

Xuyen Thuy Dong: is a dark and flooded cave, shaped like a semicircular pipe about 350 m long, 6 m wide, up to 15 m wide at the widest place. The ceiling and walls of the cave are flat, and the stone slabs folded into an arched dome are worth admiring.

Thai Vi Temple

Thai Vi Temple is a place to worship kings and generals of the Tran Dynasty. Previously, this place was built as Vu Lam Palace with the purpose of consolidating forces in the 2nd war against the Nguyen – Mong army.

Located in the midst of the picturesque natural landscape of Tam Coc Ninh Binh , the temple possesses a unique architecture in the style of “foreign domestic and foreign affairs”, which will surely make visitors admire.

Tien Cave – Linh Coc Pagoda

Belonging to Tam Coc Bich Dong Ninh Binh , you can easily visit Tien Cave and Linh Coc Pagoda. 

• Tien Cave: only about 1km from Bich Dong Pagoda with a system of 3 large caves. Looking up at the ceiling of the cave, you will see many stalactites, stone veins with sparkling colors hanging down, like large tree roots. Hesitating to change by nature, the stalactites are honed into many unique shapes such as rice tree, money tree, fairy, tiger, lion, iguana… If viewed from the outside, Tien cave resembles like a magnificent castle. 
• Linh Coc Pagoda: The pagoda faces to the West, with the frontage is a vast field of water, belonging to Moc pagoda mountain. The pagoda dates back to the reign of King Tran Thanh Tong. At the foot of the mountain is a large pagoda yard, on both sides is the ancestral church. The pagoda has 3 compartments facing the northwest, worshiping the holy monk, A Nam Da and the western ancestor. The groom’s house consists of 5 rooms facing Southeast. The Mausoleum faces the southwest with its back to the mountainside, built according to the word “Tam”.

The right time to travel Tam Coc Ninh Binh

Depending on your needs, interests and conditions, you can come to Tam Coc Ninh Binh  at any time of the year. Each season, this place has its own unique scenery and climate. 

• If you want to admire the beauty of the green rice fields, you should go in the period after Tet (from February to March every year).
• If you want to see Tam Coc covered by the color of ripe yellow rice, you should prioritize coming here around the end of May – the beginning of June.
• If you want to visit Tam Coc and experience attractive festivals, you can travel in January – March of the lunar calendar every year. This is the time when the Bai Dinh Pagoda festival and Truong Yen festival take place, which is extremely bustling and has many special activities. 

If you want to see with your own eyes the golden color of the ripe rice fields, the period from late May to early June is the time to visit this place. At that time, the image of green rice fields mixed with ripe yellow rice fields will create a picture with beautiful colors. After Tet is the time when you can admire the lush green fields reaching out to welcome the spring breeze.