3-Day Hanoi-Ninh Binh-Halong-Lan Ha Bay 5 Star Cruise & Balcony

We really enjoyed this 3 day, 2 night tour. The bus picked us up in Hanoi and we visited a bunch of sites on the way to Ninh Binh. Everything was very organized. James, our guide was great. We liked all of our stops - the temple, the row boat, the hike and lotus fields. The Bungalow hotel in Ninh Binh wasn't exactly luxurious, but the manager, Pineapple, was so much fun and the was delicious. The bus ride to Halong Bay was long, but comfortable. The highlight of the tour was the boat. Tim, the boat manager, was so personable and attentive. He managed to get us to the various attractions before the crowds. The boat was very fancy, the food was delicious. The only thing we would change is to stay a second night.

Cruise was great. Not only Ha Long bay but all staffs I met was fantastic! Very well organized trip.

We had a great time on this tour! The transportation was comfortable, food was good, and itinerary was packed with fun activities. Andy and Henry were great guides and made the trip very memorable.

The tour was breathtaking. Our tour guide, Long, was very informative about the local histories, helpful with tips and tricks regarding the tour. The cruise itself is very beautiful, the balcony room was definitely worth it.

This is NOT a 3-day Ninh Binh-Halong-Lan Ha tour. This is a 1-day Ninh Binh tour and a separate 2-day Halong tour, plus a transfer between them. I think many of the positive reviews here were asked for the guides or the operator, especially where guide name is included. I will write here in detail what really happened on this tour step by step. We booked this because we thought that we will go with a tourist group and a guide from beginning till end. Instead, we had different guides for every place and we changed groups 2 times. Also we thought that as we are sleeping in Ninh Binh and in Halong Bay, we will have a little more time to explore the places in more detail. Instead, the extra time was spent with waiting for transfers, for the guides being on the phone organizing the transfers, as everyone was on a completely different tour. The transfers were very long, as we were picking up and dropping off tourists at various places. We missed 1-2 activities included in the description above as we were waiting for the guide to arrange the transfer of others before ours. 1st day: they picked us up in Hanoi on time. The guide was kind, spoke English very well. Told us interesting things about Vietnam and Ninh Binh. The way to Ninh Binh from Hanoi is around 2 hours, but we stopped for 30 mins in a department store/souvenir shop. I had the feeling the tour operator had an agreement with the shop owner that transfers stop there so tourist spend their money there. Atfer we arrived to Ninh Binh we went to Hoa Lu by bike. The ride was amazing, with nice view. Hoa Lu is crowded and nothing special. We did not have enough time to wait the queue to the main temple. Then we had lunch, which was excellent. After that Tam Coc boat ride (if you want to choose between Trang An and Tam Coc, you have to write them in advance, otherwise they allocate you randomly and you cannot change). A 2 dollar tip there is almost compulsory. We were in Nov, and Tam Coc was not as nice as on the pictures as it was not rice season. If it is not season I recommend Trang An. After that we climbed to the viewpoint, very-very crowded, but nice. We had to hurry as we had to be back to the parking space on time. Than we waited 45 mins (no exaggaration here), as the guide was organizing transfers for every participant, as everyone continued elsewhere. We made some friends and we were separated. In this 45 mins we could have walked around, but we had to stand in a dusty parking lot. By the time we arrived to our accomodation it was too late and dark for cycling. Dinner was good. We started socializing again as everyone in that hotel went to Halong, we thought that we will go together. 2nd day: Toast for breakfast was moldy. On the road we stopped again for 30mins at a similar shop, although for toilet 10mins is enough I think and everyone on the bus had breakfast. Near Halong bay, we stopped 3-4 times, separated the group again so had to say goodbye to the new friends again. Some tourists continued with a different bus, some were dropped off at some kind of port. When we arrived to our place, we got a new guide. We waited again for 30mins for this new guide to collect others. Finally on the boat, there was a huge spanish group (45 peolpe) knowing each other, and us, a couple. So obviously we couldnt make any friends. Luch on the boat was great, our room was good. After that they took us to a cave, which was nice but very crowded. After that an island with a viewpont but it was so crowded that it was impossible to make a picture on the top, there was a beach but terribly dirty and crowded, extremely disappointing. All the tours bring the tourists to the same place, so during this 1,5 day in Halong we were only at crowded places and I feel that we completely missed the natural beauty of the Bay. The area is very big but they take all the tourist groups to only 2-3 places. Even at night we saw ~30 boats around us, couple of them was very loud with a disco on board. Dinner was seafood, we liked it. Drinks on board are not included. Guide here was extremely nice, treated us two very kindly and his English was also very good. 3rd day: Breakfast was ok. We went to visit some smaller bay, either with kayak or boat. It was nice, but again, so so crowded, the bay was literally FULL of kayaks, our kayak was constantly touching others etc. Brunch was good but it is not a lunch! (At 9:30. This is the "lunch" included in this trip) After we arrived to the port we waited 30mins onboard to finally get off the boat, because they said the spanish group had a flight so they have to take care of them first. When we disembarked, we waited another 30mins for our driver. On the way back to Hanoi, obviously, we stopped for 30mins at a souvenir shop. None of the drivers spoke English. But az least they gave us water. So all in all, with this tour we didnt see any more of Ninh Binh or of Halong than if we booked a 1-day trip to Ninh Binh AND a 2-day trip to Halong. (For example in Ninh Binh when we waited in the parking lot at the end of the day, some tourists went back to Hanoi, so we ended the day at the same time.)