It's a relaxed trip to Ninh Binh. Just trust the guide even if you don't know what happens next. We enjoyed the 2 boat rides, but they are really long. We were surprised we liked both. If you can't see beauty in rocks / nature, go for the 1-day trip. At the second boat tour you get "attacked" by locals in the middle of the boat ride to buy souvenirs / food. It's really annoying and sometimes scary. We could have skipped Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and the Pagoda (you just see it from far away). You run through both attractions and if you have seen old asian citys or pagodas, it's the same. They are very time consuming too. If you take 2 days you will do the same restaurant and bycicle trip. Our guide was helpful with taking pictures, but he was quite stressed to get everyone around. There was not much time for history lessons. The food at the Tam Coc Tropical Homestay is simple but enough and good. We were surprised as it's a really nice homestay. The Mua m

Overall, the tour was very good. Travellers need to understand these companies mix and match tours so we were with one group the first day and another group the second day. Travelled to our destination (2 hours) in a nice roomy bus but returned home in a cramped mini-van that was less than comfortable. The tour operator also put us up in a distant guest house far from the center of town where we were the only guests. Food was terrible for the most part at all the stops and at our guest house.

The tour was on the whole as described. However, you have to know that there were basically two one-day tours. We were in Tam Coc suspended at the end of the first day (noon at 2). Day 2 was almost the same as Day 1 (including a stop at the same restaurant for lunch with the same mediocre food). The two-day tour is worth it, I think rather not. What to see: Boat trip from Trang An, Bich Dong Pagoda, Mua Cave with lookout point. The guides were all super nice and caring, that's big plus.