Tam Cốc-Bích Động

Everything you need to know: First, you must buy tickets at the ticket office which is 300m away. The ticket price is 250k per person or 500k for a private boat if you are a single. Otherwise you can have up to 4 people (I think) on a boat but it’s still 250k per person. The ticket price includes an electric shuttle from the ticket office to the starting point and back.

The ticket price also includes as many stops along the river as you like BUT if you don’t tell the boat driver, they won’t make any stops. Without stops the total time up and down the river is a little less than 1.5 hours.

There are about 4 potentially interesting stops along the river. I suggest stopping at the end for a short walk, as it’s nice to stretch the legs and walk over a few beautiful bridges. The water is also cleanest there. The other stop you ABSOLUTELY MUST make is Gioi Ravine. You’ll see a sign for it along the river, before entering the second cave. It’s a short 5-10 minute walk through narrow rocks but it’s vertical and up stairs the entire way. At the top is the most beautiful viewpoint, it’s top 3 best places we’ve seen in Vietnam. So many boats passed this stop and it’s a shame because this is a MUST do.

There is only one route up and back, you’ll pass beautiful rice paddies and go through 3 caves in a nice looking boat as you’re towed along the river by the drivers feet. I strongly suggest you bring an umbrella to protect from the sun and water because it gets hot! There was only shade in the caves and at stopping points along the river. We went around 10am in May and it wasn’t too crowded on the river, maybe a bit on the way back.

It’s also important to point out the boat drivers are paid with your ticket price, so I don’t understand why people are suggesting you tip. Most boat drivers will try to sell you artwork or similar towards the end and they will strongly suggest you tip them. This was the only negative for us, as our driver demanded we tip her for the last 5 minutes of the trip. Tipping is not customary in Vietnam so we did not tip, and I’m from the US. Of course feel free to tip if you like but you definitely shouldn’t feel required to and it definitely shouldn’t be demanded by the drivers. Hope this helps.