Mua Cave from Hanoi

Mua Cave is 100 km by road from Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, about an hour and a half in free-flowing traffic; the tour buses allow about two and a half hours each way with a stop. A day tour leaves the Old Quarter between 07:00 and 08:00 and is back between about 19:00 and 19:35, with Hoa Lu or Bai Dinh, the Trang An boat and the climb on the way.

The calendar above is the day from Hanoi, from $48 in current promotion (usually $55) a person (checked November 2026), transport, guide, entrances and lunch included.

The road

By road, the Mua Cave ticket gate is 100.1 km from Hoan Kiem Lake and the Trang An boat wharf 99.4 km, each about an hour and twenty to an hour and a half in free-flowing traffic. The tours plan two and a half hours each way, with a break of about 15 minutes on the way down.

Pickup, tour by tour

From each listing, November 2026 (GetYourGuide checked November 2026).

Check dates for the day from Hanoi

The Old Quarter bus rule

Since 1 July 2026 Hanoi restricts vehicles with more than 16 seats to off-peak hours in the core of Hoàn Kiếm ward (Quyết định 3273/QĐ-UBND). The listing of DGB - INDOCHINATODAYTRAVEL’s tour gives the bands as 6:00 to 9:00 for pickups and 16:00 to 19:30 for drop-offs in most of the Old Quarter, and names a meeting point: your exact pickup place and time are confirmed within 24 hours after booking. Hotels outside the Old Quarter meet the Real Vietnam Travel Company bus at 120 Le Duan Street, by Hanoi railway station, or 84 Tran Nhan Tong Street, at 07:35.

A night in Ninh Binh instead

About five of the twelve hours are on the road. If you can spend a night in Ninh Binh, the tours from there pick up at your hotel in Tam Coc, Trang An or the city at 8:00 and are back by about 17:15 to 17:20, with Mua Cave at about 15:30. NB Luxury Travel’s day from Ninh Binh is from $53 in current promotion (usually $58) (checked November 2026) with the four sights listed as included; lunch not listed. Ninh Binh railway station is 5.5 km by road from the Mua Cave gate.

Pick your start

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.