For the Ninh Binh day trip, you can choose to visit 2 - 3 popular attractions: Hoa Lu - Tam Coc, Hoa Lu- Trang An, Hoa Lu - Tam Coc - Mua Cave. Tam Coc and Trang An are both almost the same in terms of scenery and activity so you should do one or the other but not both. They both involve an hour or 2-hour boat trip along the river and are fairly close together.