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Northern Vietnam to Hoi An, on two wheels
Photo: minhphuc_99kdd, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Sample trip

Northern Vietnam to Hoi An, on two wheels

Two weeks for a couple on a sensible budget: Hanoi's street food, four days on the back of a motorbike through the mountains of Ha Giang, bicycles among the limestone of Ninh Binh and a slow finish in Hoi An.

14 days, 13 nightsFor a coupleHomestays and small hotelsStreet food
HanoiHanoiHa GiangHa GiangDong VanDong VanNinh BinhNinh BinhHoi AnHoi An
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Vietnam rewards travellers who go slowly and eat everywhere. This route starts in the lanes of Hanoi's Old Quarter, then heads north to Ha Giang, the mountain province on the Chinese border, where the Ha Giang loop climbs through karst peaks and Hmong villages to the Ma Pi Leng pass, one of the most dramatic roads in Asia. You ride pillion with experienced local drivers, so nobody needs a motorbike licence or nerves of steel. Then come bicycle days among the rice fields and river caves of Ninh Binh, and a last week in Hoi An, a lantern-lit trading town with tailors, cooking classes and a beach ten minutes away. April is dry and warm in the north, before the summer heat.

Into the Old Quarter

Day1

Getting there

Fly into Hanoi (HAN); a driver meets you for the 45 minutes into the city.

Where you're staying

La Siesta Classic Ma May, a boutique hotel on Ma May street in the Old Quarter, a few minutes' walk from Hoan Kiem Lake and quiet once the door closes.

  • Rooms look over the tiled roofs of the Old Quarter; ask for a high floor
A room with a window over the Old Quarter roofs
A double room
A suite with a carved wooden bed
A twin room
Coffee in the room

Photos: lasiestahotels.com

Evening

A walk round Hoan Kiem Lake as the lights come on, and egg coffee in a café up a narrow staircase.

Hanoi by mouth, then the night bus north

Day2

Morning

Breakfast of pho on a low plastic stool, the Temple of Literature, and the Old Quarter's streets of single trades: tin, silk, paper offerings.

Lunch

Bún chả is Hanoi's lunch: pork patties and belly grilled over charcoal on the pavement, served in a sweet-sour broth with rice noodles and a basket of herbs.

  • The best places cook only at lunchtime and sell out; follow the smoke
Grilled pork in broth with noodles and herbs
A bún chả tray with fresh greens
A family bún chả shop on a Hanoi street
Breakfast on low stools near Hoan Kiem Lake

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (Phương Huy, Hong.linh27061994, Phan Minh Tuấn, Rudolph.A.Furtado; CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0)

Evening

A sleeper bus with flat beds leaves Hanoi in the evening and arrives in Ha Giang in the early hours; it is part of the tour.

Heaven's Gate and Yen Minh

Day3

The day

Breakfast in Ha Giang, meet your drivers, and ride north over Heaven's Gate at Quan Ba to a homestay in Yen Minh.

To the top of Vietnam

Day4

The day

Through Hmong villages and the old Vuong family palace to the flag tower at Lung Cu, the country's northernmost point, and a night in Dong Van.

Flagship day

The Ma Pi Leng pass

Day5

Day 5

The ride

From Dong Van the road climbs onto Ma Pi Leng, a pass cut into the side of a limestone wall with the jade-green Nho Que river hundreds of metres below, then winds down to Meo Vac and on to a homestay in the valley of Du Gia.

  • Stop at the viewpoint on the top of the pass early, before the tour groups arrive
  • A boat trip on the Nho Que through the Tu San gorge is an easy detour from the bottom
The Nho Que river deep in the gorge
Hairpins through the hills
Sunrise over the pass
The road between limestone peaks
The valley on the way to Dong Van

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (MapStaringEnthusiast, Benjamin Smith, Hoach Le Dinh, Jaybeelarsay, Zennysmile; CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Road of Happiness

The road over Ma Pi Leng was cut by hand in the 1960s by young volunteers from the region's ethnic minorities, and is still called the Happiness Road.

Who takes you

QT Motorbikes, a family-run company in Ha Giang, runs the four-day loop with local easy riders: you ride on the back, they drive, and they know every homestay and noodle stop on the way.

  • About 230 US dollars a person with an easy rider, including the sleeper bus from Hanoi, three homestays, meals and the permit
A rider above the rice terraces
Easy riders with their passengers
The group lined up below the peaks
Riding a quiet mountain road

Photos: qtmotorbikesandtours.com.vn

Back to Ha Giang

Day6

The day

A last morning through rice terraces and waterfalls back to Ha Giang, and the night bus to Hanoi.

To Ninh Binh

Day7

Getting there

Two hours south by car to a small family hotel among the rice fields of Tam Coc, with bicycles at the door.

Bicycles and river caves

Day8

The day

An early rowing boat through the caves of Trang An, then a bike ride on the flat lanes between the karst towers, and the climb to the Mua Cave viewpoint for sunset.

Fly south to Hoi An

Day9

Getting there

Back to Hanoi and a short flight to Da Nang, then 45 minutes to a small garden hotel on the edge of Hoi An's old town.

The old town

Day10

The day

The Japanese bridge and the old merchant houses before the crowds, a fitting at a tailor, and cao lau noodles for dinner by the river.

Cooking in the countryside

Day11

The day

By bicycle through the vegetable village of Tra Que to a morning cooking class, then the afternoon at An Bang beach.

My Son

Day12

The day

An early start to the Cham temple ruins of My Son in the jungle, back by lunchtime for a lazy afternoon.

A free day

Day13

The day

Collect the tailoring, ride the bikes to the beach, and a last dinner of white rose dumplings and grilled fish.

Home

Day14

Getting home

45 minutes to Da Nang airport for the flight home.

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