Vietnam Hill Tribes Motorbike Tour

Today you have time to explore Hanoi on your own. We recommend our optional bicycle tour, as it shows you a completely different side of the city. Together with a local guide, you cycle through the Old Quarter, narrow alleys, lively markets and residential neighbourhoods that most visitors never get to see. Along the way, you visit some of Hanoi’s well known sights, including the famous Train Street, the historic Long Bien Bridge, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the government district. You will also discover hidden temples and small cafés, while enjoying local snacks and drinks. This gives you an authentic insight into the daily life of the Vietnamese people while getting used to Vietnamese traffic and the tropical climate. Would you prefer to spend the day differently? You can also join a Jeep tour or explore the city on your own and end the day on one of Hanoi’s many rooftop terraces overlooking the city.

Today, you leave the noise of the city behind and begin your motorcycle journey with a visit to Green Village in Bac Giang. This village was once home to the Cao Lan ethnic minority, whose lives were shaped by livestock farming and the cultivation of yellow and green tea. You ride through bamboo groves and past vast tea and tobacco plantations stretching to the horizon. Around midday, we reach the Dong Lam Grasslands, also known as Magic Valley or Little Mongolia, a valley surrounded by hills and a large lake where wild horses roam freely. It is a popular destination for day trips. Afterwards, the motorcycle tour continues to Bac Son, where your hosts at the homestay welcome you with a typical Vietnamese dinner.

The day begins with a ride to a little known cave, a rock formation around 200 million years old that played an important role during the Vietnam War. After exploring the cave, you continue your motorcycle journey along narrow back roads. The route takes you through rural landscapes, past small villages, quiet rivers and the Tien Nu Waterfall until you reach That Khe, where you stop for lunch. In the afternoon, you continue towards the Chinese border. You ride through green valleys, past impressive karst mountains and along quiet roads with wonderful views. You spend the night in a good local hotel in the village.

The route takes us through a varied landscape of tobacco fields and karst mountains to Ban Gioc Waterfall. It is one of the largest waterfalls in Southeast Asia and lies directly on the border with China. After lunch, we follow small roads along the Chinese border to Phúc Sen. The village has been known for its blacksmithing for centuries. Even today, knives are still made here by hand using traditional methods. A few kilometres further on, we visit an incense village and get an insight into the traditional production of incense sticks. Following winding roads, we eventually reach God’s Eye Mountain (Núi Mắt Thần). This distinctive limestone formation with its large natural opening lies within the Non Nuoc Cao Bang UNESCO Global Geopark, surrounded by karst mountains, meadows and small lakes. From there, we continue to Cao Bang, where we stay overnight in a comfortable hotel in the city centre.

You ride west through Northern Vietnam, passing mountains and rice fields. Along the way, you stop at Angel Eye Mountain, often referred to as the little sister of God’s Eye Mountain. The route continues towards the Chinese border, passing small border villages, military checkpoints and striking karst landscapes. After lunch, the Na Tenh Pass and Khau Coc Tra Pass await, two of the most beautiful mountain roads in the region and ideal photo stops for motorcycle riders. In the late afternoon, you reach Bao Lac, a lively market town where several ethnic minorities come together.

Shortly after departure, the first gravel sections lead us to the emerald-green Nho Que River. If the weather allows, we cross the river on a bamboo raft together with the motorcycles. We then continue to Meo Vac, home to the Hmong and Lolo ethnic groups. This is where the legendary Ha Giang Loop begins, also known as the Happiness Road – one of Vietnam’s best-known motorcycle routes. It takes us through deep gorges and over high mountain passes. One of the highlights is the Ma Pi Leng Pass, with wide views over the Nho Que Valley – an ideal place for a photo stop. In the afternoon, we reach Dong Van, a small mountain town in the UNESCO Global Geopark. The historic old quarter, with its traditional houses, is worth exploring on foot. We stay here for two nights.

The Dong Van Sunday Market is one of the best-known markets in Northern Vietnam and a regular meeting place for the ethnic minorities of the region. Hmong, Lolo, Tay and many others gather here to trade goods and meet friends and acquaintances. The afternoon is at your leisure. You can explore the Old Quarter, visit the former Hmong King’s Palace or ride to the Lũng Cú Flag Tower. The tower marks the northernmost point of Vietnam and offers wide views across the karst landscape towards the Chinese border.

The route first takes you through the UNESCO Global Geopark Dong Van Karst to Yên Minh. On winding roads, you ride through a landscape of black limestone mountains. Between the rocks, local people use every small piece of land to grow corn, vegetables and herbs, with almost everything still cultivated by hand. After Yên Minh, the route continues through the mountains towards Ha Giang. This section is one of the best known motorcycle routes in Northern Vietnam. Along the way, we visit the Lung Tam Linen Weaving Cooperative. Here, women from the Hmong minority show how fabric is made from hemp, from spinning and weaving to decorating with beeswax and dyeing with natural indigo. In the afternoon, you reach Ha Giang City.

After leaving Ha Giang, you ride along narrow concrete roads through banana groves, cinnamon plantations and small villages. People here still follow traditional ways of life and often greet passing motorcyclists with a friendly smile or a wave. The narrow roads continue to climb towards Heaven’s Gate, a viewpoint with wide views over the surrounding mountain landscape. From here, you continue to the Nam Ty Viewpoint, overlooking the famous rice terraces of Hoang Su Phi, which have been carefully carved into the mountainsides for centuries. Overnight in a lodge surrounded by nature, with an infinity pool and views across the valley.

In the morning, you enjoy breakfast at this beautiful accommodation before crossing the bridge over the river to reach your motorcycle again. If conditions allow, today we will cross another, much more exciting bamboo bridge by motorcycle. This bridge is rebuilt every year by the local people after the rainy season. It certainly adds an extra dose of adventure to the ride. Our destination today is Bac Ha, where we stay for two nights.

The route follows winding mountain roads through remote valleys, past rice terraces, cornfields and small villages to Lung Khau Nhin. Along the way, there are wide views of the mountains along the Chinese border region. The small mountain village is known for its traditional Thursday market. Members of the Hmong, Dao, Tay, Nung and other ethnic minorities gather here to trade livestock, vegetables, fabrics and handmade goods. The market is much smaller and more traditional than the well known markets of Bac Ha or Sa Pa and offers a good insight into the daily life of the mountain communities. In the afternoon, you return to Bac Ha via a different scenic route.

The route takes you from the mountains around Bac Ha towards Thac Ba Lake. Gradually, the rugged karst mountains give way to a gentler landscape of rolling hills with tea plantations, rice fields and small villages. You ride along winding back roads through rural North Vietnam before the final kilometres follow the shores of Thac Ba Lake, the largest man made lake in Vietnam. In the afternoon, you reach Vu Linh, a village of the Dao ethnic minority. At a family run homestay directly on the lake, you get an insight into the daily life and hospitality of the local people.

You say goodbye to the village of Vu Linh and make your way back to Hanoi. In the morning, quiet country roads take you once more through rice fields, small villages and rolling hills. The closer you get to the capital, the busier the traffic becomes. The final kilometres require your full concentration before you ride into bustling Hanoi. Surrounded by motorcycles, cars and street vendors, you experience daily life in this city of millions up close – a fitting end to your motorcycle tour through North Vietnam.

Today your motorcycle tour through Northern Vietnam comes to an end. You will be transferred to the airport.

If you wish, you can extend this trip with two days to visit Ha Long Bay by boat, one of the wonders of nature and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the morning you will be picked up from your hotel by minibus and transferred to Halong Bay. The journey takes about 4 hours. The peaked mountains in Halong Bay make this bay very special and it is beautiful to cruise through. You arrive at Halong Bay around noon. Here you board a traditional boat with other(international) tourists. You will then enter the bay and spend the night on the boat in a beautiful setting. If there is interest in caving, we will stop at various caves.

In the morning we come back ashore and get back into the minibus. There is a lot of traffic between the coast and the capital Hanoi, the closer you get to the capital the worse it gets. In the afternoon you could see old Hanoi around the old centre. Depending on your flight, you will travel to the airport in the evening or the next morning.

You get an aiport transfer to the airport in Hanoi.