10 Day Adventure from North to Central Vietnam

Borders X Beaches

World-class Danang motorcycle tour, from the hills and beaches of the south all the way up to the country’s capital, Hanoi. Experience the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Phong Nha and a multitude of jungles and other national parks, the stepped rice fields of Mu Cang Chai and the old colonial hill station of Sapa.

Location

Vietnam

Distance

1600 km

Duration

10 days

Difficulty

Intermediate

Pillion

pillions welcome

Day 1: Danang – Hue

Start your Danang motorcycle tour by riding directly to Son Tra Peninsula. It’s home to an absolutely gorgeous coastal road, as well as Linh Un Pagoda. This spot offers a panoramic view of the surrounding area. On the way north to Hue we’ll ride the Hai Van Pass: made famous by Top Gear in their Vietnam Special, it’s easily one of the coolest mountain passes in a country famous for its mountain passes.

Day 2: Hue – Khe Sanh

Head inland from Vietnam’s Ancient Capital towards the Laotian border and the town of Khe Sanh. This area was the site of a few major battles during the Vietnam War, and there’s a cool abandoned airbase we’ll check out before heading to our hotel. The runway there is massive, and a great spot for having a bit of fun on a motorcycle!

Day 3: Khe Sanh – Phong Nha

Now it’s on to the Ho Chi Minh Highway, one of the most famous roads in the country. Ride over rolling hills through miles of virgin forest as you make your way north to UNESCO World Heritage Site Phong Nha National Park. There’s actually a big windfarm on the way, too, and the road runs right up close to the massive turbines.

Day 4: Exploration Day

One of the largest protected karst landscapes in South East Asia, Phong Nha’s full of limestone mountains, biodiverse forests and some absolutely massive caves. It’s the perfect place to do a bit of exploring. We usually like to take a boat along the Con River and into the cave systems, but you’re free to simply chill by the hotel pool if you prefer!

Day 5: Phong Nha – Tan Ky

Continue winding your way north on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, over mountains and through valleys, forests and plantations. The road’s nice and fast, giving you the opportunity to open up a bit. This is ideal, because today’s our biggest day’s riding: we’re headed up to the mountains, forests and stepped rice fields of north Vietnam.

Day 6: Tan Ky – Pu Luong

Once we reach the end of the Ho Chi Minh Highway, it’s not too far to Pu Luong Nature Reserve. The roads both in and out of Pu Luong offer some fantastic views, since most of it is set in a deep valley. There are some fun little single tracks in the area, as well as river we can take a dip in, and the whole place has a really beautiful, relaxed vibe.

Day 7: Pu Luong – Phu Yen

Leave Pu Luong and head through the Mai Chau Valley, known for its idyllic beauty and rich cultural identity. Then join Highway 6, a historic road built by the French way back in the 1950s, before crossing the Black River on a little Ferry. Phu Yen town isn’t bad, either—we know a couple of really good little eateries there.

Day 8: Phu Yen – Mu Cang Chai

There’s an awesome mountain range near Phu Yen named Ta Xua. Huge elevation with great views and at the top of one of the mountains there’s a challenging single track called the ‘dinosaur’s spine’. We’ll check out Ta Xua, then the hot springs at Tram Tau, and then continue west to Mu Cang Chai, which is home to the country’s most stunning rice terraces.

Day 9: Mu Cang Chai – Sa Pa

There’s some great riding to me done in Mu Cang Chai, with plenty of small tracks through the rice fields and over the mountains. From there, take the O Quy Ho pass, one of the highest in the country. It skirts the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, and on a clear day offers amazing views of Fansipan Mountain, the ‘Roof of Indochina’.

Day 10: Sa Pa – Lao Cai

It’s not far from Sa Pa to Lao Cai, the city from which we’ll ride the bus down to Hanoi. This means we’ll have some time to explore the old hill town. There’s a cool old church to visit, as well as some really fun roads to rip around in the valley directly below.

Pricing X Availability

Honda XR 150 $1800/rider

Honda CRF 300 $2000/rider

R.E Himalayan 400 $2100/rider

Honda CB 500X $2200/rider

BMW 1250 GS $3200/rider

Tour Gallery

Inclusions X Extras

English-Speaking Guide

Each of our guides has years of experience running motorcycle tours and is an expert on the local area.

All speak English and the local language, and guides who can speak other languages are sometimes available on request.

Motorcycle X Fuel

The cost of hiring your motorcycle is included in that of the tour. All running expenses, including fuel, are included as well.

Food X Drink

All meals are provided, as are drinks and snacks along the way.

You’ll dine sometimes in your accommodation, sometimes at quality local restaurants.

Let us know in advance of any preferences or dietary requirements and we are happy to cater for these.

Accommodation

Accommodation is minimum 3-star quality.

Standard is a twin share room but on occasion (due to remote location) we will share one large, dorm-type room: in a stilt house or a yurt, for example.

All locations have been scouted beforehand and checked for cleanliness and good service.

Waterproof Gear

Conditions in many of our destinations, in Asia, for example, may be really different from your home country.

Rain can be heavy, and start falling at a moment’s notice.

We’ll sort you out with a waterproof rain poncho and overtrousers where necessary.

Private Accommodation

We offer twin-share accommodation as standard. In most locations, though, we can arrange single occupancy if you prefer.

This comes at a small surcharge, but in most tour destinations is quite reasonable.

Motorcycle Gear

While most riders prefer to bring their own gear, we do have a limited range of extra gear (boots, gloves, armour and helmets, for example) in most of our tour destinations.

Naturally, whether or not we’ll be able to supply you with gear depends on size and availability.

Pre X Post Tour Accommodation

We are happy to provide suggestions on pre and post-tour bookings in accommodation: knowing the area well, we know the best places to stay at all price points.

We can even book for you as an added extra without any service fee, sometimes even at a discount.

Charlie Georgiou 4 months ago

Went on tour with ADVOutriders a couple of weeks ago in Vietnam. It was a fantastic tour. We rode the Honda CB 500x up to Ha Giang and Cao Bang. Bikes were great and we really enjoyed it. Highly recommend!

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Hal 9000 4 months ago

Danny and his crew are fantastic. Did a Cambodia trip with them in March, 2024 and it was insanely good! Riding through jungles, hidden temples, awesome off-road tracks: these guys had it all scoped out. Food and lodgings were great. Excellent adventure at a great price. Highly recommended.

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david ellis 4 months ago

Overall a amazing few days spent on the bikes, taking in some lovely scenic trails, well organised and set up, nice and relaxed attitude to life, strongly recommend, love2all!!!

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Derek Page 2 months ago

Did an amazing 7 day trip with ADV in April in northern Vietnam. Great blend of windy pavement, flowy doubletrack and fun singletrack. The guide was super friendly and knowledgeable, taking us on routes off the beaten path, and knew all the best places to stop for tasty food and coffee. Good accommodations as well. Highly recommended!

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Alex 4 months ago

Once in a life time experience, went on a 5 day tour with Danny who was an unbelievable guide, very informative and took us off the beaten track.
We hired the Honda XR 150 and it was perfect, very reasonably priced when you consider the homestays and great food we had.

Will definitely be booking another adventure 10/10.

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