Day 1: Ha Noi to Mai Chau (160 kilometers / 99 miles / four hours)
You will start the motorbike tour from the office at 08:30. After about 30 minutes, you'll ride your bikes along the dike of Red River to get out of Ha Noi City. Wind your way to Hoa Binh town. On the way, you will be making your own way through the villages and valleys of Ha Tay and Hoa Binh Province.
Then, you will stop for lunch in Hoa Binh town, visit the hydro-power plant, and continue hitting the roads up hills to the Kun pass and onto nice roads offering spectacular views over the valleys and mountains. You will arrive in Mai Chau by afternoon, it's time to explore before overnighting in a traditional Thai stilt houses.
Mai Chau is located in a flat valley and surrounded by high limestone mountain ranges with forests. This place is a home to Thai hill tribes who are used to living in the houses on stilts.
After having the dinner at the local family, you'll have a chance to enjoy a very interesting and special music dancing performance made by young boys and girls in this village meanwhile tasting their traditional jar-wine. You will spend a night at a homestay in Mai Chau.
Day 2: Mai Chau to Cuc Phuong National Park (170 kilometers / 106 miles / five hours)
After breakfast, you'll continue on the main Mai Chau road heading south. It will be a long drive today, but soon you'll be enjoying the wonderful sightseeing along the narrow road through a valley of this vast limestone mountain range. It will bring on the feeling of adventure whilst being lost in a magical land, passing some villages and meeting some minority people along the way.
Afterward, you'll have lunch at a local restaurant before joining the Ho Chi Minh trail. Arrive in Cuc Phuong National Park by afternoon. After you've become acquainted with your overnight accommodation, there'll be plenty of time to explore the local area. Dinner and overnight will be in the national park area.
Day 3: Cuc Phuong to Ninh Binh (60 kilometers / 37 miles / one and a half hours)
Today, first of all, you'll visit the primate rescue center, butterfly museum, lookout, and then ride through Cuc Phuong Forest to the park center. There will be a short break, then a trek for three hours to the Tetrameles nudiflora (Sequoia), a 1,000-year-old tree. Then you will jump on your bikes for a ride around the park, passing by the local ferry and on into Ninh Binh town. Overnight will be at a hotel.
Day 4: Ninh Binh to Ha Noi (110 kilometers / 68 miles / three hours)
Today, you will ride to Tam Coc / Thungang cave for a three-hour boat trip to "Ha Long Bay on land". Later on, you will have lunch at the riverside restaurant, before riding through villages by the river, rocks, rice fields, and temples to Hoa Lu where you will visit the ancient capital city of Hoa Lu. Afterward, hit your road towards Hanoi. You will arrive in Hanoi around 18:00.
Skill level(s) required for this tour: Beginner, intermediate, advanced
Beginner
- Can ride for 2-3 hours
- Minimal riding experience
- Assistance required
- Comfortable with curves and leans
- Basic experience with unsurfaced roads
- Short distance ascents and descents
Intermediate
- Can ride for 3-4 hours
- Average riding experience
- Little assistance required
- Comfortable with extreme curves and leans
- Average experience with unsurfaced roads
- Steep ascents and descents
Advanced
- Can ride for 5-6 hours
- Extensive riding experience
- Assistance on demand (if required)
- Experienced with riding a variety of motorcycles
- Comfortable with any terrain and weather conditions