8 Day Vietnam Guided Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phong Nha, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An from Hanoi

Accommodation

Your accommodation will be standard hotels and homestays in single, twin, double, or triple rooms. Your trip will stay in a range of hotels / guesthouses with standardized quality. Vietnam Motorbike Tour endeavors to select a combination of good quality hotels that reflect the character of the local area as well as being as centrally located as possible, all the while striving to keep the cost affordable.

Please be aware that some hotel rooms, especially those in major urban centers or older cities, may be smaller than what you are used to in other parts of the world. Standards and ratings may also be different to your home country.

Rooms are en-suite and either twin or triple-share, depending on what you have booked. If you are a solo traveler, you will always be sharing a room with someone of the same sex otherwise you can pay a supplement to possess a single room.

If you are traveling as a couple and would prefer to have a double bed, please officially request a double room when you are booking this tour. Vietnam Motorbike Tour never presumes that two people traveling together are a couple, even if you share the same surname unless informed otherwise.

Program

Day 1: Hanoi to Phu Yen (Son La), 190 kilometers / 119 miles

Start this special motorbike tour in northern Vietnam with a short ride to Phu Yen.

You start your motorbike ride from the western outskirt of Hanoi, strive to be on a quiet and small road as long as possible to get away from busy traffic. After 2-hour riding, you will be right in a mountain area with countryside roads between green rice and tea fields. Lunch is in little town Thu Cuc after passing the small corner of Ba Vi National Park.

You arrive in Phu Yen town at around 16:30. Get the room and enjoy a short walk around a peaceful town.

Overnight in Phu Yen.

Meals: Lunch and dinner

Day 2: Phu Yen to Mai Chau, 150 kilometers / 94 miles

After breakfast in the hotel, you will have another short and enjoyable motorbike tour in the mountain area of Vietnam. Right after the town, you will ride the motorcycle along the Da River on the winding road until the Da River pier. Put all the bikes on the ferry and start the great ride in another side of the river. You will go all the way up from 300 meters to 1,000 meters above sea level.

This northern Vietnam motorbike tour offers you plenty of breathtaking mountain views. You will stop in Moc Chau plateau for lunch. After that, you will enjoy a great Vietnam motorbike tour on the forgotten French road built in the 1920s. The road shows you plenty of picturesque views and offers you a lot of chance to visit the colorful and happy ethnic people.

You will get to Mai Chau at 16:00 and spend the rest time of the day to walk around the villages of the white Thai people who live in the houses on stilts, or walk on the rice field to see the life of the local and learn how to plant or harvest the rice.

Overnight in Mai Chau.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 3: Mai Chau to Tan Ky, Nghe An, 270 kilometers / 168 miles

From today, you will start to ride all the way down to central Vietnam on the Ho Chi Minh trail. After breakfast and saying goodbye to the host, you will have a very interesting Mai Chau motorbike tour through rustic villages of the Thai people and green rice fields. When you get out of the valley, you will keep riding on a small, spectacular, and paved trail along the Ma River until Cam Thuy town where you stop for lunch. After lunch, just enjoy a relaxing motorcycle tour on Ho Chi Minh trail to Tan Ky. You arrive in Tan Ky town at around 17:00.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 4: Tan Ky to Phong Nha, Quang Binh, 280 kilometers / 174 miles

You continue on Ho Chi Minh trail to Phong Nha and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The ride offers some stops to see the green tea farm, villages of hill tribes, especially, the Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike ride in the afternoon offers amazing view of mountain, it reminds you again of limestone mountains in Ha Long Bay.

You will arrive in Phong Nha at around 16:30, and if time and weather permit, you can have a short boat trip along the green river to go through some famous caves.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 5: Phong Nha to Khe Sanh, 220 kilometers / 137 miles

Unlike many other Vietnam motorcycle tour organizers, Vietnam Motorbike Tour will take you to Khe Sanh on the western Ho Chi Minh trail. The western trail is known as the hidden trail that the US Army did never know to bomb, the trail runs through the national park of Phong Nha-Ke Bang, in more than 200 kilometers, you will just see few other motorbikes but a lot of beautiful and beautiful mountain view.

The ride on this trail could be one the best motorcycle tours Vietnam, especially, after getting out of the Phong Nha National Park, you will get a chance to visit the former US Marine Base with tunnels, air base, and an interesting museum of Khe Sanh. You will finish the great western Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike tour at around 17:00.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 6: Khe Sanh to Vinh Moc tunnels and Hue, 180 kilometers / 112 miles

This is another busy day of war stories and visits to famous attraction, you will leave the Ho Chi Minh trail to ride on another historical road No. 9 to the east and get closer to the coast of Vietnam. It is a short Vietnam motorbike tour but you should pay a lot of visits to some interesting historical sites such as Hien Luong bridge known as the symbol of the border between the north and the south of Vietnam, the museum of the 17th parallel, and the famous Vinh Moc tunnels. After lunch nearby the tunnels, you will have a short motorcycle tour to Hue. Arrive in the beautiful city of Hue at around 17:00.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 7: Hue sightseeing tour

After breakfast in the hotel, you will have an enjoyable time to discover the charm of Hue city. Based on your mood, you can take a motorcycle tour around Hue to see some tombs of the kings along the Huong river or have an easy bus tour around the city. You will be back to city to have lunch at one of the famous food streets in Hue. In the afternoon, take your free time to relax at the beach or have more walk around Hue or do some shopping. Dinner is on your own, just feel free to enjoy your favorite food in Hue.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch

Day 8: Hue to Hoi An, 170 kilometers / 106 miles

The last day is completely different from the days before. Right after getting out of Hue city, you will have a great motorbike ride along the coast through some fishing villages and colorful fields of tombs. The view is quite different from the view of the mountain along the Ho Chi Minh trail, especially, the motorbike ride across the Hai Van pass must be one of the best motorcycle tours on coastline Vietnam. You will be in Da Nang city at around 14:00. You can have the option to stay in the coastal city of Da Nang or keep riding around 30 kilometers more to Hoi An ancient town before ending up in Hoi An.

Skill level

Intermediate

can ride for three to four 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 five to six hours
extensive riding experience
assistance on demand (if required)
experienced with riding a variety of motorcycles
comfortable with any terrain and weather conditions

Included excursions

Visit the colorful and happy ethnic people
Walk around the villages of the white Thai people who live in the houses on stilts
Take a walk on the rice field to see the life of the local and learn how to plant or harvest the rice
Go to the former US Marine Base with tunnels, air base, and an interesting museum of Khe Sanh
Have a short boat trip along the green river to go through some famous caves
Pay a visit to Hien Luong bridge, the museum of the 17th parallel, and the famous Vinh Moc tunnels

Location

This tour will take place in Vietnam, from Hanoi to Phu Yen, Mai Chau, Tan Ky, Phong Nha, Khe Sanh, Vinh Moc, Hue, Danang, and Hoi An.

Tan Ky

Tan Ky is known as the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the war. At that time, all the troops with foods and staffs gather in Tan Ky and start matching to the south of Vietnam on the trail to join the war in the demilitarized zone. Tan Ky now is a little town located on the side of the Ho Chi Minh trail. It's a peaceful town surrounded mountains.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

The karst formation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has evolved since the Paleozoic (some 400 million years ago) and so is the oldest major karst area in Asia. Subject to massive tectonic changes, the park's karst landscape is extremely complex with many geographic features of considerable significance.

Vinh Moc

Vinh Moc is a tunnel complex in Quang Tri, Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, it was strategically located on the border of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The tunnels were built to shelter people from the intense bombing of Son Trung and Son Ha communes in Vinh Linh county of Quang Tri Province in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The American forces believed the villagers of Vinh Moc were supplying food and armaments to the North Vietnamese garrison on the island of Con Co which was, in turn, hindering the American bombers on their way to bomb Hanoi.

The idea was to force the villagers of Vinh Moc to leave the area but as is typical in Vietnam there was nowhere else to go. The villagers initially dug the tunnels to move their village 10 meters underground but the American forces designed bombs that burrowed down 10 meters.

Eventually, against these odds, the villagers moved the village to a depth of 30 meters. It was constructed in several stages beginning in 1966 and used until early 1972. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels.

Hue

Hue is one of three capital cities of Vietnam during thousand years of history, but unlike the others, Hue remains a lot of originally historical vestiges as in this ancient capital city. Hue is also an important center of Buddhism. In Hue and its surrounding, there still exist tens of pagodas constructed more 300 years ago and a hundred of temples and pagodas built in the early century. They take an important role in making Hue more attractive.

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Food

Breakfasts are included every day in the hotel (except on the first morning). They are usually 'continental breakfasts', which is typical in most countries. A typical breakfast may consist of cereals with milk or yogurt, bread, croissants, cold meats, cheese and a range of spreads, with fruit juice, tea, or coffee to drink. It is rare to get a hot breakfast in Asia, though on some occasions there may be some hot food available as well.

Included evening meals are in local restaurants or accommodation places and are either two or three courses. In most cases, table water is provided with the meals and if you wish to purchase additional drinks, you can do so at your own expense.

If you have any dietary requirements, Vietnam Motorbike Tour will make every effort to cater to your specific needs as long as you advise your travel agent when you book or make a note by email before you set out. Please be aware that although Vietnam Motorbike Tour will do everything in Vietnam Motorbiketour's power to arrange it, Vietnam Motorbike Tour cannot guarantee that every restaurant you use will be able to cater to all dietary needs, particularly in Asia. Vietnam Motorbike Tour also cannot cater for tastes or dislikes, as most of the included evening meals feature a set menu.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
Other dietary requirements on request

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

Things to do (optional)

Bus tour around Hue
Relaxing at the beach in Hue
Shopping
Walking around Hue

What's included

7 nights accommodation based on twin or triple sharing at standard hotels
Motorbike(s) (Honda or Yamaha)
Helmet(s)
Driving gear
Gasoline on tour
English speaking guide
Meals as indicated in the itinerary
Entrance fees and sightseeing fees
One-way transfer for bike and tour guide

What's not included

Support truck if required (130 USD per day)
Air ticket
Personal expenses
Tips
Travel insurance
Visa
Personal expenses

How to get there

Recommended Airports

HAN

Noi Bai International Airport

967 km

Transfer not provided

Cancellation Policy

A reservation requires a deposit of 50% of the total price.
The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
The rest of the payment should be paid 7 days before arrival.

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Hello there. Glad to have you!

Day 1: Hanoi to Phu Yen (Son La), 190 kilometers / 119 miles

Day 2: Phu Yen to Mai Chau, 150 kilometers / 94 miles

Day 3: Mai Chau to Tan Ky, Nghe An, 270 kilometers / 168 miles

Day 4: Tan Ky to Phong Nha, Quang Binh, 280 kilometers / 174 miles

Day 5: Phong Nha to Khe Sanh, 220 kilometers / 137 miles