Top Vietnam Motorcycle Tour on Ho Chi Minh Trail – 11 Days
Northern Vietnam where you can find easily the imposing mountain passes and colorful hill tribes and the Ho Chi Minh trail, the famous historical trail lies along Vietnam on the mountain area are the ideal paces for motorcycle touring in Vietnam. This 11 day Vietnam motorcycle tour will give you full taste of Northwestern Vietnam including Sapa, Mu Cang Chai and Mai Chau and full chance to experience the best part of the Ho Chi Minh trail from Hanoi to Hue and Hoi An. This must be one of the best motorbike tours Vietnam for riders who want to see the North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh trail within only 11 days.
Day 0: Take A Night Train To Lao Cai – Sa Pa
At 7 PM, Hanoi Motorcycle Tour team with a bus will pick you up at your hotel and escort you to Hanoi Railway station to take a night train to Lao Cai – Sapa. After 8 hours sleep on the train you will be in Lao Cai Railway station in early morning the next day. Get off the train in Lao Cai and go straight to the hotel nearby the station, having breakfast and ready everything to have short motorbike tour to Sapa.
Day 1: Short Motorbike Tour Sapa: 100 km (B,L,D – Hotel stay)
Start the tour to Sapa at 9:00 am. We will have very enjoyable motorbike ride up and up to Sapa town. The town locates at around 1600 meters above sea level so the ride to Sapa is one of the best Northern Vietnam motorbike tours. It offers great view of mountain with terrace fields and give you plenty of chances to visit the rustic villages of the Mong and the Dzao people. We will be in Sapa town at lunch time, after lunch we keep touring around Sapa by motorbike, we will ride along the Muong Hoa valley in which most of the hill tribes in Sapa located in and where you can have the most beautiful pictures of terrace rice fields. We will pay some interesting visits to the Zay, Tay and Mong people along the valley. We get back to Sapa town at 4:00 pm.
Day 3: Sapa – Than Uyen: 110 km (B,L,D – Hotel stay)
In the morning we will do a short walk around Sapa to see colorful market and visit the beautiful Cat Cat village of the Mong people. We will be back to the town for lunch then after that we continue the top Vietnam motorcycle tour to Than Uyen. We will ride up to the top of Sapa on O Qui Ho pass – one of 4 longest and most beautiful passes in the North of Vietnam that take you up to 2000 meters above sea level. This motorbike trip from Sapa could be the most enjoyable motorbike rides in North Vietnam. The ride offers you amazing view of the Hoang Lien mountain ranges for miles and miles. We arrive in Than Uyen by 5 pm.
Day 4: Than Uyen – Mu Cang Chai – Phu Yen: 220 km (B,L,D – Hotel stay)
It’s quite long ride today but it must be the highlight of motorbike tour in North Vietnam with great view of mountain in Mu Cang Chai, Tu Le and many visits to the colorful ethnic people. When we get closer to Phu Yen town we can have short off-road motorbike tour through rice field and village of the Muong and Thai people. We arrive at hotel in Phu Yen at 5:00 pm.
Day 5: Phu Yen – Mai Chau: 150 km (B,L,D – Home stay)
After breakfast in the hotel, we continue enjoyable motorcycle tour Northern Vietnam. Just after 15 minutes ride, we will be on the Da river bank and enjoy a beautiful motorbike ride along the river on the winding road between the river and mountain with some cute villages of the Muong people along the way. This motorcycle ride reminds you of motorbike tour on coastline in central Vietnam. After crossing the river by a ferry, we motorcycle up and up to Moc Chau town where is famous for green plateau of tea farm locating at 1000 meters above sea level. Lunch is at the simple restaurant in Moc Chau town. After lunch, we keep enjoy touring Northern Vietnam by motorcycling down to Mai Chau valley on the old French road named Hua Tat pass – one of the most beautiful passes in northwest Vietnam. We will finish great Northern Vietnam motorbike tour in Mai Chau at 5:00 pm.
Day 6: Mai Chau – Tan Ky: 270 km (B,L,D – Hotel stay)
We today start the Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike tour. After saying goodbye to the host, we ride through the valley on the backroads and then enjoy a motorbike ride along the Ma river bank through some bamboo forest and rural areas until Cam thuy town where we stop for lunch, after lunch we will have relaxing motorbike tour on Ho Chi Minh trail to Tan Ky town. We arrive at the hotel around 5 pm.
Tan Ky is known as the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam war. At that time the northern communist start to travel down to the south to join the war from Tan Ky, nowadays Tan Ky is a little quiet town located by the side of the Ho Chi Minh trail, surrounded by mountains.
Day 7: Tan Ky – Phong Nha – Ke Bang: 280 km (B,L,D – Hotel stay)
After breakfast, we keep touring on the Ho Chi Minh trail by motorbike. The ride today is much better than the day before because it’s though remote areas with amazing view of high limestone mountains, cross some beautiful villages who built a lot of beautiful wooden houses, especially we have a chance to ride on the large and long runway of the former airbase of the Northern Vietnam Army which hide in between high mountain and jungle. If time and weather permit we can have a boat ride in Phong Nha to visit some hidden caves, fishing floating villages after the enjoyable Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike ride.
Day 8 : Phong Nha – Khe Sanh: 240 km (B,L,D – Hotel)
Today is another highlight of this Top Vietnam Motorcycle Tour. The experienced tour guide of Vietnam Motorbike Tour Expert will take you on the western Ho Chi Minh trail to Khe Sanh. The western trail is known as the hidden one that the US Army did not know to bomb or destroy because all trail was built under the Phong Nha – Ke Bang rain forest, with the length of more than 200 kilometers we just ride and enjoy the great view of jungle and mountain or stop sometimes to hear/watch the birds or monkeys… There is no doubt it will be one of the best motorcycle tours Vietnam. Especially, after getting out of the Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park we will pay a interesting visit to the former Khe Sanh US Marine base to learn more about the Vietnam War history, hear more about sad stories to know how cruel the war is. We end the long day with enjoyable motorbike tour on Ho Chi Minh trail in one of the best hotel in Khe Sanh – Thai Ninh hotel.
Day 9: Khe Sanh – Vinh Moc Tunnel – Hue: 180 km (B,L,D – Hotel)
Today’s motorbike tour to Hue is mostly on the sealed roads. After breakfast we will ride all the way to the east to get closer to the coast of Vietnam where we can pay visits to some interesting historical sites such as: The incredible Vinh Moc tunnels, The Hien Luong bridge or museum of the 17th parallel…after lunch in Quang Tri we will hit the highway No 1 down to city of Hue. Finish a day with full of information in Hue at around 4:30 pm
Vinh Moc (Vịnh Mốc) 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 (DMZ). The American forces believed the villagers of Vinh Moc were supplying food and armaments to the North Vietnemese 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 metres underground but the American forces designed bombs that burrowed down 10 metres. Eventually against these odds, the villagers moved the village to a depth of 30 metres. 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.
Day 10: Discover the Hidden Charm of Hue: (B,L – Hotel )
After western breakfast in hotel, we will have enjoyable tour in Hue by motorbike or by bus for half day or full day depends on your mood. We can choose between 2 options:
Opt 1– Take a easy and relaxing bus tour in Hue to see some famous attractions in half day and another half day for free at leisure.
Opt 2– Take another motorbike tour in Hue to see some famous attractions and Kings’ tombs in the Hue or ride further to outskirts of Hue to discover the hidden charm of the city for whole day. Diner is a great time for you to experience freely the Hue cuisine with royal or casual local style.
Hue is well known for its historic monuments, which have earned it a place in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The seat of the Nguyen emperors was the Citadel, which occupies a large, walled area on the north side of the Perfume River. Inside the citadel was a forbidden city where only the emperors, concubines, and those close enough to them were granted access; the punishment for trespassing was death. Today, little of the forbidden city remains, though reconstruction efforts are in progress to maintain it as a historic tourist attraction.
Roughly along the Perfume River from Hue lie myriad other monuments, including the tombs of several emperors, including Minh Mang, Khai Đinh, and Tu Duc. Also notable is the Thien Mụ Pagoda, the largest pagoda in Huế and the official symbol of the city.
A number of French-style buildings lie along the south bank of the Perfume River. Among them are Quốc Học High School, the oldest high school in Vietnam, and The Hue Royal Antiquities Museum.
Day 11: Hue – Hoi An: 170 km (B,L)
End the Top Vietnam Motorcycle Tour on Ho Chi Minh Trail with a great motorbike ride along the coastal road Vietnam. At 8:30 am get back to the bikes and get out of the city of Hue with the eastern direction to the Thuan An beach. Once we are on the coastline, we will have very interesting Vietnam motorbike tour through villages of fishermen, through massive and colorful tombs of the local. Especially we will have great ride cross the Hai Van pass, one of the most beautiful passes in Central Vietnam where can offers you a amazing view between the mountain and the ocean, it’s completely different from the things we’ve seen on days before. We will be in Hotel of your choice in Hoi An at about 4:00 pm. Say good bye to the local team of Vietnam Motorbike Tour Expert and then enjoy your peaceful time in town.
