North Vietnam 8 day motorcycle tour to Ha Giang, Ba Be lake, Mai Chau valley and Sa pa

North Vietnam 8 day motorcycle tour

This north Vietnam 8 day motorcycle tour from Hanoi offers a full chance to taste Ha Giang, Ba Be National Park, Ba Be lake, Mai Chau valley, and Sapa… They are the most attractive destinations in north Vietnam. You will have a great album of the stunning landscape of the mountainous region and colorful hill tribes after an 8-day riding motorbike in northern Vietnam with the experienced local team of Saigon Riders. This is one of the most picked in our Vietnam Motorcycle Tours Collection.

Destination: Hanoi – Ba Be Lake – Meo Vac – Dong Van – Ha Giang – Sapa – Than Uyen – Mu Cang Chai – Phu Yen – Mai Chau – Moc Chau

Please click here to view the route!

Day 1:  Hanoi  – Ba Be Lake: 240 km

This great motorcycle tour to the north of Vietnam starts at around 8 aM. We try the best to avoid busy city roads in the morning until Cho Chu town( in Thai Nguyen province) where we have lunch. After lunch, we surely have an enjoyable motorcycle ride to Ba Be because the roads have less traffic and give you a lot of grand mountain views. At about 4 PM. We arrive at Pac Ngoi – a beautiful village of Tay people located peacefully at Ba Be lake’s side. Diner and stay with the Tay’s family.

Having been formed approximately 200 million years ago, the lake is surrounded by limestone cliffs, which in turn are covered by primary forests. The lake comprises three zones named Pé Lầm, Pé Lù, and Pé Lèng. Three rivers, named Năng, Tả Han, and Nam Cường, are the main inflows of the lake. The Năng river enters the lake through a large waterfall called Đầu Đẳng. In the lake, there are also three islands, named Án Mã, Khẩu Cúm, and Po Gia Mải (literally “Widow’s Island”).
Ba Bể Lake is a featured geographical science and is a biodiversity reservoir. It is a part of the Ba Be National Park.
It is home to a range of animals and plants.

 Day 2:  Babe Lake  –  Meo Vac:   170 km

Saying goodbye to the family, we’ll ride the motorbike on the back-roads through some rustic villages and the jungle. Then we motorbike across some streams. This promise to be a great day for off-road Vietnam motorbike tour. We will stop in Bao Lac town for lunch and then continue the beautiful North Vietnam 8 day motorcycle tour to Meo Vac by taking a scenic route climbs over many Passes where we can enjoy beautiful mountain ranges and the Nho Que river.  Arrive at Meo Vac by 5.00 PM. Dinner in town, Hotel stay.

Meo Vac Town is located in the heart of the Dong Van Rock Plateau, which was recognized as part of the Global Geo-Park Network in 2009, the Dong Van old quarter is home to age-old and unique architecture near Ha Giang Province’s border with China. Therefore, the Motorbike tour to Ha Giang, Dong Van is always the best choice of the motorcyclists.

Day 3: Meo Vac  –  Ha Giang:   180 Km

Today’s ride promises to be the highlight of this motorcycle trip in north Vietnam as we will visit one of the most remote lands in Vietnam where we can see many ethnic groups with their unique cultures and imposing mountains such as Pi Leng Pass – one of the 4 longest and most beautiful passes in North Vietnam, the Rock Plateau, the Vuong palace in Dong Van, The “Heaven Gate” in Quan Ba. This is for sure the best motorbike ride in Vietnam with many interesting and amazing things in every meter of the road.  Arrive Ha Giang in the late afternoon.

Dinner and stay with the other Tay’s family or stay in a hotel in Ha Giang city

Ha Giang, 300 km away from Hanoi, located at the highest latitude in Vietnam. It is surrounded by Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai. It shares a border with China in the north. Many ethnic minorities, including the Dao, H’mong, Tay, and Nung, live in Ha Giang province Vietnam.

Day 4: Ha Giang   –   Sa Pa:   220km

Today we head straight towards the North-western mountain where the main Fanxipan Mountain range dominates the road until Sapa. The road is very smooth with a good view of green mountain, rice fields between lovely villages of the hill tribes. After a short break in Lao Cai to see the Chinese border, we will have a very beautiful motorbike ride up to Sapa. This motorbike ride is up and up to 1.600 meters above sea level. It offers a great view of the mountain with terrace fields and it must be one of the best motorbike rides in North Vietnam.

Arrive in Sapa at around 5: 00 pm, overnight at hotel in Sapa.

Day 5:  Sapa   –  Mu Cang Chai:   150 km

You are free to explore Sapa until 1.00 PM, check out the hotel and we continue the route to Than Uyen, we will make a splendid climb up from Sapa to the top of the highest road pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass). Crossing into Lai Chau Province at over 2000m above sea level. This is a short motorbike ride but could be the most enjoyable motorbike tour from Sapa. The ride offers you an amazing view of the Hoang Lien mountain ranges for miles and miles. We arrive in Mu Cang Chai by 5.00 PM,

Dinner and overnight in a hotel or doing home-stay with the Tay family.

Day 6: Mu Cang Chai –  Phu Yen:    190 km

We keep riding up and down into a forested and high mountain region populated by H’mong peoples. We will hike up a very high mountain pass before descending into a mountainous tea-growing region. Soon after we follow along the valley floor covered in a sea of rice surrounded by Hmong and Thai villages all the way to Phu Yen. Especially, after lunch in Tu Le – a famous land for terrace fields so the ride through the villages and rice terraces. This is another highlight of this Motorcycle tour North Vietnam.

Arrive Phu Yen town at 5:00 Pm. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 7: Phu Yen – Mai Chau Valley    160 km

It is a short motorbike tour to Mai Chau valley, but it’s also an enjoyable motorbike ride! It offers some different views from the days before with different hill tribes. Right after Phu Yen town, we will have a great ride along the Da River lake on the winding road between the river lake and mountains. it is likely a motorcycle tour on the coastline in central Vietnam.  After crossing the Da river by a ferry, we will motorcycle up and up to Moc Chau plateau where we stop for lunch. After lunch, we’ll make a turn to the quiet mountain road named Hua Tat – it’s built by the French during wartime and nowadays, it seems like a forgotten so the short ride to Mai Chau is also the best part of the Northern Vietnam Motorbike Tour.

Arrive Mai Chau at 4:30 PM. Stay in Poom-coong village of the Thai people – Homestay.

Day 8: Mai Chau – Hanoi. – 170km

Having a short walk around the villages of the Thai people in the morning, feel the peaceful life of the locals by walking around the valley and then start the motorbike ride back to Hanoi at around 9 AM. After 2 beautiful mountain passes – Thung Khe and Doc Cun we will have lunch and then join the high way back to Hanoi. We will be back to the hotel before rush hours in order to end the 8 day motorbike tour in north Vietnam safely.