Vietnam Motorbike Routes – Motorbiking from Ho Chi Minh To Hanoi

We motorbiked Vietnam over 35 days and drove 3500 kilometers to experience as much of the country as we could. This was a bucket list dream of ours, and from our experience have put together the best Vietnam motorbike guide, hopefully to inspire others. Vietnam is experiencing a huge up soar in tourism, so I’m not sure in years to come that this route will be the same as traffic and tourism cities are developed.  Our guide includes Vitenam motorbike route options to take, how to to buy a motorbike (or rent), an itinerary and useful tips.  If you have any questions please comment below and we are happy to help.  Happy Riding 🙂

Like a lot of riders, we thought that when first arriving to Ho Chi Minh City that we could easily buy one and sell it in Hanoi. We started off looking for reviews on where to stay and choose district 1. However, as non-mechanics we felt extremely inundated when looking at the bikes.

We wondered if any of these Motorcycles on the sides of the road could actually make it to Hanoi. The Vietnam motorbikes were priced from $200 – $400 USD and after driving a few we decided to rent. We went with Tigit Motorbikes and was extremely satisfied. It was $250 USD for 35 days, were under full warranty, and they even helped as translators when we needed help.

If you do choose to buy a motorbike, literally just walk down the streets in the tourist area. Remember you get what you pay for.  Beware, many bikes have their odometers turned back or their parts swapped out. Ensure you get the Blue Insurance Card and that the bike is not above 150 cc. Take it for a good test drive and listen for any problems.

There are many different routes, but the main 3 routes are the Ho Chi Minh Road and the Coastal Route or classic a mix of both. We decided to drive the Mountain bike route starting in Ho Chi Minh and drive to Hanoi. We did not enjoy the coastal route nearly as much as the mountains. In our opinion, it was more polluted, busier, and nothing compared to amazing rainforest and mountain communities. Just wait until you see your picture below.

Below is our exact 16 day Route as we motorbiked across Vietnam. This is our suggested “riding days”, and we in fact did the entire thing in about 5 weeks taking a day or 2 at wonderful places along the way.  We normally did between 120 – 200 kilometres a day, with a few exceptions. We also did some backtracking as we wanted to visit Hoi An while staying in the mountains for as long as we could.  Here is the Itinerary and a Google Map of the route we took:

Don’t worry, it’s not quite as bad as what you have seen at the city intersections, it resembles highway driving with traffic at times. So for those learning to drive, stay to the right and go slow. The route is pretty straight forward, straight with a few turns so it is easy to follow.  Google and many people say this is only a 3.5 hour trip, however it was a good 6 hours driving.

ROUTE FROM HO CHI MINH TO CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK:

If you start at Tigit Vietnam Motorbike rental, follow highway 1a outside the city. As a rule of thumb for this trip, you don’t want to be following this highway. It’s the main busy highway most buses, trucks and cars use for in-between cities with not much to see.  Within the hour of leaving the city, you will see there is a bunch more to Ho Chi Minh city than just the downtown district, with huge subdivisions of sky scrapers and little communities.  Following leaving these cities, you will be driving through the “gross” industrial area.

After driving through these areas, it will make a ton more sense for why there is nothing but smog in the distance when looking at the skyscrape of Ho Chi Minh city.  This area is filled with construction, smoky factories, smog and noise.  You will want to make sure you have a mask for this section of your drive.  After that you will pass through a couple more cities, before making a turn left onto Quoc 20, just follow the signs for Dalat.

Cat Tien National Park

You can spend a night at the Cat Tien National park.  One of Vietnam’s largest National Parks that is host to a number of wild animals including tigers, boars, elephants, and over 300 bird species. If you like to cycle or trek, it would be a nice place to stay to spend your morning the next day exploring this beautiful Cat Tien National park. There is too much to talk about in just this post so we created another blog post on what to do here.  It is approx. 20 km’s off of Quoc 20 and a lovely drive through your first glimpse of rural Vietnam. The route is a circle route so you can keep driving the next morning and easily get back to Quoc 20.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK

There are 3 main places to stay, Bamboo Lodge for approx $9 / Night, Cat Tien Jungle Lodge, or Cat Tien Farm Stay.  We chose this route and stayed at the lovely Cat Tien Farm-stay for $21 usd / night, right on the river.  This is a small village so restaurants are limites to at the hotels.

There were thousands of butterflies everywhere on the roads today, we would drive slower just so they wouldn’t hit us.  It was so special to see this beautiful scenery with the butterflies, nothing like what I have seen before. We didn’t realize how high we were going so at every turn we would stop to take pictures of the valley below thinking it was the top of the mountain. We ended up being a couple hours late to arriving at our next destination Da Lat.  It was so worth it!

 ATTRACTIONS ON ROUTE TO DA LAT

Da Lat is home to many popular waterfalls and we choose to spend an extra night here. For a fun afternoon, you can stop off at the Elephant Waterfall.  Climb down the 10 minute walk down to the bottom to view this quite large waterfall from the riverbed or enjoy from above. Then make a quick stop at the Cuong Hoan Silk Factory to see how silk is made. If you have time the Truc Lam Temple by cable car was one of our highlights of Dalat with stunning views of the city and surrounding areas.

If you love coffee even half as much as us make sure to stop at Me Linh Coffee Garden plantation where you can try Weasel Coffee. Weasel Coffee is made from beans that Weasels eat it and then poop it out.  It is strong coffee and quite a delicacy worldwide, sure to be your most expensive cup of 60, 000 vnd coffee in Asia.  End your day off with an enjoyable ride into the beautiful city of Da Lat.

WHERE TO STAY IN DALAT

There are a lot of places to stay with excellent reviews but we were so happy with our choice. We stayed at Hai Long Vuong Hotel that had amazing service and was very affordable. The showers were warm, beds comfy, and all for about $12 usd / night. At night time, they brought our bikes inside their front lobby and felt extremely safe staying there.  Visit or stay at the Crazy House, rated one of the top architectural houses in the world and top things to do in Da Lat for a crazy night.

PHAN RANG SAND DUNES

In Phan Rang, this is a great spot to rest your head for the day and if you are here before sunset make your way to the Sand Dunes.  We had seen the many tourist trips while in Ho Chi Minh to Mui Ne for the world famous sand dunes. This was definitely on our Vietnam Bucket List.  We didn’t know that we would find this in Phan Rang as well.  It’s so worth checking out the sand dunes here as we ended up being the only people here and for that day as there were no other footprints.  It made it so much cooler to be in the ultimate desert paradise all by yourself without the normal parade of tourist buses and other people getting in your shot.

Check into your hotel and hop on your bike to go visit the Nam Cuong Sand Dunes in Phan Rang Tuan Tu Village for the late afternoon.  There is a big highway sign pointing you in the right direction and once in the village if you don’t know where to go it’s likely a local will point you in the right direction.

WHERE TO STAY IN PHAN RANG

We stayed at the Minh Duc Guest House, another nice find for $10 a night.   While you are here, the Le Napoli and Cuban Bar and Grill were nice western restaurants for a change of cuisine as well as many local eateries.

Jump onto the DT702 highway that follows the coastline around the Nui Chua National Park from Phan Rang.  After DT702, you will find yourself on Highway 1, the highway our bike rental warned to just plain stay away from. For good reason, this highway is not scenic and it’s busy. However if you are like us you probably have to make up some time here due to all the stopovers you already took to snap some photos.  Remember, the maximum highway speed for motorcycles is 60 km an hour here.  Continue highway 1 until you take a right hand turn at Nhgia Cam town onto DT6571 and follow the highway to Nha Trang.  It’s very easy to navigate and you will find a completely different vibe here than that of deserted run down tourist town of Phan Rang.

Driving through Cam Ranh

Passing through Cam Ranh you will find 5 star luxury resorts lining the highway.  The resorts are here for a reason, there is a spectacular swimming beach here called Golden Bay.  There’s even a new city that is just beginning development called “Golden Bay City”.  A sign of the increase in development is next to the name of the new city, is the name of the Corporation building it.  You have hit tourist central.  This feeling of luxury tourism only continues as you drive into Nha Trang with the beaches lined with white umbrella’s and sky scrapers in the distance.

ABOUT NHA TRANG

In the city of Nha Trang is a vibe that we had not encountered yet in Vietnam, surprisingly because Nha Trang is said to be one of the highlight cities.  Yes, there is a beautiful bay with a long sandy beaches, and tons of skyscrapers and business.  It lacked the “specialness” of Vietnam that we had come to love in other cities. Nha Trang was flooded with tourism from Russia, so much that walking through the downtown core you would find signage in Russian and Vietnamese, no English.

Being that we had spent almost 8 months in on Islands in the Gulf of Thailand, we were eager to experience the mountains and this coastline was a good experience.  In hindsight, I would definitely say that I’m glad that I got to see the coastline but that I’m so content taking the Ho Chi Minh road and surrounding myself in the Rainforest for the duration of our bike trip.

WHERE TO STAY IN NHA TRANG

As a bigger town, parking is limited so we went to 3 different places so they could have our bikes parked inside.  We stayed at the  ABC Hotel, with a super nice family run place.  It was $14 usd a night and included breakfast for 2. They also let us park our bikes inside their lobby at night time. The town is right on the beach, and coming up to it had a stretch of brand new massive 5 star resorts being built. For 40,000 Dong, you get a nice bed for the day on the beach to enjoy the water. At nighttime, this area lights up with lots to see and do as well as the market. If you decide to stay an extra day here, visit the Vin Pearl Waterpark or the mud baths.

In Boun Ma Thout last large cities you stay in if you need to pick up any supplies, but you can expect to always find basics that you need going forward. This city doesn’t come very highly recommended, but it’s a nice enough city with lots of parks and a ton of lights lighting up the downtown at night. Also great for an oil change . Our highlight of his city was actually staying at a coffee resort! Not bad prices neither.

WHERE TO STAY IN BOUN MA THOUT

We chose to stay at the coffee resort.  In Ho Chi Minh you can stay in a 1 star hotel in the heart of the city with a window into the hallway and questionable cleaning and feel like you got a deal for $20us.  In Buon Ma Thout staying at a very nice 3 star hotel with beautiful outdoor grounds, a bathtub, and breakfast for 2 included is $21 usd.  The cost of goods is much more affordable when you are not in the big cities, so we suggest you take a moment to treat yourself to something nice that you wouldn’t otherwise find yourself in the city.  This city doesn’t come very highly recommended, but it’s a nice enough city with lots of parks and a ton of lights lighting up the downtown at night.  If you are looking for basic, Bazan Hotel, came recommended to us.

After you leave the city of Pleiku, you can sigh a huge relief as the cities return to cute little villages lined along the roadside again with farmland and mountain views in between.  The last 52 km drive to Koh Tum is quite enjoyable. Here in Kon Tum is the best recommended spot to take a day motorbike trip or trek to the mountain villages to visit some of the ethnic Vietnamese tribes.  These villages are protected from tourism and very unique, there are only a few guides that will take you there.  We chose not too visit the tribal villages, there is something contrasting about touring the place that doesn’t get tourism.  Some things should be left unspoiled.

Kon Tum also has some places you can visit some tribal festival villages and visit some of the memorial spots for those in the Vietnam war.  The region in the central highlands of Vietnam was affected very much during the war as it was the clashing middle ground of Vietnam

WHERE TO STAY IN KON TUM

After you cross the bridge into Kon Tum, we recommend you to stay at the Hnam Chang Ngeh Hospitality Training Center, where they teach marginalized ethnic Vietnamese how to work in the tourism industry.  The students are so friendly and it’s a great cause and really quaint lovely rooms to stay. This was by far the nicest hotel we have stayed at, we had the top sweet, balcony, for $22 / night.

On route, make sure to pay attention to your directions when the highway takes a sharp left and right that would find you at the Cambodia or Laos border.  Don’t get us wrong, we took the wrong way along the way to the Laos border and it was fantastic scenery.  It was an eerie 2-3 lane highway that was perfectly manicured the whole way that we only passed 5-6 people the whole 12 kms.

From Dak Glei to Kham Duc

Leaving Dak Glei to climb the 45km curving highway to Kham Duc is spectacular.  You will find yourself surrounded by luscious rainforest that is a once in a lifetime experience.  The further you drive, the nicer it gets. Follow the stream that becomes cleared as you ascend the mountains through mini mountain villages and along waterfalls.  Before leaving Dak Glei, don’t make the mistake we did and not fill up your gas tank, there is not a gas station for 45 km along this steep climb. This is your first glimpse at some of the beautiful rainforest that you will continue to encounter on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Remember, you are in a rainforest, so make sure to include breaks for rain in your schedule. This is also where we had a flat tire and with no cell phone reception or people in sight Fraser ended up walking 21 kilometers until Nadine had found help and rescued him.  We arrived after dark in Kham Duc and waking up to the view in the morning was a delightful surprise. Kham Duc is a beautiful village that has a small market, a handful of hotels, couple restaurants and of course tons of coffee shops that is surrounded all around you by mountains.

WHERE TO STAY IN KHAM DUC

There were no places in Kam Duc on booking.com, agoda, hotels.com, trip advisor, so you just need to show up.  There is a handful of guesthouses and 2 main hotels, Phuoc Minh Hotel, newer hotel with a nice double bed room for 200,000 or Be Chau Giang Hotel.  The latter has a wonderful restaurant that we enjoyed for our couple days in Kham Duc.

When you arrive in Prao, take this opportunity to grab a bite to eat, fill up on gas, and any supplies as the next 80km there is no villages or man made places to stop.  During this 80 km pass, you find yourself curving around fern filled mountains weaving alongside the top of a mountain with an untouched valley below all the way to the top of the next mountain range, along the top of that mountain range before descending approx. 25 km down to the dusty town of A Louie.  This was our least favorite place, we are unsure of if there was an event or not but every hotel refused us a room so we ended up going to Hue this night.  This worked out well so we could adventure across the talked about Hai Van Pass too.  We’ll talk more about this drive in the next days schedule.  We can’t really recommend any hotels here because while we visited this town all hotels were full, so this is why our route from here detours to Hue and does a little more coastal the next couple days.

Hai Van Coastal Pass

At the end jump onto Highway 1 to Lang Co Bay, to grab a Seafood lunch on the water before taking on the Hai Van pass.  Make sure that you follow the directions for the Hai Van pass and don’t go through the tunnel. The Hai Van pass has been hailed as the most beautiful coastal pass in the world by the Top Gear BBC episode.  Since, it has become one of the top things to do in both Danang and Hue with 100’s of bikers taking the Hai Van pass daily.  In history, the pass served as a barrier between the Champa and Da Viet kingdoms.  It’s relatively short, the Hai Van pass is only 24 km in distance.  It’s pretty beautiful all the way through.

Where to stay in Hoi An

Hoi An, is popular for it’s Unesco Heritage well-preserved ancient city.  It is very quaint and quite magical to explore the streets filled with French colonial buildings, Vietnamese tube houses and walk over the bridges that connect the ancient town together over the many canals.  Also known as the city of Lanterns, at night this already quaint city lites up with beautiful lanterns at night. Even take a lantern making workshop while you are here.  As you spend a night in Hoi An, you find yourself in the tourism environment, where hotels are slightly more expensive than guesthouses on the road but the hospitality and service is exceptional.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Phoenix Homestay.

Being that you took the “loop” to see both the mountain pass after Kham Duc and the Hai Van pass, you will redo a portion of your route to complete the loop.  Choose which you liked best to get you back to the mountains, ideally on the second day of your back track ending in the city of Khe San.

WHERE TO STAY IN HUE

We were so shocked in Hue with the absolutely quality and service of the hotels for the price. We stayed at the Holiday Diamond Hotel and rated it a true 10 star.  It also included a breakfast and was the best food we had. It was a full menu and you could eat or drink as much as you wanted. They had delicious fruits, real Vietnamese Coffee, a nice change from eggs and bread. Say hi to Anna, Helen and Alice while you are there!  It is also a short ride to the Unesco Imperial City one of the cities best attractions.

WHERE TO STAY IN KHE SANH

Khe San is a larger city, with about 3 hotels, but nothing special and will be a stop over before beginning your next day.  The hotels are all rated horribly here. The Khanh Phuong Hotel has the better ratings and was fully booked when we arrived so stayed at the Ninh Thai Hotel, which we would not recommend staying at if you can.  Needless to say, we slept in our clothes and it was the most expensive room on the trail.  Note, if you do stay here, on booking.com it says $18 usd, but they only charge 300,000vnd. If the construction is done on your visit, try the new Green hotel at the beginning of town.

PHONG NHA

Phong Nha “tourist centre” is unique to any towns you have encountered so far. If you have time, plan to spend a day or two here. The small center of town is surrounded by 2 rows of limestone mountains so it’s pretty likely your hotel will have a pretty cool view. Some have called Phong Nha Khe National Park is better than Halong Bay. Phong Nha is also home to the largest cave in the world, Son Doong cave, that could hold a whole New York city block, sky scrapers and all. The price tag is pretty high at about $3000 per person and has more than a year waiting list. There are regular tours for the Paradise cave and Dark cave that depart down the river daily.  If we could choose our hotel location again, we would skip the city and get a hotel along the beautiful river like Phong Coco House.

WHERE TO STAY IN CAM THUY

Cam Thuy is really a small town with only 1 hotel we found, Nha hang Than Nhan that we didn’t get a good vibe from and stayed at a hotel about 6 km before town.  There was another hotel called Golden Time in the town before you might also stop at. I wish we had remembered the name of the hotel we stayed at but were not thinking much the next morning. We ended up getting drunk of local moonshine with the 5 homestay family that spoke no english. Stories of the road 🙂

We chose to go to Ninh Binh, because frankly our buts were a little sore at this point.  Trang Nha is considered a Unesco Heritage site for it’s geographic uniqueness but also because it played an integral role when the Vietnamese won against the Mongolians during the war in the 1800’s.  Most people choose to stay in Cam Toc and tour many destinations from their.  Being honest, if I could, I would spend more time in the brilliant mountains and skip the tourist destination of Ninh Binh.  After leaving Cam Thuy and turning around the mountain range right towards Ninh Binh you are hit with a wall of smog from neighbouring Hanoi city.  The intense smog and pollution stings your eyes and frankly spoils this natural beauty.  At the time of visiting the pollution levels were rated a score of 90.

Where to stay in Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is a large city and the capital of the province Ninh Binh.  However, most tourists find themselves staying in the Tam Coc area. We enjoyed our stay at the Tuan Ngoc Hotel or try a cultural stay at the Vietnamese Ancient Village.   Tam Coc is approx 4 km outside of the Ninh Binh town, and located around the Tam Coc river and surrounded by limestone mountains and rice paddy fields.  There is only 1 ATM in this area, but many restaurants, shops and hotels all within walking or biking distance. Many hotels provide a complimentary bicycle to get around.

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