Riding it February 2027

Saigon to Hanoi, the slow way.

Two thousand-odd kilometres of coast roads, mountain passes and noodle stops, on a small motorbike. A once-in-a-lifetime ride, and the plain-English guide to it that we wished existed.

See the route New here? Start here

about 2,481 km
13 stages
17–21 days
first-timers welcome

Small bikes, big country

The idea

A Grand Tour for the rest of us.

Three centuries ago, young Europeans spent a year crossing the Alps to learn how to live. The modern version takes about three weeks, starts in Saigon, and comes with better noodles. Most people only ever do it once. That is rather the point.

Life

The modern Grand Tour

Why three slow weeks on one long road can do what a year in Italy once did.

Read on

The road

A tribute to Top Gear

In 2008 three men rode north on three terrible bikes and showed the world this road.

Read on

The table

Eat your way north

Anthony Bourdain called riding a scooter through Vietnam one of the great joys of life. Here is what to eat along the way.

Read on

What's in the saddlebags

Everything for the ride, in one place.

Good information about riding Vietnam is scattered across old blog posts and forum threads. We are gathering it here, keeping it current, and saying so when we are not sure.

Routes

Stage-by-stage write-ups with maps, distances and honest difficulty ratings.

Open

Guides

Licences, bikes, weather, budgets and gear, in plain English.

Open

Notice board

Ask a question, find a riding buddy, sell your bike in Hanoi.

Open

Trip planner

Lay out your days, beds and saved map routes in one place.

Open

The classic line

Saigon to Hanoi

Coast in the south, highlands in the middle and the Ho Chi Minh Road to finish: the classic first-timer's line up the length of Vietnam.

Distance

2,481 km

Allow

17–21 days

Best months

Mar–May; Feb with layers

Difficulty

Moderate

Read the full route guide

More lines on the map

Other rides worth the trip

The inland road the length of the country, the great loops of the far north and north-west, and the slow green south.

The inland line

Ho Chi Minh Road

Saigon to Hanoi without the sea: ten riding days up the Ho Chi Minh Road through coffee highlands, old battlefields and forest.

1,886 km
13–16 days
Moderate

The famous one

Ha Giang Loop

Four days of limestone passes, canyon views and hill markets in the far north – spectacular, and not a road to take lightly.

303 km
4 days
Challenging

The quiet neighbour

Cao Bang Loop

Waterfalls, caves and karst valleys along the Chinese border, on gentler roads than Ha Giang and with a fraction of the traffic.

276 km
4–5 days
Moderate

The long way round

North-west Loop

Eight riding days around the mountains west of Hanoi: Thai valleys, the Dien Bien Phu battlefield, a 2,000 m pass into Sapa and the rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai.

1,170 km
10–12 days
Challenging

The gentle warm-up

Mekong Delta Loop

A flat, green week of rivers, ferries and floating markets, from Saigon to the Cambodian border and the Gulf of Thailand and home across the Plain of Reeds.