SOUTHWEST OF HANOI, NORTH CENTRAL VIETNAM
North Centre Vietnam by motorbike offers 5 days of riding and 4 nights of accommodation, making it one of the best short motorcycle adventures from Hanoi. In just five days, we take you from the Red River Delta through forests and into the mountains, experiencing an exciting mix of Vietnamese landscapes, local people, traditional villages, and culture.
This 5-day North Centre Vietnam motorbike tour is ideal for riders who have limited time but still want to get away from the busy tourist routes. The itinerary combines quiet countryside roads, mountain passes, traditional homestays, ethnic villages, dramatic limestone landscapes, and remote roads that provide a much more authentic experience of Northern Vietnam.
Just watch the video below to get some ideas about one of our Central Northern Vietnam motorcycle tours. For more videos of our Vietnam motorbike tours and riding adventures, please visit our YouTube channel.
NORTH CENTRE VIETNAM MOTORCYCLING ITINERARY
This beautiful North Centre Vietnam motorcycle route is perfect for riders who have only a short time available but want to experience as much of Northern Vietnam as possible. The journey combines traditional village homestays, dramatic mountain scenery, quiet local roads, ethnic cultures, and challenging backroads.
During the trip, we stay overnight in a traditional Thai village in Mai Chau and a Dao lakeside village at Phuc An. We also ride the challenging remote “Old French” road, explore the impressive rice terraces around Phu Yen, and discover the spectacular limestone karst landscapes and primitive forests surrounding Cuc Phuong National Park.
- Ride length: ~830 km
- Duration: 5 days / 4 nights
- Difficulty: Easy
Day 1: Hanoi – Cuc Phuong. (~150 km, ~5 hours)
Today is the first day of our 5-day North Centre Vietnam motorbike tour. Before leaving Hanoi, we have a short riding and road-safety briefing to explain the basic rules and what to expect from Vietnamese traffic. The guide will also show you how to understand his instructions through simple body language and riding signals while on the road.
We normally leave Hanoi at around 9:30 AM, after the morning rush hour, and head southwest toward the countryside.
As we leave the capital behind, the busy urban environment quickly gives way to peaceful rural roads and spectacular limestone karst landscapes. We ride through a mixture of karst mountains and lush green rice paddies, following quieter roads toward Cuc Phuong National Park.
Cuc Phuong is particularly important because it was Vietnam’s first national park. Located in a spectacular limestone karst landscape that forms part of a geological chain extending from Laos, the park rises dramatically from the surrounding countryside.
On our approach to the park, we pass through agricultural areas inhabited largely by families who were previously resettled from within the national park boundaries. This provides an interesting opportunity to see how local communities live and farm around the edge of the protected forest.
We then continue deeper into Cuc Phuong National Park, following roads through increasingly dense and peaceful forest. The atmosphere changes completely as we enter the jungle, leaving the noise and traffic of Hanoi far behind.
By the afternoon, we reach the central area of the park, where we can relax and enjoy the quiet natural surroundings. We stay in wooden bungalows inside Cuc Phuong National Park, surrounded by forest and limestone mountains.
Overnight in Cuc Phuong National Park.
Day 2: Cuc Phuong – Mai Chau. (~190 km, ~7 hours)
If time permits, we start the morning with a visit to the impressive Cuc Phuong Primate Rescue Center before leaving the national park and continuing into the spectacular limestone karst countryside. This area is home to many Muong ethnic communities, with traditional villages scattered among the mountains and rice fields.
From there, we take a small jungle access road through the upper part of Cuc Phuong National Park, providing a more adventurous section of the ride before eventually reaching Cam Thuy. The road takes us away from the main tourist routes and deeper into the peaceful countryside.
We then follow the Ma River upstream toward the mountainous region near the Laos border. As the road climbs, the scenery becomes increasingly dramatic, with winding mountain roads, forested slopes, limestone formations, and remote villages along the way.
After crossing the mountains, we make a spectacular descent into the beautiful Mai Chau Valley, one of the most scenic destinations in Northern Vietnam. This is the traditional territory of the White Thai people, one of the largest ethnic groups in the region.
The peaceful valley, surrounded by green mountains and rice paddies, makes Mai Chau an ideal place to relax after a full day of riding. We have the opportunity to meet local White Thai people, enjoy traditional food, and sample the area’s famous rice wine.
Tonight, we stay with local friends in a traditional Thai-style stilt house, giving us a chance to experience authentic village life rather than staying in a conventional hotel.
Overnight in Mai Chau.
Day 3: Mai Chau – Phu Yen. (~170 km, ~6 hours)
After breakfast, we leave Mai Chau and begin another adventurous day on the North Centre Vietnam motorcycle tour. Our route takes us onto a historic road originally constructed by the French army, descending toward the spectacular Black River Reservoir.
The approximately 50-km Old French Road is one of the more challenging sections of the trip. The route is remote, with rough and uneven surfaces, making it an enjoyable challenge for riders who want to experience the less-travelled side of Northern Vietnam by motorbike.
After completing the difficult section, we eventually reach the paved road and enjoy a fantastic descent toward the banks of the reservoir. We then cross the water by local ferry, adding another memorable experience to the journey.
Once on the other side, we follow the shoreline of the Black River Reservoir, passing through villages and agricultural areas. Many of these communities were relocated before the original valley was flooded to create the reservoir, giving the region an interesting combination of natural beauty and human history.
The road becomes easier as we continue along the sealed route toward Phu Yen. Gradually, the surrounding mountains open up into a vast valley filled with green rice paddies and farmland.
Our destination is the mountain settlement of Phu Yen, located in the middle of this broad and fertile valley. After the challenging roads earlier in the day, it is a pleasant place to relax and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of rural Northwest Vietnam.
Overnight in Phu Yen.
Day 4: Phu Yen – Phuc An. (~120 km, ~4 hours)
Today, we continue our North Centre Vietnam motorbike tour by crossing the western end of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The route takes us through relatively untouched rainforest and remote mountain scenery toward Ba Khe.
From Ba Khe, we continue on a paved road through one of Northern Vietnam’s well-known tea-growing regions. The surrounding hillsides are covered with extensive green tea plantations, creating beautiful scenery as we ride toward Yen Bai, a city located on the banks of the Red River.
After a short break in Yen Bai, we continue toward Thac Ba Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes in Vietnam. The lake was created in connection with the construction of the Thac Ba Hydroelectric Power Plant during the 1970s and is now surrounded by forested hills and small rural communities.
When we reach the lake, we leave our motorbikes behind and continue by boat. The approximately one-hour boat trip takes us across the clear and peaceful waters of Thac Ba Lake, passing forested islands and quiet corners of the reservoir.
Our destination is Phuc An, a remote village inhabited by the Dao ethnic people. Staying here gives us an opportunity to experience traditional village life and enjoy genuine Dao hospitality away from the main tourist routes.
After the day’s ride through mountains, tea plantations, and lakeside countryside, Phuc An provides a peaceful place to relax and experience another side of rural Northern Vietnam.
Overnight in Phuc An.
Day 5: Phuc An – Hanoi. (~200 km, ~7 hours) End of North Centre Vietnam.
We start early with an optional swim at a nearby waterfall, enjoying the peaceful surroundings before taking the boat back across Thac Ba Lake to collect our motorbikes.
After breakfast, we begin the final day of our 5-day North Centre Vietnam motorcycle tour, riding southeast along Highway 2. We then leave the main highway and turn toward the quiet town of Phu Tho, continuing through the agricultural heartland of Northern Vietnam.
Later, we follow the Red River along the river dike, riding through peaceful countryside almost to the point where the Red River meets the Black River. From here, the combined waterways continue toward Hanoi.
By this stage of the journey, we have left the mountains far behind and entered the broad Red River Delta, one of Northern Vietnam’s most important agricultural regions. During harvest season, the countryside becomes a hive of activity, with farmers working in the fields, transporting crops, and going about their daily routines.
We cross the Black River by bridge and continue toward Son Tay before joining the dike road alongside the Red River for the final ride back to Hanoi.
This final section provides a relaxing contrast to the mountain roads and remote trails experienced earlier in the trip. In just five days, we have travelled from Hanoi’s urban streets through limestone mountains, rainforest, ethnic villages, tea plantations, reservoirs, remote roads, and traditional homestays, experiencing an impressive variety of Northern Vietnam.
We arrive back in Hanoi at around 4:00 PM, before the afternoon rush hour, avoiding the heaviest motorcycle traffic and bringing our North Centre Vietnam motorbike tour to a comfortable end.
More Guided Motorbike Tour Routes
Contact us at [email protected] if you need more information, alternative itineraries, or additional details about our North Centre Vietnam motorbike tour from Hanoi.
