Your Next Adventure
Your Next Adventure
Vietnam Adventure Bike Tour
Trip Overview
This is your bucket list bike tour to explore Vietnam, including some of the most famous and spectacular scenery in Southeast Asia. Cycle in the Hanoi region with a special cyclo tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Explore farming areas and fishing villages. Relax as you’re paddled by lovely caves. Cruise among the hundreds of islands in the quieter section of gorgeous Bai Tu Long Bay.
Kayak and swim at Hon Co Island. Take a dragon boat ride to a pagoda and see a covered bridge. Bicycle in the shade of coconut palms to see ancestral tombs. Challenge yourself and cycle through a mountain pass. Stay in 5-star hotels, embark on a luxurious ship and taste delicious local cuisine.
English-speaking Vietnamese guides join our Discovery Bicycle Tours leader to guide you on a trip of a lifetime … giving you a chance to bike like the locals do … and providing a window into Vietnamese culture, daily life and history. Don’t miss this amazing adventure!
To add to your exploration of the region, join us for an optional pre-trip to bike and hike around the fabulous temples and ruins of Angkor Wat in and around Siem Reap, Cambodia. The 2022 dates are set, but ask about 2023 departures for this optional add-on trip.
Learn more about our 4-day Ankgor Wat Pre-Trip Bike Tour
Itinerary
From start to finish, check out the route.
Our guide meets you at the airport and accompanies you to your hotel in Hanoi. Enjoy the amenities at your 5-star hotel.
You have the morning free to rest, explore and get over any jet lag. At 1 p.m., we meet in the hotel lobby for a tour briefing and bike check. You then visit Ho Chi Minh's complex and the Hoa Lo Prison aka "Hanoi Hilton." Next take a cyclo tour (1 hour), where you’re treated to being pedaled around the busy Old Quarter, also known as the “36 streets.” This bustling area of narrow streets and alleys is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. It’s a great place to explore with plenty of photo opportunities all around you.
In the late afternoon, you enjoy a wonderful performance of Vietnamese Water Puppetry. This evening we enjoy our first meal together.
In the morning, you travel by car to Tam Coc (three caves), a peaceful valley among limestone “karst” hills. There, you are rowed along a gentle river between paddy fields and through the caves. After your included lunch at a local restaurant, you pick up your bike to ride along a scenic canal with walking around open rice fields and looking around at the amazing folds of the rock formations. You have a chance to learn about Vietnamese agriculture and cycle through different villages and a unique area known for its magnificent limestone peaks. You spend the night at a lovely hotel in Van Long, Ninh Binh.
After breakfast, you travel by private vehicle to Ha Long City. You then embark on a magnificent ship and she sets sail. Enjoy a welcome drink and a cruise briefing. A splendid lunch is served while cruising to magnificent Bai Tu Long Bay with its picturesque islands.
Visit the hidden Thien Canh Son Cave. Then enjoy the emerald water on a white sand beach on Hon Co Island with swimming or kayaking options. Then return to the ship for sunset and cocktails.
Delight in a flavorful dinner and social time before your night onboard.
Early risers can begin your new day with a Tai Chi session or a photo chase. Then enjoy breakfast in the fresh air and peaceful beauty of the Bay. Visit a fishing village by rustic rowboat. See a floating school and fish farms. Then return to the ship to pack your luggage and check out of the cabin and enjoy lunch while cruising towards the port. At midday, disembark the Dragon Legend and return to Hanoi to board a flight to Hue. The flight departs at 4 p.m. Enjoy dinner and overnight at our hotel in Hue, at a peaceful resort surrounded by lush gardens. Hue is known for its religious, cultural and historic heritage. Many significant buildings have been restored after damage in the Tet Offensive in 1968.
In the morning, you ride along country lanes accompanied only by light local traffic – (mainly bicycles, buffaloes and motorbikes!) to the Royal Tomb of Emperor Gia Long.
Keep riding through Thuy Bieu village to enjoy the fresh air of Hue’s suburb before you board a dragon boat to cruise along the Perfume River to visit to the Thien Mu Pagoda with its moat now filled with lotus flowers.
Travel by bus to the hotel to freshen up. Tonight, you dine in a pleasant local restaurant. You are served a splendid meal based on the distinctive characteristics of classic Hue cuisine. You spend a second night in Hue.
After breakfast, check out of the hotel and ride to Thanh Toan, a classic covered bridge in the lovely countryside. Visit an agriculture museum to learn the process of planting rice and about the traditional life of farmers in the past.
From there you travel by bus beyond the city limits of Hue (out to the coast) before beginning the ride off the beaten track for 25 miles along a picturesque, very narrow peninsular road from Thuan An beach. You cycle in the shade of coconut trees, stop to explore the hundreds of ancestral tombs scattered in the large sand dunes and numerous colorful ancestral worship buildings. At the end of the peninsula, you hop on a bus and transfer to Angsana Lang Co Resort to spend the night. Dinner is on your own.
Leaving the hotel in the morning, you cycle along Lang Co beach to warm up before doing some challenging bike riding as you conquer the Hai Van or “Pass of Ocean Clouds.” Now that the new tunnel through the mountain is completed, the 6 miles of uphill riding will be on a very quiet section of highway. The gradient is manageable and the views breathtaking!
After summiting the pass and riding down the other side, you are then transferred the rest of the way to Hoi An, a delightful old trading town and UNESCO World Heritage Site. You spend the night by the sea in Hoi An.
After breakfast, you ride your bicycle to the village of Thanh Ha, a modest village living mainly making small pottery objects and utensils. Cam Thanh located nearby Hoi An. After a short rest, you then continue cycling through the rural scenery of Hoi An to a small village located on the banks of the Tra Que Lagoon, 2 miles northeast of the old town. You meet local people and join in the experience of their daily work of planting and watering vegetables. Your local village hosts provide you with a cooking demonstration and show you some of the local specialties – including how to make rice paper, ban xeo and the tam huu local spring roll.
After lunch, you ride to Cam Thanh water coconut village to learn about the daily life of families who fish on the local river. Learn how to paddle a unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boat. You spend a second night in Hoi An.
After breakfast at the hotel, you are transferred to Danang Airport to board a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Upon your arrival in Vietnam's capital city, you check in to your hotel room and are free to explore. You are treated to an evening walking tour of the street food to better understand the local cuisine and culture. Overnight at a 5-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City overlooking the Saigon River.
This morning you travel by bus and head out of the hustle and bustle of city traffic to the tranquility of the countryside. You then pick up your bicycle and ride along the many stunning villages. Rice grows – as do spices and fruit – and folks swinging in hammocks may wave as we cycle through this beautiful scenery.
On arrival in Cai Be, you board a boat to cruise on the Mekong River. See fruit orchards, a traditional family-run brick kiln and even a workshop making the unique huge local coffins. In the afternoon, you return to Ho Chi Minh City to spend a second night at the Majestic Hotel.
Map
Dates & Pricing
Prices are per person based on double occupancy (2 people in one room). Single supplement for private room is listed at the top of this page. A deposit of $500 holds your reservation for most tours. For weekend tours, the deposit is $300.
What’s Included
11 nights’ lodging; boat trips as noted in itinerary; 11 breakfasts; 9 lunches; 9 dinners (after arrival day, you are on your own for 1 lunch in Hanoi and 1 dinner in Hue). Cost of beverages not included. Vietnam visa and airfare to and from Vietnam are not included. Travel insurance is required by our partners. Your insurance must include comprehensive medical and emergency evacuation. All transfers during the tour in private, air-conditioned vehicles; two domestic air flights (Hanoi to Hue and Danang to Ho Chi Minh City). We also include English-speaking leaders; vehicle support; snacks and water on biking days; detailed maps and itineraries. Plus, use of a bicycle and helmet. Step-through bikes are not available on this tour. Airfare is not included.
Dates & Pricing
Prices are per person based on double occupancy (2 people in one room). Single supplement for private room is listed at the top of this page. A deposit of $500 holds your reservation for most tours. For weekend tours, the deposit is $300.
What’s Included
11 nights’ lodging; boat trips as noted in itinerary; 11 breakfasts; 9 lunches; 9 dinners (after arrival day, you are on your own for 1 lunch in Hanoi and 1 dinner in Hue). Cost of beverages not included. Vietnam visa and airfare to and from Vietnam are not included. Travel insurance is required by our partners. Your insurance must include comprehensive medical and emergency evacuation. All transfers during the tour in private, air-conditioned vehicles; two domestic air flights (Hanoi to Hue and Danang to Ho Chi Minh City). We also include English-speaking leaders; vehicle support; snacks and water on biking days; detailed maps and itineraries. Plus, use of a bicycle and helmet. Step-through bikes are not available on this tour. Airfare is not included.
Inns
Where you stay along the way.
Gallery
Images from this tour. Click each to see it larger.
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