Binh Lieu Border Loop, Motorbike Guide, Quang Ninh, Vietnam

Binh Lieu Border Loop | Motorbike Guide

Extraordinary roads & mountain scenery in a seldom-explored region bordering China…

The Trans-Northern Belt Road: QL279

Trans-Northern Belt Road: QL279

Traversing the breadth of the nation from east to west at its widest & most mountainous point, QL279 is an historic 937km route…

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The Muong Long Loop, Nghe An, Motorbike Guide

The Muong Long Loop | Nghe An Motorbike Guide

A spectacular circuit of the nation’s biggest province, the Muong Long Loop is a motorbike route to rival any other in Vietnam for scenery & adventure…

Tuyen Quang Magic 8 Loop, Motorbike Guide

Tuyen Quang Magic ‘8’ Loop | Motorbike Guide

A figure-of-eight loop on back-roads through quintessential northern landscapes not far from Hanoi…

Dalat by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops

Dalat by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops

Many of Dalat’s most famous & impressive attractions lie within a 10-40km radius of the city centre. Linked by good roads through pretty scenery, these sights are best visited by motorbike…

Motocamping in south-central Vietnam in the dry season

Motocamping South-Central Vietnam in the Dry Season

One of the most rewarding & deeply satisfying travel experiences I’ve had in over a decade of travelling in Vietnam, motocamping (‘motorbike-camping’) is thrilling, challenging, fulfilling & still a fairly niche activity…

Motorbiking Northern Vietnam

Motorbiking Northern Vietnam | 13 Routes

In the north, the mountains are higher, the passes loftier & the scenery is more majestic than anywhere else in Vietnam….

Dak Nong Geopark↔Dong Nai River Motorbike Loop

A meandering road trip in the cool, clear air & vivid ‘HD’ colours of the Western Highlands, the Dak Nong Geopark↔Dong Nai River Motorbike Loop is a sensory route, full of smells, sounds, sights & tastes: coffee blossom, blue skies, damp earth, wood smoke, rain, birdsong, spices & hot cups of locally-grown coffee.

The Northeast Loop

The Northeast by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops

A bucolic corner of Vietnam, the Northeast is a garden of rice fields, forests, lakes & rivers ambling through limestone corridors. This guide focuses on 5 motorbike loops on meandering back-roads & freshly-sealed highways through three provinces: Cao Bang, Lang Son & Bac Kan…

Phong Nha by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops

Phong Nha by Motorbike: 5 Routes & Loops

Phong Nha has some of the most sublime landscape in Vietnam. These motorbike routes & loops explore all corners of the area’s extraordinary natural beauty….

Hoi An-Danang-Hue by Motorbike

Hoi An→Danang→Hue by Motorbike: 3 Routes & Loops

There are now four different routes between these three cities in Central Vietnam. Each route has something different to offer: choose between The Coast, The River, The Mountains, or The Tunnel…..

Son Tra Peninsular, Danang, Vietnam

Son Tra Peninsula, Danang | Motorbike Guide

A rugged headland at the northern tip of Danang’s municipal beach, Son Tra offers mountains & forests, cliffs & coves, wildlife & centuries-old banyan trees, lofty mountain passes with majestic views & sandy beaches untainted by concrete high-rises….

The Extreme Northwest Motorbike Loop, Lai Chau & Dien Bien, Vietnam

The Extreme Northwest Loop: Motorbike Guide

Straddling the Chinese & Lao borders, the extreme northwest of Vietnam is one of the least travelled & most remote regions of the entire country. Mountain roads carve a circuitous course between Lao Cai, Sapa, and Dien Bien Phu, running perilously close to the infamous Golden Triangle….

Ha Giang-Ba Be Lake-Cao Bang, road trip, Vietnam

High Roads: Ha Giang→Ba Be Lake→Cao Bang | 3 Routes

The roads between the northern provinces of Ha Giang & Cao Bang travel through some of the most spectacular & remote regions of Vietnam. Here are three highly scenic (but not always easy) motorbike routes linking Ha Giang, Ba Be Lake & Cao Bang….

Sapa-Y Ty Scenic Motorbike Loop, Vietnam

Sapa-Y Ty Scenic Motorbike Loop

Sapa’s dramatic mountainous landscape continues north of town, via Y Ty Village, all the way to the Chinese border. Several small roads penetrate deep into steep, terraced valleys & climb high above ferocious rivers creating a scenic loop….

The Cả Pass, Vietnam

The Cả Pass | Motorbike Guide

Traversing a jungle-clad, mountainous spur as it meets the ocean, the Cả Pass is an historic, scenic & underhyped route with light traffic…

La Nga River & Thac Ba Waterfall

The La Nga River and Thac Ba Waterfall offer freshwater bathing, lush jungle, mountain scenery and opportunities for wild camping, all within a few hours’ drive of Saigon. It’s a great inland escape for city-dwellers with their own wheels….

The Road East of the Long Mountains (Đường Trường Sơn Đông), Vietnam

The Road East of the Long Mountains (Đường Trường Sơn Đông)

A romp through the Central Highlands, the Truong Son Dong Road is a ride to be savoured. With mystical overtones & military undercurrents, the name in Vietnamese translates as ‘The Road East of the Long Mountains’. It’s one of the best riding roads in Vietnam…

Saigon to Dalat, back roads, Vietnam

Saigon to Dalat: the ‘Back Ways’

There are many ways to ride from Saigon to Dalat, but if you want a relatively direct route that avoids highways, there are several great options. These ‘back ways’ to Dalat utilize new, quiet & scenic roads to make the journey as fun as possible…

Mountains in the Mekong, motorbike road trip, Vietnam

Mountains in the Mekong: Motorbike Loop

Most of the Mekong Delta is as flat as a sheet of rice paper. But my favourite corner of the region, the western edge along the Cambodian border, is blessed with some high ground, in the form of a mini mountain range, which rises from the plains of An Giang Province. These mountains are connected by beautiful back-roads, perfect for a road trip…

Binh Thuan Back-Roads: Inland Loop

Binh Thuan Province is known for its beaches, but inland there’s a rich and varied landscape waiting to be explored. A network of rarely used, rural back-roads takes you on an inland loop – over arid plains, through forests, and across rivers….

River Road: The Cai Valley, Vietnam

River Road: The Cai Valley

A silver seam of glistening water, the Cai River meanders through a beautiful valley between Dalat & Phan Rang. A new road follows the course of the river, from its source in the high, forested hills to its mouth on the eastern seaboard….

The Pine Tree Road, North of Dalat by Motorbike, Vietnam

The Pine Tree Road | Motorbike Guide

North of Dalat, an enticing road plunges deep into the pine forests of the Central Highlands before dead-ending in the beautiful Krông Nô River Valley…

The Tet Classic: Lunar New Year Motorbike Loop

The Tết Classic: Lunar New Year Motorbike Loop

Tết (Lunar New Year) is the biggest festival of them all in Vietnam, but travel can be very difficult at this time of year. That’s why, every year, I take a meandering road trip that bypasses popular tourist spots & makes the most of the dry season weather…

The Golden Loop, Motorbike Guide, Central Vietnam

The Golden Loop | Motorbike Guide

Nowhere in Vietnam is there such variety of landscape & richness of culture as in the central provinces, a region best explored by motorbike…

The Burnt Road, Ninh Thuan Province

The Burnt Road: Vietnam’s Desert

A short, easy ride through a big, hot landscape of barren hills and abandoned farmhouses, Highway 27B is the Burnt Road. This road trip takes you inland, through the vast open spaces of Vietnam’s driest province…

The Northeast Motorbike Loop, Vietnam

VIDEO: The Northeast Motorbike Loop

One of my favourite corners of Vietnam, this is my film of riding the Northeast Loop by motorbike…

Sapa to Ha Giang by motorbike on borders & back-roads, Vietnam

Borders & Back-Roads: Sapa to Ha Giang by Motorbike

Connecting two of the most mountainous provinces in Vietnam, this motorbike route straddles the Chinese border, passing through some of the remotest parts of the country…

The Ha Giang Loop: Extreme North Motorbike Guide

Ha Giang Loop: Extreme North Motorbike Guide

Hà Giang is a mystical borderland that’s home to a legendary motorbike loop through otherworldly landscapes…

Rice harvest, Mu Cang Chai, Vietnam

The Harvest Route: Mù Cang Chải

Every year, between September & October, the terraced rice fields of Mù Cang Chải, a rural district in northern Vietnam, put on a luminous show of picturesque harvest colours. I spectacular road runs through this region: I call it ‘The Harvest Route’….

Sapa to Sin Ho Scenic Motorbike Loop, Vietnam

Sapa-Sin Ho Scenic Motorbike Loop

Sapa and Sin Ho are two towns high up on the slopes of the Tonkinese Alps. They are connected by lofty mountain passes, offering grand scenery on a scale not seen anywhere else in Vietnam. This is an ideal scenic loop by motorbike…

Saigon Escape Loop: motorbike guide

Southeast Loop: Motorbike Guide

If you’re looking for a road trip within reach of Saigon that takes you to beaches & mountains, but stays off busy main roads; this is it. Saigon, Mui Ne, & Dalat are all connected by quiet, scenic back-roads: this motorbike guide shows you how to do it.

The Ho Chi Minh Road, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Road: Motorbike Guide

Stretching almost 2,000km along the mountainous spine of Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Road is fast becoming famous as one of the finest motorbike rides in Asia. Now fully paved from Saigon all the way to Hanoi, this is my updated and extended guide to the entire Ho Chi Minh Road….

The Limestone Loop, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

The Limestone Loop: Motorbike Guide

Thanh Hoa is a province of limestone pinnacles, rivers & rice paddies. Quiet roads meander through steep valleys cloaked in bamboo forests, & mountain passes twist skyward toward remote Lao border crossings. This motorbike loop is easily accessible from Hanoi, but travels through remote & beautiful landscapes….

Motorbike Guides Map

This is a map of all my Motorbike Routes. Zoom in, click a marker, then click the link in the description to go directly to the guide.