Day 1: Hanoi – Hang Kia (Moc Chau). ~200 km, ~7 h.
Today is the first day of this long North Loop 13 days motorbike tour. Before starting to ride, we will have a short briefing to let you know about the rules. In addition, the guide will show you how to understand him by his body language. We start around 9.30am after the rush hour.
Ride to the direction of the West. We pass through Hoa Binh town, then along the Laotian border on our left and Da (Black) river on our right. We leave the river in the mountainous cirque of Mai Chau to go up until the plateau of Mai Chau.
Multiple horizons in a range of green and grey. Before the plateau, we turn right toward the border until the H’mong village of Hang Kia, which accommodates us for the night.

Day 2: Hang Kia (Moc Chau) – Gia Phu. ~100 km, ~6 h.
We cross the Da river reservoir, then about 30 km dirt road until Gia Phu, a Thai village near a small river.
In fact, you will meet no tourists there. However, the accommodation in Hang Kia and Gia Phu is quite simple. In contrast, the welcome is as usual: exceptional.
In case you choose this itinerary, you have to be ready for some hard off-road riding.
Golden Trail Travel Motorbike Adventures - Long North Loop 13 Days Motorbike Tour, full loop. On the way to Hang Kia.

Day 3: Gia Phu – Yen Binh. ~120 km, ~6-7 h.
Dirt road ~60 km (technical). You ride from South to North, on the west side of the Da River, and in reality, the ride is very wild and beautiful. Many different ethnicities live there and thus have different types of cultivation.

Day 4: Yen Binh – Na Khan. ~200 km, ~8 h.
In fact, today’s ride is quite a long ride but easy (so early departure is better) from Yen Binh to Na Khan. In general, the road is sealed all the way.
Na Khan is a village of Tay people lost in the primitive forest. We are welcome in the house of Mister Lô, the chief of the village.

Day 5: Na Khan – Ba Be. ~60 km, ~2 h.
A short drive from Na Khan to Ba Be on a bumpy road. Then have lunch at our captain’s house. Easy boating on the lake and river. Go to the market (if it is the day you arrive). Stop at a waterfall, beautiful swim, etc. Ong pirate, the chief of Dau Dang waterfall where we enjoy dinner. Down the waterfall, we could visit the village and a small school (only a few pupils during the summer). Finally, we propose to stay in the stilt house of forest guards.

Day 6: Ba Be – Quang Hoa. ~170 km, ~8 h.
Cross Ba Be lake to come back to our captain’s house. Then a beautiful ride up to Cao Bang province. There are a few passes from where you can dominate the area. The road is easy but there are many curves. While riding we can stop a lot. Altogether, with stops for drinks and food, it should be an 8-hour journey. Then ride 1 more hour to reach the beautiful village of Quang Hoa, in the middle of a mountain cirque. This is the territory of Nung An people. Spend the night at our friend’s house.

Day 7: Quang Hoa – Na Tau – Quang Hoa. ~30 km, ~1 h.
In fact, Na Tau is a completely unknown area and we propose to discover it by raft and motorbike. Rivers and waterfalls everywhere are extremely beautiful and wild. It is only 15 km from Quang Hoa. On the return, we invite you for the aperitif at the village of Phuc Sen, artisan village Nung An, the owner is the brother of our host.
Golden Trail Travel Motorbike Adventures - Long North Loop 13 Days Motorbike Tour via Ban Gioc waterfalls.

Day 8: Quang Hoa – Ban Gioc – Quang Hoa. ~100 km, ~2 h.
Having obtained permission from the border police, we make our way through spectacular scenery to Vietnam’s most impressive waterfalls. Weather permitting we can swim right up to where the 50 m high falls hit the river.

Day 9: Quang Hoa – Mau Son. ~180 km, ~7 h.
Honestly, today is probably the best riding day on this long North Loop 13 days motorbike tour.
We slowly leave the region of the karsts to find the forest. Then descending by famous colonial road N. 4 until the frontier city of Lang Son. We then climb Mau Son mount (1.541 m) to spend the night at its top from where we dominate all the areas to which China is near.
Stay in a hotel in a former French atmosphere, which is recently restored.
Recently, we received some complaints about room service and prostitution in Mau Son. In case you want better hotel rooms, we could stop in Lang Son city.

Day 10: Mau Son – Bai Chay. ~180 km, ~7 h.
We have a long ride mainly on a secondary road, passing many coal mines along the road. The road goes down towards the plains. In fact, some sections are in bad conditions.
Arrive in Bai Chay. Check-in a hotel.

Day 11: Halong Bay. Boating.
Promenade along the coast in Halong City. Start boating at noon.
Boating to Thien Cung cave, fishing village, and then through myriads of limestone to Ba Trai Dao (Three Peach Fruit Islet). Swimming and sleep here.
Cat Ba motorbike tours. Golden Trail Travel Motorbike Adventures - Long North Loop 13 Days Motorbike Tour.

Day 12: Halong Bay – Cat Ba. Boating.
Cruise to Cat Ba. In fact, Cat Ba is the far end of Halong Bay. In general, Cat Ba still live from the resource that the sea offers. However, tourism is developed and of high quality. The Cat Ba Bay is condensed of Halong Bay, its labyrinth of limestone so dense that it is difficult to imagine we are in the sea.
We created this itinerary – the floating village Van Gia. They are our personal friends and the relationship with them is intimate, even knowing that some companies now also pass through there.
Finally, yet importantly, Monkey Island (Cat Dua Islet) was totally ignored by mass tourism when we propose to stop there. It has got nothing special besides the fact that there is nobody except monkeys and one family who takes care of their security.
Arrive in Cat Ba after lunch. Then we propose to promenade along the coast or to ride to Cat Ba National Park.

Day 13: Cat Ba – Hai Phong – Hanoi. ~120 km, ~3 h. End of Long North Loop 13 Days Motorbike Tour.
Take a ferry to Hai Phong starts at 1.30 pm and then ride back to Hanoi on Highway 5.
We try to arrive in Hanoi before 5pm to avoid rush hours. Otherwise, you should be good with city traffic from the experience you got over the last days

Including
– Motorcycle(s);
– Fuel;
– Tour guide (also a translator, leader, and handy mechanic);
– Standard hotel (double, twins, or triple shared room) and/or homestay (sleeping bags, mosquito nets, sheets, pillows, etc. are provided);
– Third-party motorbike insurance in case you have a Vietnamese motorbike driving license;
– All food (Vietnamese food, Western food costs extra);
– All entrance fees, permits, tickets, boat trips, ferries, bamboo rafts, etc;
– Golden Trail Travel provides premium assistance (1). We are with you along the way;
– Vietnamese green tea.

Not including
– Personal expenses, personal medical insurance;
– Drinks other than tea and local rice wine;
– Single room supplement in case you request a single room;
– Motorbiking protective pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, rain gear, and other safety equipment at favourable rental rate;
– Bike shipping and tour guide’s travel back to Hanoi (for Ho Chi Minh trail/road trips or tours that don’t end in Hanoi);
– Train or flight tickets before and after your tour;
– Breakfast on the departure day and dinner on the return day;
– Accommodation and food in Hanoi;
– Tips.