I have been exploring the world for about 8 years and traveling Motorbike tour Vietnam is still one of my all time favorite adventures. Whether exploring the whole country by bike or just doing a motorbike day tour, a motorbike adventure is something you have to experience when traveling in Vietnam.
Motorbikes are a part of life in this country with 37 million of these vehicles registered. Cruising on the highway you see many very interesting things. A family of four on a scooter on the highway is a common occurrence. Pigs, chickens, building material or any other cargo are often tied to motorbikes in ingenious ways. Travelling in Vietnam I met a couple of backpackers in Hanoi selling bikes following a South to North bike trip. Stories of their trip sounded unreal and when I realized how cheap buying a motorbike is I started planning my trip! A week later my travel buddy Ryan and I were exploring the Ho Chi Min way on our customized Honda motorbikes. Dont feel like making such a big biking commitment? Book a day tour and experience a bit of the Vietnam motorbike adventure!
Motorbike Tours
There are amazing options for guided motorbike tours to experience Vietnam by bike in safe way. Go on a fun tour in the roads of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi or Hoi An exploring the cities with an experienced driver on a foodie, sightseeing, culture or shopping tour.
Check out these awesome tours, all highly rated with good reviews. When you pick a tour always check for plenty of good ratings and read a couple of reviews!
Da Lat Motorbike Tours
Dalat Full day Easy rider Vietnam dirtbike tours I did this one day tour in Dalat and it was fantastic! This beautiful place in the highlands was one of the highlights of our 2 months in Vietnam. Exploring the area sitting on the back of a motorbike taking photos. Visit pagodas, ethnic minority villages, vegetable farms, and a coffee plantation. Stop at a silk factory. Drink Kopi Luwak coffee and eating crickets.
Ho Chi Minh Motorbike Tours
4 hour urban scooter adventure Highly rated tour with many reviews. Good mix, little bit of everything; city streets, markets, tourist sites and food. Picked up from your hotel, learn about historical landmark and events in Ho Chi Minh City, view unique architecture. Along the way, youll be revitalized by hearty bowls of flavorful noodle soup, experience some street food tour options, walk the biggest flower market, a floating market and experience the contrast of Saigon neighbourhood like District 7.
Morning Market Motorbike Adventure Experience the more off the beaten track markets with these fun, knowledgeable locals by bike. Get picked up from your hotel, explore interesting markets in Ho Chi Minh beyond the usual Ben Thanh Market. See the best of Saigons markets in the morning, interesting fresh produce, flowers animals market experience the most wonderful and weird sides of Saigon
Ho Chi Minh Midnight tour Explore Ho Chi Minhs streets at night and go beyond district 1 seeing different areas cultures and lifestyles. Visit different districts from the modern developing city to old towns, aged apartments, local midnight markets, and an old Mafia area, make a stop at the Haunted House of Saigon! Taste some traditional Pho or Banh Mi on the way, go to vibrant nightlife of Bui Vien Street with cheap eats, bars, souvenir shops and more! This tour has hotel pick up and drop off services.
XO Motorbike Tours offer something unique, a company with all women drivers that can take you on a variety of great tours in the cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hoi An.
Hanoi Motorbike Tours
Hanoi Sightseeing Motorcycle Tour Vietnam Very popular bike tour in Hanoi. Start off with a visit to the Hanoi Opera House, make your way to the French Quarter, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, the One Pillar Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple, the Tran Quoc Pagoda, ride through the 36 Old Streets of Hanoi known as the Old Quarter, enjoy the diverse history, architecture, and products on this tour.
Hoi An Food Tour sample the citys best street food. Explore the centuries-old streets by bike, through ancient alleyways, and secret sidestreets to discover the best street food in the city. Get a taste of what the locals eat from Madam Phuong bread, Banh Beo/Water Fern Cake, Cao Lau Noodles, Banh It La Gai cake, and more! Hotel Pick up and Drop off.
Why Vietnam is Perfect for a Long Distance Motorbike Tour
Vietnam is a long, narrow country, perfect to cross without missing anything.
Since everybody owns a motorbike there are many very cheap bikes on the second hand market.
Ho Chi Minh Trail, was a system of mountain and jungle paths and trails that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) through the kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. The trail was used by North Vietnam during the Vietnam war to get troops and supplies into South Vietnam.
In recent times a Ho Chi Minh Highway was constructed by paving over old sections of the trail, creating a 1,000-mile paved road from Hanoi to Saigon only running through Vietnam.
Motorbike in Vietnam How to Get a Bike
When going on a motorbike trip through Vietnam you have three options to get a bike; buy a bike, rent a bike or go on a guided tour. Buying a bike is the cheapest option since you can sell your bike again after your trip, but is more risky since you can buy a lot of problems. Renting is more hassles with insurance and returning the bike. A tour can be nice, especially if you do not feel confident driving and can sit on the back you obviously do not have the freedom you have cruising with your own bike.
Buying a Motorbike in Vietnam
I loved buying my bike, spray painting it and the freedom of the whole experience. We did breakdown a couple of times, but that was amazing in Vietnam, we always got help relatively quickly and fixing our bikes was always cheap.
Best Bike for a Motorbike Tour in Vietnam
The most popular bikes for this journey are the Honda Win 100cc manual shift bike, the Honda Wave 110cc scooter or the Yamaha Nouvo 125cc scooter. The scooters are automatic gearshift. I loved my Honda Win, but many travelers are not comfortable with manual shift and opts for a scooter.
Real vs Fake Bikes The real Honda Win 100cc motorbike is made in Japan and costs about $2000 new, most of the bikes driven by tourists are fake Honda Win copies made in China, they are a lot cheaper, I heard they cost about 25% of a real bike. Obviously the quality is going to be inferior. Many of the bikes for sale on the backpacker market is more than 20 years old and probably did this trip 100s of times.
We did have breakdowns, but could always find someone, even in the middle of nowhere, to fix our problem for cheap. I was happy with my fake Honda Win and so were many other people that I met.
There are many Honda shops in Ho Chi Minn and Hanoi that fix and sell bikes and some offer a buy back deal on the other end. The cheapest way to buy would be from another traveler in a hurry to sell his prized/despised moto. You can easily pick up a bike for under $200 from another backpacker in hurry to sell. In backpackers areas there are usually many bikes for sale standing around with for sale signs. Check out Facebook there are several Vietnam Motorbike groups on Facebook where travelers sell their bikes.
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