Big North Vietnam Motorbike Travel, Motorcycle Excursion Reviews

Here are comments and reviews from our customers about motorcycling Northern Vietnam (big loop). Please click on the links to learn more.

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Mr Vinny Holt | Ha Giang and ethnic hilltribe tour, ~1,600 km | 10 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr William Millar | Ha Giang and ethnic hilltribe tour, ~1,600 km | 10 days Honda motorcycle ride

Ms Solyssa Visalli | The Great North Loop pillion ride, ~2,000 km | 11 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr Dave Walter Flooks | The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km | 11 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr Dario Favi and Ms Manuela Tomasello | The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km | 11 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr Ron Coslick | The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km | 14 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr Joseph Au | The Great North Happy Time Loop, ~2,000 km | 14 days Honda motorbike ride

Mr Vinny Holt (10 days Ha Giang and ethnic hilltribe tour, ~1,600 km)

All in all an intriguing, memorable and very revealing tour - I've been to See hill-tribes at Sapa previously and wanted to see more of their life away from the tourist areas and I wasn't disappointed. This trip gave me the insight I wanted and astounding views as well. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to see the more authentic side of hilltribe life. Dong Van Sunday Market was a riot of colour and a real treat for all the senses - if you are into hill-tribes - not to be missed!

All in all a fantastic experience, not a bed of roses though, with some rough roads, choking dusty roads, noisy nights in the wild and no two nights in the same bed - however, the rewards of the trip outway any discomfort ten times over.

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: We decided to do 3 long first days which was tiring, but gave us more time in the mountains to see, enjoy and relax in the smaller towns. I wouldn't attempt to do this route in any less than 8 days minimum.

- Transportation: Honda 160s - I'm 6ft and ride a tall bike Triumph 955i Tiger, so I felt I was on a clowns bike at first. However be under no illusion, these bikes are built for this terrain and the punishment they took, on and off road was astounding. Not a single fault with my bike although others in the party had a couple of punctures. Minh, the guide could patch up any problem with the bikes and was up before us each day checking, oiling an fueling up.

- Accommodation: Don't expect any luxury on this trip and you will be fine - some of the homestays were amazing, others were very basic, they all did their best to make you comfortable but take ear plugs for the homestays to block out the frogs, crickets, and cockerels that can't tell the bloody time! Everywhere you were received with utmost hospitality and lots of rice wine!

- Food: Food always good, plenty and hot - no stomach problems at all - chicken can be tough - but I'm told they run around a lot in the mountains!

- The organization - Guide services: Our Guide Minh - was great company, with only one, or ten in the group, you will be attentively looked after. If you want to change the itinerary at anytime, he will work out alternatives to suit your every needs and wishes.

- The price: Good value!

- How did you know about us? I googled motorbike hire tours Hanoi.

Full name: Vincent Holt
Address: Manchester, ENGLAND.

Mr William Millar (10 days Ha Giang and ethnic hilltribe tour, ~1,600 km)

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: The first couple of days were quite long, largely due to unforeseen stoppages. The rest of the trip the tempo was fine with a couple of easy days when they were needed.

- Transportation: The Honda XR 250 I had initially broke down on the first afternoon. But the Offroad Vietnam did manage to organise a Honda GL160 bike for the rest of the trip which was arguably better suited to the conditions anyway. Although the suspension was a little primitive and did nothing for my own undercarriage.

- Accommodation: Hotels and guest houses we stayed at were generally nice, basic but clean. The first two home stays were great experiences and the families very welcoming. The last home stay was well below the standard of the first two.

- Food: The food was generally very good with some restaurants better than others. The 'civet' in Meo Vac was unforgettable.

- The organization - Guide services: Minh the guide was very good. Endlessly good humoured and seemingly tireless.

- The price: Good value!

- How did you know about us? Internet search.

Full name: William Millar
Address: Shanghai, CHINA.

Ms Solyssa Visalli (11 days The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km)

Loved it all all. Thank you!

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: I thought the trip was at a good pace with plenty of breaks. There were a couple of long breaks but I was happy to see such a large area.

- Transportation: Rode pillion.

- Accommodation: Loved the homestays - they were very comfortable and the people were friendly. All the hotels were fine except one which was not as nice.

- Food: All the food was great and plenty of it. Usually way too much food actually!

- The organization - Guide services: Our guide, Hung (called himself Don Molie Hung :), was excellent - could not have asked for a better guide. He was very thoughtful and conscientious, incredibly hard-working, well organized and had a great sense of humor.

- The price: Worth the price.

- How did you know about us? Found you online.

Full name: Solyssa Visalli
Address: U.S.A.

Mr Dave Walter Flooks (11 days The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km)

Would I do it again? Oh yes, but not in the rainy months! You need to remember the clothing sizes are very different and if on the well proportioned size like me, take your own kit. Oh and check the weather as it does rain in Vietnam and you need your own for this.

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: The tempo of the ride and the stop overs where very well planned as they allowed you time to see the countryside and the people and to get off the bike and meet them up close.

- Transportation: The bikes (Honda 160cc's) where very resilient considering the condition of some of the roads they had to negotiate. The speed was compatible to the tempo of the tour with enough zip when the boring (or rainy) bits came along.

- Accommodation: The homestays where excellent and really allowed you to meet the people and understand their lives. The hotels varied from excellent to, well very poor but luckily only the once.

- Food: The food was excellent 99% of the time and Hung (the guide) found some superb places to eat. I never knew vegetables could taste so good.

- The organization - Guide services: The company will miss the services of Hung, (change of career) he was a superb and very knowledgable. His enthusiasm and knowledge of his country was so infectious and informative.

- The price: The price was well worth the trip and the fact it was all inclusive took the worry out of the trip. Especially in view of the remote places we visited.

- How did you know about us? Internet search.

Full name: Dave Walter Flooks
Address: 29 Ferguson Road, Liverpool, U.K.

Read Dave's email to Lonely Planet.

Mr Dario Favi and Ms Manuela Tomasello (Italy)

Mr Dario Favi and Ms Manuela Tomasello (11 days The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km)

Great experience, specially recommended in order to see everyday people's lives. Dong Van, Meo Vac, SUPER!

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: Fine basically, in order to complete the area in no rushing days. 10-11 days recommended.

- Transportation: Motorbike is enough for 2 up travelling in dual sport mood, no complaint.

- Accommodation: Very nice homestays, basic hotels. Homestays recommended.

- Food: Always good and enough, sometimes better in homestays.

- The organization - Guide services: Guide guy (Hung) has been plain perfect, helping and careful, no more to be asked. Hung is a fantastic guide!!!

- The price: No complaint.

- How did you hear about us? I googled "motorcycle rental vietnam" and the Offroad Vietnam web site was at the top of the list.

- How did you know about us? NET.

Full name: Dario Favi and Manuela Tomasello
Address: ITALY

Mr Ron Coslick (14 days The Great North Loop, ~2,000 km)

My two week motorcycle trip in Vietnam was one of the best travel adventures of my life. I loved the country and the people and would have happily spent many more weeks riding through the country. The Big North + Ha Long Bay loop was a great ride. However, future travelers should understand that this particular route reflects a choice to leave the north near the end of the trip in order to get to the coast to see Ha Long bay. While Ha Long bay is a natural wonder of amazing beauty, the route from the central north to the coast is not as beautiful as the other parts of the trip. For me, I really preferred the remote interior parts of the country where people continue to live in their traditional ways, and as you get toward the coast the county becomes more developed and less interesting in that sense. So if you are deciding between itineraries, keep this point in mind.

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: Tempo of the tour was good. We rode on 13 of the 14 days during the tour. It sounds like a lot but it's really not. The riding itself is a lot of fun because of the curvy, hilly roads, and the people, animals, villages and other sights along the way keep things interesting. And some of the best parts of the tour are the unexpected encounters that happen at the stops that you make along the way. I would have happily kept going for weeks more. The amount of riding each day was also good. Some days we rode for most of the day, but we took breaks whenever we needed, usually every hour, and with one exception we arrived at our destinations at mid-afternoon, with lots of time to clean up and have a beer before dinner. The riding was never uncomfortable. There are some challenging sections of dirt or gravel roads, and some sections are dusty, but that's part of the variety that keeps things interesting.

- Transportation: We used the Honda 160cc bikes (upgraded to ~200cc). They're comfortable and have enough power to handle the occasional steep claims as well as to pass other traffic in any situation. The bikes held up well during the trip - a few routine things needed to be addressed during the two week trip, but our guide had the necessary tools and some spare parts. A flat tire and a cracked fender were easily dealt with in towns along the ride, and those stops were part of the fun.

- Accommodation: Most of our nights were spent in small hotels, and a few were home stays. The hotels were varied but each had an acceptable minimum of an in-room bathroom with hot water and a toilet. Beds were always simple but comfortable, with warm covers that were more than adequate for the cold nights. We had electricity everywhere that we stayed. The home stays are by far the best accommodations, because you get to share the living space of a local person and have a meal with them in their home. The contact that you have with people in Vietnam is the most rewarding part of the experience and home stays are a big part of that, and I recommend doing as many home stays as possible. The facilities at the home stays are less than at the hotels - they're open buildings that let in the outside air and noise, sometimes with outdoor bathrooms, and sometimes with hot water from a large pot boiled over a fire. But I always felt that the facilities were sufficient to clean up and be comfortable.

- Food: The food for the most part was excellent. Nearly every meal had lots of plates of different delicious foods in large amounts. We tried dozens of different dishes during our two weeks. There's nothing like having a big tasty meal and a dozen little glasses of rice wine after a day on the road. Although there were a few meals that were of notably lesser quality than the rest (some in places that were obviously geared toward tourists in Sapa and Ha Long, one in a place where the tour hadn't gone before so we just had to pick something along the road) the food was generally very good, with some meals being just unbelievably enjoyable.

One note - food hygiene will be an issue for Westerners. You will encounter bugs that your body is not familiar with and they may cause some upset to your digestion. Our guide was very proactive at every meal about washing our bowls and chop sticks in clean boiled water before we ate, which was very helpful, and we avoided raw fruits and vegetables unless they were peeled. In my case, by the end of the first week on the road I was beginning to feel mild effects, and decided to start taking the antibiotics that I had obtained prior to the trip (Cipro). This took care of the symptoms and I had no further effects during the remaining week of the trip.

- The organization - Guide services: Offroad Vietnam can be relied upon to provide a quality travel experience. Prior to the trip we exchanged many emails with Anh Wu, and he always responded promptly and answered our questions to our satisfaction. The web site is very professional and is a reflection of the quality of the organization. The trip was everything that was promised and more.

Our guide Minh was really great - attentive, knowledgeable, and eager to make sure that we were enjoying our trip. He had a lot of information to share about the places we saw along the way. He also took a lot of initiative to talk to people along the way and facilitate the spontaneous encounters along the road that are so much fun. We spoke to lots of children who were curious about us (that happens everywhere and is a lot of fun), we visited a school where women from the village were learning traditional dances, we had toasts with restaurant owners and their families, and one old women even let us plow her rice field with her buffalo! Minh was up early every morning checking the bikes, washing and fueling them, and calling ahead to all the hotels and home stays to let them know we were on our way. He's also a good photographer! Give him the camera, he'll get lots of good pictures for you. And make sure he brings his guitar. It's tough spending two weeks on the road with a couple of strangers but Minh was up to the task and was a good guy to travel with.

- The price: Vietnam is inexpensive compared to Western countries. We paid $80US per day per person for a 14 day trip. That covers bikes, fuel, hotels, meals, and any tickets or entrance fees. Compare that to costs of $600US per day for a three day all-included guided motorcycle trip that I saw recently in California, and you see that these prices are very low.

The only thing you will pay for is drinks (bottled water, beer) and things that you buy for yourself along the way. Those costs will be very low. For example, $0.75US for a one liter beer or bottle of water. During our two weeks on the road, my buddy and I together spent only about $75US total for incidentals (that was almost entirely for drinks, we bought few other things).

- How did you hear about us? I googled "motorcycle rental vietnam" and the Offroad Vietnam web site was at the top of the list.

Full name: Ron Coslick
Address: California, U.S.A.

Mr Joseph Au (14 days The Great North Happy Time Loop, ~2,000 km)

1. Hygiene is one thing. The toilet in some guest-houses can be cleaner without costing the hosts more money.
2. Should have advised customers about bringing goggles and mouth-guard/handkerchief due to dust. In fact, I would suggest Offroad to provide at least that mouth-guard, it costs a dollar or two, and customers would be happier. Also recommend customers to bring their own contact lens solution and perhaps extra eye drops due to pollution.
3. Although this kind of trips is not for everyone, I would recommend anyone to do it. The experience we had in two weeks in only a part of one country comes close to what I have seen on videos or read about of those who have traveled around the world for months.

- Tempo of the tour and the stop-over: Perfect, although we chose to have an extra day for rest. I do notice a couple stop-overs after Thac Be lake are less interesting than the rest, but I think it's because we have a different route from the planned.

- Transportation: Hondas work fine with a few minor problems: brake and idling. Minh can fix everything with unconventional methods.

- Accommodation: All good. But a couple of guest houses can do a better job in cleaning the bathroom/toilet area. Sleeping + dining areas are all fine.

- Food: Great. Love it. However, I do not fancy those restaurant places where people just throw bones and used napkins on the floor even though they claim their dogs and cats would clean. The restaurant just looks really unappealing when we arrive, although I understand that it is a cultural thing especially in the village areas.

- The organization - Guide services: Minh is awesome, attentive to our needs, takes care of bikes and hygiene issues, and give us plenty of info before each ride. Great getting along. The only minor thing Minh doesn't drink as much rice wine as us and the hosts. But then we would rather have him in good shape for every ride.

- The price: Reasonable. We thought about hiring bikes and driving by ourselves without a guide. Then we thought after a long day of riding, last thing we wanted was to search for restaurants to eat or a place to stay, let alone the language difficulties. The price we pay is partially for this organization convenience, we follow the guide, we eat, we sleep, and we enjoy the trip. Plus, the translation by the guide really adds a lot of value in terms of communicating with locals along the way.

- How did you hear about us? Google, after we types 'Motorcycle Vietnam'. We also felt comfortable with the details of the website, the speed and content of the response to each of our questions, and the fact that they offered us to contact with one of their past customers for opinions. This builds significant trust given the far distance.

Full name: Joseph Au
Address: GERMANY.