Ha Giang Loop Motorbike Madness

We spent two nights and one whole day in Hanoi, literally decompressing from our inbound flight. We stayed at Astoria Hanoi Hotel and Travel (£77 for 2 nights) which I'd booked on Booking.com but having stayed the first night, then canceled my future bookings and dealt directly with the hotel who gave me the room for 1,500,000 VND per night (£42). The room we had was what they call the Deluxe Double with Balcony - but it does seem worth double checking the price as it is now even cheaper than when we stayed!

Having gotten acclimatised, in Hanoi we set off on our first adventure - the Ha Giang Loop. This was a 4-day, 3-night motorbike tour with so-called easy riders, booked through Ha Giang Adventure following the Eastern Loop itinerary. We had two bikes and everything (transfers back and forth from Hanoi, two bikes, two drivers, all food, and truly great accommodation for 3 nights) was included for 794 USD. I'd had to pay a $100 deposit back in the UK and then the rest I paid when we got to Vietnam (via a payment link). This worked out at about £588 total, £294 per bike (or £73 per day each) which I honestly felt was incredible value!

On Day 1, Tuesday 21st October (2025), we were picked up from our hotel in Hanoi at 6am and driven the six hours to Ha Giang. The company's HQ was slightly out of town and it was here that we got our briefing, helmets and left some luggage. I'd only brought our day packs, leaving the big pack in Hanoi, but as everything needed to be strapped onto the bikes, I also left a bit more behind at their office.

I'd been a bit worried about Tiger falling asleep on the back of her bike, especially following our trip to Rome when she actually had fallen asleep on the back of a Vespa (!) but they prepared a kind of strap on thing for her which, although not foolproof, did work and was better than nothing!

I had actually brought a full face helmet from home. You most certainly don't need to do this, but I think I would consider brining motorcycle-suitable clothing from home another time. Not necessarily leathers, but perhaps motorbike jeans to offer a bit more protection. For Tiger, I did feel she was safe but for a belt and braces experience with hindsight I may have considered getting her a better helmet from home.

We set off and rode leaving at 2.30pm and arriving at our homestay at 5.30pm. We did have plenty of stops along the way and it was a totally amazing first day!

At the homestay we had a traditional dinner and were able to buy beers from a local shop next door. The guides really tried so hard to make the experience so special for us.

On Day 2, Wednesday 22nd October, we had breakfast around 7.30am and we were off on the bikes for 8.30am. Our first stop was a hemp linen collective. This felt touristy but equally we enjoyed it and it was a good place to buy souvenirs. Obviously anything we did buy had to fit onto the bikes though!

We continued onwards on the bikes for about another hour and stopped at a viewpoint.

We stopped for lunch before heading to Din Vua Meo (Hmong King's Palace).

At about 3.30pm we arrived at Extreme North Point i.e. as close as we could get to the Chinese border (basically a fence)!

We then reached the Lung Cu National Flagpole at just after 4pm where we tested our legs by climbing up over 700 steps to get to the top!

By 5pm we were then heading towards our 'tent' for the night when, taking a shortcut, the road completely ran out as there had been a landslide so we ended up doing a 'short cut' which meant the easy riders and the bikes went up a very steep dirt track and most of us passengers elected to walk up! Pretty mental but oh my - what an adventure. With the off roading behind us, we finally carried on into the sunset and to our camp.

Now, I think we were all a little skeptical of staying in a tent but it was absolutely spectacular. We had a bell tent with a double bed and a separate shower/toilet block. This may sound primitive but it was essentially glamping and I loved it!

We had a completely amazing meal with the people running the camp which included music and fire water!

The next morning, Day 3, Thursday 23rd October, we were up to just gorgeous views around 7am and it was so very special. We had pancakes for breakfast before heading off at around 8.30am. Tiger had lots of fun here with the selfie stick!

We reached the Ma Pi Leng Pass around 10am for a short 20-30 minute 'hike' (not terribly difficult).

Leaving again at about 11am, we dropped down to the Nho Que river arriving about 30 minutes later, which was where another of the Ha Giang Adventure groups had spent the night. On reflection, I felt that the tents were the better option!. Nho Que river looked amazing, and was fun, but was also a bit 'instagram-tasic' with lots of tourists!! We were straight onto a tourist boat and went up and down the river to grab those Instagram worthy photos!

The next part of the ride was quite long, leaving Nho Que at around 1.30pm but it was broken up by several stops at viewpoints. We finally pulled into our homestay just before 6pm.

At the homestay, we had an amazing Tiger themed room (what were the chances?) and a completely delicious meal with (you've guessed it) more fire water. The camaraderie amongst our group had been completely amazing and I can't praise the Ha Giang Adventure guides more. They were so brilliant, on pointe, professional and fun at all times!

On Day 4, Friday 24th October, we had the option of staying in bed or swimming in a waterfall. The weather had turned and it had started to rain but we headed out to the waterfall and I had a swim in the freezing water (no photo evidence, but refreshing!) but Tiger just dipped her toe in!! We then headed back, ate breakfast and geared up for the rain, leaving about 9.45am to head back to the Ha Giang Adventure office.

The ride was wet for the next few hours but I can't say I minded it at all (I quite like a bit of rain!). We were back at the office and debriefing around 2pm.

Back at the office, we enjoyed hot tea, got the bits and pieces we'd stored there back, and had a great debrief of the trip where we were reminded of where we'd been! It was at this point that I tipped our two riders. The number escapes me, but I tried to be as generous as I could!

Most of our group then took the 3pm transfer back to Hanoi. However, this is a six hour trip and, whilst the vehicles are very nice, we had concluded to spend the night in Ha Giang town and travel 24 hours later. I was so incredibly glad we did and would recommend this to anyone! It was literally the best R&R as we drove 15 minutes and checked into the five star Four Points Sheraton Hotel which was 1,360,800 VND or just £38 - what a bargain!

The first thing we did was check into our gorgeous room and head to the swimming pool. Simply amazing. There were lovely towels, as well as floaties for kids. Suitably refreshed, we went for a very brief walk around outside, finding a mini supermarket for snacks before heading to bed.

The next day, Saturday 25th October, we had asked for a late check out which was granted to we didn't have to leave our room until 2pm with the transfer pick up being at 3.30pm. So we had a glorious lie in, and headed out (turn left, out of hotel) to the shopping centre which was literally next door.

Now, this really was a stroke of (unexpected) genius as the shopping centre had a soft play which also had massage chairs which was 20,000 VMD (£1!) so I kept going on them. It was completely blissful! We also ate in the shopping centre and there was even a roller skating rink inside. We headed back to our room to check out then went back to the swimming pool for one last swim before checking out. Wow what an end to our Ha Giang Adventure!

The whole R&R 24 hours is something I would highly, highly recommend to anyone - children or not. After 4 days on a motorbike this was simply perfection. We did get back to Hanoi late (around 10pm) and there was pretty bad traffic getting into the old town but it was nice to be back again at our Hanoi hotel.