Vietnam: Cycling The Red River Delta
Discover Northern Vietnam by Bike: An Unforgettable Red River Delta Cycling Adventure
Experience the authentic heart of Vietnam on this 10-day cycling journey through the stunning Red River Delta region. From the bustling streets of Hanoi to the dramatic limestone karsts of Lan Ha Bay, this adventure takes you deep into Northern Vietnam's most captivating landscapes and vibrant ethnic minority communities.
Pedal through emerald rice paddies, explore ancient villages inhabited by the White Thai, Hmong, and Dao people, and navigate hidden back roads that wind through spectacular mountain scenery. This carefully crafted cycling tour balances challenging mountain rides with peaceful valley routes, offering an intimate glimpse into rural Vietnamese life while visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites and pristine national parks.
Whether you're cycling past traditional stilt houses in Mai Chau, learning batik techniques from Hmong artisans, or cruising through the primeval forests of Cuc Phuong National Park, every day brings new discoveries. With full vehicle support, expert local guides, and accommodations ranging from traditional homestays to comfortable hotels, this is adventure travel at its finest.
Highlights
✔ Explore Hanoi's Old Quarterter
✔ Cycle through Co Loa, the ancient capital of Vietnam
✔ Master traditional batik with Hmong artisans in Pa Co village
✔ Navigate Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam's oldest national park, cycling through lush tropical rainforest
✔ Kayak amongst the limestone karts of Lan Ha Bay
Itinerary
Start Point: Hanoi
End Point: Hanoi
This 10-day journey is designed for cyclists who crave authentic experiences and aren't afraid of a challenge. Your adventure begins with a gentle warm-up ride through Co Loa's flat countryside before gradually building to more demanding mountain terrain in Mai Chau and Pu Luong. Each cycling day ranges from 40 to 80 kilometers, with ride times between 4 and 8 hours including stops for sightseeing, photography, and cultural encounters.
The terrain varies dramatically throughout the trip. You'll start on the flat, paved roads of the Red River Delta, perfect for finding your rhythm and adjusting to Vietnam's tropical climate. As you head west toward Mai Chau and Pu Luong, the landscape transforms into a dramatic succession of limestone karst mountains, rice terraces cascading down hillsides, and winding village roads that climb and descend through spectacular scenery. The difficulty peaks on Days 3-5 with elevation gains of up to 1,100 meters, rewarding your effort with breathtaking panoramic views and the satisfaction of conquering some of Northern Vietnam's most stunning back roads.
Throughout the journey, full vehicle support travels with you, meaning you can hop in the support vehicle whenever you need a break or want to skip a challenging section. Your expert cycling guide and mechanic ensure smooth riding with regular bike maintenance, while the support truck carries spare bikes, tools, plenty of water, and local snacks to keep you energized. Most roads are paved, though you'll encounter some rougher village roads that add to the adventure and bring you closer to rural Vietnamese life.
Beyond the cycling itself, each day is enriched with cultural immersion. You'll share meals with local families in their homes, learn traditional crafts like batik from ethnic minority artisans, visit working villages where life continues much as it has for generations, and stay in accommodations ranging from traditional stilt houses to comfortable hotels. The pace allows time to truly connect with the places you visit rather than simply passing through. The tour concludes with a spectacular boat transfer to Cat Ba island, and a very special day of kayaking through Lan Ha Bay. Back on the island, you can relax and celebrate your achievement while surrounded by one of the world's most iconic seascapes.
Keen for more? Extend your trip with an optional tour to Halong Bay, which we can help organise for you.
-
We meet our local guide at the hotel in the late afternoon for the start of the trip. We spend the evening exploring Vietnam's colonial-era capital on foot, focusing on the area around Hoan Kiem Lake—the beating heart of Hanoi. Learn the fascinating legend behind the "Lake of the Returned Sword," where a giant tortoise is said to have reclaimed a magical sword from Emperor Le Thai To after he defeated Chinese invaders.
Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Notes: Rooms available from 2:00 PM. Please arrive before 3:00 PM. -
Begin your cycling adventure with a morning ride to Co Loa, Vietnam's ancient capital. Pedal along quiet village roads past rice paddies, lotus ponds, and well-preserved rural communities. Visit historic temples and the Co Loa Citadel while hearing local legends including the tale of the golden turtle and the tragic love story of My Chau and Trong Thuy. Stop at a traditional village house for authentic interactions with residents.
Return to Hanoi around 2:30 PM and visit the Women's Museum, which houses 28,000 objects documenting the history, traditions, and wartime sacrifices of Vietnamese women across various ethnic groups.
Transfer: 20 km each way (40 minutes)
Meals: Breakfast, lunch at local house, dinner at restaurant
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi -
Transfer to Hoa Binh to begin today's ride through hidden village roads lined with sugar cane, orange, and corn plantations. Pass through villages inhabited by Muong and White Thai ethnic groups in My Hoa and Phu Vinh communes. After lunch at a local restaurant, continue cycling toward Nam Cuong and Ba Khan, where the road winds through sharp limestone karst mountains.
Ride 15 kilometers down from the main road to visit a stunning waterfall with views over Hoa Binh Lake (weather permitting). Take a refreshing swim before transferring to the beautiful green valley of Mai Chau. Stop briefly at Hoa Ban Plus, a social enterprise supporting community development. This evening, enjoy dinner with a local Thai family and learn about their culture and daily life.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch at local house, dinner at local restaurant
Accommodation: Hotel in Mai Chau -
Travel to Pa Co village, home to the "Blue Hmong" people, named for the indigo-dyed cloth women wear on special occasions. Meet a village guide and explore the tea plantations, hemp fields, and local homes where families practice traditional indigo dyeing and batik. Participate in a batik workshop, learning to create authentic patterns using melted beeswax and colored threads.
Transfer to Loong Luong intersection and begin cycling along winding mountain back roads. Ride through green tea plantations and villages of Black Dao and Flower Hmong people. Descend to Chieng Yen village, where you might see children riding home from school on single-gear bicycles. Stop at Tat Nang Waterfall for a picnic lunch and relaxation. Continue along hidden roads with stunning mountain views and rice terraces before transferring back to Mai Chau.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at local houses
Accommodation: Hotel in Mai Chau -
Spend the morning cycling around Mai Chau Valley, taking in the traditional lifestyle of Northern Vietnam's ethnic minorities. Pass through stilt houses, local schools, and beautiful rice fields in the villages of Chieng Sai, Mai Ha, Ban Cum, and Mai Hich. Stop for lunch in Buoc village.
After lunch, cycle toward Pu Luong Nature Reserve, one of Northern Vietnam's most spectacular protected areas. The incredible limestone landscapes and peaceful rural life reward your efforts. The reserve is home to nearly 1,000 plant species and excellent birdwatching opportunities. Ride through beautiful villages, rice fields framed by karst mountains, and primeval jungle—a region rarely visited by tourists. Either cycle directly to your accommodation or get picked up along the way.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at local restaurants
Accommodation: Traditional stilt house in Pu Luong (shared, non-private) -
Cycle along concrete village roads through verdant landscapes and beautiful rice terraces. Visit traditional water wheels and learn about this ingenious irrigation system still used by local farmers. Finish your morning ride and transfer to Ninh Binh, stopping for lunch at a local restaurant along the way.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at local restaurants
Accommodation: Hotel in Ninh Binh -
Ride through rice paddies surrounded by karst formations. Stop to visit the Dinh and Le Temples before cycling through the beautiful Trang An landscape. Continue to Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam's first national park and an ideal destination for nature lovers. Cycle along the single road through the park to experience a true tropical rainforest.
Enjoy lunch at a house with idyllic views overlooking rice fields, where your host prepares delicious Vietnamese dishes. In the afternoon, explore Van Long Nature Reserve by sampan (traditional wooden boat), gliding through a surreal landscape of rainforests and ancient mountains reflected in aquamarine waters. Transfer back to your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, private lunch at Easia Van Long House, dinner at restaurant
Accommodation: Hotel in Ninh Binh -
Island day! We’ll leave early for our 3 hour transfer to the mainland coats where we’ll board the 20 min boat to the island. We’ll drive 50 mins to our hotel via Cat Ba National Park, and take a short hike in the primeval island forest, keeping an eye out for monkeys and tropical birds.
Once at our hotel, it’s finally time to hit the beach! 500m walk until sandy shore and a swim in the gorgeous turquoise waters.
We’ll share dinner at the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
-
In the early morning, we head out to explore the shores of Cat Ba island. We travel by boat to Lan Ha Bay where we begin our kayaking adventure, visit deep limestone caves, turquoise lagoons, and idyllic Van Boi beach where we can have a swim in paradise.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Accommodation: Hotel in Ben Beo -
After breakfast, we make our way back to Hanoi, with a drop off in the city, where our trip will end.
Riders have the option to add an extra night on an iconic Halong Bag cruise. The cruises ends at 10am on Day 11, and includes a transfer back to Hanoi for mid afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast
View Dates & Book
Questions about the trip or want to be kept in the loop on future dates?
Booking Info
-
Click on your preferred trip date to be directed to our secure booking partner WeTravel who will process and manage your booking.
£600 deposit to secure your spot
Full balance due 90 days before the trip
💡 Tip: We recommend paying with bank details to avoid card processing fees.
-
Single Supplement: £350 (8 of 9 nights)
Single Supplement in place of the stilt house experience: £80
E-bike upgrade: £160
Halong Bay overnight cruise at end of trip (£180). Transport to + drop off in Hanoi.
All add-ons can be selected at booking or added later.
-
⚠️ Important: This trip requires a minimum of 8 participants to run.
Please do not book your travel until we've confirmed the trip is running.
Your deposit is fully refundable until we confirm this number has been met.
You will see a guaranteed badge next to those dates we have already guaranteed to run.
What’s Included?
Included ✓
-
Rental of a simple mountain bike. It is possible to bring your own bike for this trip if preffered. Please email us for info.
-
We’ve partnered with a local company who will guide and run this trip, providing a cycling guide and a support van and driver who will follow our ride.
-
Alongside the local team, there’ll be a host from our SITW crew there to make sure everyone feels welcome and supported and to bring a bit of SITW magic!
-
Accommodation will include a mix of hotels, traditional guesthouses and one night on a boat.
-
All entrance fees and sightseeing as mentioned in the itinerary.
-
All included meals are listed in the itinerary.
-
The support vehicle will carry plenty of water and local snacks during cycling days.
-
Luggage will be transferred between our accommodation, and a small daypack can be kept in the support vehicle during the day.
Not Included ✗
-
Transfer to and from our hotel in Hanoi is not included.
-
Most travellers can visit Vietnam without a visa for up to 45 days for tourism. Be sure to check the specific requirements for your country.
-
Flights to Hanoi are not included.
-
These are not included, but we’ll provide some local recommendations, and our local team can help book group tables for dinner.
-
Meals often come with a steady supply of tea and water. Alcohol or additional soft drinks drinks aren’t included, but occasionally available.
-
Travel Insurance that allows multi day cycling as an activity, and covers medical emergency, repatriation, cancellation and public liability is mandatory for all SITW trips and is not included.
-
Tipping is not mandatory, but is custom for our local guide team and vendors.
Overview of tip guidelines:
+ For the guide: $3-$5/person/day
+ For the driver: $1.5-$2/person/day
+ Other (rickshaw, sampan, boat, massage, etc.): $1.5-$2/person/time
Accommodation & Food
Accommodation
Your accommodations blend comfort with authentic local character, carefully selected to enhance your cultural immersion while providing a restful retreat after each day's ride. In Hanoi and Ninh Binh, you'll stay in well-appointed hotels with modern amenities and central locations perfect for exploring. Mai Chau offers charming boutique properties that reflect the region's ethnic heritage, while your night in Pu Luong provides a unique opportunity to sleep in a traditional stilt house (large shared rooms, non-private) just as local families have for generations—complete with the gentle sounds of the countryside at night. Throughout the tour, all accommodations include breakfast and are chosen for their welcoming atmosphere, cleanliness, and proximity to your cycling routes.
Food
Prepare your taste buds for one of the world's great culinary adventures. Vietnamese cuisine is a revelation of fresh herbs, aromatic spices, and perfectly balanced flavors that reflect centuries of tradition and diverse cultural influences. Throughout this tour, you'll experience the full spectrum of Vietnamese cooking—from street food classics to refined home-cooked meals prepared by local families in their own kitchens. Expect fragrant pho noodle soup for breakfast, fresh spring rolls wrapped at your table, grilled meats infused with lemongrass, and regional specialties unique to each area you visit. The ethnic minority communities you'll stay with bring their own distinctive dishes to the table, often featuring ingredients grown in their own gardens and prepared using traditional methods passed down through generations. Every meal is an opportunity to connect with Vietnamese culture, whether you're dining at a family table in a stilt house, enjoying fresh seafood on your Halong Bay cruise, or sampling the legendary egg coffee in Hanoi. Vegetarian options are readily available, and your guides are happy to introduce you to new dishes and explain the stories behind them.
About The Riding
Challenge Level
We’ve rated this trip as a 2-3/5 on the challenge level. This tour is designed for cyclists with a good fitness base and some experience with multi-day rides. While the first two days ease you in with gentler terrain, the difficulty builds significantly on Days 3-5 with sustained climbs through mountainous regions. You don't need to be a competitive cyclist, but you should be comfortable spending 4-8 hours in the saddle and tackling elevation gains of up to 1,100 meters on the most challenging days. The ride levels range from 1 (easy) to 4 (challenging), with most days falling in the 2-3 range. Full vehicle support means you can take breaks or skip sections whenever needed, making the tour accessible to determined intermediate riders while still satisfying more experienced cyclists.
Terrain
Expect wonderfully varied terrain that showcases the diversity of Northern Vietnam's landscapes. You'll start on the flat, well-paved roads of the Red River Delta—perfect for warming up and finding your rhythm. As you venture into the highlands of Mai Chau and Pu Luong, the roads become more interesting: winding mountain passes, narrow village lanes, and scenic back roads that few tourists ever see. Most surfaces are paved or concrete, though some village roads can be rough or uneven, adding character to the ride. The terrain shifts from open rice paddies to forested mountain passes, from riverside paths to roads carved into limestone cliffs. It's this variety that keeps every day fresh and exciting, with new vistas around each bend.
Climbing
Be prepared for some average climbing, particularly on Days 3-5 when you tackle the mountainous regions between Hoa Binh, Mai Chau, and Pu Luong. Day 5 features the tour's biggest challenge with an elevation gain of 1,100 meters as you climb into Pu Luong Nature Reserve—a long, sustained effort that rewards you with spectacular mountain panoramas. Day 3 includes a 420-meter climb, while Day 4 features a challenging 400-meter ascent followed by a thrilling 1,100-meter descent on hidden back roads. The good news? What goes up must come down, and the descents through these limestone landscapes are exhilarating. Days 1-2 and 6-7 are relatively flat, allowing you to recover. Remember, the support vehicle is always nearby if you need a lift on any particularly steep sections.
Daily Distances
Cycling distances range from 40 to 80 kilometers per day, with most days falling in the 50-70 km range. These aren't huge distances by road cycling standards, but the combination of elevation changes, tropical heat, frequent photo stops, and cultural visits means you'll typically be riding for 4-8 hours including breaks.
Remoteness & Weather
Northern Vietnam experiences distinct seasons. The best months for cycling are October through April, when temperatures are cooler and rainfall is minimal. October and November offer comfortable temperatures (20-28°C) with clear skies and lush post-monsoon landscapes. Pack layers for mountain mornings, sun protection for midday rides, and light rain gear just in case.
Support Style
This is a fully-supported trip, which means a support vehicle to hop in if you need, mechanical support, and luggage transfer!
SITW + Local Support Team
This trip has the perfect combination of our wonderful SITW team and a local partner, who’ll help bring local knowledge, logistics and support vehicles for the trip. They’ll also be making sure we have a great lunch ready for us (included) on all of our riding days.
We’ll have one SITW host plus one local guide riding with the group, plus a minivan and a jeep moving our luggage and providing support as we need it. They’ll also be moving our luggage between accommodation, which means we can focus on enjoying the ride!
Guiding & Riding Style
On this trip we’ll be riding as a group, with a guide leading the way and regrouping at key turns. Self-navigation is not needed.
Bike Hire
Bike hire is included in your trip price, though you are welcome to bring your own saddles and pedals if you have ones you are comfortable using. For this trip, we can not accommodate bringing your own bike as the logistics prohibit it. Our support crew will provide full mechanical support for the hire bikes, so there is no need to pack your own tools (though you are welcome to if you want). E-bike upgrades are available for those that want an extra boost.
FAQs
-
Please do not book your travel until we have confirmed the minimum trip number has been met.
Our cycling trip starts and ends in Hanoi, which has the country’s main airport.
-
Hanoi isn’t currently served by international train lines or buses from the UK/Europe/US.
-
While we will pass on any dietary requirements to our local partner and places that we eat. In some places, it may not always be possible for them to accommodate serious allergies due to their limited kitchen space and menus. We’ll try to work with you to find solutions. You can let us know any dietary requirements at the time of booking. If you have serious allergies, please email us before booking on hello@sistersinthewild.com.
-
In order to make the most of the riding on offer, we’d suggest that you are comfortable riding 30+ miles in a day in reasonably hilly terrain, for a few days on the run.
Feel free to drop us an email hello@sistersinthewild.com if you have any questions on this.
-
Yes, you can book directly with our starting/ending hotel if you wish to stay earlier/later. We’ll share our hotel info once the trip is confirmed.
If you need to arrive late, that’s also fine, and the evening tour of Hanoi can be skipped. Ideally we’d have you join in time for the rider briefing on the afternoon of Day 1, but we can fill you in.
-
October and November in Northner Vietnam offer comfortable temperatures (20-28°C) with clear skies and lush post-monsoon landscapes. Pack layers for mountain mornings, sun protection for midday rides, and light rain gear just in case.
-
We’’ll share a detailed packing list as part of the Trip Guide.
-
We recommend checking out the country-specific information.
-
Most travellers do not require a visa for travel to Vietnam for up to 45 days. However, please check before travel.
-
Bike hire is included as standard for this trip, and will be a simple but well maintained hardtail mountain bike.
It is not possible to bring your own bike for this trip.