Vietnam and Laos Motorbike Tours Built for Riders Who Go Further

Two Countries. One Continuous Ride.

Vietnam and Laos share a mountain border that most travelers never cross by road. We do it every season. Each country offers a completely different riding character, and together they form one of the most rewarding motorcycle routes in Southeast Asia.

• Check out our newly adventure switching to extreme Motorbike Tours in Vietnam

Vietnam: Switchbacks, Highland Villages, and the Trail That Changed History

Northern Vietnam rewards aggressive riders. The Ha Giang Loop throws up 200-kilometer stretches of karst limestone and empty tarmac where you might not see another vehicle for an hour. Central Vietnam puts you on the actual Ho Chi Minh Trail, wartime supply roads now running through cloud forest. The coast road south of Hue is one of the great motorcycle rides on the continent.

Terrain: mountain tarmac, forested highland roads, coastal highway
Skill level: beginner-friendly routes available, advanced circuits for experienced riders

Best for: Ha Giang Loop, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Hai Van Pass, central highlands

Laos: Offroad Trails, Ancient Temples, and Roads Almost No One Knows About

Laos is different in every way. The roads here are slower, the landscapes more deliberate. Northern Laos gives you dirt tracks cutting through hill tribe villages in Luang Namtha and Phongsali. The Bolaven Plateau in the south is coffee country on a motorcycle — cool air, red soil roads, and waterfalls you reach by track. Xieng Khouang takes you across the Plain of Jars on routes that connect to the old Secret War airstrips.

Terrain: offroad single track, laterite dirt roads, river crossings, sealed mountain passes

Skill level: intermediate to advanced for northern routes, beginner-accessible in Luang Prabang

Best for: Luang Prabang circuits, northern Laos offroad, Bolaven Plateau, Plain of Jars

Combined — Cross the Border by Motorcycle

A handful of routes link Vietnam and Laos directly, and we run them all. The 15-day Hanoi to Luang Prabang route follows the Mekong watershed through Dien Bien Phu and the Nam Ou river valley. The Ho Chi Minh Trail circuit crosses at Nam Phao and drops into central Laos. These are not tourist routes — they are real border crossings on real motorcycles, with guides who have done them many times.

Best for: riders with 10 or more days, those who want the full Indochina overland experience

Our Most Popular Motorbike Tours in Vietnam and Laos

A handful of routes link Vietnam and Laos directly, and we run them all. The 15-day Hanoi to Luang Prabang route follows the Mekong watershed through Dien Bien Phu and the Nam Ou river valley. The Ho Chi Minh Trail circuit crosses at Nam Phao and drops into central Laos. These are not tourist routes — they are real border crossings on real motorcycles, with guides who have done them many times.

Best for: riders with 10 or more days, those who want the full Indochina overland experience

How Our Guided Motorbike Tours Work

Riders come to us with different levels of experience, different bike preferences, and very different ideas of what “adventure” means. Here is how we handle it.

Your Bike — What You’ll Actually Ride

We run Honda CRF 250L and CRF 300L for offroad and mixed-terrain routes — reliable, light enough to pick up when you drop it, and serviced before every tour. For sealed road tours in Laos, we also run Honda XR 150 for beginners and Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 for riders who want more power on highway sections.

Every bike comes with a tool kit, first aid kit, and a spare lever kit.
If you are bringing your own bike, contact us in advance. We have handled cross-border logistics for private bikes before and can arrange the paperwork.

Your Guide, with Local Knowledge

Our lead guides have been riding Vietnam and Laos for over a decade. They know which river crossings are passable in rainy season, which villages have accommodation that’s worth staying in, and which shortcuts are actual roads versus cattle paths. On group tours, we run a maximum of 1 guide per 4 riders. Sweep riders at the rear. No one gets left behind on a breakdown.

Group Size and Pacing

We run private trips, or if groups, there will only be a maximum 8 riders per group. Typically 4 to 6. We do not run large coach-style motorcycle tours because the roads we ride do not allow it. Pace is set by the group’s slowest comfortable rider for the day, not by a fixed schedule. We build flex days into multi-week routes specifically for this.

What’s Included — No Surprises

All tours include: accommodation (guesthouse or locally-owned small hotel), breakfast daily, guide and sweep rider fees, bike rental, basic mechanical support, fuel on riding days, and border crossing fees on cross-border routes.

Not included: international flights, visa fees, personal travel insurance, and dinners (so you can eat where the locals eat, not where we tell you to).
We do not add fuel surcharges, tip requirements, or mandatory gear purchase packages. The price listed is the price you pay.

Gear and Safety

We provide helmets (full-face). We strongly recommend you bring your own gloves, boots, and riding jacket — we can advise on what works in tropical conditions. All tours operate with access to medical evacuation insurance through AWARE-24, the leading emergency rescue service in Laos. On Vietnam tours, we have emergency contacts across every province on our routes.

Built for Every Level of Rider

First-Timers in Southeast Asia

If you have ridden before but not in Vietnam or Laos, start with a 3 to 5-day circuit from Luang Prabang or a structured Ha Giang Loop tour with full guide support. Roads here are different from home — traffic behavior, road surface, and altitude all take getting used to. Our beginner tours are paced to build confidence without coddling you.

Intermediate Riders

Most of our riders fall here. You have traveled on a bike, you’re comfortable on unpaved surfaces, and you want real routes rather than highlights-reel tourism. The Bolaven Plateau loop, northern Laos circuits, and the Ho Chi Minh Trail tours are built for you.

Advanced and Offroad Riders

Northern Laos — Phongsali, Luang Namtha, the Nam Ha forest tracks — these are for riders who know what they’re doing on a dirt bike. River crossings, technical descents, altitude. We do not sugarcoat the challenge in the tour descriptions. If you want the hardest lines, tell us when you inquire. We can customize.

Why Riders Choose Vietnam and Laos Together

The question we hear most: “Should I do Vietnam or Laos?” Our answer is almost always: if you have the time, both.

Vietnam has the infrastructure for motorcycle touring. Roads are increasingly well-maintained, guesthouses are everywhere, and the route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City by motorcycle has become a bucket-list ride for a reason. But popular means crowds, and the main tourist routes in Vietnam — especially in high season — are not as raw as they once were.

Laos is the opposite. Roads are harder, amenities are fewer, and the country has a fraction of Vietnam’s tourist numbers even in peak season. You can ride all day in northern Laos without passing another touring motorcycle. That is increasingly rare anywhere in Southeast Asia.

The combination works because the two countries are physically connected and culturally adjacent. One border crossing changes everything about the riding experience. For riders who want contrast, technical challenge next to cultural depth, mountain offroad next to river valley roads, combining both in a single trip is the most complete motorcycle journey in mainland Southeast Asia.

All tours include: accommodation (guesthouse or locally-owned small hotel), breakfast daily, guide and sweep rider fees, bike rental, basic mechanical support, fuel on riding days, and border crossing fees on cross-border routes.

Not included: international flights, visa fees, personal travel insurance, and dinners (so you can eat where the locals eat, not where we tell you to).
We do not add fuel surcharges, tip requirements, or mandatory gear purchase packages. The price listed is the price you pay.