The Ha Giang Loop - An Epic Motorbike Journey Across Northern Vietnam
The Ha Giang Loop of Vietnam has become legendary amongst backpackers and travellers. An unbelievably beautiful motorbike trip that curves and weaves its way through the green mountains and hidden passes of Northern Vietnam.
The loop starts in the city of Ha Giang and rides up through the countryside all the way to the border with China before looping back around to return to the town. The route passes through small villages and towns, rice terraced valleys and vertigo-inducing limestone mountains. The Ha Giang Loop is a staple on the backpacker and traveller scene in Vietnam and is an essential stop on any Vietnamese itinerary.
This is our complete guide for everything you need to know about riding the famous Ha Giang Loop. With all the information you’ll need to plan, pack and get the most out of this ‘once in a lifetime’ motorbike adventure.
In this bumper Ha Giang guide:
Riding a motorbike yourself
Riding with a friend
Easy rider
Which tour to choose? Hostel groups, small tours, accommodation and food
Big hostel groups - Jasmine Tours, Mama’s Homestay and Bong Hostel
Smaller group tours
Route planning
Accommodation
What motorbike to drive?
Is the Ha Giang Loop dangerous? How to stay safe riding the loop
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
What is the Ha Giang Loop and where is it?
The Ha Giang Loop takes its name from the starting and end point, the city of Ha Giang. Ha Giang sits around six hours north of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. You can find Ha Giang on a map here.
The Ha Giang Loop is the motorbike trail that works its way through the mountains up to the Chinese border and then back around to the town. Typically, lasting between two and five days, the exact route is fluid with different tours and hostels doing different variations.
Most tours will include the Quan Ba Heaven’s Gate, the famous winding road of Doc Tham Ma, the breathtaking Ma Pi Leng Skywalk as well as the iconic Lung Cu Flag Tower. Whichever route you take, you’ll be treated to spectacular mountain roads, jaw dropping river valleys, beautiful rice terraces and stunning scenery.
There are lots of “loops” to choose from (more on this later) and they can last anywhere from two to fourteen days. During the loop, you’ll ride through the day, taking in the sights from your bike. In the evenings you will stop at a guesthouse or hostel and enjoy the best of local hospitality and, maybe, a few cheeky ‘'happy waters’ as well.
The Ha Giang Loop has become a legendary experience both for young backpackers and experienced travellers. No matter what your style of travel is, the Ha Giang Loop is a once in a lifetime experience and not to be missed!
How to get to Ha Giang? Coming from Hanoi
The Vietnamese capital of Hanoi is the obvious choice for travelling to Ha Giang. Multiple buses from many operators leave at all times of day and travel the five to six hours up to Ha Giang.
The buses can be as luxurious or cheap as your budget allows, but we would recommend booking your tickets in advance as they will sell out. Throughout Vietnam we used 12Go to book our tickets. Have a look at the widget below for all your options.
You can get to Ha Giang from most of the northern Vietnamese travel hubs of Sapa, Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay. Buses will be less frequent than from the capital and may involve a change in Hanoi, but this will all be included with your ticket, again, check out 12Go for all your options.
All of the Ha Giang Loop tours and hostels will set off somewhere in or around the city of Ha Giang. Some of the larger hostels like Jasmine Hostel are a little way outside of town, but most tours and hostels will offer a pick up from Ha Giang Bus Station (located here).
The Ha Giang Loop - How to ride the loop?
The most popular way to ride the Ha Giang Loop is with an organised group. There are three main ways to experience a group tour on the Ha Giang Loop:
Riding a motorbike yourself
If you are very confident in your motorbike skills and have an International Driving Licence then all the hostels and group tours will allow you to drive the loop yourself. You can bring your own motorbike or rent a bike from the hostel / tour. Just remember the loop is not suitable for scooters! You will need at least a semi-automatic motorbike.
All the usual safety warnings to riding bikes apply.
Make sure your travel insurance covers motorbike trips, insist on a good helmet and don’t drive yourself if you're not 100% confident.
The route in places is very steep and you’re sharing the road with enormous lorries heading to the Chinese border!
Riding yourself will usually be a bit cheaper than hiring an easy rider and will obviously be an incredible achievement!
Riding a motorbike with a friend
If you have an experienced and confident friend you can always ride on the back of their bike. This will save you both the cost of an easy rider, and on the cost of hiring two bikes. Just be aware you’ll both be carrying your own luggage. More on this later in the “what to pack” section.
Riding the Ha Giang Loop with an ‘easy rider’
The most popular and arguably safest way to experience the Ha Giang Loop is by riding with an expert. Easy riders are local to the area and very experienced on driving the twisting mountainous roads. If you cannot ride a motorbike or are not very experienced then this is definitely the best option for your Ha Giang Loop trip.
Easy riders cost a little more (although not as much as you think) but come with quite a few advantages:
All the driving is taken care of, you can be a passenger princess and sit back and relax - especially important if the 'happy water' was free flowing the previous night!
You are free to admire, photograph and film the spectacular landscapes all around
Being on the back of a bike means you really get to appreciate the journey - the Ha Giang Loop is incredible and beautiful and an easy rider means that you’re just not staring at the road ahead.
As our experience of motorbikes extends to some light scootering, we both opted for the easy rider option and we’re so glad we did.
Choosing a tour for the Ha Giang Loop - Big social hostels versus small group tour
There are plenty of different groups and tours that run every length and variation of the Ha Giang Loop imaginable. Depending on your budget and travel style you can pick from lots of different operators.
Big hostel groups - Jasmine Tours, Mama’s Homestay and Bong Hostel
These are the big hostel groups and are definitely the most popular way of riding the Ha Giang Loop. These hostels are huge and we were told that at any given point there were around a 1000 people riding the loop from just these hostels alone, with hundreds of motorbikes leaving Ha Giang each day. These are the social and party hostels.
These tours are great if you are a solo traveller or already have a large group you're travelling with. You can expect parties, copious amounts of beer and 'happy water', karaoke and a younger crowd.
You will be staying in large dorm rooms and bunk beds.
On the loop you will be travelling in large groups of fifteen to thirty riders.
The advantages of the big hostel groups is that they are much cheaper than the smaller group tours and if you’re looking for the party hostel vibe, they will definitely meet your needs.
The disadvantage is obviously the group size. It will take you much longer to get going and you'll be much more limited in where you can stop and the routes you can go on. Also hundred person dorms are not for everyone!
Smaller group tours
Smaller group tours offer a more free and relaxed way to experience the Ha Giang Loop. There are plenty of operators offering small group tours. After a lot of research, we chose Road King’s and honestly we cannot recommend them enough.
Road King’s offers a few different length tours with a budget option of up to twelve people and a premium option with a maximum group size of eight. As Ha Giang was going to be an unforgettable experience and coincided with Ellie’s birthday, we opted for the premium four day trip.
Our trip would include four days on the loop with an easy rider.
As well as all meals, unlimited 'happy water', coffee and soft drinks on the loop, as well as a luxury bus transfer from Hanoi to Ha Giang on a VIP sleeper bus.
The accommodation included in our Road Kings trip was fantastic! Beautiful private rooms set in stunning guesthouses with friendly owners and brilliant food.
If you book through Road King’s you will need to spend the first night in their dorm room in Ha Giang.
This is not representative of the rest of their accommodation at all and you can book elsewhere for the night if you don’t want to sleep in a dorm.
The advantages of Road King’s or any small group tour is that you get to go ‘off the beaten path’ and explore areas where large groups simply cannot get to or stay in. We stayed in beautiful guest houses deep in the mountains in picturesque villages and drove down narrow, cliff hugging paths to secret waterfalls, caves and viewpoints. There was no way you could park a group of twenty bikes in some of the places we visited!
Although the big groups are definitely geared to younger, party crowds the small groups were no slouch in the 'happy water' and karaoke department. Every night on the loop we had an amazing evening chatting, singing and drinking with our group and drivers.
To book a tour with Road King’s click here.
How long is the Ha Giang Loop - 2, 3 and 4 day loop tours
The Ha Giang Loop can be as long or as short as you want it to be. If you’re organising your own tour and driving yourself, you can go anywhere you want and even do a multi-week tour taking in all the highlights of northern Vietnam.
The most popular Ha Giang Loop tours are between two and four days long. Most people opt for the three day loop, but if you’re strapped for time you can do a condensed two day tour. We have seen one day tours advertised but we feel Ha Giang is quite a long way to come to only do one day on the loop.
If you were really unsure of riding on the back of a bike, a one day tour might be a good way of checking you were comfortable or reassuring yourself that you’d have a good time on a multi-day tour.
We opted for the four day loop to make the most of this amazing region.
The three day loop (the most popular one) is around 350 km long and will rise up to a peak of 1500 metres at the Ma Pi Leng Pass, take you up to the Chinese border and loop you back to Ha Giang.
Booking a tour on the Ha Giang Loop
Depending on which tour or hostel group you want to travel with, you can either book directly through their website or use Get Your Guide below.
Take a look at all the different options as there are different itineraries, group sizes and experiences to suit every taste.
If you want to book the tour we recommend with Road King’s, click this link.
Wherever you are in Vietnam, any hostel or tour agency will be able to book you a Ha Giang tour, just do your research and make sure you go with a reputable company.
Riding the Ha Giang Loop independently
If you are an experienced motorcyclist and want to ride the Ha Giang Loop free and independently it’s easy to organise your own itinerary.
Route planning
Starting the loop in the city of Ha Giang, you have plenty of options for routes and overnight towns to stop in.
We’d recommend planning the route with Dong Van town as your halfway point or northern hub on longer trips. Another good town to aim for is Meo Vac.
For more suggestions on places you shouldn’t miss whilst on the loop, read on to our experience below.
Accommodation
You’ll find accommodation all over the Ha Giang Loop, every town, village and hamlet will have guest houses and homestays and most will include dinner and breakfast in the price. Just pull up and ask if they have a room.
What motorbike to drive?
You should not be attempting the Ha Giang Loop in an automatic scooter. That cute little Honda Click you’ve been driving around Ninh Binh will not cut it on the steep mountain roads of northern Vietnam.
You will need at least a semi-automatic and nothing below a 125cc.
If you stick to the main roads on the Ha Giang Loop they are well maintained tarmac. They are also very busy with other riders, lorries and locals. The loop itself is full of sharp, steep, switchbacking hairpins clinging to the very edge of cliffs and has very little margin for error. If you are going a little off-piste the roads get extremely narrow (sometimes no more than a single tyre path) and the roads surface can be anything from tarmac to loose gravel, sand or mud.
When we visited there were portions of the loop undergoing roadworks, this included a switchback staircase climbing a steep mountainside. You need to be confident riding over loose surfaces and bring proper eye protection and mask if you don’t have a full-face helmet.
Riding the loop solo would be an amazing experience, one day we’ll be back to do this ourselves!
Is the Ha Giang Loop dangerous? How to stay safe riding the loop
The Ha Giang Loop is first and foremost a public road on the side of some very steep mountains. The road is filled with locals and large lorries but perhaps most dangerously, the road is filled with bikers.
If you are a confident motorcyclist and you stick to the main roads you will not have any issues on the Ha Giang Loop. Similarly, if you go with a reputable company and hire an experienced local easy rider, you shouldn’t run into any difficulties.
The Ha Giang Loop is only dangerous if you overestimate your abilities, drive when you shouldn’t (after too much ‘happy water’) or take unnecessary risks or dangerous paths. The thing to watch out for on the Ha Giang Loop is other drivers.
The Ha Giang Loop is not somewhere where you learn to drive a semi-automatic bike. No matter what your friends at Jasmine or Mama’s hostel tell you.
To stay as safe as you can, don’t take any stupid risks, only ride if you’re super confident, wear a helmet and do your research to find a reputable company.
If you are hiring a bike to do the loop, check the quality of the bike before you set off. You don’t want to find out that your brakes aren’t working whilst switch-backing down a near vertical, cliff edge road.
For our British, New Zealand and Aussie drivers out there, Vietnam drives on the right hand side of the road!
What to pack and what to wear on the Ha Giang Loop
If you’re doing a group tour, then you’ll only be able to take one small backpack with you. The idea is to pack as light as possible. With the hostel groups and small tours you’ll be able to leave your main bag with the accommodation in Ha Giang.
You’ll be riding or sitting on the back of a motorbike for long periods of time each day so make sure what you’re wearing is comfortable.
Depending on when you go you may need to bring some warmer clothes and waterproofs. Layers are your friends here! The higher up you go into the mountains, the more rain there will be and the colder it will get, especially at night.
When we drove the loop in April, we were super lucky to have extremely warm weather and no rain!
We’d recommend bringing a couple of pairs of shorts or leggings and some comfy t-shirts or vest tops. For your shoes, good trainers are essential even for those just sitting on the back of the bike. A lot of the viewpoints on the Ha Giang Loop are up steep mountainsides and may require a bit of walking. If you can squeeze them in, flip flops are very handy in the evenings when you’re chilling in the homestays.
When to go on the Ha Giang Loop?
Tours of the Ha Giang Loop run all year round through both the wet and the dry season.
The rainy season in Ha Giang runs from mid-May to September with the rainiest months being June and July. During this time, there is a chance of flooding and landslides in the area which will lead to cancellations, delays and re-routing of Ha Giang trips. If you’re travelling during the wet season, it should be less busy on the loop and you’ll get some majestic views through the mists and above the cloudline. However you can also expect to get very wet. If you’re driving yourself, be careful on wet roads and mountain passes.
The dry season runs from the end of September to the beginning of May and is the high season for tourism in the region. During this time you should experience sunnier weather, however you are in the mountains so rainstorms are not unheard of. In the dry summer months, the roads will be busier as it's the most popular time to visit Ha Giang.
The prettiest time to visit is during the autumn months of September and October where despite the colder weather, the nature and rice terraces will be at their best.
If you are travelling in December, January and February, northern Vietnam can get very cold so pack layers and maybe a scarf and gloves.
We visited in April at the end of the dry season and were lucky enough to have no rain, hot sunny days on the bike, clear views and warm evenings, with only the occasional overcast sky.
What to expect on the Ha Giang Loop - Our experience of the loop, a 4 day tour with Road King’s
Our four day tour of the Ha Giang Loop started at the Road King’s homebase in Ha Giang. We arrived on the luxurious sleeper bus they had booked us from Hanoi, ate some lovely tacos at the restaurant next door and had an early night in their dorm.
Bright and early on the morning of the trip we got up for breakfast and orientation. After an egg banh mi and being run through the route we would be taking through the loop. We met our easy riders, saddled up and rode out of town.
Our first day was spent winding up higher and higher into the mountains. We stopped at viewpoints, waterfalls and coffee shops perched on the edge of cliffs. We drove from riverbanks at the bottom of valleys, passing by villages and markets, before climbing higher into the peaks.
We checked into our homestay at Du Gia village before heading off for a swim at a nearby waterfall. The evening was spent eating a feast of a meal and drinking plenty of 'happy water' until, inevitably, karaoke broke out.
For those wondering or cannot work it out from context, 'happy water' is the local, home-brewed firewater. A clear, fiery spirit of unknown alcoholic potential. Depending on the make, it can be extremely smooth or as rough as a rhino’s loofah! On the loop, it is a staple of every evening. Over the course of dinner and well into the night, your guides, easy riders and you will all lift shot after shot of 'happy water' to the Vietnamese cheers of ‘Mot Hai, Ba, Yo!’
The next morning began with breakfast noodles and we were quickly back on the bikes. Our route took us through the village of Du Gia and up into the next valley. We rose higher and higher, with terraced rice fields all around.
Day two was definitely one of the advantages of going with Road King’s. We were off the beaten path now and had left the large groups of hostel bikers behind. It was just us and the epic landscapes.
We continued rising up and down this vertical mountain pass, passing by water buffalos, farmers taming their rice paddies and high-fiving children in the villages. We stopped for photos and at one point even had to dodge a bright green snake as it slithered across the mountain road.
At the bottom of the valley, we stopped at the banks of a turquoise blue river that flowed into the mouth of an enormous cave. To reach the cave, we were paddled on traditional bamboo rafts before giving up and diving into the water!
After cooling off in the cool shade of the cave it was back on the bikes for what was to be the hardest leg of the loop. A rough mountain pass full of potholes, loose stone and sheer drops wound out of the village and up through jaw dropping landscapes. We were shaken, bounced, jolted and rattled. At this point we were so thankful we had easy riders and had gone with Road King’s.
Our drivers were experts at the loose surface and kept us safe and stable, effortlessly guiding the bikes through the rough terrain. We pulled into lunch and felt like our bums and lower backs had been thoroughly tenderarised. The road had been hard but totally worth it. The views and the experience were amazing!
After lunch we set off again but it wasn’t long before the coffee cravings descended. We stopped at a cafe with a phenomenal view over a rocky landscape that looked as though we had been teleported to another planet.
We continued driving up and up into the steep limestone mountains until we found ourselves at the vertigo-inducing Ma Pi Leng Skywalk. The short walk leads up the side of a mountain until it comes to a vertiginous rocky pinnacle. Here, for those that want to, you can climb up further still and stand on a small rock that juts out over the enormous drops below. With China behind us, Vietnam in front of us and the sun starting to sink towards the horizon, it was an amazing place. Also it happened to be Ellie’s birthday, it was a pretty special way to start the celebrations!
We had what was possibly the best drive so far back down the Skywalk to the town of Dong Van. Wiggling down the narrow path, we rejoined the road and made our way to our homestay. This last drive was absolutely epic. As we wove through valleys and between mountain peaks, the setting sun blazed out at us before being eclipsed by the mountain sides.
In Dong Van it was time for dinner, more 'happy water' and birthday celebrations. We enjoyed an incredible hot pot feast, birthday cake, lots of 'happy water' and beer before singing the night away. The karaoke ranged from Slim Shady to Frank Sinatera and everything in between! Up in the mountains with the calls of ‘Mot, Hai, Ba, Yo’ ringing down the valley, it was a birthday to remember!
Day three started with fried eggs, banh mi and strong Vietnamese coffee. All welcome after the previous nights partying. We jumped back on the bikes and drove up the curvy road past more incredible viewpoints until we pulled into a small cafe. Behind this small unassuming cafe was the border with China. We drove closer to China, passing the Lung Cu Flag Tower that dominates the landscape all around before pulling into the Lo Lo Chai village. This small village is full of traditional houses, friendly hmong locals and lots of cute coffee shops.
After Lo Lo Chai village we followed the road back towards Dong Van, stopping at a lunch spot with rock strewn, lunar-like views all the way down the valley. After lunch we rejoined the more popular route towards the Quan Ba Heaven's Gate road and viewpoint and the famous winding roads of the Doc Tham Ma Pass. Pulling over we viewed the “snake road” as it coiled its way up the mountain.
Back on the bikes, we descended down what was possibly the steepest drive of the trip. Huge hair-pin bends dropped us further and further down the mountain side towards the flat valley floor. Our homestay that night was another beautiful traditional house, with our rooms in newly built bungalows next door. That night again, we had a massive feast with the local family, before the evening devolved into toasts, 'happy water' and singing. As it was our last night with our easy riders, we all gave speeches of varying coherence, thanking each other and wishing for health, wealth and happiness!
Our final day on the loop arrived and we headed out of the village with the children high-fiving us on their way to school. Our road quickly diverged from the main route and became a single track through the mountains. We passed through villages where it looked like time had stood still for centuries. Men sat smoking wooden pipes whilst the women toiled away in the fields. We came to a stop in a small village at the base of another huge mountain. It was time for a short hike.
We climbed the narrow stairs and pathways through the fields up to the Lung Khuy Cave. The view from the entrance to the cave was incredible, it looked like we were standing on the edge of a flat plateau with a cliff edge leading to the valley floor far below. The cave itself was great fun, full of huge formations and stagelites stretching down from the roof like church organ pipes.
After the cave and the hike back down we hopped on the bikes and had one of the best drives of the whole loop. We zoomed through fields, down narrow paths and through landscapes straight out of a fantasy novel. With our little group we got right off of the ‘main’ Ha Giang Loop and it was amazing!
Leaving the farmers fields behind we stopped in another village for our final lunch. Out came a feast of spring rolls, stir fried veg, beef, pork, tofu and rice. After eating our fill it was back on the road for our final hidden gem of the Ha Giang Loop - the so-called ‘secret waterfall’.
We drove down a tiny hidden road and pulled up, seemingly at random, on a roadside bordered by thick jungle. A steep, muddy and slippery descent later and we started to hear the faint roar of water. Turning a corner in the forest we were greeted by the sight of a curtain of white water falling in a cascade into a deep emerald pool.
Back on the bikes, it was finally time to loop back to Ha Giang. Our final ride was filled with viewpoints, selfies and incredible roads. As we pulled back into Ha Giang, the sun was setting and we were all bittersweet with the end of the adventure.
We had had an amazing four days on the loop. Our group was fantastic, a great mix of personalities who had all quickly bonded over food, 'happy water' and karaoke. John usually regards karaoke as one of the ‘circles of hell' but even he loved it by the end…after a lot of 'happy water'.
Road King’s had been great, the route they planned was perfect, a mix of all the best famous sights as well as hidden gems away from the crowds. Our small group had been expertly driven around some of the most exciting roads in the world, never feeling unsafe or worrying about the route ahead. Our drivers, Man and Bien were hilarious, kind, welcoming and just what we had hoped for. They helped with everything on the loop, from coffee stops to restaurants, homestays to waterfalls, they smoothed over everything and made sure we had a great time.
It had been an epic 4 days and if we could have, we’d have just jumped back on the bike and done it all over again!
Where to go after Ha Giang?
As with all epic travel adventures, there comes a time to head to some place new.
After Ha Giang you can easily head south back to the capital of Hanoi or head onto the limestone karsts of Ninh Binh. If Ha Giang has whetted your appetite, you could copy us and head further north for more biking adventures in the city of Cao Bang. If you’d like to stretch your legs, you can easily catch a bus to the popular hiking region of Sapa. Or if you’d prefer to enjoy some ‘vitamin sea’ you could head to the coast to Ha Long Bay or Cat Ba island.
Book bus tickets to some of the most popular bus routes below:
Is the Ha Giang Loop worth it?
If we haven’t convinced you, we don’t know what will. The Ha Giang Loop takes you through some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth in one of the most exciting ways possible. This motorcycle trip will live in our heads rent free, and brighten our memories for the rest of our lives. It has since inspired us to get on bikes and we know that in the future we have to come back and explore the loop on our own two wheels.
The Ha Giang Loop is famous and popular for a reason. Whether you’re in a group of thirty people doing the hostel tour or you’re off the beaten path with Road King’s it’s an amazing adventure and one we cannot recommend enough.
The Ha Giang Loop is legendary amongst motorcyclists and has been described as one of the ‘roads you must ride on once in your life’ and after spending four days driving the loop we see why. If there is only one adventurous thing you do in Vietnam make sure it’s an epic motorbike trip around the Ha Giang Loop!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
Some more photos from our incredible time on the Ha Giang Loop!
For those planning a trip to Vietnam, we’ve got lots more Vietnam travel guides, tips and recommendations to help you plan an incredible Vietnam trip.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, why not save the pin below?
If you’re found this blog helpful, entertaining or you just fancy supporting us, please click the button below!