Four days, two passes and the terraces at Pu Luong
182 km and 2,750 m of climbing on the quietest good roads within half a day of Hanoi, with two nights in White Thai stilt houses and one in a lodge above the valley.
At a glance
- Days
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Ridden
- 182 km, 2,750 m up
- Group
- 2 to 12 riders
- Start
- Hanoi
- Finish
- Hanoi
- From
- USD 520 per person
Who this route is for
This is the route for a rider with four days, a reasonable level of fitness and no wish to spend two of those days in a vehicle. Everything here is inside 180 km of Hanoi, so the transfers are two and a half hours rather than a full day, and the riding starts on the first afternoon.
It is also our answer to the question people actually ask, which is not "where is the most beautiful place in Vietnam" but "where can I ride for four days without traffic". Mai Chau and Pu Luong are the answer because the district roads there were built for motorbikes and buffalo carts, and because both valleys have a floor flat enough to ride out an easy day when the previous one has hurt.
Two thirds of the riders who book this have ridden with a club at home. The other third have not ridden 50 km in a day before, and they finish it, using the van for part of day two.
Day by day
Hanoi to Mai Chau, over Thung Khe
Collected at 07:00 and driven 110 km west to the foot of the Thung Khe pass, arriving about 09:30. You ride from there: 11 km of climbing at 6 to 8 per cent to the limestone quarries at the top, where the roadside stalls sell boiled corn and the view drops away on both sides.
The descent into the Mai Chau valley is 12 km and fast. The last 20 km run flat along the valley floor between rice fields to the stilt-house village at Ban Lac.
Mai Chau to Pu Luong
The hard day: 62 km with 1,150 m of climbing. You leave the valley on a small road that climbs steadily for 9 km, drop into a second valley, then climb again on a concrete lane that narrows to a single track for the last 4 km.
From the col the road runs along a shoulder above the Pu Luong terraces for 14 km before dropping to the lodge. If you are going to use the van on this trip, today is the day.
Pu Luong valley loop
48 km and 700 m of climbing on a loop below the lodge, on a mix of concrete lanes and 6 km of dirt. You pass four bamboo water wheels, cross the Cham river twice, and stop at Kho Muong, a village in a bowl reached by a 2 km climb that most people walk the last part of.
Short day by distance, long by time. Allow six hours with the stops.
Pu Luong to Hanoi
A last 61 km, mostly downhill and rolling, out of the reserve on the eastern road through Cam Thuy. Lunch at a river restaurant, then the transfer back to Hanoi, arriving about 18:30.
Prices
| Party size | Homestay and lodge | Upgraded rooms |
|---|---|---|
| 2 riders, private | USD 890 | USD 1,040 |
| 3 – 4 riders, private | USD 680 | USD 810 |
| 5 – 8 riders, private | USD 575 | USD 690 |
| Set-departure group | USD 520 | — |
Upgraded rooms mean a private room with a bathroom at the Mai Chau homestay instead of the shared platform, and a valley-view bungalow at the Pu Luong lodge instead of a standard room. About half of our riders take it; the other half would rather sleep on the platform, which is genuinely part of the trip.
What is included
What the price includes
- 3 nights as described, one homestay and two lodge nights
- Return private transfer from your Hanoi hotel, with the bikes
- Hybrid, gravel or road bike, fitted at the workshop the evening before
- English-speaking cycling guide, plus a second guide above six riders
- Support vehicle with bike rack on all four riding days
- All breakfasts, four lunches and three dinners
- Pu Luong reserve entrance, Kho Muong cave fee, all local guides
What it does not include
- Anything in Hanoi before or after the trip
- Travel insurance covering cycling
- Drinks, including beer at the homestay, which is sold by the bottle
- Tips for the guide, driver and homestay family
Photographs
Who this tour is wrong for
- Riders who have never climbed. Day two has 1,150 m in 62 km. If your local rides are flat and your longest climb is ten minutes, take the Mekong route or ask us for the four-day valley-floor version, which has 900 m in total.
- Anyone who needs air conditioning to sleep. Neither the homestay nor the standard lodge rooms have it. The upgraded bungalows do. From May to September this matters.
- Parties wanting privacy on night one. The stilt house is one long room with mattresses and nets in a row. It is clean and it is not private.
- June to August visitors who dislike mud. The 6 km of dirt on day three is unrideable after heavy rain and we substitute a longer sealed loop, which is fine, but it is not the loop in the photographs.
- Anyone hoping for a rest day. Four days, four riding days. There is no slack in this route; that is why it fits into a long weekend.
Next steps
Ask for dates in your month
Tell us the month and how many are riding. We will send back set-departure dates if any suit, and a private price either way.
Related reading: Pu Luong as a place, which months work in the north, and what a bike tour costs.
Questions travellers ask most
Can I do this route on an e-bike?
Yes. We keep six e-bikes, and on this route they are genuinely useful — day two becomes a pleasant day rather than a hard one.
The supplement is USD 22 per riding day. Battery range on our bikes is about 70 km in the hilliest setting, which covers every day here, and the van carries a spare battery and a charger.
How rough is the dirt on day three?
Hard-packed clay and stone, rideable on 32 mm tyres in the dry, unpleasant on anything narrower. We put riders on 40 mm gravel tyres for this day by default.
After more than about 30 mm of rain in the preceding 24 hours, the guide will switch the loop for a sealed alternative. That decision is made in the morning, not the night before.
Is Mai Chau not very touristy now?
Ban Lac village is, and we do not pretend otherwise — there are souvenir looms and a car park. We stay in a house at the quiet end and we ride out of the village within twenty minutes each morning.
The valley floor beyond the village, and the whole of the Pu Luong side, is not touristy in any sense you would recognise. That is where three of the four riding days are.
Can we start from Mai Chau instead of doing the Thung Khe climb?
Yes, and about one party in six does. We drive the extra 25 km and you start on the valley floor, which removes 11 km and 550 m of climbing from day one.
It costs nothing extra and it is the right call if your party has one strong rider and one nervous one. Tell us at booking rather than on the morning.
Read next
Tell us about the ride you have in mind
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.