There is no best month, only a best region per month
Vietnam has three climates at once. Pick the month first and the region second, and every month of the year has somewhere worth riding.
The one thing to understand first
Most visitors arrive with a fixed idea of a route and a fixed set of dates, discover the two do not match, and compromise on the wrong one. The country is long enough that its north and south are in opposite seasons for part of the year: February is cold and grey in Hanoi and perfect on the central coast; July is unrideable in Ha Giang and fine in Hue before ten in the morning.
So the useful question is not "when should I come to Vietnam" but "given that I can come in March, where should I ride". This page answers it in that order.
The quick version
| Your month | Ride here | Do not bother with |
|---|---|---|
| January | Central coast, Mekong Delta | Northern mountains, cold and misty |
| February | Central coast, delta, southern highlands | The far north, and Tet week everywhere |
| March | Everywhere, one of the two best months | Nothing |
| April | Everywhere, hot in the south | Nothing |
| May | Northern valleys for the water mirrors | The delta after midday |
| June | Central coast early morning | Far north, wet season starting |
| July | Central coast | The whole north, landslides |
| August | Central coast | The whole north |
| September | Northern mountains from mid-month | Central coast, typhoons begin |
| October | Northern mountains, the best month of the year | Central coast |
| November | North and delta both excellent | Central coast, still wet |
| December | Delta, central highlands | High passes in the northwest, cold |
The north: Hanoi, Pu Luong, Ha Giang, the northwest
October and November, and March to early May
The two windows worth planning around. Dry, 18 to 30 degrees, clear air. Late September and early October carry the rice harvest, which is the two weeks when the terraces are gold and every lodge in Pu Luong is full.
December to February
Cold and damp: 9 to 20 degrees in the valleys, 3 to 14 on the plateau at Dong Van and below freezing on the highest passes some nights. There is no heating in most buildings, so it feels worse than the number suggests.
It is nonetheless a good season to ride, because it is dry, the light is clean and there is nobody there. Bring a windproof layer, full-finger gloves and a buff, which visitors from hot countries consistently do not.
June to August
The wet season, and the one to avoid. Not because of the rain, which passes, but because of the landslides: the road between Dong Van and Meo Vac, and the O Quy Ho section in the northwest, close for a day or two several times each summer with no detour and no notice.
The centre: Hue, Hai Van, Hoi An, Da Nang
February to August
The central coast runs on a different calendar from everywhere else, and this is its dry season. February to April is the pick: 22 to 30 degrees, low humidity, and the Hai Van pass clear most mornings.
May to August is dry and hot, 32 to 38 degrees with high humidity. Riding works with a 06:00 start and a finish by 12:30, which is what we do in those months.
September to December
The wet season and the typhoon season, and the reason we do not run the Hue to Hoi An route as a set departure in October and November. Rain here arrives in quantity — this coast has recorded over a metre of rain in three days — and the low ground around Hoi An floods most years.
A named storm within 200 km changes the plan, not the trip: we move riders south or inland and add a day elsewhere.
The south: the delta and the highlands
November to April
The dry season. The delta runs 24 to 32 degrees in November to February, which is comfortable, and 32 to 38 in March to May, which is not. Da Lat and the highlands sit 15 degrees cooler than the coast all year, at 15 to 25 degrees, and are the best climbing in the southern half of the country.
May to October
The south-west monsoon. Mornings are usually clear and the rain arrives between 14:00 and 17:00, which makes early riding entirely practical. The exception is September and October, when the Mekong's annual flood peaks and some dyke lanes go under water.
Dates to plan around, whichever region you pick
- Tet, the lunar new year, in late January or February. The single most disruptive week of the year: markets close, homestays close, buses fill and prices rise. The country is genuinely interesting during it, and it is a bad week to depend on logistics.
- The rice harvest in the north, in the two weeks around the end of September. Book Pu Luong and Mu Cang Chai accommodation two months ahead or you will not get it.
- The 30 April and 1 May holiday, and 2 September. Domestic travel peaks and coastal hotels double their rates.
- School summer holidays, June to August, when Vietnamese families travel domestically and Mai Chau, Sa Pa and the beaches are busy — with Vietnamese visitors rather than foreign ones, which changes the atmosphere but not the occupancy.
What we would do with each month
If you told us your month and nothing else, this is the trip we would suggest.
| Month | Our suggestion |
|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | Hue to Hoi An by bicycle, plus the Mekong Delta |
| Mar – Apr | Mai Chau and Pu Luong, or the Ha Giang Loop by motorbike |
| May | Northern valleys for the flooded terraces, riding before 11:00 |
| Jun – Aug | Central coast only, or the fourteen-day route with the north cut short |
| Sep | Central highlands early in the month, northern mountains from the 20th |
| Oct – Nov | Anything in the north. This is the season |
| Dec | Mekong Delta and Da Lat, with warm kit if you go north |
Then read the route pages: all six tours, or what each costs.
Questions travellers ask most
What is the single best month to ride in Vietnam?
October, in the north, on either kind of bike. Dry, clear, 18 to 27 degrees, and the terraces are freshly cut.
It is also the busiest month and the most expensive, and Ha Giang in October has several hundred motorbikes a day on the loop. March is 90 per cent as good and much quieter.
Can I ride in the rainy season at all?
Yes, and in the south it barely affects a trip that starts early. Rain in the delta and the highlands arrives in the afternoon.
In the northern mountains the answer is different, and it is not about comfort. Landslides close roads that have no alternative. We run reduced departures in July and August and we tell people to come at a different time.
How much does the season change the price?
Accommodation in the north runs 10 to 15 per cent higher from October to April, and considerably more in the harvest fortnight and at Tet.
Our guiding, vehicle and bike costs do not change with the season, so the total difference on a four-day trip is usually USD 40 to 70 per person.
What is the weather like at the exact time I want to come?
Ask us. We keep the previous five years of daily temperature and rainfall for the six places we operate in, and we will send you the actual figures for your fortnight rather than a seasonal average.
Averages hide the thing that matters, which is the number of days with over 20 mm of rain. That is what stops a ride, not the monthly total.
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.