A narrow street in Ha Giang lined with colorful houses, parked motorbikes and a mountain backdrop.

Northern Vietnam

The one that makes everything else look ordinary

A karst plateau on the Chinese border with the most dramatic road in Vietnam running through it. Six hours from Hanoi before the loop even starts, and worth every one of them.

Plan my trip

Orientation

What the loop is

North of Ha Giang city the land turns to a limestone plateau of grey rock and terraced pockets of soil, and the road climbs through it to the Chinese border. The central stretch — the Ma Pi Leng pass, with the Nho Que river a few hundred metres below in a gorge — is the single most spectacular piece of road in the country and one of the best in Asia.

It is also remote in a way that the rest of Vietnam is not. Villages are small, the markets are genuinely local rather than staged, and the phone signal disappears for stretches. Three nights on the loop is the minimum that does not turn it into a driving marathon; four is comfortable.

Nights: 3 to 4 on the loop, plus travel
From Hanoi: 6 hours to Ha Giang city
Loop length: About 350 km
Best months: March to May, September to November
By car or bike: Car with a driver unless you ride well

The route

The route, night by night

Night one: Ha Giang city or Quan Ba, after the drive up from Hanoi.
Night two: Yen Minh or Dong Van, with the Quan Ba pass and the Hmong king’s house on the way.
Night three: Dong Van or Meo Vac, taking the Ma Pi Leng pass slowly and going down to the Nho Que river by boat.
Night four (optional): Du Gia, on the quieter eastern road back, which is where the loop stops feeling like a route and starts feeling like countryside.
Then six hours back to Hanoi, or the night bus if you must.

A blooming white plum tree stands on a terraced mountainside in Dong Van, Ha Giang.

A turquoise river winds through the deep, terraced mountain canyon of Ha Giang, Vietnam.

A crowded highland market in Ha Giang with tarp-covered stalls and Hmong shoppers in colorful traditional headscarves.

Mist drifts over terraced rice fields and a small village on a mountain ridge in Ha Giang.

Getting around

Car or motorbike, plainly

The loop has become famous with backpackers on rented bikes and with easy-rider arrangements where you sit behind a local driver. Both are legitimate. What we will not do is put an inexperienced rider on a manual bike on these roads: the passes are steep, the surface changes without warning, trucks take the middle of the road, and the hospitals are hours away. Serious injuries here are common enough that every guesthouse has stories.

We book a car with a driver by default. You see exactly the same road, you can stop wherever you like, and in November you are warm. If you ride properly and want the bike, say so and we will arrange a good machine and a guide rather than talk you out of it.

Permits

The border area requires a permit, arranged in Ha Giang city and usually handled by your guesthouse or operator. Carry your passport; there are checkpoints.

Timing

When to come

March to May is clear and warm, and the buckwheat and plum blossom are out in parts. September to November is the other good window, with the rice harvest gold in the pockets of terrace and clear air in October. December to February is genuinely cold up here — single digits, wind, and mist that can sit on the passes for days. July and August bring heavy rain and landslides that close sections of road for hours at a time.

Not for everyone

Who should skip it

If long mountain drives make you ill, this is four days of switchbacks. If you have ten days in Vietnam, Ha Giang will cost you the centre or the south and it is a hard trade. If you need comfortable hotels, note that the best accommodation on the loop is a good homestay or a simple guesthouse, not a resort. Everyone else with the time should go, and should go before the road gets any busier.

Common questions