Northeast Motorcycle Tour from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay – 4 Days

We start our 4-day Northeast Vietnam Motorbike Tour at 9.00 am. We ride on Road 5, where we pass by Bat Trang, a famous ceramic village on the outskirt of Hanoi (about 15 km from the city’s center). As we have four days for our trip, we can take the time to explore interesting places en route to Cat Ba, which includes this old ceramic village. Here we can have a short walk around and drop in local families to learn about their pottery-making craft and the diversity of products here – from bowls, plates, vases, and cups to big paintings made of pottery.

If you are a shopaholic, you must visit Bat Trang Market, where various ceramic products of various styles and colors are sold. You can also try making pottery items under the instructions of local artisans. After a quick tour around Bat Trang village, we travel to Hai Phong city, which is well-known as “the city of red flamboyant flowers”. We will arrive at the hotel at 3 pm. Here we have time to relax and discover the city overnight in a hotel in Hai Phong.

Summary:

Distance: 140 km

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel

After having breakfast, we drive to the harbor and take a speedboat from Binh pier in Hai Phong city to Cai Vieng wharf in Cat Ba island. We spend about one hour discovering Cat Ba Island. This motorbike tour from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba is more about sightseeing, so we don’t have many off-road routes but use a boat to travel around the islands instead. Lan Ha bay is one of the highlights in Cat Ba that one shouldn’t miss. Situated to the south of Halong Bay, the neighbor of Lan Ha bay boasts pristine scenery with untouched and spectacular natural beauty with a dense network of limestone mountains. This offers several scenic little beaches at the feet of the mountains and picturesque islands and caves. Thus, it is very easy to find a good location for swimming, overnight camping, or just relaxing and enjoying the salty sea breeze.

Other activities like rock climbing, snorkeling, and diving are fantastic ideas to explore this amazing island. In the afternoon, we can visit floating fishing villages, explore the stalactite caves, or swim on isolated beaches. We get back to Cat Ba Island in the late afternoon.

Summary:

Distance: 30 km

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Boat and Hotel

After breakfast, we have a short ride around Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba is the largest Island in the Bay, and approximately half of its area is covered by a National Park, which is home to the highly endangered Cat Ba Languor. The Island has a wide range of natural ecosystems, both marine and terrestrial, leading to incredibly high rates of biodiversity. Types of natural habitats found in Cat Ba Archipelago include limestone karsts, tropical limestone forests, coral reefs, mangrove and seagrass beds, lagoons, beaches, caves, and willow swamp forests.

At the heart of Cat Ba Island lies a visually stunning and ecologically diverse national park. In 1986, 9,800 [98 km²] hectares (approximately one-third of the Island’s total landmass) were annexed as Cat Ba National Park, the first decreed protected area in Vietnam to include a marine component. Park our motorbikes in Beo port, cruise to the Bay, where we do swimming and kayaking. It’s as wonderful as Halong bay but quiet and fresher. We finish the northeast motorbike tours before noon because it is better to spend the other half day sightseeing besides Cat Ba Island. Overnight in Hotel – Cat Ba town.

Summary:

Distance: 40 km

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel

Tourists can explore the area by themselves until 10.00 am. We recommend tourists visit Cai Beo fishing village, only 2km away from the town. This village is home to 300 households living mostly by fishing and fish farming. After visiting the fishing village, we will take a short walk to the boat harbor and spend more than one hour on the speed boat to get to Hai Phong city. We have lunch in a restaurant and then drive straight back to Hanoi on Road 5. We will finish the four-day motorbike tour from Ha Noi to Cat Ba Island at 4.00 pm. We hope that the fun experience in Cat Ba and those along the trip will be long-lasting memories for tourists and a motivation for them to discover more of Vietnam.

Summary:

Distance: 140 km

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

END OF TOUR