Run to the Sun: Hanoi to Danang

Seven nights from Hanoi to Danang, guided, 1,210 kilometres down the length of northern and central Vietnam, one way.

The Hai Van Pass at the end is the headline, a coast road climbing over a headland between two provinces that a television programme made famous twenty years ago and which has drawn riders ever since.

Pu Luong opens the route, reached by the Hoa Binh dam and the back roads behind it, with a secluded homestay in the nature reserve. Tan Ky follows, then Phong Nha, a world heritage karst region holding some of the largest caves on earth, with a full day to explore them. The Ho Chi Minh Trail comes next, the Vietnamese section of the supply network that ran south through the war, with Khe Sanh at the end of it, where one of the longest sieges of the conflict took place. Hue follows, the imperial capital until 1945, with a day there, then the Hai Van and the descent into Danang.

The choice of motorcycle, with a Honda CB500X included and a BMW R1250 GS available as an upgrade, is included; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking, and flights and visas are explicitly excluded. The price shown is for one rider. February to May and September to November are the best windows for central Vietnam. Eight days one way means arranging the journey home from Danang, which has its own international airport, so the logistics are simpler than a one-way route usually implies. The two full exploration days, at Phong Nha and Hue, are what stop this becoming a straight dash down the country.