North to South All-Pavement Vietnam Motorcycle Tour

Thirteen nights from Hanoi to Saigon entirely on tarmac, the all-pavement version of this operator’s Vietnamese crossing. The hire is included, on a Honda CB500X or, with two months’ notice, a BMW R1250GS.

Pu Luong opens it by way of Lake Ba Khan and the rice terraces, then Con Cuong near the Laos border on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang with a boat into the caves.

Khe Sanh follows on the Western Trail through the old demilitarised zone, then Hue, where the Vinh Moc tunnels are the stop that stays with people: a village of several hundred dug three levels into a hillside and lived in for years under bombardment. The Citadel, a royal tomb and the Perfume River fill the rest of the day.

The Hai Van Pass carries the route south to Hoi An and a rest day, then Kon Tum in the highlands and Buon Me Thuot among the coffee, rubber and cashew farms. Mui Ne follows on the coast with a rest day and an optional 4×4 tour of the sand dunes behind the town, before the run into Saigon. Prices are quoted in US dollars. Choosing pavement over dual sport costs a little more here and buys a larger, more comfortable bike and no dirt at all, which for a two-week crossing of a country this long is a perfectly reasonable trade. The route also substitutes two nights on the coast at Mui Ne for the dual sport version’s highland detour, so the second half is noticeably gentler.